Tuesday, May 16. Flam is about 100 miles from the North Sea. Though we woke long after the ship entered the fjord, we got to see more than a few gorgeous vistas before arriving in Flam. Sadly there was a megaship hogging the pier, so we had to shuttle in.

Pier side had plenty of tourist shops and sights, but we had selected a full day excursion and never saw actually visited the immediate area. Our bus tour included several short waterfall photo stops, made shorter by the inevitably slow disembarkation from the bus. Lunch was at a very swanky hotel, situated next to the last emperor’s summer house(?). Great view of the valley below. The buffet lunch was heavy on seafood.

Briefly visited a “farmstead” museum. 30 minutes of what could have been a half-day experience. The bus had to slowly negotiate a fairly busy one-lane road, which was a little maddening.

The key aspect of the excursion was a series of train rides. The first was a typical commuter train that climbed to 866 meters, where we encountered snow! Everyone rushed to the adjoining train while I enjoyed the snow. This train was a pure tourist event. Many tunnels, many waterfalls. We stopped between two tunnels at one particularly pretty waterfall and a short recorded musical performance. Very creepy music with a blonde-haired “woman” in red dancing beside the falls some distance away. My camera showed that she was probably a dark-haired man with a poorly placed wig. But it was a marvelous performance considering the view.

We returned to the ship to learn that, due to weather, our visit tomorrow to Stavanger would be canceled. This is especially disappointing because it’s “Constitution Day”, when the town hosts a series of parades and parties.

Dinner in the Italian specialty restaurant was very good. The cruise out of the fjord was enchanting, with periodic sunshine highlighting snow packed mountains. The nightclub where I hang out was jammed since no one had to wake up early in the morning.