Day 1 – Sunday, October 2, 2022

We were only in Oslo for one full day but it was enough to see most of the city sights that interested us. We started with the Oslo Opera House, which was beautiful modern architecture.

We stepped into the Deichman Oslo Public Library next door with no expectations. We actually just wanted to use their bathrooms but then discovered this highly stylish library that blew my mind. Everything was so wonderfully designed to my aesthetic style. From their bookshelves, light fixtures to their desks and chairs, it was the library of my design dreams.

We walked along the Karl Johans Gate street and discovered all shopping stores were closed on a Sunday —probably better for my wallet and limited luggage space though. We stopped for lunch at Kaffistova, a restaurant famous for its meatballs. It was exactly like IKEA’s Swedish meatball dish but more fresh and flavorful. It was delicious.

We continued to the Royal Palace and saw the guards change for a bit. I was getting tired of walking so we rented e-scooters. It took some getting used to and I was worried about falling. But after a while, I got the hang of it and we were using it to explore Oslo.

We rode them to Akershus Fortress to admire some old brick buildings. It wasn’t too special since I wasn’t a history buff.

Then we rode our scooters to Aker Brygge and Tjuvholmen area to admire the dock and modern architecture. Finally, we headed to the Oslo Street Food hall, which had a fun vibe with various food vendors. We picked Korean of the bunch because we missed Asian cuisine.

After dinner, it was still early and the weather was nice. I had one more stop in mind and Chi encouraged us to do it. We walked to Damstredet, which was a picturesque street. I’m pretty glad we went as it was a highlight of the day. The buildings were so charming and it was golden hour.

Day 2 – Monday, October 3, 2022

We took one of the world’s most scenic train rides from Oslo to Flåm. It would take about 5 hours, with a change of trains in Myrdal. The train ride was as scenic as promised, if not more than what I expected. The skies started blue in Oslo and slowly grayed as we approached Flåm. What I loved was seeing the trees in autumn colors making the mountains yellow and orange. There were rolling hills, charming towns to dramatic mountains, and rushing waters.

The train also had a cafe car, where we had lunch. It was a great slower travel experience and I couldn’t keep my eyes away from the windows.

We switch to the Flåmsbana Railway Line which was a shorter 1-hour ride in an older classic carriage. This ride ran from the high mountains at Myrdal station down to Aurlandsfjord filled with tunnels, waterfalls, rivers, and mountains.

When we arrived in Flåm, we checked into our hotel Flåmsbrygga and quickly wandered out before it would get too dark. We ended up renting e-bikes to bike around and get more views of the fjord.

We had dinner at Ægir BryggeriPub, our hotel restaurant and their food was better than expected. My pork shank was flavorful and homely. Chi really enjoyed his tomato-based fish soup too.

Day 3 – Tuesday, October 4, 2022

It was a rainy day that started with a hotel breakfast and a baked sandwich from Flåm Bakery. We boarded the 2-hour cruise across Aurlandsfjord & Nærøyfjord.

The scenery was magical even though it was rainy, cold and gray. I could only imagine how much more special it’d be in sunny weather —which I guess is pretty rare this time of year in Flåm.

The best view was once we approach Gudvangen. The still water reflected the mountains and it was quite the mirror reflection. This was my favorite part of this fjord.

We walked over to the Viking village, which included an educational guided tour to give us a glimpse of the Viking times. There were old Viking homes and also had some hands-on activities like archery and axe throwing. We also had lunch here after before catching our bus and train to Bergen, the second largest city in Norway after Oslo.

Bergen was charming and more picturesque than Oslo. There were hills surrounding with old buildings perched on them. The only downside is it’s the rainiest city in Europe with rain 239 days a year! We didn’t want to venture to far and Korean bbq food from Kobi sounded great given that we missed rice and Asian soup. It was not bad and hit the spot for us.

Day 4 – Wednesday October 5, 2022

It was a grey gloomy day with 100% chance of rain. We started our day with breakfast at our hotel and then bused to Bryggen, an UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. It was starting to rain so we didn’t spend long wandering despite my desired to. The old buildings were charming and historic but now mostly converted to tourist shops or cafes.

Chi went into a designer home shop with me and he was in awe of well designed goods. It was cute and I must have been like that in Copenhagen. For lunch, we had a hot dog from a popular local spot… My bratwurst was nothing special and Chi tried the reindeer dog.

The rain was a downer, Bergen is such a beautiful city to explore but we had to find shelter even with our umbrellas and rain jackets. We went to the aquarium and saw various local and non-local fish.

We had a short coffee and tea break in a mall before having dinner at the small fish market. This fish market wasn’t much of a fresh market but three dining options that is geared towards tourists. It did have a perfect glass patio with nice views of Bryggen.

I’d like to revisit but hopefully in sunnier blue skies… I can already tell I’d want to be back in Norway during the summer season. We flew to Ålesund for the next part of our Norway adventure.