Geiranger

If you have not already noticed, I have uploaded some of the Norway pictures . The link is in the lefthand sidebar, click on the Flickr badge which says 'Norways Pictures' (consider going back to pre-school if you cannot find the pics). Geiranger was excellent, highly recommended. It is ranked as one of the top destinations to visit by Lonely planet but I am usually a little skeptical about tourist spots so it did not figure in our earlier itinerary of Norway. Siggi, Priya's friend from NJIT, highly recommended reorganizing our travel itinerary in Norway so that it included Geiranger. If you visit Geiranger, you probably do not need to visit any other Fjords because I think this one has the best of most Fjords. We got there quite late, so after the buffet dinner at the hotel we spent the rest of the evening sipping Hennessy (strong stuff!!) which we picked up at Munich Airport. We also got a bottle of Bombay Sapphire for whenever Robin and Tulika decide to visit us which I hear is only going to be next year (Who is gonna wait till next year to guzzle a few Tom Collins?). Slept in a little after the heady night of cognac, we decided to hit the trails as the weather gods were smiling. Picked a trail which I think was probably harder than what we planned for but very rewarding. We hiked up to a waterfall which gave us a very panoramic view of the the valley and the fjord. We were also able to sneak underneath the waterfall, enough space for about 10 people to stand and obesrve the deafening gush of water. Coming down was fun especially with a woman twice our age nipping at our feet because we were too slow, Priya claims the old lady even poked with her hiking sticks to prod us on. We came down to the Fjord and had dinner at a place called Naustroka, can't remember what we ate but gut damage was significant. Returned to the room for some mindless norwegian TVand some more potent alcohol. We spent the next day licking our wounds, cringing with every uphill step (even after 2 ibruprofens). Did touristy stuff for the better part of the next day- boat rides, scenic walk and load of photos. And yes, we did sip some more alcohol once back in the room :) On the last day we kayaked for a few hours and found out that our rowing skills have not improved since our Maine trip. Took the bus back to Alesund after that, spent the nite in a youth Hostel. We had Rudolf the reindeer for dinner, tastes like a mix of beef and liver pate. Alesund is a nice litte town, pretty but seems underpopulated. Took a flight back to Bergen the next day morning after climbing up 418 steps for what many claim to be the best view in Alesund.