By Steve Bergsman

I don't recall Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing one of his Sherlock Holmes stories about something nefarious happening in Norway. As for Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), didn't she write some little book called "Out of Africa"? I don't think there was a follow-up called "Out of Norway." Yet when I stopped for lunch at the tiny Norwegian village of Oye by the Norangsfjord, I was surprised to see a few 19th- and 20th-century luminaries got there before me.

My wife and I were headed north out of Bergen to visit the picturesque coastal town of Alesund. To do that we secured a night passage on a Hurtigruten cruise ship, which was taking travelers over the top of the European continent to get the best views of the aurora borealis, or northern lights. Although Hurtigruten called our vessel a cruise ship, it was really an old ferry, built more than 50 years prior. My best guess is that it had accommodations for about 100 people, and it was three-quarters full when we left Bergen.

Now, I'm not criticizing the boat because it was something special — all old wood on the inside, excellent dining and comfortable lounges. The cabin was, as always on these small boats, tiny and narrow with bunk beds for my wife and me. We didn't mind. We left Bergen at 8 p.m. and sailed through the night with a few stops (it was a working ferry, so there was cargo to load and unload).

Around 11:30 on that first night, just as I was about to fall asleep, the captain announced "Northern lights" over the intercom. Everyone quickly threw jackets over their pajamas and made for the outdoor viewing platforms. The temperature was barely above freezing, but no one minded because nature was throwing us a light show.

My wife and I have often traveled to northern climates in the dead of winter, and every time we have seen the aurora borealis it has always been different - as it was this time. Low on the horizon was a long, wide band that almost looked like mist. Sometimes the northern lights show vibrant color — not this time. They were pale in the sky, and what made it interesting was that they would send streaks into the atmosphere like a finger of flames shooting from a campfire. Northern lights can come and go quickly; this time it lingered for about 20 minutes.

Soon after daybreak we docked at Alesund. My wife and I didn't disembark, preferring to stay on board as the boat would be sailing into the local fjords. It would make a second landing at Alesund in the early evening, and this is when we would alight . We decided to spend two nights in the coastal town famous for its art nouveau architecture. This prosperous town burned to the ground in 1904 and with support from all over Europe rebuilt in a style that at the time was very modern. It's a good walking city with a fine historical museum, numerous cafes and good restaurants.

We also signed on for a bus tour that would leave from the small hamlet of Urke and drive inland to give us a view of the river valleys that stretched eastward along the great fjords. It was mid-autumn and the snows were already accumulating on the high peaks, yet in the low valleys it was slightly warmer and the vegetation was still in its red, yellow and orange stage before the shedding of the leaves.

The big treat for the 20 of us on this bus tour was lunch at the Hotel Union Oye, which was originally constructed in 1891 and has served as a shelter and escape for wanderers ever since. Among guests who have stayed at this hotel were Queen Victoria and Kaiser Wilhelm, polar explorer Roald Amundsen and composer Edvard Grieg. Then there were the writers — Norwegian Henrik Ibsen, Dane Karen Blixen and the English mystery writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I'm not sure if the isolation helped the scribes compose literature or they just came to hike the landscape, but the brisk air of the fjord lands certainly inspired me. Maybe someday, I'll write a masterpiece, too, but first I'd need to stay longer at the Hotel Union Oye, and I'd also need to be visited by a ghost, which certainly seems as if it could happen under those ancient, creaking beams with the evil winds whistling down the fjord.

WHEN YOU GO

We arrived at Alesund and Oye via the Hurtigruten cruise line. It wasn't luxurious, but we had an excellent passage: www.hurtigruten.us.

If you are going by cruise ship your accommodation is onboard. In Oye, it's only the Hotel Union: www.unionoye.no. There are many choices in Alesund; we stayed at the well-located Thon Hotel Alesund: www.thonhotels.com.

Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.