As I Explore

🎄❤️😹 https://ift.tt/2zCi8bK

Regal pirate kitty knows what she's worth and did not accept pats from a stranger 😤 (posting this as evidence that I stopped over in the UK before heading on to Japan) https://ift.tt/2PgnbbX

Goodbye, Norway. Not sure we'll see each other again, as much as I'd like to you've been so expensive that you also started draining my soul. Back to value-for-money London! https://ift.tt/2qpJXz9

Of course Bergen filled up with sun the day before I left 🙄 One last walk to generate some positive weather memories. https://ift.tt/2QgIGpp

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And then, the rain ☔️ https://ift.tt/2QgIFSn

At this very moment I thought yes, Bergen is where it's at. Such beauty. So raw. And then it started raining again. https://ift.tt/2qytEAl

Delightful noms at the KODE museum cafe, followed the next day by a visit to the most magnificent and awe-inspiring J.C. Dahl exhibition. https://ift.tt/2PFi5FA

What, no rain!? Ooookay. https://ift.tt/2RxJ56X

Obligatory coffee shot. I spent a long time relaxing at this tiniest of cafes in Bergen, right next to the Mount Fløyen funicular station. Absolutely beautiful, just a few tables and a single staff handling it all with humour and grace. It's like visiting a friend's place. https://ift.tt/2PF0U6S

This is when I learnt that Bergen is the rainiest city in Europe. Well done for beating a record, but did it have to be that one? https://ift.tt/2PBda8l

The five hour ferry trip from Flåm to Bergen through the "queen of the fjords" was meant to be the nature highlight of my trip... But thanks to fog, clouds and the most painful rain on my face there wasn't really much to see. Just a little bit of a sunset at the end once we'd left the fjord and were on the open sea, heading south through a myriad of tiny islands. https://ift.tt/2RzHoGt

After the most horrendous waste of money, time and lobster at a food stand in Flåm - so bad in fact that I had to bin it after a single bite - I resorted to getting lunch at the local microbrewery. Magnificent Viking atmosphere, stunning interior, friendly staff and the freshest and most generous helping of gravadlax imaginable, and surprisingly cheaper than the ruined lobster! Such a godsend. Out of my whole trip this was possibly the most memorable! https://ift.tt/2qrP8P0

Got so caught up in planning my next trip (I'm already in Japan!) that I completely abandoned the rest of my Norway impressions 🙈 So here it continues! This is the same Flåmsbana train as in the previous waterfall video. The Flåmsbana connects the two settlements Myrdal and Flåm with an altitude difference of 866 metres. It is one of the steepest standard railways in the world, a true engineering feat and it sure traverses some of the most stunning scenery! https://ift.tt/2P7qbY6

The Flåmsbana train stopped for some misty mystic magic at the majestic Kjosfossen 🌊💃🏼✨ Because who can resist the allure of a Norwegian forest nymph (true myth)! https://ift.tt/2xvaGhx

Det høgste punkt av Rallarvegen! Also the last time ever that I'll cycle 38 km through the mountains without any level of fitness, on the cusp of cold, some headwind, some sidewind, through the heaviest rainstorms soaking me to the bone despite all waterproof layers, and all these other excuses 🙄 Made the last train back with 15 minutes to spare and spent the next day in bed! https://ift.tt/2xagyvJ

Going over 4 hours via train from Oslo halfway across the country towards the west, all I saw was one huge forest with some lakes dotted around. Really astonishing. https://ift.tt/2xdzn2f