Today was a pretty amazing day!

A 2 hour bus ride to a Viking Village treated us to such gorgeous scenery! The Hardangerfjord, in western Norway,  is the 2nd longest fjord in Norway and the 3rd longest in the world. I simply cannot explain how many waterfalls there are here. There are some huge impressive ones, as you will see, but there are also skinnier but higher ones everywhere. At one stop, I counted 6 just in my view at that moment! We stopped at Tvindefossen which means twin falling waters (the Norwegians do not call them waterfalls!) Absolutely amazing!

Tunnels! So many tunnels! And a roundabout in the middle of the tunnel!!

The tour guide at the Viking Village was great (as was our bus tour guide). Carl, the Viking (or Wyking as the Norwegians say) had a wonderfully dry sense of humor. Depending on who you listen to, the Vikings were either sea merchants or marauders! The Norwegian culture requires the father to leave his property to the eldest son and the rest have to make their own way. Some of them took to the waters to find their fortunes. Their long boats were the envy of the rest of Scandinavia for their ability to sit high on the water so they could get very close to land without having to swim to shore. They were also easier to portage from one body of water to the next. They were talented metalsmiths and fiber weavers. We were treated to lunch in an ambient room to root vegetables, braised pork with beer sauce, cabbage, rolls, and apple cake and yogurt with rhubarb jam. Quite good.

On the way back to the ship, we stopped at Skjervsfossen waterfall. We were able to walk down to within 50 feet of the water! The spray from the falls gave us a little bath!