Storm Hans
Bergen, the second largest city in Norway, seems just the right size for exploring. It is fortunate that we enjoy the city because we get an extra day here, due to Storm Hans. We were planning to stay two nights with an Aug 10th scenic train ride to Oslo. In fact, it was promoted as the best train ride in Northern Europe. We’ll never know unless we return. Storm Hans damaged the tracks severely and trains are closed for quite a while. Of course, we were blissfully unaware until about midnight before our departure so we were the last people in the city to make alternate plans. We checked for ferries, car rentals, flights, and buses. We struck out in all areas. We were able to book our hotel for another night and finally, a day behind schedule, we were able to get a bus out of Bergen. More on that in a minute!
Scandic hotels seem to be the staple middle-of-the-road hotel in all of Scandinavia countries. When I booked several through booking.com, I was unaware but we are pleased with the Scandic Neptune–clean, safe, centrally located but rooms are in a very small space.
Upon arrival, after the harrowing two-hour docking event, we decided to explore the city by foot. Again, we donned our rain gear and began our walk. Again, we were unaware that the storm was a once in a 25 year event (we learned that when our train was canceled). We quickly realized our mistake but trudged on to our restaurant of choice only to discover that neither they, nor any other restaurant in the area, would seat us without a reservation. Eventually, cold and hungry, we found the Fish Market and entered the small, tent-seating restaurants. The silver lining was the fish soup that we had there. Even with wet feet and wishing for a warm, inside experience, the food was amazing. I think it was a true Norwegian experience and as soon as I made it back to the Scandic Neptune and warmed up, I was appreciative of the experience.
We learned our lesson and reserved the next night at Pingvinen (the Penguin). It was a good choice that served favorite local dishes including whale steaks and the local seafood pie. George opted for the whale which we all tasted. I would have guessed it was closely related to four-legged dark meat animals. He enjoyed it but the fish pie (Fiskegrateng), a comfort food, was to-die-for.
OK, I’ll stop talking about the food except to say again, that eating the fish soup and fish pie is a must! The breakfasts are amazing too and I’ve never seen people love waffles and pancakes like they do here. Even small stores have a griddle behind the register where they will cook waffles or pancakes upon request.
Yes, there is more to do in Bergen than eat. The architecture is beautiful. The old city is comprised of simple cracker-box houses with colorful paint and steep roofs. All streets are cobblestone and walking can be tricky. There are lots of museums to explore. We took a quick hop-on- hop-off bus tour to get our bearings. We spent most of our time near the waterfront and the old town poking around in shops, checking out the Bryggen museum, and taking a ride up the Floibanen funicular. Yep, I have a thing for cable cars and funicular rides. The truth is the view was blocked by the clouds but we went anyway.
Now, more on the bus situation. We were very fortunate to get the bus tickets. We were frustrated as the only way to purchase tickets was through the website and it kept rejecting our cards. Then, there were no seats, etc. etc. Finally, after midnight, we found a credit card that worked and a noon bus with 4 seats. Our friends have a ticket back to the US for the following day from Oslo so arriving in Oslo is super important to them. We made it to Oslo in about 9 hours. The scenery was incredible so we are curious about what the train ride might have had that we didn’t see here. It reminded us of the Ring Road, Iceland scenes. We saw beautiful landscapes, lots of raging waterfalls, mountain tops, beautiful lush green valleys, and lots of rivers overflowing the banks. During the trip, our bus drove up on a very large ferry which took us across the fjord. We were anxious about landslides as we read about the damage of Hans but we made it without many problems. We did unexpectedly pull into a small bus stop and we were all asked to get off our bus with our luggage. That was a troubling feeling but we did as instructed and another bus soon came to pick us up and continue the journey to Oslo. The driver later explained that they were working above their capacity with drivers and buses in such high demand without the train system operating.
We had experienced days of ease and tranquil travel prior to our arrival in Bergen so it was time for a change!
