Wedneday morning, April 17, Stephanie and I hiked up Mt. Fløyen.
It was a series of roads that had switchbacks. The individual
trails weren't too steep.
The hike started by some parks. One had a fountain. Another
had a playground. Then we walked through a wooded, forest area
with lots of mossy rocks, at least on some parts of the path.
Eventually we got to the top. There were a lot of people around
there, including a lot of kids. We had lunch at the restaurant
there, then explored the top area, which had goats there to help
eat the grass and find any extra sleep that might be might be missing.
As a bonus, I saw Martin, the guy who took our picture the previous
night when we were riding the funicular up here. Yes, I met a total
of 1 person in Norway and then run into him the next day.
After that, we hiked back down taking a slightly different route,
passing through some neighborhoods and eventually reaching the bottom
(and a bathroom). We headed towards the Bergenhus Fortress east of
the peninsula where we were yesterday, but that's the next folder/album.
The Skansen Brannstasjon, which is the old firestation, was the first place we reached. There's a main building and a shallow but fairly wide fountain.
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A bit of silliness with my wide angle lens, the remote shutter control, and an...(more)
We next passed a children's playground. There was a long silver tube that snaked its way downhill and stairs next to it to get to the top. It was a pretty long slide. Stephanie gave it a try, and had fun without injury, so I did the same. Then she did it one more time for good measure. There are some spots where there are panels to let light in, so you're not going through it completely in the dark. And yes, the title of this section is a Simpsons reference.
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Frank waiting in the distance at the top. I wanted to make sure it was clear...(more)
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Just beyond the slide was a statue of a reindeer. Stephanie loaned her hat to...(more)
As we wandered further up the hill, we entered a more foresty area with tall trees and moss-covered rocks. It had a very different feel to the place, some of it seemed almost tundra-like. Some of the shapes and colorings of the rocks and trees put one in the mind of Scandenavian trolls. The giant ones, not the sexy ones.
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There were tall trees and some steep rock faces. I guess everything is tall...(more)
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This one kind of reminds me of the Swamp Thing. I wanted to see if I could...(more)
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It was surprising how green things became. There was a little water run in...(more)
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Bergenhus Festning in the center with a large cruise ship docked to the right,...(more)
We got to the top. Not more to say.
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Stephanie posed by a weather- vane that looked like a harpoon. Add Photoshop...(more)
The top of the mountain is 320 meters above sea level (about 1050 feet, just 50 feet below Ithaca's altitude). We had lunch at the Fløien Folkerestaurant,
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There was some odd caterpillar thing on a playground so I posed riding it. I...(more)
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Frank's at the Fløien Folkerestaurant, a traditional Norwegian poke bowl. ...(more)
At the top of Mt. Fløyen there was a sign that mentioned how
there were a herd of goats there to help keep the grass short.
The goats have high tech collars that "fence" them
in to certain areas. It gives them a little warning buzz or
a warning shock if they stray from the area. I think it gives
up after a zap. They quickly learn and usually it doesn't take
more than a buzz, and they'll move to a different area. They
seem to be pretty mellow goats and don't mind people or being
petted and seemed to mostly enjoy taking naps.
While here, I ran into Martin from the visit to the mountain
top the previous night. He was here with his wife and child.
He had told me he lived nearby and that the funicular was part
of his commute. I didn't take any pictures of him, it felt
like it'd be rude. But I was amused that I ran into the one
person I met in the country. It also made me feel like this
place was worth going to twice, day and night, if a local does
the same.
After spending a couple hours at the top of the mountain (including lunch and goats), we headed back down.
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We took a slightly different way down and wound up at the Skansemyren Sports...(more)
At some point Stephanie needed to make a pit stop. Early on we couldn't find any restrooms, and even though there were woods, they were fairly sparse and there were a lot of people on the paths. And some of them might be Vikings. We thought the Sports Field might have a bathroom but while the track was open the buildings were not. We continued and got into a residential neighborhood. There were some houses with nice views, but that didn't help much. Eventually we got back down and found a little bar and restaurant that fit the bill. Since I was waiting around, I took some pictures of flowers. For reference, the street was Nordre Skansemyren which is between the sports field and the last station before the top on the funicular.
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Someone saw me taking pictures. He said something to me in Norwegian and after...(more)