Happy campers in Gudvangen

I had fairly low expectations of the Gudvangen campground, but it delivered big time.

 

We had a two bedroom cabin with loft and pull out sofa.  And 3 channels of TV. (The kids loved BarneTV- the children's programming.) And wifi.

 

We used the sofa because we couldn't feasibly have 2 of our kids sleep in that loft with nothing to stop them from falling 8 feet in the middle of the night.

It also had a pretty great kitchen.  So Rob walked to the nearest grocery store/gas station and bought some provisions. (Our standard travel fare: yogurt, granola, sandwich stuff, milk, bread, fruit.  In Gudvangen this bag of groceries cost us $50, but I digress.) Meanwhile I made up the beds with the rented linens and showered the children.  We finally ate dinner at 10 pm.  It was still completely light out.

 

The next morning we woke up around 8, ate breakfast, and let the kiddos check out the playground in front of our cabin, while we sat on the porch and soaked up the scenery.

 

We could see 9 major waterfalls and countless smaller ones just sitting in front of our cabin.

 

This was our home for two nights, the one farthest to the right.

 

Swinging.

 

Soccer.

 

Then we headed out to explore the area and look for a decent hike.  We walked along the river back into "town." Gudvangen has been around since the middle ages, but I read somewhere that everyone died during a plague in the 1200s and the town wasn't re-inhabited until the 1400s. Besides subsistence farming, it was a stopping place for the mail carriers back in the day.  Now, of course, the main economy is tourist driven.

 

And took some more photos by the fjord.

Viking (Ninja Turtle) Bear.

 

Anderson is a great Norwegian name... except it isn't.

 

The only problem with these spectacular cliffs is that there wasn't a clear place for us to hike up them.  We did however find a lovely walk past this sheep farm.

 

To the base of the waterfalls that we enjoyed looking at from our cabin.

 

And we loved being away from the crush of the Nutshell tourists and out on our own.

 

Back in Gudvangen we ate lunch and drank hot chocolate at the only restaurant/cafeteria in town.  We also asked someone to take this (comical) family photo for us, bought some souvenirs, and experienced the two things that happen to us everywhere we travel in Europe.  Someone counted our children "ein, two, dre, vier." And several Asian tourists smiled and waved at our children and took photos of them like they were celebrities. Everywhere we go.  

After lunch, we headed back to the cabin and ALL collapsed for 3 hour naps. We were so completely exhausted!  When we woke up it was raining again, so the kids watched some BarneTV while Rob and I sat on the porch.  Then we ate some basic dinner and ice cream bars from the campground office's shop and went back to bed for the night.  We had a bit more traveling to do the next day and needed our rest.