Oh the Places I've Seen! Norwegian Fjords

I love many different kinds of travel. Teeming vibrant cities are energizing. Museums and monuments satisfy a thirst for knowledge and can be awe inspiring as well. But there is something about that special combination of majestic mountains, trees, and water that is wonderfully uplifting.  Seattle or Vancouver on a sunny day. The Chilean fjords (although we had more clouds than sun when we sailed through). Or Norway.

Several years ago, we cruised from Rotterdam all the way to Nordkapp, above the Arctic Circle. We spent many days gazing at the mountains, the water, the waterfalls, the trees. From the ship, from a bus, from a train, on foot. And I never tired of it. I've felt the same way riding a ferry across Sydney harbor or through the Stockholm archipelago (even though neither has mountains). It makes me feel happy and serene.

We have yet to see the New Zealand fjords. Some Australian friends we met on our Norway trip felt that the two are tied in the beauty category. New Zealand is high on our list of places to see. We're all about finding out for ourselves.

In the meantime, when I'm in yoga class and the teacher encourages us to imagine a place that makes you feel uplifted and serene, I picture myself standing on the deck of the ship, sun in my face, breeze blowing my hair, gazing across the water at the mountains of a Norwegian fjord.