Arrival in Vågsvåg

Before leaving Bergen I had fun doing some shopping (surprise, surprise) at the Bryggen shops. It reminded me a little bit of shopping at the Emporium in Arnold's Park - old merchant buildings re-purposed as quaint souvenior shops for tourists. There one could purchase an assortment of Norwegian novelties from wool sweaters, which one day you will surely see Bob and I wearing, to lots of trolls, Norwegian flags, t-shirts, etc... After finding a few treasures and wondering how I was going to fit them in my suitcase, we headed back to our apartment to check out and to get ready for our boat ride up to the Nordfjord. 

We boarded the Norled express boat at the harbor, waved goodbye to Bergen and started up the picturesque, almost mythical, coastline towards our destination, Vågsoy.  

The 4 1/2 hour express boat ride along Norway's coastline was breathtaking as the boat wove between islands and navigated through the fjords. Wow! I was once again left speechless by the beauty around every bend. I tried to capture the granduer of the mountains, the ruggedness of the hillsides, the gracefulness of the waterfalls and the tranquility of the still fjord waters many times with my camera but I'm sorry to say, it is impossible to describe the panoramic views with simple snapshots here and there. I was drawn over and over again to the bright green gently sloping land serenely dotted with brightly painted red-wooden buildings next to the deep blue waters of the fjord. 

With the wind whipping through our hair and the ocean air making our lips taste salty, we made our way up the coast. It soon became evident that we were finally going to see where Bob's great-grandparents, Jorgen and Christine, came from in Norway. After months of planning, this dream was finally coming to fruition. The magnitude of this reality was very emotional, especially for Bob. 

It was hard to contain our excitement as we approached the dock in Måløy where we were eagerly greeted by several cousins. (Thanks Lisbeth for waving the Norwegian flag for us!!) Before I knew it we were on our way down the narrow winding narrow road along the island shore of Vågsøy towards Vågsvåg..... I was overwhelmed with the view of the island and fjord as the sun was setting. What a truly beautiful place! 

Upon arrival to Vågsvåg we were introduced to many of our Våge cousins and served a Norwegian feast!! What fun we had finally meeting our cousins, looking at pictures, discussing our common ancestors and comparing some noted Våge physical similarities. It felt like we were home even though we had just arrived....