Day 8 - Rest day in Oslo

Hello - today we too the chance to visit and see a bit of Oslo, the capital (as well as the biggest city) of this beautiful country! This city is a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is also an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. Oslo is always ranked in the first places in terms of quality of life among European large cities and is also one of the most expensive cities in the world. We left the hotel and used the (very efficient!) public transport to reach the centre where we could admire many beautiful buildings from different periods, such as the Royal Palace and the Opera House. This last one was completed in 2007 and won several awards for its beautiful architecture! After a refreshing break, a small ferry took us to the "museum island" where we could visit the famous "Viking Ships Museum"... definitely something not to miss on a "Viking Experience" tour!!!

The Royal Palace.

Walking through the centre of Oslo.

The central railway station.

The beautiful Opera House.

A huge cruise ship in the port.

Coffee (or beer!) break.

Inside the Viking ships museum.

Very beautiful carvings!

Day 7 - Vradal to Oslo

To reach Oslo, today we crossed the Telemark region, known for its canal, old farms and the mountain region. The Telemark Canal consists of 18 locks, is 105 km long, has a total difference in altitude of 72 m and, in Europe, it was seen as "the eighth wonder" at the time it was finished. Of course we could not ride along the whole canal but we took the chance to ride on the last existing rotating bridge. After a delicious picnic prepared by Michael, we visited the Heddal stave church, the biggest church in Norway of this kind. A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. Most of the surviving stave churches are in Norway. Then we finally reached Oslo, where our hotel is located on the top of the Holmenkollen hill and has a wonderful view over the city!

Old Norwegian village.

Photo stop.

Some ducks coming to greet us.

Coffee break in a ski resort.

Hello guys!

BMW's new liquid-cooled old engine!

The Heddal stave church.

100% wood!

Our hotel at the top of the hill - Holmenkollen!

Finally dinner!

Day 5 - Bergen to Sola

After a day off the bikes enjoying beautiful Bergen also known as 'gateway to the fjords' we jumped back on our bikes to have a 'waterfalls amusement day'! We hit the low traffic secondary roads outside Bergen along the majestic Hardangerfjord. Our first coffee stop we had at the Steindalsfossen where we walked underneath the falling water. All around the Hardangercoastline it looked like they have to grow all the cherries, apples, pears and strawberrys for whole Norway. So many fields!  Next stop Latefoss. Pretty small compared to our next one. The mighty Langfoss with 612 Meter of falling water is the 2nd highest in Norway and #8 world wide. So impressive! We had rain twice today but only for 30 minutes as a reminder how lucky we are. The rest of the day we had only sunshine and up to 30°C until we arrived to Sola in our beach hotel!

Happy faces before the walk up to the top.

Walking underneath the falling water!

Coffee as a reward.

Of course we saw many many trolls again all around.

... maybe that's because of the souvenir stores ...

Would you mind going out of my picture?

Thank you! The Hardanger bridge. Opened in August 2013, not even a year old. Total cost around $ 400.000.000,-!

The $400something including the two underground roundabouts of course! What were you thinking!?

Latefossen. A twin waterfall spraying water all over the cars and bikes passing by in the front of it. Nice to cool down a bit!

The Langfossen! 612 Meter high, #2 of Norway, #8 world wide!

The mexican special norway tour style:

The ladys climbed up all the way and the Captain and his crew only took the pictures!

That's a rewarding photo!

And all together of course!

Only 35 norwegian Kroner! 73 mexican Peso for an empty bottle!

Take this tourism!

Sunset at the beach in Sola!

Day 4 - Restday in Bergen

Today we decided to stay in Bergen and discover this wonderful city that is considered the most beautiful in Norway! We left the hotel after breakfast and we started walking in the historical centre, where still can be found a lot of wooden buildings, all well preserved and painted with vivid colours! We are very lucky to be here during the "Tall Ships Races" an annual international sail training event, because the harbour is full of beautiful sailing ships (some of them also very old!) and it is really nice to walk by the shore! Near the harbour we could not miss a walk in the Bryggen area, that includes 61 wooden buildings typical from the Hanseatic period and is listed in the Unesco World Heritage sites! Some drop of rains convinced us that it was a wise decision not to take the bikes today!

Nice spot of Bergen.

Capitano!

Luckily the Tall Ship Race is happening right this weekend!

Mexicans in Bergen.

Bryggen, the most iconic spot of Bergen.

Inside Bryggen.

People continue drinking coffee outside even during rain.

The harbour looks so beautiful with all these sailing ships!

Nice spots of Bergen.

Day 3 - Sogndal to Bergen

The first thing to do to reach Bergen is to cross the Sognefjord, the longest in Norway and second in the world with around 205 km of lenght! Then a beautiful road through the Aurland mountains, where the environment changed drastically, took us to the amazing viewpoint of Stegastein, a platform located 600 metres above the fjord, where we took a lot of great pictures! A relaxing coffee stop in the village of Flam and we were ready to ride again... the next stop was at the famous Tvindefossen waterfall, one of the main tourist attractions of the region, before finally having lunch (a bit late!) in Voss.

Ferry on the Sognefjord.

Picture stop in the Aurland mountains, this road is open just a few months per year.

The breathtaking view from Stegastein.

Where in the world is Flam?

Coffee break.

The Tvindefossen waterfall.

Day 2 - Geiranger to Sogndal

Today we left the magnificent Fjord of Geiranger going up one of the most spectacular roads in Norway - the Geirangerven. 22 km long with a maxium incline of 10% this road was finished in 1889 just to recieve a goldmedall at the Paris World Expo in 1900 for beeing a masterpiece of roadconstruciton. We took a huge advantage of riding up there before the first cruise ships could unload their tourists and sent them up in those big travel cages called bus. So we had absolutely no traffic and were enjoying every single meter of this wonderful road under pure sunshine. Shortly after we conquered the highest mountain road you can reach in whole Scandinavia - Dalsnibba with 1.495 m above sea level! The view from the top of this mountain was as undescribable as rare! Now clouds blocked our view and we took a lot of pictures. A short coffee stop and then we entered the old Strynfjell mountain road which was built in 1894 and replaced of a tunnel and a new road in 1977. 27 km took us up to 1.139 m into an incredible landscape. Even thoug the weather is just perfect with sunshine all over we found a little bit of snow to cool us down. Next stop was the picnic at lunch time which Domenico perfectly prepared. In the afternoon we visited the Norsk Bremuseum - a Museum about the biggest glacier on the european mainland - the Jostedal glacier. Our hotel is in Sogndal next to the Sognefjord - the longest (204 km), the deepest (1308 m) and also at one point the narrowest Fjord of Europe.

Mexico conquered the Geiranger Fjord.

View from Dalsnibba down to the Geiranger Fjord.

The tour guide Michael.

The road to the mountain top of Dalsnibba.

Our first coffee stop.

No time to undress. Taking pictures.

What a spectacular morning!

The old Strynfjell mountain road.

No tarmac. No traffic. Just beatiful landscape.

Annabelle leading the group on the gravel road.

Snow ahead. Prepare to stop!

Get together!

There you go! Mexicans and snow. Looks awesome!

Somehow reminds me of a hollywood blockbuster when the heroes going in slowmotion to their car.

The other side of the Strynfjell mountain road going down.

Here they come.

There they go!

Billy taking pictures of Annabelle. Or the landscape. Who knows!?

Turns.

And more turns!

Jose and Monica on their R 1200 R enjoying the scenery.

What are they looking at?

Of course, a waterfall.

If you look closely you can spot a very clever GPS system. You just need a passenger.

After the lunch we had a little siesta.

Jostedalsbreen - the biggest glacier showing off in Bøyabreen, Fjærland.

What an amazing view!

By the way: If someone is looking for the summer this year. He is here hanging around with us bikers in Norway.

A great movie about the Jostedal glacier.

Also we experienced the history from the big bang ...

... to the creation of life ...

... up to the problems of our and future generations.

The museum is fantastic and offers a many interesting things to experience by doing it yourself. Jose tried it.

With the last view to the Bøyabreen glacier we arrived to our hotel in Sogndal. What a fantastic day!

Day 1 - Alesund to Geiranger (TG Domenico)

Welcome to Norway, the land of Vikings, Trolls and Fjords!  (Well... of course Norway is much more than this!) This wonderful northern country welcomed us with bright skies, breathtaking colours and very pleasant temperatures... maybe our group of mexicans brought some more Gulf Stream together with them? The tour started with a bang, on the first day we went to see some of the most famous tourist destinations of the country, the impressive Trollstigen road (the stairway of the Trolls) and the fjord of Geiranger! After each curve the scenery was amazing, we did many picture stops... but they could have easily been the double! And of course we have to mention the delicious strawberries that grow in this region... impossible not to try them as well as the famous strawberry cake of the Jordbaestova restaurant!

Views of Alesund, this beautiful town in liberty style!

Alesund in the evening.

Welcome briefing with Michael and Domenico.

Our mexican friends, Monica, Jose, Anna, Billy, Lorena and Alejandro.

First group picture at the Aksla viewpoint in Alesund.

The Trollvegen, with around 1600 metres the highest vertical rock wall in Europe!

One original Troll at the Trollvegen.

The famous Trollstigen road!

Strawberry cake, finally!

On the ferry to cross the fjord in Eidsdal, with our Captain Pepe!

The wonderful Geiranger Fjord, the most famous in Norway.

Picture taking.

What a refreshing waterfall!

Waterproof jackets? Yes!!!