Day 05 – to Bergen
New City Day: Bergen, Norway
- We couldn’t get nicer seats or the earlier train, so after our snack breakfast, we hung out in the hotel lobby/cafe/restaurant until our 15:45 train. It was very cloudy and 11ºC/52ºF, so staying inside, especially with luggage, was nicer. The Wifi was a little weak, so our online activities were a little limited, but we weren’t fully out of commission. However, once late checkout hit, a few larger families rolled in and it got loud. So, I dug through my bag for a jacket (yay for cooler weather!) and popped across the street for a battery for my mouse. While in that shopping “mall” (think of a small strip mall and give it 4 stories), I scoped out the cafe/bar upstairs to see if it was a better place to wait. It was not, but at least the elevator takes us from a lower level on the hotel side to a higher level on the train side. That saved us a few stairs while carrying our bags. I also spent this time fighting a low-grade migraine and a little knee pain (I twisted it a touch on the super-slippery tiles while getting out of the hot tub.)
- When we got hungry, we took our stuff and went to the second “mall” of shops to the other grocery store. It was quite a bit bigger and had a lot more selection. We found Mexican chips (and they are good). Outside, there was a picnic table. By then, some of the clouds had burned off. Next to our table was a big recycling box. In the US, we have them for clothing donations. This one was for recyclables. They turn them in and use the money for charity.
- When it was time to go to the platform, we were among about a dozen people.
- Our train was mostly pretty quiet. The views were pretty but were interrupted a lot by tunnels. The tunnels also cut out all cell signal, so mobile entertainment was not a good fit, either.
- One stop en route was Finse, Norway, elevation 1222m, “the 5280 of Norway.” They have a Hotel 1222 and Restaurant 1222. The town is only accessible by train and seemed to be a place people go for a quick weekend getaway.
- We saw many rivers, snow pockets, waterfalls, and even a glacier on the train ride over to Bergen.
- We had a pretty easy walk from train station to hotel (500m) during some light rain.
- Our hotel was another kiosk/self checkin. It was brand new. Our room and bathroom were small, but not cramped, and we had a real desk, a real bench to put stuff on, and good Wifi. It was perfect.
- On our way out, we found the elevator was dead. We walked to Bien Centro where I had an amazing carbonara and he had a good Bolognese. My wine, however, was weak.
- We walked in a little rain through old town, which only confused Google maps. We tried to get into a wine bar, but it was packed to capacity, so we got bounced. We landed at Villani, a cozy little Italian wine bar deep in an alley from the olden times. True to Italian culture, it took us a while to get served, but the wine was very good.
- On the way back to our hotel, we pooped into the bar on the ground floor of our building. We just caught the penalty kick that gave Egypt the win over Australia. Sorry, Aussies. Fingers crossed that Norway beats Brasil in a couple of days!
- It was a long day, so we headed upstairs. Unfortunately, our elevator was still broken, so we climbed the 61 stairs to our floor.
Day 06 – exploring Bergen
- Yay for a working elevator! I guess that’s one of the perks of sleeping in. We found a cute coffee shop, Godt Brod, for breakfast and then wandered our little neighborhood a bit. As we finished our Cokes, we each set them on the top ridge of a trash can. His can was taken by a little elf before I could finish my drink. I noticed that I was the only person not wearing a sweater or jacket. Then the breeze hit and I added my jacket. Then, it started raining and I added my umbrella. Does Norway not get summer at all? I overheard a server say that 2026 is “bad” and that most years, two of the three–May, June, July–is nice, but that this year, they’ve all been bad. Maybe the bad weather in both our countries means the World Cup will be USA v Norway.
- We found and browsed through a small record shop and then ended up at a large city park with a giant pond and a fountain, we saw a Dugeon or Puck – part duck and part pigeon, but heavy on the pigeon, a weird-ass bird. The park also had an LED art installation that showed the current weather. And nearby, some light poles were hoisting large rocks up into the air.
- We went back to our hotel room to plan the day, which also gave me a chance to start some laundry.
- On the way back out, we stumbled upon a wedding. A decent crowd had paused their own agendas to see her exit the car. He started clapping and then everyone joined as if to applaud our congratulations. She just looked confused.
- For lunch, he found a hotdog place. He ordered the reindeer sausage hotdog. I got a regular dog with potato salad. Both had crunchy bits topping. Both were very good.
- After lunch, we found the “double helix” winding “road” (it’s really a pedestrain path) called Østre Murallmenningen. It’s on a hill, but not a very steep one, so the map to it is more telling than our picture.
- Next, we wandered down to the wharf. We like boat docks even though we never want to own a boat. And in Bergen, the docks offer great views of the town. From there, we could see the funicular going up and down the mountain. There was a gorgeous sailboat there that “posed” for a great pic.
- We took the fast funicular 305m/1000’ up the mountain, enjoyed some great views of the city, and met a very large resident goat.
- Back at the bottom, we shopped in the old medieval village. I bought a pretty scarf with a subtle viking ship pattern and he found a sticker for our Jeep. Then, we ducked into an Irish pub (of course) for a break …just in time for the rain to start back up. The Tour de France was on TV; they were starting in Barcelona.
- For dinner, we couldn’t find anything we wanted that was available, so we popped a few blocks over to Johnny’s pizza – a huge split-level place with mini golf, karaoke, and “scenes”…whatever those are.
- After going back to the room to charge our phones, we went to “the” bar at the bottom of our hotel. We saw one woman too drunk to be served, but she was having fun and seemed harmless. Later, we saw her get bounced; I guess she wasn’t completely harmless. She kept fussing about her bag (a fair complaint, even if you are being kicked out), but the people at table where she had been sitting insisted that all the bags were their own. About an hour later, she came back and sure enough, her bag was under that table.
- After that, I met Frøy and Cecilia. We had a lovely chat about countries and our planet and how bad things are in the US right now (people in other countries really want to know). She even invited us to her home the next day for a casual get together and so we could “see how real Norwegians live.” It was a sweet gesture, but it didn’t work out.
Day 07 – Norway knocks out Brasil!
- Our hotel elevator broke again, so we grabbed “all” the stuff we’d need and headed back to the hot dog spot for a breakfast of sorts. I had one of their baked potatoes; it was covered in a mushroom stew. We then popped into the bar next door to “work” and hang out.
- Just as we got settled in, our phones blew up. Our hotel called: we had overstayed our reservation and they needed us to get out. We couldn’t extend because they were full. Apparently, with the time/day change, we just didn’t book enough nights. So, we scooted back, hurriedly packed, booked another hotel (whew!) that was only 400m/1300’ away. We felt like jerks but they were still cleaning, so we were fine. This is why hotels have that big gap between checkout and checkin; shit happens. We even had to ask someone from housekeeping to let us back into our room (because the room keys were set based on time).
- During our move, we could feel a creepy older guy following us, but he bailed when he realized we were on to him and that our belongings were secure. In hind sight, I think he was after my (completely worthless on the black market) phone.
- Once at our hotel building, we walked the very-long way around to find the door, getting our steps in. Our hotel was on the 5th and 6th floors of an 8 story building. We were early to check in, but it was automated, so we got no favor. We waited the 15ish minutes and tried again. He was able to check us in, but wasn’t able to get a key to our room. After a call to the hotel number, he found a place where the keys were, but had to call to “pay” beyond just “securing” the room. It was a messy process. Another couple couldn’t get in at all until they visited the “sister” hotel’s front desk. Good thing we didn’t have plans until 11pm*.
- Later, our Thai dinner was amazing.
- We went back to the room to hang/”work” until time to go to the Norway v Brasil game. It’s been 28 years since the Norge beat the Brasilians, and apparently that’s the pattern and they were due. Either way, we knew it would be fun. We planned on going at 2000/8pm because we had seen how crowded the bars were getting at 1500. But at 1930, he looked at his phone and whoops, the match was at 2200, not 2300. I guess we were bad with both dates and times.
- After a lot of wandering through very full bars, we found a pool hall with seats, the popular pilsner on tap, and a super nice bartender. We settled in just in time to see the team walk out onto the pitch before the pregame talking heads. The TV was literally like from someone’s house. It was set atop some wood and blocks and the whole contraption was sitting atop one of the pool tables. Gotta do what you gotta do for the World Cup, I guess.
- Security was great. The guy helped move food from the storage closet, set up chairs, etc. During the game, bartenders sat down and watched the game unless someone needed something. It was amazingly refreshing to see everyone (all three of them) work as a whole team when needed and enjoy the game when it was slow.
- After the big win–first time in 28 years–we headed out into the streets to party with everyone. We followed the chaos and noise. In the city center plaza, we sat in a couple of “ro ro ro” groups and sang “We’re not gonna take it” with the crowd. It was a blast! We felt like we were initiated into the Norwegian culture. One guy shot up a flare. Cars were honking. There was a massive spiraled conga line. It was nuts, in a good way and a memory I will never forget.
- To continue the party, we tried a bar that was open, but it was more club than bar (Norway’s version of Karma from Jersey Shore) and had a huge wait for drinks. It was a cool place, though. We gave up and headed back to our “new” hotel.
Cruise 1 of 3: Bergen to Reykjavik (Iceland), Oslo
The next chapter of our adventure is a cruise from Bergen, up the west coast of Norway, to Longyearbyen (Svalbard), to Iceland.
