Bergen

Continued from Tallinn

Days 6,7

We landed in Oslo in the afternoon, and flew to Bergen the next morning. More on Oslo in a different post. The flight took less than an hour. Bergen was a magical sight even before we landed. Our first view of it was a series of colourful “toy” buildings, nestled amongst gigantic blocks of ice and dark swathes of water.

A bus from the airport, which we already had tickets for, took us to very near our hotel in about 30 minutes. D was floored, literally, soon as we got out of the bus. Walking on ice is tricky business. The Thon Rosenkrantz is just off Bryggen, and once again we got lucky with the room being ready though we were early.

The Bryggen (literally, the dock) I mentioned earlier is a series of commercial buildings that have been a UNESCO Heritage site since 1979. That’s the first snap below. Our first stop for the day was the Rosenkrantz Tower, which would give us a good view of the city. True to pattern, it was closed for renovation! It’s part of a larger estate so we walked around a bit. It is very difficult to describe Bergen’s look and feel. All I can say is that it somehow balances a cosmopolitan, lively vibe with an easygoing nature.

We walked around the pier to the Tourist Information Centre to collect our tickets for the next day’s trip. The next half an hour was spent fruitlessly trying to spot the famous fish market. The smell existed, the sight didn’t. On asking around, we figured that it was at best sporadic in winter. Europe should really stop worrying about Google. It ain’t omniscient! Bryggen looked pretty from the other side too, and the photos really don’t do justice. The buildings in this part of Bergen have a stately, classic charm. Even the Starbucks (left, 2nd photo below) and McDonald’s look different from their counterparts elsewhere.

Time for lunch! By the way, we had converted Euros to Krone at the Oslo airport. We ditched the restaurant we had planned for lunch, since D wasn’t impressed by the view. Instead, we tried the Fjellskaal Seafood Restaurant, which is part of the indoor portion of the aforesaid fish market. Excellent spicy mussels and something we haven’t tried before – whale steak. Seems whale hunting in Norway is not banned, just tightly regulated. I quite liked it though D didn’t care for it much. I do agree though that reindeer was definitely better.

One thing I observed was that the menus in many places have a listing of ingredients that could be potential allergens. I really like how this country has it all sorted!  My only spot of concern came from the apparent rapid rise of veganism! After lunch, I bugged D into trying glogg again. She hadn’t liked it in Stockholm. But this one from the store next to the restaurant was excellent. Not to mention the way it was served! 

After a small stop at the hotel, we walked to the Fløibanen funicular, a cable car that would take us to the top of Mount Fløyen, close to a 1000 ft high. Bergen was just on the positive side of zero, and up here it was much colder! We had purchased the tickets online earlier, and only had to wait a few minutes before the ride started. There wasn’t a huge crowd anyway. The view from the top was way more magnificent than I had expected. We had chosen this time of the day (around 3) so we could watch the sun go down and the lights come up. And it worked. There wasn’t much of a sunset but the expanded view of the city, with lights, was a spectacular affair. Special jury mention for the super slippery ice here! It’s worse because you’re tempted to run around and take photos! 😀

On the way back, we sat right at the front for the view, much to D’s dismay. We had multiple stops for the kids, and it was amazing to see such a planned layout of the city. Going by the excellent roads, one could technically walk all the way up!

The next stop was for the child inside D. No, not literally. Pepperkakebyen (Gingerbread Town) is a longish walk away and you get to see a scaled down model of Bergen made of gingerbread! Miniature homes, cars, ships, all made from gingerbread by school kids, contributions added every year. Free entry for kids under 12, but I was acting my age, so we had to pay 200 NOK. 

We then walked around, catching the Christmas market on the way back to the hotel. Thon had a complimentary mini supper at around 6. Our plan was to grab a quick bite and head for dinner. But it was quite filling, so we changed the plan to beer. But the craft brewery nearby was meh, so it was ice cream instead at the store where we had glogg earlier.

“Norway in a Nutshell” was the next day’s agenda.  The breakfast at Thon surpassed the Swedish one, and the staff here were extremely friendly. The tour is self-guided(remember the tickets we collected yesterday?), but the instructions and the information are easy enough for you to do this without any hassle. We took the Bergen – Oslo version but you can travel the other way too, and even make adjustments. More on both later. The first part of the tour was a train ride that began from the Bergen station at just before 8.45. The station was a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Voss was an hour away and the stark landscape, with spots of colour was quite a sight.

We started from Voss in a bus to Gudvangen at exactly 10.10 (the punctuality is really reassuring in this country) and reached our destination in just under an hour. The bus stops at a bar + restaurant  + souvenir shop where you get to spend an hour. Some excellent photo ops here, and the souvenir prices (on hindsight) were quite decent. Our cruise boat was ready by 12 PM, and we got ourselves a nice seat.

But if you really want to see the magnificent fjords and the small towns on the side, you have to brave the cold and climb up to the decks. The first major attraction is the Nærøyfjord, the narrowest and best known arm of the Sognefjord, which in turn is known as the king of the fjords. Aurlandsfjord is another one, again a tributary of Sognefjord. The beauty of nature is breathtaking here. While they might be more colourful in summer, there is something about the gray palette that lends it a certain grandeur.

The cruise lasts for a couple of hours. On a side note, you can buy snacks on the boat, and beer as well. But our breakfast was still alive, so we decided to land at Flam before tasking our stomach to take on additional duties.

Flam, at least what we saw of it, is pretty in itself. It has shops, a museum, restaurants and hotels. It also has a bakery where I had the best hot chocolate I have had bar the Belgian Dark I get here in Smoor. The standard tour has a wait in Flam for almost 3 hours before the train to Myrdal arrives. The Flam-Myrdal leg is self-described as “one of the world’s most beautiful train journeys” and I would agree. However, if we went by the plan, this journey would start only at 4.50 PM, long after sunset. Ergo, it would completely be a dark affair. Thanks to D’s research, we found what we felt was a better plan.

Take an earlier departure from Flåm to the station Vatnahalsen at 14.40 arriving at 15.21. It would give us the nightfall view and we could then spend some time at the Vatnahalsen Hotel, which the internet had rave reviews for.

We re-confirmed this plan at the Flam help desk, and proceeded. The 40+ minute trip includes a 5 minute stop at the Kjosfossen waterfall. But there really was nothing to be seen. If you’re going in this direction, sit on the right side for better views (thank you, internet).

The Vatnahalsen Hotel is right next to the station and is a marvel. A lovely place to just relax. I really wished I could spend the night here! Wonderful decor, comfortable seating and amazingly friendly staff. I also found a dream library, with the most fantastic view! It even had the latest Arundhati Roy book!

The next leg was the train to Myrdal, at 17.32 arriving at the destination in less than 10 minutes. The Myrdal station is unmanned during this time of the year. There were a dozen of us waiting for the train to Oslo (for about 10 minutes) and I could easily imagine this place as the setting for a thriller. The train, part of the Bergen Railway arrived promptly at 17.54 and reached Oslo S at 22.35.

Next stop Tromso