viking.com | 27
W I N T E R I S S U E 3 0
Ja, vi elsker dette landet. As a child poring over the Norway section of a
World Book Encyclopaedia, I committed these words from the Norwegian
national anthem to memory as I imagined what it would be like to go
there some day. Flash forward to that travel dream coming true more than
30 years later and the words come flooding back. Though on that first visit
in 2013, nordlys, the Norwegian word for northern lights, is my new
favourite word as I gaze up at them in wonder.
After a second visit just before the world changed in 2020, now I'm back
for a third time and my Norway awe is still real. In English, ja, vi elsker
dette landet means 'yes we love this country'. And I couldn't agree more.
Our 15-day Viking Homelands cruise from Bergen to Stockholm starts with
six days in Norway before continuing to Denmark, Germany, Poland,
Estonia and Sweden. After dropping our bags off at the Viking Jupiter®,
my mother and I walk down to the historic harbour area of Bryggen. Some
of the colourful wooden buildings in this UNESCO World Heritage Site
date back to around 1350, and as we stroll laneways and buy handmade
souvenirs it's easy to imagine the wharf's early Hanseatic days.
In every port, Viking offers at least one complimentary tour and we join a
Panoramic Bergen tour. Over the next two hours we visit sites including
the Nykirken where we go underneath the New Church to see the
remains of the Archbishop's Residence, and a 19th century music
pavilion on a walk through the city park.
From Bergen, we travel deeper into fjord country. As we sail from the
Hardangerfjord into the narrower, and even more majestic Eidfjord, I'm
feeling the full 'pinch me' effect as we glide past steep cliffs ribboned
with waterfalls. The dock at the end of the fjord is such a beautiful place
