Bergen, Norway- 17/11-20/11Nov 20, 2006
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On the Train Again
Bergen Youth Hostel
Our Beds
| Population: 230,000 Maximum Temperature Range while we were there: No idea, similar to Alesund Weather: Rain (again!!!), Hail, Rain, Clear, Hail, Rain... The travel between Alesund and Bergen took all day again- we left at 6:30am and arrived at the hotel at midnight. It was a combination of bus and trains again so we had fantastic views again to admire . We met two Norwegian guys on one of the trains who we were hoping to meet up with on Saturday night but couldn't get in contact with them. When we arrived at Bergen, we were not surprised that it was raining considering every place we have visited it has rained, and especially not surprised here- It rains over 300 days a year because Bergen is surrounded by 7 mountains. Once the rain clouds get in, they have nowhere to go and can't get out!The youth hostel was much crosier and cleaner than Alesund and it made us realise that maybe hotels are overrated. We haven't been able to use our sleeping bags yet though- for hygiene reasons- don't really get that?!? , ,  .The first day in Bergen started off fantastically!!! Dave thought he'd cook toasted sandwiches for breakfast, and with him cooking this was a BIG mistake... 15minutes after starting, we had set off the fire alarm and the whole building was evacuated. To make it worse, after the evacuation, the receptionist ran up all the stairs to our room and in front of everyone told us to open the window more- woops!!! They weren't going to let this one go unnoticed!!! After this funny episode we headed out and only got 50m before we turned back to get some warmer clothes. A big thunder/hail storm came out of nowhere. They reckon Melbourne has 4 seasons in a day- Bergen takes the cake here. Incredible weather- one minute it's clear, then it starts hailing, then pouring with rain, then clear again and then some more hail- very unpredictable but fun to experience. We wanted to go on a cable car but the weather was too bad for this. Instead we went to Old Bryggen which is where the very first buildings in Bergen were built. St Mary's Church is the oldest building still in use and it was remarkable. It was built over 850 years ago  ,  . We also visited the Museum which is based on the findings of extensive archaeological excavations between 1955 and 1972. The foundations of the oldest buildings, from the 12th century, can be seen on their original site  . Similarly to Alesund, a massive fire in 1702 reduced the whole town to ashes and had to be to be totally reconstructed. In that time, Bergen was the capital of Norway and was used extensively for the export of fish.We caught a tram to the top of Mt Floyen and once again, we greeted by fantastic views. From the top we could see the whole city, surrounded by the 7 mountains, with the fjords meandering around them. Bergen is right on the coast of Norway so the sea approaches the city directly  . We walked around the top, filled up our water bottle from fresh streaming water on the side of the road and ran into some interesting statues...  ,  .We couldn't go to Bergen without visiting the famous fish markets, and we couldn't visit the famous fish markets without buying some fish so this was our dinner on one of the nights. We learnt in Hong Kong that fish are best with their eyes intact as it shows the freshness. This theory definitely worked here. The fish was the freshest and nicest we have ever tasted and the eyes were as clear as crystals. We were going to buy fish to cook but figured that we weren't too popular at the hostel as it was and didn't want to risk another evacuation so we bought freshly smoked salmon and prawns instead. Delicious!!  . The other night we ate at a fancy restaurant where Dave ate Moby Dick :(.The final touristy thing we did in Bergen, was a visit to Akvariet Aquarium. This was probably the largest and the best aquariums we have been to except that they fed a whole bird to a monitor  !!! I was brave enough to have a tarantula crawl across my hand  . They were lucky I didn't pull away in fright and let it escape. Apart from the monitor and the tarantula experience, everything else was pretty standard. We watched a 3D SOS planet film- it was the same one as the one at Seaworld and just as enjoyable to see it again.  ,  .Late at night when everything was closed we played poker with banana chips- I think we're almost ready for a tournament!! We also bought a fantastic game that the vikings used to play- Hnefatafl. It's a strategic game similar to chess- very fun to play... |
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