Bergen, Norway - August 16-21

(Victoria)
City Apartments: I can do rugged. I can do sparse…barren…even uncomfortable. I cannot do unclean. Our three days in this accommodation were spent trying to avoid returning there. We had no alternative – literally the entire city was booked. Call me a wimp – and I know compared to what some of you have endured (Summer in Africa) –
this was nothing, but I just cannot handle unsanitary. I imagine fleas, ticks, and bedbugs, the gargoyle-faced-type from bug repellent commercials, laughing and cheering as they prepare to feast on my unsuspecting limbs. Germs must leap up at me from crevasses unseen by the naked eye. Knowing we had “No Options,” I was ready to buck up and did not want this to ruin my time in Bergen. Once the room was cleaned, which it had not been when we arrived, I was certain it would transform. The room only slightly improved, but what could we do. There was no use dwelling on it. We would simply avoid touching the walls and would wear our flip-flops at all times. I could handle this. That was until I spotted a UGO (Unidentifiable Gross Object) on my “clean” towel. I had just taken a nice long steamy shower, feeling ready to embrace my day, when as I was drying off I noticed something…something foreign. I quickly put my glasses on for a close inspection. I nearly threw up. This UGO did not belong to me – oh no, it was dried and crusty and as I sniffed the towel I realized I should have known sooner – this was contaminated. I didn’t know what to do. The Romanians were waiting outside to get in (there was only one bathroom for six people) and I had nothing with me but this disgusting towel. I wrapped it around me and ran to my room to find my travel towels that were still in their packaging as this experience was a first. I was certain I had just contracted Crabs – Bill tried not to laugh as I told him this, seeing I was close to tears. I couldn’t simply dress after this pollution. I quickly re-showered (I think I cut in front of the Romanians waiting to pee), taking extra care to scrub every section the towel may have touched. The count down to the spa began.

I did not sleep well while at City Apartments, trying to avoid touching the UGOs on the walls (I’m not completely germaphobic, so no, it was not in my head and yes, they were foul). However, the Romanians made it pleasant when were there. We shared our three bedroom/one bath apartment with four other people = six of us in total. The four forty-something men were musicians from Romania spending three weeks in Bergen for the cities summer opera festival. They were very proud and talented – and very hospitable to us. We had already intended on going to the outdoor festival which alternated nights between the operas Aida and Chess. As Aida was sold out, we opted for Chess. The Romanians were thrilled to hear this. They even offered to sneak us in if it was sold out again – I was going to hold an empty violin case and walk through the stage entrance, which I found rather exciting, however, it turned out tickets were available. I was really enthused as I remember when Chess came out in the 1980s – a modern rock opera. One thing Bergen should consider when having a “Summer Opera” dedicated to the outdoors – it is freezing!!! It was a lucky thing we knew the Romanians as we were forewarned and I was literally wearing a snowboarding thermal shirt, two wool sweaters – pull over and cardigan, a pashmina scarf, a rain jacket, wool tights, Hot Chili’s snowboarding socks, jeans, and a newly purchased wool hat with ear flaps. I was nice and toasty as we sipped our wine and sang along, “Bangkok, Oriental city…” The music for Chess was great – there was a philharmonic (including the Romanians), a rock band, and the singers. No stage direction, actors, set, etc. This was only the music…and the music was fabulous – especially after we learned they only practiced twice/four hours. The singing, well…they could have practiced a bit more. Oh well, the Romanians were great.

So aside from being traumatized, I really enjoyed Bergen. We window shopped down cobble stoned streets and found an old medieval market that now houses art galleries. We spent a day discovering the many little islands off the coast and took in some needed sun rays while on the ferry. And we mingled in bars alongside exuberant college students and reminisced about our college days feeling as though that were ions ago.

(Bill)
We took the Flam Railway back up to Myrdal to catch the remainder of the Oslo-Bergen line. From Myrdal we went approximately 2 hours west to Bergen, Norway. I’m sure the constant “beautiful” and “breathtaking” descriptions are getting old but I am being honest when I say that Norway is the most beautiful country I have ever seen – at least from a nature standpoint. And I feel as if I only scratched the surface.

Bergen is a young, lively university city on the west coast of Norway. The city is shaped like a “C’, curving around the bay with colorful house dotting the mountains behind and around the city. The architecture and setting reminded me a little of San Francisco, less the skyscrapers and traffic.

Fishing is obviously a large industry in Bergen as there is a large fish market in the middle of the city and numerous fishing boats lining the bay. Wandering around the fish market led to some interesting finds. We found a fish monger chuckling while gutting a huge fish obviously still alive by its feverish tail twitching – even after karate chopping its head off with his machete looking knife. I was shocked when we found an ice bin full of fresh Minke whale meat advertised with a cute smiling whale drawn on the price sign (Victoria loved that). In addition, we encountered reindeer, moose, elk, and whale sausage, full fox skins complete with heads, and dried fox legs which I was told were “for the doggies.” I tried samples of all of the sausages and they were quite good. I was a bit embarrassed though when I turned to the whale sausage sample lady and said with a puzzled look on my face – “It’s good but it doesn’t taste like fish?” She looked at me trying not to laugh and said, “It’s a mammal”. Right! Idiot!

It turns out Bergen is a very popular tourist destination. We found this out the hard way when we arrived to check into our “apartment style hotel” and had immediate flashbacks to our Athens hostel. I almost had convulsions. Kidding. Now feeling confident that we were pro travelers, we immediately marched to the tourist center to straighten this out and find somewhere else to stay. We were both dumbfounded when we were told the entire city was booked. We knew we could tough it out and were determined to enjoy the city regardless of City Apartments.

On the positive side we shared our apartment with four professional musicians from Romania. They were in Bergen to play in the symphony for the operas Aida and Chess. We woke up late one morning to one of them playing jazz on the violin in the common area. It was pretty cool. We also ended up going to see Chess one night in an open air theatre. The music turned out to be good but the singing reminded me of a mediocre high-school play. For the record, I had no idea what Chess was until Victoria told me it was responsible for the song “One Night In Bangkok”. A little before my time, but I remember my sister loved the song. I think it’s still stuck in my head.

After three days slummin’ it in Bergen with the Romanian musicians we decided to treat ourselves to a little R&R, Polo sheet style (Chad, you would have loved it). We found a beautiful hotel an hour south of Bergen by bus in the small fjord-side town of Os (pronounced “ooooooose”). Solstrand Hotel and Spa (www.solstrand.com) is located on the Fussafjorden and is reasonable yet amazing. All of the rooms overlooked the fjord and were awesome. We enjoyed a massage, a spa overlooking the fjord, a sauna, great food, mediocre wine from the Vin Monopoly (or vin-rip-off as I like to call it now), and two days filled with nothing but relaxation – our recovery from City Apartments.

Oddities or Things We Noticed

(Bill and Victoria)
The hot dogs are getting more and more elaborate as we go. In Bergen they had bacon and cheese, and garlic filled, pepper, Mexican, Spanish, and Italian flavored, reindeer, elk, and pork.

A lot more blondes again, a lot more attention to fashion again, and a LOT of bad bronzing powder.

Galloshes can be hip – we saw many students wearing these with tucked in jeans…practical and fashionable.

White blazers are the rage for men and women – some even went as far as to pop the collar. Oh no, Miami Vice fashion is already rearing its ugly head.

I’m craving greens – not a lot of options in the way of salads. Potatoes are plentiful, sausages galore, and smoked anything…but I need a green bean.