Day 19 - Fly to Bergen, Norway - Monday, July 2nd

We got up early and said farewell to Gunnar, who left for work before 8:00. Birgita joined us at the breakfast table and at 9:20 the cab arrived to take us to the airport. The girls were pretty excited because they had never been in a cab before.

 

At the duty free the girls were amazed that anyone would want to smoke cigarettes, given the warnings. I like the top one in the photo below. What man would want to take that one up to the register to buy?

 

We checked 4 bags instead of 3 this time. Going through security we noticed that no one was taking off their shoes, and when it was our turn, we asked about it, and the security guy said, "We still leave you some dignity here." I assume that means that instead of criminalizing everyone, they probably rely mostly on profiling. Great for the average traveller, not so great if you happen to be an innocent person of Middle Eastern background. I have mixed feelings about this.

Stockholm's Arlanda airport had recently installed a dreamy children's play area based on Elsa Beskow's Swedish children's stories.

The reading nook featured books in several languages.

Never too old to go down the slide, though with long legs you get to the bottom pretty quickly.

Aubrietta and I sat next to a Bergen native who was traveling with an apricot toy poodle in a soft carrier. He held the dog on his lap, zipped securely into its carrier, until it was time for take off and the carrier got tucked under the seat in front of him. The dog did not make a peep during the 70 minute flight, and most people had no idea the dog was there.

 

The flight attendants gave the girls vinyl sticker sheets with an airplane scene.

First view of Bergen outskirts.

A photo from the internet showing Bergen on a clear day.

We arrived safely in Bergen and were happily reunited with our bags. It's always a relief to see your bag come off the plane.

We took the flybus to our hotel, which was the last stop on the route. We were staying in the Clarion Collection Havnekontoret, a luxury hotel. It was a splurge in one sense, given the cost, yet it was the best option for us in a city with very few beds. Bergen saw a lot of tourists, but many came on cruise ships and never spent the night. Most hotels had rooms for only 2 people, so we would have been required to get 2 rooms. The youth hostel was near the University and had a reputation of being a party house, so we didn't want to be there. Bed and breakfasts were 2 people per room, and often adults only. The only rental apartments I could find were on the outskirts with sketchy transit connections, or up in the hills (also without transit).

Our room, one of only 6 in the hotel with two beds instead of one.

What made our hotel a real bargain in the long run was that they fed you all day. In addition to a lavish breakfast buffet, in the afternoon they had make your own pancakes, and starting at 18:00 a huge dinner buffet, which is unheard of. Coffee, cocoa, and tea were available 24 hours a day. All this together was a huge savings in a country where a cup of plain, drip coffee costs $5.00 USD, and a small packet of cold cuts from the grocery store costs $10.00 USD.

Coffee and pancakes and strawberry jam... YUM!

In the basement was a "relax room."

The relax room featured a steam room, and a dry sauna. Daddy and the girls enjoyed both.

Our hotel was a beautiful historic building just to the west of the famous Bryggen section of buildings from the 1700's. Our hotel was built in 1915 to house the harbormaster's offices, and it was palatial. It had remained the harbor offices until just 6 years ago, when it was converted to a hotel.

The hotel kept many of the original features of the building, including beautiful paintings on the ceiling of the old entryway.

The old entryway, made into a sitting room. The enterance to the hotel is on the side of the building.

The beautiful 6 story staircase was lined with historic photos and illustrations, with descriptions in Norwegian and English.

You could learn the whole history of the Bergen harbor step by step.

When you got to the top of the big staircase, you could take the spiral staircase up to the tower.

 

Up we go...

You could stay in the tower and peer out the windows, or better yet, go out on the deck for a full view.

The wind was whipping, so my self-timer shot is a bit blurry.

 

 

Looking directly down and across the street, we noticed all these people up in the rigging of a sailboat. You'd have to pay me a million dollars to do that.

After our snack of pancakes and hike up to the tower, we decided to ride the Floibanen Funicular to Mount Floyen. Two days earlier it had been struck by lightning and was closed, but luckily they got it operational again in time for our visit.

I've been in funiculars from Switzerland to Hong Kong, but this was the first time for the girls, and they thought it was pretty nifty.

There were a few tunnels.

Coming into the station!

It was a hazy day, so the view wasn't as grand as it might have been with blue sky, but at least it wasn't socked in with low clouds and rain, which is typical.

At the top of the funicular there is a large parkland with many trails. For summer a children's scavenger hunt was available. We picked up booklets (free) at the souvenir shop, and the girls and I started out on the hour long ramble through the woods. Daddy stayed at the viewing area -- there was no way his knee would survive this trek. Even my knees, and feet, were throbbing at the end of this.

The forest was dark and it was easy to see why Norwegians believed in Trolls.

Couldn't you just imagine trolls or gnomes living here? Look how those tree roots run over the neighboring trees.

The forest felt enchanted.

Although the questions were in English, the topics were hard for non-natives. Names of Norwegian pop stars were among the questions. I was hoping for something more nature related, like the names of plants or animals. We did our best guessing, though, because when you turned it in at the end you got a prize (Bergen themed Ludo Game or coloring pages).

There was a beautiful lake that we walked around. There were only a few people there, mostly hearty old souls with hiking sticks, or some young joggers.

After we went back down the Floibanen, we walked through Bryggen, the remaining buildings from the 1700's. They were really leaning into each other and looked like they'd collapse like a house of cards at any moment.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed the dinner buffet. It was immense! Lots of variety, good fresh foods, and a number of hot dishes, too.

At 23:00 we were getting bedded down when I decided to go down to the lobby to do some writing. I noticed the light of the setting sun and went right back to the room for my camera, then up to the tower. I was the only one up there. Bergen was even more beautiful in the late evening light.

Interior of the tower at 23:00.

Across the harbor you can see the 3 Fjord boats. Ours was the middle one, which we would take on Wednesday up the Fjord to Flam. I wasn't looking forward to it at all now, as Bergen had already won my heart. We'd have all day tomorrow (Tuesday) to explore the rest of Bergen, and then we'd leave early the morning after.

NEXT: Day 20 - Bergen, Norway - Tuesday, July 3rd

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