Europe 2018...Day 4: Balestrand, Norway

After a 0630 flight from Copenhagen, we arrived to Bergen and visited the duty free shop, grabbed our rental car, and hit the road towards Balestrand!  We laughed because our rental car experience in a foreign country was easier than it was in San Francisco, which was pathetic.

We loaded up in our car and hit the road.  We were advised that you cannot turn right on red in Norway, but not to worry because there are very few stoplights.  I counted that we encountered two stoplights in the entire time.  Yeah, think about that for a second.  Norway is the king of round-abouts though.

Ken did such a great job driving us around.  This was our first time to every rent a car in Europe.  Usually we take the train all around, but with the proximity of sites in Norway, a car was the way to go.  We were fortunate enough to have GPS built into the car, so that definitely help navigating instead of me *attempting* to read a map.

Our first fjord view just outside of Bergen

The drive to Bergen was full of beautiful scenery.  We probably saw 300 waterfalls and that is not an exaggeration.  The drive took about four hours, including a ferry crossing.  The ferry ride was unbelievable.  We took the E13 all the way to Balestrand and crossed over Mt. Vik, which was beautiful.  I would definitely recommend this route if you are deciding between this and the E39.

Stopping to enjoy a little lunch on our drive

On board the ferry to Dragsvik

Ferry views.  Just a few of the waterfalls we got to see during our time in Norway.

Our hotel, Dragsvik Fjordhotel, was located right next to the ferry crossing and 6 miles from Balestrand proper.  I had debated about staying right in Balestrand, but ultimately decided to stay at the Dragsvik, which we were very happy with.  

After checking into to our hotel, we walked around for a while before deciding on a hike.  I had read about nature trails and hikes you can do from there.  Well, I noticed the nature trail sign right by our hotel and we decided we would hike to Burasi.  The only problem was that the red trail was not labeled for Burasi like it was supposed to be.  At any rate, we decided to follow the red trail for a while and then met up with the blue trail and looped back around.  

We learned the next day that the hike to Burasi is actually located in Balestrand proper off the nature trails.  The funniest thing happened during our hike.  We ran into not one, but two rotting deer carcasses.  The actual funny part of it was that Ken walked right past both of them and did not notice them at all.  When we got home I told Kya that her dad completely walked right by two dead carcasses without even noticing.  She was embarrassed for him.

Fjord views from our hike

Beautiful views all around. Can you believe someone actually lives right by where I took this picture and they see this view daily?

The only time during our entire trip that we did not have three layers of clothes on.

After our short hike, we drove to Balestrand to find some dinner.  Balestrand is very small, as we were expecting.  We were sad that we could not find a place for dinner with fjord views, but we found a little spot and enjoyed some dinner and finished it off with apple pie.  

Ken's favorite moment in Balestrand.  Rudolph anyone?

We drove back to our hotel and decided to enjoy a little wine on our balcony.  We had a pretty fantastic view after all.

One of my favorite pictures from the entire trip.  In this house we enjoy the finest boxed wine that money can buy.  Seriously though, Norway is EXPENSIVE.

We grabbed our hammock and walked down closer to the water and set it up to enjoy a drink over the fjord.  

Ken enjoying the view 

Fjord views for the win

Some bugs showed up, so we did not enjoy this area for very long before heading back to our hotel.  As we were sitting outside, it started to drizzle a bit and then it turned to sunshine and we saw a beautiful rainbow.  The rainbow then turned to a double rainbow.  This was all around 11:00 pm.

Enjoying the rainbow and my wine from France

I went to bed and Ken stayed up to see the midnight sun.  He snapped a few pictures and my goodness, is this area beautiful at midnight.

One of the ferries

A sunset overlooking our hotel

The beautiful Sognefjord

I am so glad Ken stayed up and got a few pictures since the remainder of our trip did not have the best weather.  We had a great first day in Norway!  Up next is another day in Balestrand.

Cheers from Norway!