The Koningsdam backed past the Rotterdam silently into its berth just before 8am at the tiny village of Flåm. It was surprising how small the Rotterdam seemed next to the Koningsdam. Since we did not have our Flåm Railway excursion until 11:45am, we enjoyed a leisurely Lido Marketplace breakfast before disembarking the ship for the day. We wandered through the first few gift shops, found the ATM and free WIFI in the train station, and then found the teensy faux train that would take us on a 45 minute trip to the original village. The cost was 120 krone each It turned out to be a nice little trip where we saw among other things a vintage state church, a sod roofed house, a major rock slide, kiddo's playing at a preschool, and more.
After returning to the dock area we scouted out souvenirs and looked around. At noon we gathered for the train and were led up to our reserved car and began the 45 minute ride up the valley to the hotel Vatnahalsen overlooking a mountain lake and just below Myrdal. We were served pancakes and sour cream and jelly along with tea. Along the way we stopped for 5 minutes for pictures at the Kjosfossen (falls) with the mysterious maiden dancing. The scenery was stunning.
Following our ride back down to Flåm, we shopped some more (I bought a down jacket) and more souvenirs. All to soon we had to be on the ship by 5:30om. We were #7 & 8 from the end to board the ship.
Shortly after 6pm we departed The Flåm harbor with appropriate horn toots between the Koningsdam and the Rotterdam which would depart an hour later. The cruise then proceeded out the very scenic Aurlandssfjorden (fjord) to the equally scenic Sognefjorden which is the deepest fjord in Europe. We watched for a couple hours before eating dinner in the Lido and then watching an excellent comedic magician we have seen before (Rubén Vilagrand). He acts like a mime and is very effective as a magician.
We then adjourned to our room to watch the Water Diviner about an Australian father attempting to locate his sons lost in a WWI battle in Turkey. It's very good.
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