Day 03 - Cross-country train trip to Bergen, boarding our ship

 

We checked out of our hotel in Oslo bright and early and met up with a local Viking representative who took all our luggage and then walked us over to the train station next to our hotel.  We then boarded an inter-city train for a seven-hour cross-country trip from Oslo to Bergen to meet up with our cruise ship.  The scenary enroute was just breathtaking, it reminded us of our trip to Alaska. 

We arrived on time in Bergen at 3PM.  Another local Viking representative met us at the train station and whisked us to our ship.  We were in our stateroom with a complimentary glass of champagne by 3:15PM.  We had our first dinner onboard, it was lovely! 


Scenary spoke for itself - mountains, lakes, and snow!

Lovely lake with mountains in the distance.


We stopped at about four stations enroute, just long enough to disembark some passengers and bring some new ones on board

As we got closer to the coast the terrain got rougher.  The greenery was more sparse, houses were fewer and farther apart, roads were often unpaved or just paths.


We saw many streams with rapids...

... with and without bridges.


A couple of times we hit tunnels and all the lights would go out...

Another breathtaking view...


... and another.

The last stop before Bergen.


Bergen train station - we later saw this same shot in the 2017 movie "The Snowman"!


Lounging on our balcony with our complimentary glass of champagne.  Bergen harbor in the background.

Lounging on our balcony with our complimentary glass of champagne.  Bergen harbor in the background.


The beginning of dinner, some caprese and soup.  An indication of good things to come!