Finally… finally… finally… why aren’t we moving? The boat stayed next to the dock for an extra 30 minutes because of a “hydraulics problem”, which was a subtle way of saying they couldn’t get the gangplank back into the boat. (Personally, I blame the giant clusterfuck.) But we did eventually get moving. And when I say “moving”, I mean moving.
It was a catamaran-style boat, meaning it can pick up some wicked speed. During the first hour, there was a wide variety of people (myself included) who moved out onto the deck and felt the wind blowing in our faces. Blowing hard enough that you could lean forward into the wind without falling over. I’ll admit it: while floating at an angle with the wind in my face, I gave in to the temptation of sticking my arms out and yelling, “I’m king of the world!”
In a way, the trip was a little anticlimactic. We were expecting a tour of the fjord, whereas most of what the captain said was which port we were approaching so people could get off the boat. There was one moment when he made an announcement: “To the right, you can see a glacier.” Aaaaand it’s gone. No advance notice. If you didn’t have your camera ready, you missed it.
The fact that most of the 5 ½ hours we spent on the boat was gray and drizzly didn’t help (Noticing a trend?). We might have been able to see water like glass, small groups of archipelagos, the descending sun lighting up lush, green hillsides… but no. Most good views were faded, if not completely invisible from our point of view. We got a few pictures here and there, but there’s still a lot of space left on the camera’s memory chip to use later in the trip.
Now, for those of you who don’t know, I like to recycle when it’s an option—I want to save the planet one plastic bottle at a time. But after the Fanta we bought at the train station in Bergen, the Fanta we bought in Flåm and the water we bought on the boat, I planned to help save the planet one bottle at a time six times over. (They were selling food on the boat, so along with the water, Mom and I bought a sandwich and our first pieces of lefse here in Norway! Woot!)
Unfortunately, I didn’t see any places to recycle on Flåm or on the boat, so I crushed the bottles and stuffed them all in my jacket pockets. As we were getting off the boat, I saw a recycling bin and gave someone a couple laughs as he watched my pockets become a virtual clown car, bottle after bottle coming out to be placed in the bin. I’m sure the planet enjoyed it, too.
When we left Flåm, the boat was 30 minutes behind schedule. We got back to Bergen 40 minutes late. It was 9:10, but thankfully, there was a restaurant open where we ordered a couple burgers and fries. After the meal, we learned something very interesting. Upon talking to the waiter, we found out that European Visa cards have a chip inside, so you use a certain slot and a PIN when buying things. With a card from the U.S., they still have to swipe it and get your signature. We’re pretty sure that’s why the lady at the gas station almost chopped up Mom’s credit card—it didn’t have a working chip. Funny how cards without a chip can have that problem, right?
We’ll be hitting the road again tomorrow, but instead of a halfway-cross-the-country jaunt, this drive will take just a couple hours. We’ll be able to check out some Norwegian cultural sites and what not, but more importantly, we’re not in a hurry to get there. Sleeping in rules…
