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We just finished a week in Norway with no computers, half our luggage (not much to start with), minimal showering and life in a tent (without a tarp). The week was very beautiful and very wet. I think it was the best week I've had this year.
We took the Oslo-Bergen train and stopped at Myrdal, where we hiked 21km down the Flåm valley to the town of Flåm. Having not hiked in a while, I had no idea what kind of time we would make so we were in a bit of a rush. We ended up getting far under estimate and 10 minutes before the grocery store closed to boot! There is really no dinner like the dinner you have after a long day of walking (no matter what the food is).
Luckily, I still managed to snap a few pictures in our haste. Most people take the Flåmsbana, an hour-long scenic train ride down, but the views from the train are incomparable to the hike (we took the train on our way back up a few days later).
While the valley is spectacular, Flåm itself (in the distance) is a bit of a tourist town, a sightseeing cruise and train hub with little to experience and not much of a fjord view. So, the next day we hiked to Aurland (from where this photo was taken). Somehow we made the seriously steep and curvy 8km on what seemed like an unmarked path.
I'm still not sure if we were even on a marked route, seeing how we didn't have real maps our entire time in Norway... but we found lots of wild raspberries! Enough said.
Aurland is much more of a town, filled with friendly faces and pretty houses, so we made it our base for the next few days. From Aurland we had another very vertical day hiking 2/3 of the way up the mountain Prest (Note: Norwegian mountains are very small) to a lookout over the Aurlandsfjord.
Always lots of sheep (and flies) to keep us company through the Norwegian woods. and everywhere else.
The Aurlandsfjord, which is really only the tip of the Sognefjord, longest fjord in the world. Doesn't a kayak trip through the fjords sound perfect? One day, a must.
There is also very elegant lookout structure designed by Canadian architectsTodd Saunders & Tommie Wilhelmsen. This picture really doesn't do it justice. For brilliant craftmanship, a feeling of vertigo I could honestly describe as "beautiful" and other reasons, it really must be experienced.
The Norwegian mountains. So much beautiful rock, it reminded me of home.
Girona is a very pretty little town we stayed in for one night, somewhat in transit between London and Barcelona. It has no beach, which is what usually entices holiday-goers to small Spanish towns, but I highly recommend visiting it nonetheless.
Girona has a lot of other things to offer. For instance, you can walk all along the city's original walls, which rise to give you a ridiculously beautiful panorama of the Catalonian hills.
Interesting Fact: Lance Armstrong lives here. I wonder why...
We happened to arrive during a cultural food fair part of the city's summer festival. There were tents set up under the great cathedral, offering international foods. I had an empanada, which was pretty good, but not quite up to Toronto standards (I miss you, Kensington).
They seem to have the perfect mix of history and modernism going on; the old town has been well-preserved with contemporary (but tasteful) rennovations and is just as lively as the rest of the city (if not moreso).
Lots of pretty architectural details to stumble upon...
Old and new!! In Harmony!! It is possible! Take note, North America.
St. Paul's.
Sometimes London seems to change into a different city around every corner.
We just finished a week in Norway with no computers, half our luggage (not much to start with), minimal showering and life in a tent (without a tarp). The week was very beautiful and very wet. I think it was the best week I've had this year. 
We took the Oslo-Bergen train and stopped at Myrdal, where we hiked 21km down the Flåm valley to the town of Flåm. Having not hiked in a while, I had no idea what kind of time we would make so we were in a bit of a rush. We ended up getting far under estimate and 10 minutes before the grocery store closed to boot! There is really no dinner like the dinner you have after a long day of walking (no matter what the food is). 
Luckily, I still managed to snap a few pictures in our haste. Most people take the Flåmsbana, an hour-long scenic train ride down, but the views from the train are incomparable to the hike (we took the train on our way back up a few days later). 
While the valley is spectacular, Flåm itself (in the distance) is a bit of a tourist town, a sightseeing cruise and train hub with little to experience and not much of a fjord view. So, the next day we hiked to Aurland (from where this photo was taken). Somehow we made the seriously steep and curvy 8km on what seemed like an unmarked path. 
I'm still not sure if we were even on a marked route, seeing how we didn't have real maps our entire time in Norway... but we found lots of wild raspberries! Enough said. 
Aurland is much more of a town, filled with friendly faces and pretty houses, so we made it our base for the next few days. From Aurland we had another very vertical day hiking 2/3 of the way up the mountain Prest (Note: Norwegian mountains are very small) to a lookout over the Aurlandsfjord.
Always lots of sheep (and flies) to keep us company through the Norwegian woods. and everywhere else. 
The Aurlandsfjord, which is really only the tip of the Sognefjord, longest fjord in the world. Doesn't a kayak trip through the fjords sound perfect? One day, a must. 
There is also very elegant lookout structure designed by Canadian architectsTodd Saunders & Tommie Wilhelmsen. This picture really doesn't do it justice. For brilliant craftmanship, a feeling of vertigo I could honestly describe as "beautiful" and other reasons, it really must be experienced.
The Norwegian mountains. So much beautiful rock, it reminded me of home.
