I apologize for the delay in “putting pen to paper” with this. School has had me locked down with homework and studying. In retrospect, it would have been easier to do the whole school thing when I was younger…except they didn’t have my field of study then…nor was I focused…or had the money (should I keep going? lol.) Because of the length of our stay, the rest of our time in Norway was divided between the Fjord tour that we signed up for or wandering the city of Bergen and surrounding area. We made our way about either on foot, train, tram or touring about on the Hop On - Hop Off bus. One thing I really appreciate about European cities is the availability of simple, clean public transport. 😊

Our fjord tour had us up pretty early on a Saturday, and after a night of Jiu-Jitsu, wandering about, and a solid dinner of Thai food, it was a rough morning. We had to hustle down to the train station to wait in line for the train to take us to Voss (like the water). There was time for a few pics here although we almost missed our bus to Gudvangen where we were to catch the ferry through the fjords. The boat ride through the fjords took about 2 hours and was so calm and peaceful I even dozed off for a few minutes while sitting in the sun. The views were amazing, and it seemed as if you were sailing on a mountain lake not the ocean. For me, the best part was how the mountains started right at the water’s edge and went up, towering over us on either side of the water. It was certainly a sight to see and I could picture the Vikings traversing the same path hundreds of years ago. When we landed in Flam, we had time for a quick lunch of Reindeer stew before hopping a train that snaked through the mountains and carried us to the town of Myrdal where we caught another scenic train back to Bergen. Once back we showered up, had a quick nap and went off for a quick burger and a nightcap.

Sunday was pegged to be our day to wander the city. The city of Bergen is spread out on a plain surrounded by Seven Mountains and presents an impressive sight, either looking down at the city or up at the mountains. The city itself was very nice, clean and easy to navigate. We walked pretty much everywhere once we figured out what kind of attractions which we wanted to see. To do that, we first took the Hop On - Hop Off bus around the city to get a handle on how much walking it would be as well as an explanation of what we were looking at. Our typical strategy is to make a loop on the bus and see what really interests us before making another loop and “hopping off” at those places. With 13 stops, the tour offered plenty of places to see and opportunities to get off. Some of the stops where we got off and walked around included a fort and the fish market, where we had lunch. My lunch at the fish market was slamming, as I had 4 types of seafood, bread and a salad. If you are into seafood, the fish market is a must see.

After lunch we grabbed another tour on a smaller bus which brought us to Ulriken, the highest of the seven mountains. Here you could either hike up the mountain or take a cable car and as much as I would have enjoyed the hike, time wasn’t on our side so we took the cable car which meant an amazing view and more time to explore other things later. The view was amazing, and we even managed a short hike further up the mountain to its highest point to snap a few pics. We capped off our day relaxing with some drinks in an Irish pub downtown while watching the local football team, Brann, on t.v. before heading back to the apartment.

On our last day, Monday, we did some shopping after a nice breakfast before hoping on the tram back to the airport. It was time to head back to the real world of work and the beginning of my classes. I would definitely visit again but I would head up north and to Oslo for my next visit just to see some different things.