Fantastisk

No, I didn't make a spelling mistake in the headline, FANTASTISK is Norwegian for WONDERFUL.  Today we had another day that is so hard to put into words.

We woke to a low blanket smothering the view and thick snow falling softly but swiftly from the heavens. We were concerned as we had a full day sightseeing today along spectacular mountain roads, on a ferry to the end of the longest fjord in Norway, and onto the world famous Flam Railway for the journey back to our hotel.

We rugged up and set off as the snow stopped. The view was enchanting with its fresh coat over an already winter landscape of houses with roofs of enormous snow pancake stacks, fences with just the top of the posts emerging, rivers rushing through meringue that had been whipped and smothered over every still surface and we alighted at the end of the journey just as blue sky began to peep through.

We stood at the end of the fjord and watched a car and passenger ferry create gently rolling ripples on the mirror surface, to arrive, dock and take passengers precisely on time. Our cruise took us between cliffs that plunged into the sea from 1500m above us. Waterfalls frozen mid stream clung to crags, and snow metres thick decorated the landscape like an impossibly beautiful Christmas Card. We sailed past a tiny church built in 1163, part of a small cluster of homes of a village on the shores of the fjord, the mountains looked like something from Lord of the Rings, you could easily imagine dwarves and gold and horrors inside that immense rock. And then the sun broke through and the landscape glowed in a new light.

Our journey ended at the end of the fjord and waiting for us was a small train to take us on the most scenic train ride in the world, The Flam Railway. Twenty kilometres of twisting track rising 866m. Cliffs, mountains, tunnels, rivers, waterfalls, snow, snow and snow.  We stopped in the middle of the track, were allowed off the train onto a small flat walkway beside a huge drop,  we walked in thick soft snow and breathed in the beauty that surrounded us.

Our journey ended when the train pulled up right outside our hotel, we drifted inside, ordered a drink, and sat trying to absorb the wonder of the day.