travels.of.tara

July 30, 2016 – Bergen hostel.

The train from Voss to Bergen was just an hour and a half, and again I somehow managed to be surprised by how beautiful the scenery was. We passed by another fjord – much wider this time. The train station was crowded and it was 10:30pm after my big kayak adventure, so I was pretty tired and anxious to get to sleep. I rolled myself through cobblestone streets, got a little lost, but found my hostel and conked out pretty quickly.

Bergen is sometimes known as Norway’s capital of the west. Also as the rain capital of Norway, though it has been intermittent and not that bad. I was very tired and took it very easy throughout my stay in Bergen. Fortunately there’s not really a lot to do here, unless you want to use it as a base to go into the fjords. I walked around Bryggen, the wharf, which is a popular tourist area that is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The street is lined with pretty old shops and there are narrow alleys in between with stores in them. It was nice and pretty but very touristy, so I didn’t spend too much time there. A little further down was an old fortress you can walk through. I also walked through the fish market, a big deal in Bergen, and saw some large live crabs and other meats like whale, moose, and reindeer that I didn’t care to stop around to admire. Then I went back to the hostel for a long afternoon nap.

I felt a little better after the nap, so I went out for the other top Bergen attraction which is riding a funicular (like a little train that goes straight up a mountain) to the top of Mount Floyen. Up there you get awesome views of the city and surrounding islands, and there are hiking trails you can follow. I had a list of 10 hikes, including some easier ones that sounded more my speed that day, but I had a lot of trouble following all the various paths and ended up giving up and just walking. Somewhere about 5 minutes in, no people around, I looked to my right and saw a sheep! It was about 15 feet away from me. I didn’t really know what to do, and it wasn’t acknowledging me, so I snapped some quick pictures and kept walking away from it. I ended up walking down the mountain, which was my plan anyway. It took a little under an hour to get all the way back down with all the switchbacks. I’m glad I didn’t decide to walk up! It did a number on my knees so I just walked around town a little more to see some other areas, including a mall, a park with a big man-made lake and fountain, and a booth where I sampled some cheeses, and then got some food and retired to the hostel around 6pm for the night.

Today is my last day in Bergen and last day of the trip. I haven’t internalized that yet. This morning I walked around again a little bit, but felt done with the city and came back to chill at the hostel until I leave in a few hours. There’s a bus that takes you to the airport that runs every 15 minutes, so I’m not expecting a problem. The flight is at 6:20pm and takes under 8 hours. When I arrive it’ll be about 8:30pm. So the goal is to fight to stay awake!

I have a few more posts to write about this trip, to think through some themes and maybe to reflect on what it’s been and what it’s meant. But for now, that’s the end of my Scandinavian adventure!