To be honest, I had never heard of the fjords in Norway until I watched a Monty Python skit about a dead parrot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O0BA6mkk7k) who Michael Palin claims is not dead... but pining for the fjords! PINING FOR THE FJORDS?! That's what I was doing... Last year we cut out Norway from our trip due to budget and time constraints... at that time, I didn't know that I would get to go as soon as the following year... but I am SO glad I just happened to be so lucky.
We read Rick Steves' book on Scandinavia (I love Rick... if you haven't read his travel books, definitely do so. I owe a lot of my inspiration and outlook on travel to him) and we decided to skip Oslo and fly from Stockholm to Bergen. Then we would take a boat from Bergen to Balestrand for a night and then back to Bergen for one more night before going home. We did this because we were in Norway strictly for nature, and this seemed to be our best option within our time constraint.
Norway offers a lovely DIY tour system called "Norway in a Nutshell" that involves trains, boats, and buses to multiple cities around the country to really get a feel for the culture and the nature. When I say DIY, I just mean that there isn't a strict structure to the tour... you can just book your tickets and take the trains/buses/boats (depending on where you are) when you see fit. You can stay longer in one place, shorter in others and just structure the tour in a way that suits you. It requires a little more forethought than just hopping on a bus with a tour guide, but it's well worth it. We actually didn't have time to do Norway in a Nutshell, but we took the basic idea of it and applied it to our plans.
So flying into Bergen, there is no subway that will take you into the city from the airport. You have to take the bus and it costs about $15 per person one way. MUCH cheaper than a taxi. Andy and I are staying at Rica Hotel Bergen and my parents stayed at the Clarion Hotel Havnekontoret (or the Haver-kanoot, as I read it the first time). We couldn't afford that one... lol... it's Bergen's really high end hotel along the water. It'll run you about $350 per night, but it's very swanky and includes breakfast, dinner and a snack (which turned out to be pancakes or something). Given how expensive Bergen is (and the difficulty of finding a restaurant worth eating at), this might actually be worth the money. However, I generally don't go for things like that... although maybe I should have, because Rick recommended it... and Andy and I had a few expensive and extremely mediocre meals in Bergen.
If you googled Bergen right now... this is about what you would see. That group of colorful wooden buildings is called Bryggen and it's a mix of a shopping area and restaurants. We got all our souvenirs there!
Bergen has an interesting feel to it. After walking around, you'll notice a large Spanish population - after looking into it, Norway is an attractive destination for Spaniards (the ones who can handle the winter!) looking to relocate for working opportunities, as Spain has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe and Norway has the lowest. Particularly the fish market... the workers there will likely speak to you in Spanish before they try English or Norwegian. Especially if you're like me and you carry around a bag that says Barcelona on it :P The fish market is located along the water and I don't recommend eating there during a busy time. Go there when it's quieter and enjoy some fresh seafood and a beer. When it's busy... it seems that the wait is long, and the fish is under cooked :( Dad didn't seem to mind though.
After having some noms at the fish market, we went out separate ways. And after a much needed nap, Andy and I wandered up to a residential area, where the homes are located on a pretty steep incline... offering some fantastic views.
View of the rooftops above the city!
This adorable little kitty followed us for an inordinate amount of time while we were walking.
The next day, we met up with my parents again for a trip up Fløibanen, which is a funicular (also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other --Source: Wiki) that takes you up Mount Fløyen - most definitely a "must do" when in Bergen. The tram drops you off at the top with a breath taking view of the city and the water. There's also an adorable gift shop and cafe up there! Very touristy... we broke away from all those tourists and went wandering through the woods...
View from the top!!
The water.
The woods! Andy is so happy.
♫ Ten years we've been on our own and moss grows fat on a rolling stone... ♫
Dad :)
That afternoon, we met by the harbor at 4:30 to take our "express boat" to Balestrand... a tiny little town (population 2,000... and that number probably goes down to 20 in the winter). Here is a VERY ROUGH sketch of the route the boat took to get us there! The arrow head is where Balestrand is -- it is also outlined with the red dashed line. We were staying right on the water at Hotel Balestrand!!
This ride takes 4 hours and is absolutely gorgeous! Norway is NOT very warm... we all liked to brave the very windy outside to look at the scenery and gape at the houses along the fjords... oh to have a house on the fjords! In Bergen, Dad had gone to a liquor store to pick up some beer and wine to enjoy on our balcony with fjord views in Balestrand. Norway has pretty strict liquor laws... you can only get 3.5% and lower in grocery stores (so companies like Budweiser actually cater to this) and everything else has to be purchased in government owned alcohol retailers called Vinmonopolet, which actually translates to Wine Monopoly! Lol.
When we arrived in Balestrand, the owner's daughter of our little hotel was waiting at the harbor for our luggage. She was about my age... and most definitely American. We found later that they spend 3 months out of every year in Balestrand running this hotel, and they live in San Francisco for the rest of the year! She grabbed our luggage and we wandered into a local restaurant for some noms. It was good but expensive and nothing to write home about (welcome to eating in Norway... you know it can't be all that if I'm not writing extensive paragraphs reviewing the food). Turns out we can buy bottles of wine at the hotel front desk!! So we got even more wine... and partied on our balconies to watch the sunset.... except the sun never set....
Okay, here is our GORGEOUS view of the Sognefjord in the evening... lets say about 10PM plus or minus 30 minutes.
Here's the same view at 12:30AM.... WHAT. Is this real life?
After quite a bit of wine, we decide that we should probably go to bed because we have a lot of hiking that we wanted to do the next day. But seriously.... it's so hard to go to bed when 1) you never want to stop looking at that view... and 2) The view never goes away because the sun barely goes down at all!!
One more post to go :)
I can't help but wonder if the cat kept following you cause you smelled like fish from the fish market!
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