Our journey on the Sognefjord begins this morning. It was an easy 10 minute walk from our hotel to the waterfront terminal where the high-speed catamaran leaves at 8AM. It is open seating and I did not know how crowded it would be during tourist season so I made sure we were in line well before the 8 AM departure. The crowd was less than I feared and we got optimal window seats on the upper deck to watch what the trip presented.

The Sognefjord is the longest and deepest fjord in Norway.  It is 117 miles long and has a maximum depth of 4,291 feet! Over 60 miles has a depth of 3,000 feet or more. The average width of the main branch is 3.1 miles.  It is a big body of water! The mountains that surround the fjord have an elevation as much as 3,300 feet. Sognefjord takes its name from the Norwegian district of Sogn, where it is located.

This part of Norway is not heavily populated but the boat did make several stops at small docks to pick up or leave people, as this is the main mode of transportation in this part of the country. Four hours later we were at our destination, the small village of Balestrand where we will be spending two nights before continuing our “Nutshell” trip.

Balestrand had a 2013 population of about 819. What makes it surprising is it’s main attraction, the famous large (now 195 rooms) Kviknes hotel which was first completed in 1913 as a 25 room destination for tourists and artists who flocked to the area to paint the beautiful scenery of the region. The 1960’s modernistic (I.e. Holiday Inn) addition of 165 rooms has destroyed (in my opinion) the classic character of the original hotel. Luckily they did retain and use the original hotel with its lovely dining room and public rooms/bar which are handsomely decorated with historical furniture and paintings. Only the sleeping rooms were a disappointment to me.

Our room was not yet available when we arrived so we wandered the waterfront and ate lunch at a small, family owned restaurant that was decorated with scads of family pictures on the wall. I felt like I was in my grandmother’s home; it was that folksy.

About the only other attraction in the village was a small aquarium which we chose to visit. It was surprisingly informative, featuring the sea life of the area. They handed out large English language guidebooks that explained what we were seeing in the various tanks. Children from all over Norway come here yearly for a few days to study the sea and what it offers.

We were asked to make reservations for their well-regarded (by Rick Steves) buffet dinner. To pass the time we sat outside with a cocktail and enjoyed the late afternoon sun and surroundings. As would be expected the buffet focuses much on seafood of all types, although there were dishes for carnivores and salad lovers. The only shortcoming I saw was in the dessert offerings, but I managed.

There is an daily after-dinner piano offering in the vintage bar, hosted by a classical pianist (Age Kristoffersen) who studied under Leonard Bernstein and still does concerts around the world. His 45 minute set focused mostly on popular songs that we all can recognize, although he did sneak a couple of Grieg classical pieces into his set.