Norway: Bergen & other notes

I can't wrap up my posts about Norway without mentioning Bergen, our favorite city of the trip. It was adorable, charming, vibrant, historic, and fun - everything a European city should be.


There's a small market for extremely fresh fish (and other stuff, like local knitwear and cloudberry jam) downtown.


This was a gorgeous sunset to watch, sitting outside and sipping 10-euro beers. We sipped slowly.


This area is called the Bryggen, and greedy German merchants from the Hanseatic League used to live here and make lots of money trading dried Norwegian fish (meanwhile the Norwegians were too drunk to figure out how to do this job themselves). We learned a lot about this history while in Bergen, mainly from the (free-with-admission English daily at 10:00am) tour we took of the Hanseatic Museum, which was also where we came across these creepy flying dried fish:



Bergen also had a fabulous art museum, where we say several Munchs and other works by Norwegian and international artists. Good stuff.



We traveled to Bergen from Oslo via train, making a detour to take the Flåm railway down into the Aurlandsfjord and then a boat through the Nærøyfjord. While the fjords were quite lovely, I could have skipped this part of the trip. We got enough fjord in during our Hurtigruten ride, and the Flåm railway was not as impressive as I was expecting, most likely because of all the crazy mountain railways we experienced during out two years in Switzerland. Plus I could have done without the 6:30am train departure from Oslo.


Overall we really loved our trip to Norway (if you haven't gathered that yet from the gazillions of posts I've made about it). I think I need to go back sometime during the midnight sun (or perhaps the Arctic winter - although that's probably less fun, northern lights notwithstanding). But first I need to win the lottery - Norway is expensive!

All my Norway posts:

Kick the Baby
Oslo
No bras allowed?
The Hurtigruten
The Lofoten Islands
Å i Lofoten
More Norway trip photos on Flickr

Norway: two days in Å

As soon as I read there was a place called Å, I knew I had to go there. Then I did a little research and found out it would be kind of a pain in the ass to get to, what being all the way out at the end of the Lofoten Islands and all. Was I being silly, choosing a destination solely based on its name? I did a little more research, decided it really would be worth visiting, and called to book a rorbu there for two nights. A rorbu is a traditional wooden fisherman's cottage, and the Lofoten Islands have many of them. I think they've pretty much all been converted into tourist housing, and more are being built (at least in Svolvær - I don't think we saw any new buildings in Å).



Our rorbu was right on the water, with a fabulous view. The furnishings were a bit rustic, but completely livable. The kitchen was small but manageable, and we made all of our meals there. The one restaurant in Å was closed for the season, but there were a few open restaurants in the nearby towns (a couple kilometers' walk away). Å also had a general store (open for a few hours a day), two fishing-centered museums, and two hostels (also closed for the season), in addition to many rorbuer for rent. Upon arrival I felt a wave of panic about being stranded somewhere so remote for two days (no beer and no TV make Homer something something...), but the feeling passed and I was able to relax and enjoy.



We spent our time in Å exploring the village (OK, this part took about 10 minutes, walking slowly), admiring the view (which changed hourly thanks to variable weather conditions) from our rorbu, and hiking. Our hike took us past a couple lakes and up into the mountains, offering up gorgeous ever-changing views. Definitely worth the trip!

Sidenote: in addition to being an adorable fishing village, Å is the last letter in the Norwegian alphabet.

Am I the only one who is confused by this sign?

Not the part in Norwegian - I understood that perfectly, it says "age limit 24". But the English part had me puzzled. Do I have to take my bra off to go in? I wondered. Do they have something against jock straps?

Is it common for bars to have such signs up, and I've just never noticed before?

Norway: the Lofoten Islands

The part of our trip I was looking forward to the most was the part north of the Arctic Circle, four days in the Lofoten Islands. The Lofotens form a big, mountainous wall in the middle of the ocean, and are speckled with lakes and fishing villages. These islands receive six weeks of constant sun in the summer and a month of absolute darkness ("Arctic winter") in the winter. Around this time of year, though, the days were a pleasantly normal length, and although the temperatures were lower than in Oslo, the Gulf Stream keeps it from getting unmanageably cold.

We split our sleeping between Svolvær and Å, and traveled back and forth by bus. The bus ride was sweepingly scenic, but the cost and infrequency of the buses makes me think we'd have been better off renting a car (even though that was also not a cheap option). Our ride back involved a 3-hour layover in Leknes, perhaps the only village on the island that was not at all scenic or interesting. We decided their tourism slogan should be "Leknes: for when you're tired of the view." At least they had a liquor store ("vinmonopolet").



Svolvær (Å will get a post of its own) is known as the capital of the Lofoten Islands, and contains such big-city features as a grocery store and more than one restaurant. It is easy to get to and from since it has an airport and also the Hurtigruten comes daily. There are also many accommodation options here. Although not quite as beautiful as the the smaller villages on the islands, Svolvær was plenty picturesque. Our favorite restaurant in town was Bacalao, a relatively affordable cafe with a variety of food on offer, plus a variety of cocktails, and coffee with free refills (this was something I started to love about Norwegian restaurants, along with the free tap water with lime).



The Lofoten Islands are known for their dried fish production, still done the old-fashioned way: fish are caught and then hung out on these large wooden structures to dry. The fish-drying racks are all over the place. While I'm sure it is quite a site to see, I think I'm happy our trip didn't coincide with fish season - I don't know that my sensitive nose could have handled that.



We arrived in the Lofoten Islands via Hurtigruten, and departed via prop plane. Both of these transportation choices offered some fabulous scenery, so I'm glad we did it this way.

Norway: the Hurtigruten

Alternate title: Watching the sun set in a hot tub on a cruise ship in a fjord



One of our many modes of transportation around Norway was the Hurtigruten coastal steamer, a big old passenger and cargo ship which runs up and down Norway's west coast in 13 days, transporting goods and tourists into every nook and cranny of the shoreline. We took the Hurtigruten from Bergen to Trøndheim and then again from Bodø to Svolvær (gotta love these new letters I get to type for Norwegian cities - and the best is yet to come!).



A Hurtigruten runs almost every day, regardless of passenger demand, since it also serves as an important method of transporting goods to and from the various ports of call. Our trip to Norway coincided with the beginning of the off-season, meaning the passenger part of the boat felt eerily deserted. Our experience on board the Hurtigruten was like a cross between Titanic (minus the iceberg) and The Shining (minus the elevator full of blood).



Which isn't to say it was unpleasant; on the contrary, we really enjoyed this part of the trip. It was relaxing and scenic. And holy crap, the sunsets! The cabin we slept in for two nights was small but clean and new and well-appointed. The rough waters the second night kept me awake for a while, but Scott slept through it like a baby. Our one full day on board was spent alternately on deck and in the big glass-windowed lounge, relaxing and admiring the striking beauty of the Geirangerfjord, which we were sailing in and out of for most of the day. In the evening we decided to hop into one of the rooftop hot tubs, which we had all to ourselves. The hot bubbly water, cool air, and stunning sunset view combined to create one of those vacation moments that will always stand out in my memory. Good times.



One tip for those planning on taking the Hurtigruten for a night or two: ask about discounted prices and special deals, and then ask again. I emailed and received a quote for our two nights aboard in advance, and then when we arrived at the boat the price was about 100 euros more. Luckily I had the email with me, and the man at the desk was suddenly able to find us a special promotional rate which was lower than even the original email quote rate. Another tip: BYOB (and food) if you are spending more than a couple hours on board. Food and drink aboard the Hurtigruten is expensive. We picnicked in the lounge for most of our meals (except breakfast - the ship's extensive breakfast buffet was included with our cabin). Although one is technically not allowed to drink alcohol not purchased on board in the public areas of the boat, I've heard it's possible to get around that.

Norway: Oslo

Our trip to Norway was 10 days long, and we split our time between its cities, fjords, and islands as we made our way up and down this comically long, skinny country. We visited Norway's three largest cities, all of which felt tiny and adorable compared to, say, Munich (which feels tiny and adorable compared to, say, Berlin or New York). Much like Swiss cities, they were all very clean and safe, and full of friendly yet reserved folks who tended to speak English better than I did.



We flew in and out of Oslo, so it got to be our first and last impression of the country. We enjoyed walking around and getting a feel for the city, exploring the different neighborhoods and admiring the views. The highlight for me was definitely Vigeland Park, home of Olav the Babykicker and hundreds of other wacky sculptures of naked people in various combinations and poses. Although the park itself was free, it cost us a good 12 euros in public transport to get there and back. That was one of our first hints that Norway might not be quite so afjordable.*



Another fun activity involved walking around on the opera house, a delicious piece of interactive architecture located on the water. We found that almost everything in Norway is located on water of some sort. Take our first-night hotel, the MS Innvik, a boat parked in the harbor near the train station (location was key, since we had a 6:30am train to catch). Although the boat's cafe was fun (and featured the least-expensive beer we saw the whole trip), our room wasn't exactly fabulous. The teeny-tiny cabin featured bunk beds, a private bathroom with shower, and a porthole with a gorgeous view of the opera house. It was my least-favorite accommodation of the trip (despite the novelty factor), but given that my first choice for a hotel was rumored to have bedbugs, I think the MS Innvik was a good place to stay.

For most of our trip to Norway, we attempted to save money on food by picnicking or eating take-out. This strategy was in sharp contrast to our usual vacation eating, which tends to involve gorging ourselves on all the finest local cuisine available, not paying attention to the fact that we are never going to be able to retire because we are spending every penny we earn at restaurants. But that's because we usually vacation in places (Italy, Japan, New York) where the food is one of the main attractions. Not so with Norway, whose regional specialties include pickled fish, smurf candy, and various organs of game animals. Given that I'm a vegetarian, I was more than happy to skip the pricey restaurants serving these things in order to have more money left for black licorice and 10-euro beers.

On our very last evening, we decided to actually have a nice meal out for once, and splurged on dinner at the Grand Cafe (whose prices seemed entirely reasonable after a week in Norway). The atmosphere was a little hoity-toity, but the food and service were good.

For our last night, we stayed at the Bondenheim Hotel in Oslo. It was entirely respectable, in a good area with lots of stuff around. Good breakfast buffet, too (which on this particular day happen to be full of Americans wearing cowboy hats and speaking in funny accents between sips of their breakfast beers). It was a pretty good deal compared to our other accommodation in Norway. My only beef with them is that the hotel's website claims that the airport bus stops right outside the hotel, which is simply not true. It was a short, easy walk of several blocks. Liars.

I really wish we had had the chance to visit the Munch Museum in Oslo, but alas our time in the city was too short. I bet it would have been a scream.

Next up... fjords!

* Scott came up with this word during our trip, and was extremely proud of himself for it. Extremely proud.

OMG! The Norwegians eat them, too!

Seriously, I had no idea these Europeans were so barbaric. This must be what the Republicans mean when the talk about those scary European values...

Kick the baby

Hi there! Having a fabulous time in Norway, but spending less time with internet access than expected. All in all my last-minute trip-planning frenzy seems to be paying off splendidly, although sometimes the best moments are those that one cannot plan for. Such as the country western festival we just encountered in a remote little town in the Lofoten Islands. Norwegians wearing cowboy outfits = adorable.

(NB - the photo is not from the country western festival, but rather a statue in a park in Oslo. It illustrates the popular Norwegian sport of Naked Baby Wrestling. This is the sport's first national hero, Olav the Babykicker.)