For the beauty of the Earth
We’re now in Gudvangen following an amazing 2 hour Fjord cruise. Once again, I awoke much earlier than I had hoped since the sun rose at 5 AM. I got coffee and juice from the hotel restaurant and waited for breakfast, which began at 7 AM. The television in my room only had a few channels, and all that was playing this morning was some low-budget German show.
Breakfast was quite a large assortment of food, including eggs, fruit, potatoes, fish, and breads. It was quite good, and I ate too much. Not sure of what the lunch situation would be today, I went ahead and filled up. As much as I try to be open to different cultures, certain groups of tourists who travel in herds have horrible (according to my standards) table manners. It takes a lot of concentration and happy thoughts not to glare at them.
As I took one last stroll around Flåm, the water on (in?) the fjord was completely still, casting a reflection of the mountains and houses. A few people were gathered at the rear of the boat, “Fjord1,” and no one was really sure whether or not we were in the right place. A few minutes before 9:00, the gate was opened, and we were able to board. That same herd of tourists was also on my boat to Voss. They’re sort of loud and seem to take over the space, kind of like a group of Americans, but they’re not. The boat had a cafe with lots of seating by the windows, and there was an upper deck that was open, so that is where I decided to begin. Once we figured out which direction the boat was going to be traveling, several of us readjusted our positions so that we were facing forward.
The journey was about 2 hours and made sort of a horseshoe shape that traveled the distance of 2 fjords from Flåm to Gudvangen. The entire trip was jaw-droppingly beautiful. The first half was particularly spectacular, and a highlight for me was the town of Undredal, where the elusive goat cheese is made. At this point, pictures are much better than words.
My deep thought for the day is that there is plenty of beauty in the world already. It is just our job to recognize it, realize it, and make others aware of it, whether that is through music, visual art, theatre. I’m sure even accountants can account beautifully!
Once we arrived in Undredal, we had about 45 minutes until the bus would take us to Voss. There was a gift shop there and a cafe. I got a yogurt to keep me happy until I could find better food. The bus ride was also beautiful. The ability to take a quick nap served me well here. I fell asleep at the very beginning of the ride and woke up for the best parts. After a while, we cane to a place where we were descending a mountain, and the road consisted of very sharp switchbacks at an 18 degree decline. The driver was very impressive. He even stopped for a minute at two different spots to allow us a minute to photograph a waterfall. There was also a fantastic view of the valley below.
