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Fem dager i Norge [Five Days in Norway]
Monday, 24th June - Saturday, 29th June
Summary:
After seven weeks in Blighty it was good to get back to "foreign" travel on the continent. Five days in Norway was the perfect bridge beteen the UK and the Baltic States. I was really pleased with the planning for this part of the trip. The car hire in the UK was so convenient that we could pick it up at Gatwick, when Leb arrived, and drop it off in Edinburgh before flying on to Scandinavia.
Leb had never been to Norway and it was good for me to return to Oslo so soon since my last visit in 2018. I'd never been to Bergen, so going by the prinicple of trying to mix "exploit" (going to places you know are good) and "explore" (going to places you don't, yet) the train ride across the Scandese was an exciting way of going to a new city. The cruise up the fjord was a lovely highlight that was planned well in advance.
Leb had never been to Norway and it was good for me to return to Oslo so soon since my last visit in 2018. I'd never been to Bergen, so going by the prinicple of trying to mix "exploit" (going to places you know are good) and "explore" (going to places you don't, yet) the train ride across the Scandese was an exciting way of going to a new city. The cruise up the fjord was a lovely highlight that was planned well in advance.
Lesley's hip/back was giving her real problems by now though, so the two nights in Oslo were especially uncomfortable. We were pleased to be able to spend a whole day, pretty much at a fabulous swimming pool in Bergen to give her some relief, before continuing to our Baltic father lands.
Reuniting with Leb and flying from Edinburgh to Oslo. (Monday, 24nd June)
Day 109. We flew from Edinburgh to Oslo. I had my usual window seat and saw spectacular views of the Scandese below to my right.
Once we landed we caught the train to the city centre (me retracing the steps I took with my good old mucker, Jeff, when we met in the World Cup of 2018). We found out Air B&B place and unpacked before setting out to get something local to eat.
We found a local traditional restaurant and had a nice (but very pricey) local dish - a variety of herring.
So, I headed back out to watch the Group B deciders. Italy clinching their place in the Round of 16 with pretty much the last kick of the game, probably sending Croatia home.
Leb fights the pain to enjoy a magnificent day's sight seeing in Osloa
Day 109 ~ Lovely sunny day sightseeing in Oslo with Leb bravely baring her ongoing sciatica (two weeks now, as we still thought then) before going back to the flat to lie down while I braved watching England somehow win Group C to qualify for the Round of 16.Leb had a really bad night in our tiny room with its tiny bed. For the first time in two weeks, she couldn't really stretch out on the floor to get some respite from her back pain. We were on the verge of calling the whole thing off and heading for home. The only reason we didn't was because Leb couldn't bare the thought of a 23 hour flight back to Perth.
So brave, that lady.
We got up and had breakfast in the otherwise very hospitable and comfortable flat share we'd opted for. The best feature of which was the fact that the bathroon had a heated floor. Leb took full advantage of that!
First, we set off to the railway station to make sure we knew exactly where to go the next day for our amazing cross-Scandes trip to Bergen.
Then, we set off to the city center for some sight seeing.
Crossing the Scandes by Train to Bergen
Day 110 ~ We got up quite early and left our AirBnB place.
Then we made our practiced way to the train station where we caught the train to Bergen. We first got the idea of doing this trip from a book I bought Leb for her birthday they before our travels, "Journeys of a Lifetime". The Bergen Railway certainly grabbed our attention. It did not disappoint.
The relatively flat and built up surroundings of Oslo soon gave way to more spectacular scenery dominated by lakes and forests.
It was a gorgeous day and the long train itself was very comfortable, although Leb was struggling a bit having to sitdown for such a long time.
After about four hours of this glorious scenery, we were able to actually get off the train and stretch our legs for a few minutes at the very remote whistle stop of Myrdal. A lot of passengers got off here to connect to another train scheduled to go down to the even more remote lakeside beauty spot called Flåm. I had thought about spending a night there too, but when planning these trips you have to draw the line somewhere on the spectrum between fitting in as many stops as possible at one extreme, to relaxing in one spot for a few days on the other.
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| Whistle Stop in the Wilderness |
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| Flåm: One stop too far |
At least we got to see a bit of Myrdal station before continuing down to Bergen and the North Sea Coast.
Once this brief stop was over, we got back on the train for the final run down to Bergen.
I took the tourist advice and switched to the right hand side of the carriage after a few kilometers as the views were better from the right as you approach Bergen itself. Leb was struggling a bit with her back pain and stood up for much of the remaining journey.
Once we arrived in Bergen, we walked to our home for three nights and unpacked.
Leb was definitely ready for a lie down to relieve her back pain so I set off to explore the neighborhood on my own. I went to one of those bars dedicate to Liverpool (they're everywhere, right?) and sat down to watch Ukraine get eliminated from the Euros. Meanwhile, Romania, Belgium and Slovakia go through before I went to the bar underneath our room to watched the magnificent Georgians overpower Portugal to reach the round of 32 against all the odds.
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| A train journey of a lifetime for sure |
Sightseeing in Bergen. Cruise up the fjords to Bergsåa. Walk down from Fløyen.
Day 111 ~ Our first of two full days in Bergen was a packed one. We set off, first of all, to explore the harbour area and the fish markets.
Adter the "official" fish market we walked the short distance to the open air, more "down market" one, where I had a moose burger, before having a wonder through the old town.
The old town is very attractive.
After that, we headed back to the dock to catch our fjord cruise through Mostraumen up to the waterfalls of Bergsåa.
When we arrived at the final destination, the waterfalls themselves were a bit of an inticlimax to be honest, but the scenery there and back were just magnificent.
So it was a case of "Ha Det, Bergsaa!" as the ship turned around and headed back for Bergen. Poor ol' Leb was in some discomfort, so we found a few empty seats and she stretched out while I had a bit of a kip.
Once we got back to the port we took the funicular up to Fløyen with its magnificent panorama over the city. We then had an hour"s walk back down through beautiful woodland. It was a magnificent day with blue skies overhead and gorgeous pine forest as we walked down a windy path.
Once we got back, I popped out for a quick pint at one of Bergen's oldest pubs... Frille og Dyvekes Vinkjeller.
Wow! What a day!
Very Wet Day in Bergen: Swimming followed by Rain-Soaked Norwegian Football
Day 112 ~ Leb needed to relax and so we had the great idea of walking to the local world class swimming pool and spending a day there relaxing.
We had a lovely swim and lounging around having some amazing conversations (including an amazing 12 year old boy called Arvydas - his father was Lithuanian, apparently) in the jacuzzi in the fantastic AdO arena.
After we walked back to our room I then set off again, in the pouring rain. I caught a bus out of the city centre to watch a top of the table Norwegian league match between Brann and Strømgodset. They scrapped out a tense 0-0 draw in front of 15,933. The rain never stopped.
Ha det bra Bergen. Vi sees, Norge!
Day 113 ~ From Bergen to Rīga. So, it was time to say goodbye (Ha det bra) to Bergen. We got up and packed. I did my "goodbye video" before we headed for the bus station to drop the bags off as we had a few hours spare before we needed to get to the airport. We had fantastic fish cakes and fish soup for brekkie at the the famous Søstrene Hagelin's restuarant, before picking up the bags and then catching the beautifully decorated tram to the airport.
Norwegian Financial Summary
Everyone will tell you that Norway is expensive, and so it turned out for us. An average daily spend of over $585 was the highest rate in any country so far (Norway was the 9th) - even more expensive than the USA. To be fair this did include a luxurious train ride across the scandese and a cruise up a fjord in Bergen, so when you consider this, perhaps it wasn't too bad.
Norwegian Mood Summary
It was another very happy time in Norway. Any seperation from Leb makes me sad and even just those two nights in Glasgow made me feel a little lost. So, to get together again and also start another adventure set me up really well. The one big downer, however, was the first night in Oslo, when Leb was in so much pain we seriously thought about just packing up and going back home. Poor thing. She really was going through some horrible days. What a star to continue so bravely.
The trouble with these stats is that they have to include partial days. So the first few hours and the last few in Norway were great but short, so my mood score doesn't really reflect that. If you take just the four full days in Norway, the average mood score would have been 15:0.25, by far the best so far.
Norwegian Booze Summary
Norway is well known for its expensive alcohol so it was fitting that this was a relatively booze-free part of the holiday, the least alcohol per day so far. I abstained on three of the nights there and on even the "booziest" night I only had 20g of alcohol.
Holiday of a Lifetime Update
So, after the nineth country visited and the120th day, we were still only just over 41% of the way through the trip, although we didn;t know that at the time, of course.
Norway provided us with another packed set of happy memories. Although ti was one of the most expensive places, we had a great time and I didn't even get drunk once!
flight across Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea, and the coastal forests of Latvija to Rīga. Wonderful black bread and herring in beetroot as Switzerland knocked Italy out. Then I potted around the old town looking for a pub to watch the football in. First half, interrupted for half an hour by a massive storm, in the Thirsty Bulldog. Second half in my favourite Rīga pub, O'Pap's, Denmark were holding their own until struck by the unacceptably tedious side of VAR (even I draw the line here.) Two extremely marginal decisions in 90 seconds went against Denmark in their knock out against Germany and sucked the life out of the game for anyone who was not a Germany fan.
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