Geiranger Fjord

Now for the weekend of Sept 2-4!  I suppose I should begin by noting that classes are alright but instruction is different from that at Berkeley.  I hate to say it's not as good, but many of the instructors at Berkeley were VERY good.  It's especially weird to take Soil Mechanics here, since they teach it "The Norwegian Way."

On another note, I had to take my passport back to the Police Station to get my residency permit corrected - someone wrote "Today's Date" in the space for "Expiration Date", which makes me an illegal!  They'll fix it, but it'll take a few more weeks to get all registered (which means a few more weeks before this whole scholarship thing gets rolling...).

Tuesday or Wednesday Marcio and Aline proposed we go to Geiranger Fjord, after hearing the idea from Ruben and Shirin.  Within 24 hours we were setting up a route, renting a car, and reserving a cabin.  Seven of us went: Alex (me), Aline, Bojan, Isabel, Marcio, Ruben, and Shirin.  We drove west to the ocean then south along the coast to cross The Atlantic Road, which hops from island to island across a large inlet from the Atlantic (I don't think it's actually a fjord...)  Check it out; here's us at the biggest bridge:

Then we drove on until we got to a city - okay a town at most - called Helset, where we spent the night.  We rented a cabin there, and it was AWESOME.  There were 3 rooms and a loft.  The kitchen had all the equipment to cook for and serve about 10 people, and outside you could see the glacial mountains rising on either side of a river (about 100 m away) that emptied into the fjord.  We made a delicious dinner of quesadillas then played Cosmic Wimp-out - just like home!  Take a look:

The next morning we took a 60 minute ferry ride through Geirangerfjorden into Geiranger (the town).  It was amazing.  It was as beautiful as Bryce or Zion, but in a totally different way (and without the crowds).  Uncountable waterfalls drop from steep cliffs, the water is strikingly blue, and the formations in the rock are breathtaking.  Some photos looking from the bow (doesn't do it justice!)

When we got to Geiranger, the town at the end of the fjord, we hunted around and found a cabin about half way up the cliffs.  Okay maybe it was a third, and that doesn't really count the peaks.  We hiked out way to Grinddalsaetra, a cabin in the saddle between 2 peaks, and the view was AMAZING.  Again.

Here are a few photos:  1) Marcio at the top.  2) Me at the Troll Sign (behind is the nearest peak).  3) Grindda the Troll at the top.

Needless to say, they like their Trolls here.  The signs are very knobbly and troll-like, and there are GIANT trolls in town, like this one with Shirin and Ruben:

After our hike we had dinner then slept.  The following morning we went on a hike around the edge of the fjord.  The mist would sweep in and be gone in cycles lasting only 15 to 20 minutes; it was pretty neat.  So here's me at the top.  I mean, it was only sort of SPECTACULAR...

After that we were off to Trondheim once again!  We drove for about 6.5 hours through central (rainy farm-country) Norway, though we crossed a really impressive ridge along the way and went through Trollsidda to boot.

Road at Trollsida

Lake at the top of the ridge we crossed

And then we were back!  What a trip!  Since then it's been classes once again, which are just fine.  Subjects are interesting and instruction is still fine.  This weekend I'm off again, this time to a cabin out west with the student group at St. Olav's.  More pictures to come!