Morris Murdock Escorted Tours

What an incredible experience to visit the land of fire and ice and the land of the midnight sun in one trip!  Our recent Nordic Adventure to Iceland and Norway was truly a remarkable and memorable experience.  Each country is unique and delightful and we are all ready to go back! 

In Iceland we stayed in Reykjavik and took day trips to the East, to the South and to the North.  We saw spectacular beaches, geysers, waterfalls, volcanos, and glaciers.  We experienced sun, rain, wind, and snow.  We soaked in the famous Blue Lagoon, we walked through the town that was abandoned this past year as a result of volcanic activity and massive lava flows.  We could see the steam and smell the Sulphur in the air. We created our own Northern Lights while dancing at midnight in the middle of nowhere.  We had delicious food including a lunch of wonderful tomato soup and bread at the greenhouses where the tomatoes are grown utilizing thermal heat and energy that is abundant throughout the island.  We learned all about trolls and fairies and the 13 Yule lads and the sagas of Iceland that include an inordinate amount of family dysfunction and murder.

From Iceland, we flew to Norway and got to experience the beauty of this magnificent country. We started in Bergen and then traversed the fjords and stayed in the beautiful little town of Balestrand in a spectacular old hotel.  There was a wonderful little church, actually the one which inspired the Disney animators for the scene of Anna’s coronation in “Frozen.”  As the priest had left town for the year, we were able to hold a very nice Sunday service there with just our group.  The altar piece was a marvelous painting inspired by Thorvaldsen’s Christus—that was an image we saw in many places throughout the country.  In Oslo we got to explore the city and particularly enjoyed the Vigeland Park and all of his amazing sculptures.  The open-air folk museum was a true highlight as well as the fantastic city hall where they give out the Nobel Peace Prize.

We traveled by plane, bus, ferry, train, taxi, funicular, and many miles on foot.  We came home with lots of wool sweaters, warm hearts, new friends, and happy memories.  It was truly the trip of a lifetime!