My husband and I have just returned from a two-week excursion that our tour company titled, “Highlights of Scandinavia and Baltic Cruise.” How do I describe these “highlights”? I hardly know where to begin, so I’ve made a list of my ten favorite things about this trip.

First on the list would be all the different modes of transportation. We not only traveled by planes, trains, and automobiles, but also by ferries, buses, and boats. Reading the agenda before we left, I thought all the hopping on this and getting off that would be exhausting, but it was actually fun.

Two of our ferries involved overnight cruises. One took us from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm. The second transported us from Copenhagen to Oslo. That’s the flag of Denmark in this picture.

High-speed trains are a novelty to me but common when traveling in Europe or Scandinavia. Our train ride from Stockholm to Copenhagen was comfortable and relaxing as was our trip from Oslo to Myral, Norway, where we boarded the Flamsbana, a quaint little train that took us to the famous village called Flam.

This combination train ride from Oslo to Flam has been called one of the twenty best train journeys in the world. We rode through the beautiful mountains of Norway as our train climbed to the small town of Myrdal, where we switched to the Flamsbana for our last twelve steep, curvy miles of the trip.

The Flamsbana stopped at one point in the journey for a photo opportunity of a waterfall and a visit from mysterious mountain “sirens,” who tried to lure us into the wilds with their eerie singing (see one dressed in red in bottom right of photo). Scandinavian culture is big on sprites, elves, trolls, and wandering lost spirits wailing by the waterfalls!

The train ride to Flam was a highlight, no doubt, but the Village of Flam itself made it into my list of top ten favorites. In contrast to all the big cities we wandered through, this small town of only four hundred residents was easy to navigate. There was no getting lost.

But the views were the best part of Flam. We hiked uphill to an amazing waterfall and were rewarded with a panoramic display of the surrounding countryside.

If I had to pick a number one reason I loved this trip to Scandinavia and Estonia, it would have to be the fjords we sailed on in Norway. Seeing the fjords was a major reason for my wanting to go, and I was not disappointed.

The names are long and impossible for me to pronounce correctly: the Aurlandsfijord, the Naeroyfjord, the Songefijord. They are the narrowest, wildest, and most beautiful in the world. Needless to say, these fjords have UNESCO World Heritage recognition. From the boat, I drank in the sights of majestic mountains, thundering waterfalls, and colorful houses along the shoreline.

Cell-phone pictures can’t capture the sheer beauty of the Norwegian fjords.

Leaving eastern North Carolina in the hot, humid days of August, I appreciated the Scandinavian/ Northern Europe weather. In fact, the lower temps and humidity were a favorite part of the trip. I actually wore a jean jacket and a windbreaker on a couple of occasions.

My husband and I were able to walk our many steps each day without breaking into an absolute sweat as we would have at home.

Abundant rainfall–which, fortunately, we saw none of–and mild summer temperatures are evidently conducive to growing stunning flowers. I know you don’t have to travel to Scandinavia to see beautiful blooms, but oh, my word, enjoying the public gardens made it into my list of top ten things I loved about this trip.

Here’s a colorful display in Bergen, Norway, the last city we visited.

To recap, in no particular order, here are the first five of my top ten favorites: different modes of transportation, village of Flam, Norwegian fjords, the Scandinavian/Northern Europe weather in August, and the stunning flowers.

Wonder what the other five favorites are? Next week, I’ll let you know in part two of this trip recap.