Bergen

I just got back from a great weekend visit to Bergen! The city that rains 275 days out of the year spared us- we didn't get a drop for the entire visit! Our journey began on Thursday night when traveling compadres (all ten of 'em) and I boarded the night train to Bergen. That allowed us to have full days on Friday and Saturday to explore. We left on Sunday morning and were back in Oslo by dinnertime.

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway. It is advertised as a cozy corner of Norway, but with over 250,000 residents, I should have been more prepared for the very urban atmosphere. Our hostel was five kilometers away from the train station in the city center, so we had pre-arranged walk when we arrived in town. We were rewarded with a incredible vantage point to watch the sunrise over Bergen.

On Friday, we decided to hike to the summit of Ulriken, the highest of Bergen's famous "Seven Mountains." There is a funicular that runs to the summit but it is quite expensive and we were all in the mood to walk. The top gave us fantastic views and an opportunity to try geo-caching, a worldwide activity that incorporates GPS and millions of hidden 'caches.' Think of it as a global scavenger hunt!

Adding to the geocache on the summit of Ulriken

Wahoo! It's not raining!

"Bergen Dream Team" on the summit of Ulriken

In the afternoon, we headed into town. Bryggen, the Hanseatic harborside of Bergen, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It has survived hundreds of years, multiple fires, and attempts to destroy it and rebuild with modern architecture. Sure, some of the buildings are being held up with scaffolding behind those nice facades, but it's the idea that counts, right?

The sun was shining for our walk around town on Friday evening, but I didn't feel the "warmth" of the city that is so publicized about Bergen. Everything I read about the city threw around words like "quaint" and "enchanting." Yes, the cobblestone streets were cozy, but the whole city felt a bit sterile. *Gasp!* Maybe it was just my mood, or my expectations were too high, but I didn't get the "charming" vibe I have heard so much about. Maybe I needed to spend a bit more time there to really soak in the Bergen experience. It made me reflect on how much I am getting to know and enjoy Oslo as a place with its own character.

For the second day, we took a bus out to the islands west of Bergen. It was a "Pick a Peak" Day, as I like to say. We decided to trail blaze our way to the summit of the highest thing we could climb. From the top we could see west, across the Atlantic:

And east, towards Bergen and the mainland.

The views were, well, not too bad. A fabulous day of walking with a great group of adventurers.

We booked morning tickets back to Oslo so that we could see the sights, instead of traveling at night (which saves time, but is tough for the views). Maybe you can see why I wanted a window seat:

It turns out that there was a international children's choir competition in Bergen this weekend. We were fortunate enough to be sharing a train car with a choir from central Russia. Before they transfered trains, they performed a few pieces. This video doesn't do them justice. It was quite an experience to have the magnificent landscape outside the window paired with 30+ incredible voices filling the train.

The landscape here in Norway is still taking my breath away. I love the high alpine tundra, glacial lakes and windswept mountaintops. Although I didn't get the vibe I was expecting from the town itself, I thoroughly enjoyed hiking in Bergen and exploring the natural surroundings of the western city-by-the-sea.