}
When I arrived in Norway, it was peaceful and serene, yet something was off. I couldn't put my finger on it. Was it that nearly everyone I saw was blonde? No, I was expecting that. Was is that a majority of people wear brightly colored jackets and black spandex? No, it's morning and they are all out for their morning exercises.
As we sat in a cafe in Bergen, drinking a "sot chili" espresso drink made up of vanilla, espresso and chocolate, it dawns on us. Where is the background music? Where is the sound of traffic? Where is the cafe chatter?
While browsing a bookshelf, I noticed a book called, "The Quiet Room," and a title couldn't be more appropriate. From the moment, we boarded the train from the airport to Oslo, it was quiet. The hum of the train and the breath of passengers reading, checking emails and sleeping, were the only noise we heard along the tracks.
After we explored the sculpture gardens of Oslo, we began our journey through to the Fjords that was wrapped up in what the tourist industry calls, "Norway in a Nutshell." We took a 5 hour train ride north from Oslo and boarded a "mail boat" and headed down the coast. It was less of a mailboat and more like a cruise boat with a couple stacks of mail. While I'd like to say it was a wonderful boat, it all honesty, it was...well....slow and a real opportunity to experience the silence. I think we may have been the only people talking on the boat. We finally arrived in Bergen, where we explored the Viking Village. It was also the start of a game of planes, trains and ferries. We boarded a train east to Voss and then into Gudvagen Fjord.
The fog nestled between the crevasses of the mountain as we sailed into the blue waters. The quiet room was no longer quiet as it filled with a cacophony of lanuages and clicking cameras. Tourists crowded the walls, eager to capture the "best shot" on their 3 inch screens. Meanwhile others, leaned dangerous off the edge of the rail, determined to get the perfect selfie. Has anyone ever researched the psychological process behind a selfie? We witnessed one woman take nearly 50 selfies of herself as she perfected her pucker mouth.
Frustrated by selfie mania, I stood up on my chair and peered over to see the astonishing Yosemite like cliffs which loomed over us as we widened around the bends of the Fjord. The fog finally lifted and the sun came out and welcomed us to the quaint town of Flam where we were to board a train back to Oslo.
The train was delayed for almost 2 hours which gave us enough time to reflect on the beautiful scenery we had just witnessed and time to do handstands! Yes, handstands! It is a tradition that my aunt started and so I thought, why not? I skipped over to the red wall, put my hands on the floor and kicked up. Fellow foreigners watched my attempted to stand upside down and in just a couple moments, I had a man from China and a 60 year old man from Chicago successfully doing handstands against the wall. We all laughed and chatted together until the train arrived and we were on our way back to Oslo, in the silent car.