We hung back about 20 minutes to let the initial push subside, and then walked leisurely off, heading first away from town and out on the little point at the end of the pier for some photos:
After which we strolled through town, stopping to admire the cute little church (where some friendly locals, out walking their dog, stopped to chat and seemed genuinely happy that visitors were there and admiring their hometown area) and the train station and train car cafe nearby (we checked prices, as we expected, food out in Norway is sky high--the equivalent of 9 euros was the menu price for a cup of coffee!):
Photo by Jochim
Then we headed up the wide hiking paths that start right behind the little playground. These are short, simple, wide paths that are very pleasant to wander around on, and afford fabulous views:
photo by Joachim
photo by Joachim
photo by Joachim
photo by Joachim
photo by Joachim
photo by Joachim
We wandered for an hour or so, then headed back to town. Stopping in a gift shop, we were very pleasantly surprised to find that while food is very pricey, high quality Norwegian made outdoor clothing was competitively priced. I should also mention that the staff were all super friendly. Marika had been in need of a good waterproof "shell" that can be worn alone, or over her thin down jacket, so we bought her one (you'll see it in photos from subsequent days!).
We were back on the ship around 12:30, having a "free" lunch and planning a more full fledged hike up to the waterfall above town. We dallied too long over lunch and were going to have to hurry when we left the ship again at almost 2:30. Marika worries cutting it even remotely close to sail away time, so elected to stay onboard while David, Joachim and I set out to race up the mountain. (note, we were back on board with 30 minutes to spare--which IS closer than I normally cut it, but being on foot I was sure I oculd get back in that timeframe so it was fine).
To get to the waterfall, the first thing you need to do is cross the river right in town, near where you get off the ship. We crossed over on the footbridge (there is a second bridge, with no official sidewalk that is meant for cars).
After crossing the bridge, turn left and follow the road along the river for a nice, long time. You get to pass lots of adorable sheep and goats along the way, as well as some quaint farm houses, etc.
photo by Joachim
Eventually, the road will pull way from the river a bit, and you will walk along a path with a sign pointing you towards the trail, and finally get to the gate with the a marker pointing you towards "brekkefossen" which just looks like it must mean waterfall, doesn't it? We found, hiking in Norway, that we often went through gates; be sure to close them as you pass through to keep goats and sheep where they belong.
The trail was fairly short (probably about a kilometer and a half, more or less) but also quite steep. I would have enjoyed it more if we had finished lunch and got back out there sooner and been able to go at a slower pace, lol. It was a nice hike though; I am very glad we did it.
photo by Joachim
Do you see that waterfall up above our heads? That's where we were headed (this was taken just inside the gate at the trail head).
photo by Joachim
photo by Joachim
photo by Joachim
The views of the falls and the town were quite nice from up top:
photo by Joachim
photo by Joachim
Of course, we had to get a shot of the group with the falls behind us--since Joachim had brought his tripod up with him:
photo by Joachim
And here I am catching my breath before heading back down--while the guys took loads of photos (thanks guys!):
You probably think this is it for posts about Flam, but sail out was really pretty too (and there were plenty of spots I had slept through that morning), so there will be more more Flam post before moving on.
--Hadley
#flam
#flamnorway
#brekkefossen
#brekkefossenfalls
#flamcruiseport
#flamhike
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