Everything you read about the train across Norway from Oslo to Bergen on the west coast mentions that it’s one of the most scenic train trips in Northern Europe. For the 1st hour or 2, I was wondering what all the excitement was about. But then the train began to climb into the mountains and the scenery got a lot more interesting. Will is much more adept at getting good photos out the window of a speeding train, so suffice to say all of these are his. Turf roofs, ski mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and many tunnels were the hallmarks of the trip from about the 3d hour of the 7 hour trip to Bergen. Each station stop was announced by the conductor in sort of a droning voice; first in Norwegian, then German I think, maybe another Scandinavian language and finally English. He always ended with “and the train is on schedule”! We could hear many different languages being spoken on the train.
Everyone we spoke to in Oslo about heading to Bergen said “oh it rains all the time there”. We were prepared with rain gear, and very nicely surprised to have the sun around our first evening and a little on the next morning. It was grey but still dry as we took the funicular up to the top of Floyen, one of 7 mountains around Bergen. Smooth trip, and faster than the one I remember in Barcelona.There are hiking trails at the top and ways to walk down mountain, but the weather wasn’t great…
It was quite crowded walking around Bergen’s port with tourists from everwhere and two huge cruise ships in port. Even though it was very scenic above the town, it did feel a little like Portland when a cruise ship is in port. It was nice to walk away from the port, through some neighborhoods and some industrial areas to get a feel for where residents live.
There were lots of outdoor gear stores advertising rain gear in their windows, and yarn stores again on many corners. We walked through the market where fresh and cooked foods were sold and served under tents. They really have the wet weather thing nailed there! Bergen claims to have 200 days of rain per year, and the best outdoor gear-yikes!
As in Oslo, Will found the floating sauna and got us in for a late afternoon soak and swim.I’m not sure their harbor is as pristine as Olso’s but it was a good chilly swim in between lounging in the sauna. I can’t say I’ve ever swum so near a large crane as I did there. Some people were in the sauna beside us, and I happened to be in the water with one of the guys swimming. He’s Norwegian and had just started cold water swimming this winter. It told him Will and I did too, but we don’t have the sauna part (yet) in our routine. He told me he had to break the ice at a fresh water place he swam in one time- that’s pretty inspiring!
I wish we could ship that sweet little sauna over to our yard.
Our 2d day in Bergen was big rain and some wind all day. We moseyed around, did a short city tour cruise around the harbor and began to make plans to find dinner and a drink to take back to the apt for a low key evening. Beer is sold in grocery stores. Alcohol is sold in the Vinmonopolet, the Norwegian state alcohol stores. It took a little searching before we found it; and it was busy. . I went looking for Prosecco and found myself in a wonderland of creative labels. It was so fun to walk the aisles – the designers must be loving what they do!
I laughed a lot in that store and called Will over a bunch of times to see yet another design. But hey,if it rains 200 days in Bergen, let’s hope graphic designers are having as much fun being creative as the folks who are drinking these are.
I’m not sure we’d go back to Bergen even with it being an interesting port and home to access to many fjords. Oslo has a lot more we’d like to explore, and the country around it. The weather cleared just as we reached the airport to fly to London for a few days- brilliant sun as we took off.
Birdgirl’s travels 