Alway in Search of Our Local: The Scandinavian Edition
Jun 29th, 2024, 04:03 AM
#21
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Paqngo--Thank you!
I'm not totally sure what I would have done if I had had more time yet. One good thing about writing these trip reports while they are still a bit fresh in the mind is that writing allows me to "digest" the experience. I'm sure I'll have a better handle on it all when and if I finish the report in my lifetime.
I'm not totally sure what I would have done if I had had more time yet. One good thing about writing these trip reports while they are still a bit fresh in the mind is that writing allows me to "digest" the experience. I'm sure I'll have a better handle on it all when and if I finish the report in my lifetime.
Last edited by Moderator1; Jun 29th, 2024 at 11:15 AM. Reason: Removed response to a deleted post
Jun 29th, 2024, 04:05 AM
#22
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Trip Report Interruption:
Please forgive my lack of proofreading. It's embarrassing. Just when I thought I had a handle on it, I saw that I misspelt "Always" in the actual title. Just shoot me.
AZ
Please forgive my lack of proofreading. It's embarrassing. Just when I thought I had a handle on it, I saw that I misspelt "Always" in the actual title. Just shoot me.
AZ
Jun 29th, 2024, 05:16 AM
#23
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Copenhagen Day Three
I might end up dividing this post into two. We'll see!
After another hearty breakfast at the hotel buffet, we headed off to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, an art museum included in the Copenhagen Card and funded by the brewing company. We figured we had been pretty light on culture so far, and we better earn our Copenhagen cultural merit badge before we left the next day. We hopped on "our" 2A bus again for the 10-minute journey. We were told to check our coats and bags in the lockers downstairs, a museum practice I adore. The alternative, wearing one's backpack in the front with one's coat around the waist, always makes me feel hot and tired before I even look at anything. Unfortunately, we were stymied by the locker coin fee. We sure did not have any coinage. Then my husband found out he could buy the coin via credit card and all was well.
I should have read more about the museum and chosen another. The museum is quite pretty--it has a winter garden, a summer garden and a rooftop terrace. But its main emphasis seems to be on garden statuary and other sculptures. It's sad to say, but I don't think I can tolerate looking at another broken Greek or Roman statue again. Sad, isn't it? We truly have become "been there and done that." We were so lucky to have spent a week in museums in Rome, a week in museums in Florence (our fave), and too many times to count in the Paris Louvre and d'Orsay. Yep, the downside of all that is that we are jaded.
We did enjoy, however, the special exhibit of Danish sculptor Kai Nielsen's work. We had never known of him, and we were quite impressed.
It was time to get out of Dodge. We boarded our 2A bus in the reverse direction, getting off at Gammel Strand, and worked our way up the hill to the Round Tower, known in Danish as the "Rundetaarn".
We thought we were entering the Round Tower ticket area as we dipped into a doorway, but instead, we found ourselves peering into the beautiful Trinitatis Church. Sometimes mistakes become good ideas.
Just around the corner, we found the ticket window. The Round Tower often has lines, but we lucked out. Soon we were huffing and puffing our way to the sky via the Spiral Ramp, wide enough for a horse carriage. We reached the top and had to wait at a stop light before entering the viewing deck. What a brilliant idea to keep traffic on the final spiral stairs and the viewing deck within safe parameters. The view was great, and we could see every spot we had visited so far.
Do explore the tower's website thoroughly before you go. One is too busy breathing to read the offered brochure, and with pre-reading, you can take easy advantage of all the interesting nuggets of information (the secret Rune stone, the privies, the hollow core, etc) on your way up and down.
If I recall correctly, the Copenhagen Card no longer includes this, but what the heck, adult admission (no senior fare) is only 40 DKK ($5.75).
Where to next? I told my husband I wanted to check out the Torvehallen, the fresh food market further up the hill. We enjoyed walking through all the areas more than we thought we would. Of course, the place gave us opportunities to sample some more local beers. The one we liked best--and one we got more of--was the Alive Řkologisk IPA by Thisted Bryhghus. It was a 5.8% ABC, so it was a little over our ABV ballpark, but not stupidly so. Not every IPA drinker would like this one, but I have a particular affinity for Mosaic and Chinook hops, so it suited me just fine.
By the way, I forgot to mention in my Day Two post that we tried the Mikkeller Hop Shop Hazy (4.9% ABV) at Tivoli the day before. It was OK. Just OK.
We took the time to put out our planning materials and lay them on our picnic table. It was just before noon. We could easily head out to the Louisiana Art Museum because we were so close to the rail line. It would take an hour there and an hour back, plus probably two hours in between. Nah, we could not count on our energy. We decided instead to head to the Design Museum (Designmuseum), perhaps simply because "Denmark" and "design" had impacted our 50s and 60s childhood suburban homes so much.
Off we went on the M1/M2 line. As we trekked through the streets to the museum, we kept seeing pink balloons. Only afterwards would I find out that we had plopped ourselves in the center of Design Days (aka 3 Days of Design), an annual commercial and artistic festival taking place around the second week of June.
I have two wonderful sons-in-law who would have loved both the Design Museum and Design Days. One is fascinated by Mid-Century design in all things. The other is, in a way, more of an artist than he is a surgeon. Of course, by profession he sculpts a nose, a chin, a body. But I enjoy traveling with him because he'll fall in love with the line of a building against the sky, the color of a peach, the shape of a rock.
Everyone in my family, including my grandkids, would have enjoyed the almost infinite exhibit on chairs. I was intrigued by the fabric and pattern area. My husband played with the interactive exhibits, deciding which type of bench would best suit what space.
Yes, we should have come here first. Oh well. Things are never perfect.
By the time we left the museum, we found the sidewalks were packed. Nope, we did not want to have a snack and a beer in this area. First of all, we had already noticed that most of the establishments nearby were "to see and to be seen" places. Not us. We decided to hoof it down to Nyhavn, have a beer somewhere down there, and then take a harbor boat bus either to our hotel or somewhere else. The day had brightened up again and we might as well make use of it.
We got lost a bit at first and ended up on the park edge of the Kastellet. If we ever came back, I might like to explore that preserved fortress. What we were NOT interested in exploring, however, was the Amalienborg Palace, which we passed when we were finally trekking in the right direction. We found it curious that we now had zero interest in anything to do with any monarchy. I wonder if it's our "too many castles in a lifetime" problem or an aging person's view of monarchies in general.
Well folks, the Nyhavn bar we eventually found, The Tipsy Mermaid, via our "craft beer near me now" Google search is not one I'll be recommending anytime soon for anyone over 50. The craft beer we had certainly wasn't bad. We tried WoW by Ghost Brewing (uh-oh, 7% ABV) and Top Hop by Hornbeer (4.7% ABV). But let's just say that the lopsided bar boat would never pass any OSHA safety protocols. It was ridiculous. Here I was, a person who is walking lopsided as it is with my crumbling left leg, on a creaky leaning boat walking across a gang plank that's not quite attached to the other side where there was shelter from an incoming storm. Hey, good for a laugh.
Boy was the weather getting bad again. We put on all our layers and meandered over to the harbor boat bus dock. We both felt we needed to get a bit cleaned up--after all, we had already walked around five miles and climbed a tower. To the hotel we sailed. After quick showers and a change of clothes, we got back on another boat to...
The Reffen Street Food Market! I had read about it and seen it mentioned in a few YouTube videos. It's in an old warehouse area, almost out in the open sea. What are basically food trucks have become a marvelous collection of international food selections. We arrived there early enough to avoid the crowds, and with the worsening weather, we made our selections fast, taking them to the sheltered beer garden. Our food was fresh and good. Too bad we could not stay longer--once the crowd started pouring in, you could see this would be a fun, happening place to be.
One last ride on our harbor boat bus took us back to the hotel. Not ready to call it a night, we re-visited our reception area bar and our beloved Carlsberg Jacobsen Juicy IPA. The bartender greated us with a, "What have you two been up to today?" and his waiter buddy came over with the same question. As soon as we mentioned Reffen, they looked at each other and more or less said in unison, "You are MADE for Copenhagen." I heartily agreed. I really could live here.
We headed back to the room and this time I did not draw any drapes. It was our last night with our perfect view and I did not want to be deprived of any of it.
Next: Bergen Here We Come
After another hearty breakfast at the hotel buffet, we headed off to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, an art museum included in the Copenhagen Card and funded by the brewing company. We figured we had been pretty light on culture so far, and we better earn our Copenhagen cultural merit badge before we left the next day. We hopped on "our" 2A bus again for the 10-minute journey. We were told to check our coats and bags in the lockers downstairs, a museum practice I adore. The alternative, wearing one's backpack in the front with one's coat around the waist, always makes me feel hot and tired before I even look at anything. Unfortunately, we were stymied by the locker coin fee. We sure did not have any coinage. Then my husband found out he could buy the coin via credit card and all was well.
I should have read more about the museum and chosen another. The museum is quite pretty--it has a winter garden, a summer garden and a rooftop terrace. But its main emphasis seems to be on garden statuary and other sculptures. It's sad to say, but I don't think I can tolerate looking at another broken Greek or Roman statue again. Sad, isn't it? We truly have become "been there and done that." We were so lucky to have spent a week in museums in Rome, a week in museums in Florence (our fave), and too many times to count in the Paris Louvre and d'Orsay. Yep, the downside of all that is that we are jaded.
We did enjoy, however, the special exhibit of Danish sculptor Kai Nielsen's work. We had never known of him, and we were quite impressed.
It was time to get out of Dodge. We boarded our 2A bus in the reverse direction, getting off at Gammel Strand, and worked our way up the hill to the Round Tower, known in Danish as the "Rundetaarn".
We thought we were entering the Round Tower ticket area as we dipped into a doorway, but instead, we found ourselves peering into the beautiful Trinitatis Church. Sometimes mistakes become good ideas.
Just around the corner, we found the ticket window. The Round Tower often has lines, but we lucked out. Soon we were huffing and puffing our way to the sky via the Spiral Ramp, wide enough for a horse carriage. We reached the top and had to wait at a stop light before entering the viewing deck. What a brilliant idea to keep traffic on the final spiral stairs and the viewing deck within safe parameters. The view was great, and we could see every spot we had visited so far.
Do explore the tower's website thoroughly before you go. One is too busy breathing to read the offered brochure, and with pre-reading, you can take easy advantage of all the interesting nuggets of information (the secret Rune stone, the privies, the hollow core, etc) on your way up and down.
If I recall correctly, the Copenhagen Card no longer includes this, but what the heck, adult admission (no senior fare) is only 40 DKK ($5.75).
Where to next? I told my husband I wanted to check out the Torvehallen, the fresh food market further up the hill. We enjoyed walking through all the areas more than we thought we would. Of course, the place gave us opportunities to sample some more local beers. The one we liked best--and one we got more of--was the Alive Řkologisk IPA by Thisted Bryhghus. It was a 5.8% ABC, so it was a little over our ABV ballpark, but not stupidly so. Not every IPA drinker would like this one, but I have a particular affinity for Mosaic and Chinook hops, so it suited me just fine.
By the way, I forgot to mention in my Day Two post that we tried the Mikkeller Hop Shop Hazy (4.9% ABV) at Tivoli the day before. It was OK. Just OK.
We took the time to put out our planning materials and lay them on our picnic table. It was just before noon. We could easily head out to the Louisiana Art Museum because we were so close to the rail line. It would take an hour there and an hour back, plus probably two hours in between. Nah, we could not count on our energy. We decided instead to head to the Design Museum (Designmuseum), perhaps simply because "Denmark" and "design" had impacted our 50s and 60s childhood suburban homes so much.
Off we went on the M1/M2 line. As we trekked through the streets to the museum, we kept seeing pink balloons. Only afterwards would I find out that we had plopped ourselves in the center of Design Days (aka 3 Days of Design), an annual commercial and artistic festival taking place around the second week of June.
I have two wonderful sons-in-law who would have loved both the Design Museum and Design Days. One is fascinated by Mid-Century design in all things. The other is, in a way, more of an artist than he is a surgeon. Of course, by profession he sculpts a nose, a chin, a body. But I enjoy traveling with him because he'll fall in love with the line of a building against the sky, the color of a peach, the shape of a rock.
Everyone in my family, including my grandkids, would have enjoyed the almost infinite exhibit on chairs. I was intrigued by the fabric and pattern area. My husband played with the interactive exhibits, deciding which type of bench would best suit what space.
Yes, we should have come here first. Oh well. Things are never perfect.
By the time we left the museum, we found the sidewalks were packed. Nope, we did not want to have a snack and a beer in this area. First of all, we had already noticed that most of the establishments nearby were "to see and to be seen" places. Not us. We decided to hoof it down to Nyhavn, have a beer somewhere down there, and then take a harbor boat bus either to our hotel or somewhere else. The day had brightened up again and we might as well make use of it.
We got lost a bit at first and ended up on the park edge of the Kastellet. If we ever came back, I might like to explore that preserved fortress. What we were NOT interested in exploring, however, was the Amalienborg Palace, which we passed when we were finally trekking in the right direction. We found it curious that we now had zero interest in anything to do with any monarchy. I wonder if it's our "too many castles in a lifetime" problem or an aging person's view of monarchies in general.
Well folks, the Nyhavn bar we eventually found, The Tipsy Mermaid, via our "craft beer near me now" Google search is not one I'll be recommending anytime soon for anyone over 50. The craft beer we had certainly wasn't bad. We tried WoW by Ghost Brewing (uh-oh, 7% ABV) and Top Hop by Hornbeer (4.7% ABV). But let's just say that the lopsided bar boat would never pass any OSHA safety protocols. It was ridiculous. Here I was, a person who is walking lopsided as it is with my crumbling left leg, on a creaky leaning boat walking across a gang plank that's not quite attached to the other side where there was shelter from an incoming storm. Hey, good for a laugh.
Boy was the weather getting bad again. We put on all our layers and meandered over to the harbor boat bus dock. We both felt we needed to get a bit cleaned up--after all, we had already walked around five miles and climbed a tower. To the hotel we sailed. After quick showers and a change of clothes, we got back on another boat to...
The Reffen Street Food Market! I had read about it and seen it mentioned in a few YouTube videos. It's in an old warehouse area, almost out in the open sea. What are basically food trucks have become a marvelous collection of international food selections. We arrived there early enough to avoid the crowds, and with the worsening weather, we made our selections fast, taking them to the sheltered beer garden. Our food was fresh and good. Too bad we could not stay longer--once the crowd started pouring in, you could see this would be a fun, happening place to be.
One last ride on our harbor boat bus took us back to the hotel. Not ready to call it a night, we re-visited our reception area bar and our beloved Carlsberg Jacobsen Juicy IPA. The bartender greated us with a, "What have you two been up to today?" and his waiter buddy came over with the same question. As soon as we mentioned Reffen, they looked at each other and more or less said in unison, "You are MADE for Copenhagen." I heartily agreed. I really could live here.
We headed back to the room and this time I did not draw any drapes. It was our last night with our perfect view and I did not want to be deprived of any of it.
Next: Bergen Here We Come
Jun 30th, 2024, 04:46 AM
#25
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Bergen Here We Come
I had made a ballpark-estimate list for how and when to get to each airport for each leg of the trip. We decided to make our departure time for this SAS CPH-BRO leg a tad earlier, given our passport control chaos upon entering Copenhagen. After one last fantastic breakfast at our hotel, we again used the M2 to return to CPH. The signage for getting to the right terminal was quite clear, much to our relief.
This would be our first experience with a "scan-your-own-luggage" system. We were doing great, then one bag failed to register. No matter--we found someone to help out.
Off to security. There we encountered a couple of obstacles. First, for some unknown reason, my husband did not put his liquids in his checked luggage, nor had he repackaged them correctly for carry-on. I spotted the boo-boo right before we got to the line. "I have to watch you like a hawk," I muttered. At least he hadn't put his lithium battery in the checked luggage this time. No matter, CPH offers a sort of "rearranging" space before security along with disposable, correct-size liquids bags. What a perfect place to test out how "legal" our new TSA liquids bags were. I pulled out and packed his liquids into one of those disposable ones, and then stuffed the bag inside one of our new ones. Thumbs up! Our new bags were just a smidge generous, but not enough to cause any problems.
Our next obstacle was that in repackaging, I had failed to search out the Fast Track line, an option I had purchased for all SAS legs. Our wait in line was therefore longer than it needed to be, but it wasn't too bad. I knew I'd get stopped going through the full-body screening machines--my replacement parts "ding" when in Europe (rarely in the US)--and extra time is always good for that problem.
Well, we made it through with time to spare. And what do we do with extra time? Find a beer, of course. As we roamed around and scanned the taps of each watering hole, we both came to a dead stop, rather like in a "Three Stooges" movie. Carlsberg Jacobsen Juicy IPA! The bar was a seat short, but a kind waitress quickly found an extra stool for us to squeeze in.
As luck would have it, seated next to us was an American from South Dakota whose job was to image, using specialized technology, wind power turbines for Denmark in a joint Danish-American venture. One of my husband's latest reading interests was the Scandinavian usage of wind power. Soon they were in deep discussion of all things turbines and energy resources and so on, leaving me to re-read a favorite Nordic Noir crime fiction novel on my Kindle in perfect peace. Which author? Gunnar Staalesen of course, sometimes referred to as "the Dashiell Hammett of Norway." After all, we were going to Bergen, home of his best character, Varg Veum.
Our 1 1/2-hour flight was smooth. Immersed as I was in my latest book, I just was not mentally prepared to glance out the window and see snow-covered mountain peaks poking up through the clouds. Wow, this was really happening--I was in the country I had always longed to visit.
After landing and gathering our luggage, we exited towards the Bybanen, the Bergen slow-but-cheap light rail system. I used my Skyss app to buy two senior tickets--44 NOK ($4.16) for both of us. The journey took close to an hour, but the people watching was great. We got off at Nonneseter, a stop close to the Bergen rail station, vectored up towards Kong Oscars Gate, and soon were at the entry gate of our Airbnb, where our host Torstein was already there to great us. He gave us a quick tour of our teeny 2-bedroom apartment. The Good? Washing machine and separate dryer. Little entry foyer with bench to put on shoes with coat rack above. The Bad? The shower looked like a pneumatic banking tube, one of the smallest of this shower version we had ever seen. But we were fine. Torstein had not only provided dishwasher soap, and laundry soap, but he had provided us with a solid supply of Nespresso capsules for our morning coffee.
We unpacked and headed out the door with my homemade primer on all things beer and bars in Bergen. As we scanned the list of options, I told my husband that if we wanted to get into Pingvinen, well known for both their beer and Norwegian food, without reservations, now would be the time to go. Onwards to Pingvinen, skirting the pretty city lake Lille Lungegĺrdsvanne, passing by the Kode 1 museum, and walking past a beautiful park with sculpture. This was a darling town. But unfortunately, what also struck us was that we were seeing litter. Copenhagen had been amazingly clean. Bergen, not so much. It wasn't filthy, it just wasn't Copenhagen-clean.
There was a lot of space available at the Pingvinen bar when we arrived, and during this time slot, the bartenders had the time to let us taste-test a few of the beers. I took a 7 Fjell IPA (which was unfortunately 6.8% ABV) and my husband chose Ćgir India Pale Ale (6.5% ABV) because it had more of a malty balance.
To eat, my husband went for the meatballs with potatoes and lingonberries. I had some fish-of-the-day selection. We each had a salad with local cheeses. We were surprised by the depth of flavor in our entrees because the food looked quite bland. We were quite happy.
Satiated, we realized we were pretty tired. All the walking from the three previous days had caught up with us. Still, it was too early to hit the hay. I told my husband that the funicular to the top of Mt Floyen, The Flřibanen, would not be busy right now. It was past 5 pm, the time most cruise ship passengers returned to their berths. On our way to the Flřibanen, we passed the Brian Boru Irish Pub, of which there were mixed reviews. Some people regarded it highly; a couple of the craft beer guys upon whom I had relied greatly for information disdained it. We decided, "Well, we are here--let's give it a shot."
We each ordered some forgettable Carlsberg Frydenlund variation, took a seat near the bar and watched. Lots of Brits and Irish, typically our comfort zone, I'll give the bar that. But something was off. One beer and out. As we left the pub behind, my husband muttered, "We would never have even stopped in for a look at a place like that in Galway." I kind of agreed.
I had the Floyen app on the phone, and having ordered our tickets while we were walking to the bar, we could bypass the ticket window. Instead, we just headed for the digital ticket-scan gates. Soon we were off to the top.
We loved the ride and we loved the view. Supposedly Bergen has seven mountains, a fact that greatly depends on the definition of "mountain" according to various sources. No matter--we had a view of open sea, fjords, hills, town and neighborhoods. I told my husband I'd like to take it to the top tomorrow again if the weather was good and then walk down. He agreed. We both just wanted to soak it all up. We spotted some sort of restaurant higher up and thought we'd stop for something. And by this time, we did have to use a restroom. The place was the Flřirestauranten. There was a wedding party, a college reunion, and an actual engagement going on. Delightful! Forgettable beer choices for us, but we enjoyed the atmosphere.
When we got to the bottom of the funicular, my husband sniffed the air and asked, "Do you smell hotdogs?" OMG--I had forgotten. We were near Trekroneren, the reindeer hot dog shop. I told my husband we just had to try "The Classic", which is reindeer sausage, lingonberry sauce, crispy fried onions, and more. He wrinkled up his nose and said, "Ok, but we'll only share one." He ate 3/4s of it. It was indeed tasty.
Off to sleep.
Next: Two Things We Did Not Do: The Bergen Card and Cornelius
This would be our first experience with a "scan-your-own-luggage" system. We were doing great, then one bag failed to register. No matter--we found someone to help out.
Off to security. There we encountered a couple of obstacles. First, for some unknown reason, my husband did not put his liquids in his checked luggage, nor had he repackaged them correctly for carry-on. I spotted the boo-boo right before we got to the line. "I have to watch you like a hawk," I muttered. At least he hadn't put his lithium battery in the checked luggage this time. No matter, CPH offers a sort of "rearranging" space before security along with disposable, correct-size liquids bags. What a perfect place to test out how "legal" our new TSA liquids bags were. I pulled out and packed his liquids into one of those disposable ones, and then stuffed the bag inside one of our new ones. Thumbs up! Our new bags were just a smidge generous, but not enough to cause any problems.
Our next obstacle was that in repackaging, I had failed to search out the Fast Track line, an option I had purchased for all SAS legs. Our wait in line was therefore longer than it needed to be, but it wasn't too bad. I knew I'd get stopped going through the full-body screening machines--my replacement parts "ding" when in Europe (rarely in the US)--and extra time is always good for that problem.
Well, we made it through with time to spare. And what do we do with extra time? Find a beer, of course. As we roamed around and scanned the taps of each watering hole, we both came to a dead stop, rather like in a "Three Stooges" movie. Carlsberg Jacobsen Juicy IPA! The bar was a seat short, but a kind waitress quickly found an extra stool for us to squeeze in.
As luck would have it, seated next to us was an American from South Dakota whose job was to image, using specialized technology, wind power turbines for Denmark in a joint Danish-American venture. One of my husband's latest reading interests was the Scandinavian usage of wind power. Soon they were in deep discussion of all things turbines and energy resources and so on, leaving me to re-read a favorite Nordic Noir crime fiction novel on my Kindle in perfect peace. Which author? Gunnar Staalesen of course, sometimes referred to as "the Dashiell Hammett of Norway." After all, we were going to Bergen, home of his best character, Varg Veum.
Our 1 1/2-hour flight was smooth. Immersed as I was in my latest book, I just was not mentally prepared to glance out the window and see snow-covered mountain peaks poking up through the clouds. Wow, this was really happening--I was in the country I had always longed to visit.
After landing and gathering our luggage, we exited towards the Bybanen, the Bergen slow-but-cheap light rail system. I used my Skyss app to buy two senior tickets--44 NOK ($4.16) for both of us. The journey took close to an hour, but the people watching was great. We got off at Nonneseter, a stop close to the Bergen rail station, vectored up towards Kong Oscars Gate, and soon were at the entry gate of our Airbnb, where our host Torstein was already there to great us. He gave us a quick tour of our teeny 2-bedroom apartment. The Good? Washing machine and separate dryer. Little entry foyer with bench to put on shoes with coat rack above. The Bad? The shower looked like a pneumatic banking tube, one of the smallest of this shower version we had ever seen. But we were fine. Torstein had not only provided dishwasher soap, and laundry soap, but he had provided us with a solid supply of Nespresso capsules for our morning coffee.
We unpacked and headed out the door with my homemade primer on all things beer and bars in Bergen. As we scanned the list of options, I told my husband that if we wanted to get into Pingvinen, well known for both their beer and Norwegian food, without reservations, now would be the time to go. Onwards to Pingvinen, skirting the pretty city lake Lille Lungegĺrdsvanne, passing by the Kode 1 museum, and walking past a beautiful park with sculpture. This was a darling town. But unfortunately, what also struck us was that we were seeing litter. Copenhagen had been amazingly clean. Bergen, not so much. It wasn't filthy, it just wasn't Copenhagen-clean.
There was a lot of space available at the Pingvinen bar when we arrived, and during this time slot, the bartenders had the time to let us taste-test a few of the beers. I took a 7 Fjell IPA (which was unfortunately 6.8% ABV) and my husband chose Ćgir India Pale Ale (6.5% ABV) because it had more of a malty balance.
To eat, my husband went for the meatballs with potatoes and lingonberries. I had some fish-of-the-day selection. We each had a salad with local cheeses. We were surprised by the depth of flavor in our entrees because the food looked quite bland. We were quite happy.
Satiated, we realized we were pretty tired. All the walking from the three previous days had caught up with us. Still, it was too early to hit the hay. I told my husband that the funicular to the top of Mt Floyen, The Flřibanen, would not be busy right now. It was past 5 pm, the time most cruise ship passengers returned to their berths. On our way to the Flřibanen, we passed the Brian Boru Irish Pub, of which there were mixed reviews. Some people regarded it highly; a couple of the craft beer guys upon whom I had relied greatly for information disdained it. We decided, "Well, we are here--let's give it a shot."
We each ordered some forgettable Carlsberg Frydenlund variation, took a seat near the bar and watched. Lots of Brits and Irish, typically our comfort zone, I'll give the bar that. But something was off. One beer and out. As we left the pub behind, my husband muttered, "We would never have even stopped in for a look at a place like that in Galway." I kind of agreed.
I had the Floyen app on the phone, and having ordered our tickets while we were walking to the bar, we could bypass the ticket window. Instead, we just headed for the digital ticket-scan gates. Soon we were off to the top.
We loved the ride and we loved the view. Supposedly Bergen has seven mountains, a fact that greatly depends on the definition of "mountain" according to various sources. No matter--we had a view of open sea, fjords, hills, town and neighborhoods. I told my husband I'd like to take it to the top tomorrow again if the weather was good and then walk down. He agreed. We both just wanted to soak it all up. We spotted some sort of restaurant higher up and thought we'd stop for something. And by this time, we did have to use a restroom. The place was the Flřirestauranten. There was a wedding party, a college reunion, and an actual engagement going on. Delightful! Forgettable beer choices for us, but we enjoyed the atmosphere.
When we got to the bottom of the funicular, my husband sniffed the air and asked, "Do you smell hotdogs?" OMG--I had forgotten. We were near Trekroneren, the reindeer hot dog shop. I told my husband we just had to try "The Classic", which is reindeer sausage, lingonberry sauce, crispy fried onions, and more. He wrinkled up his nose and said, "Ok, but we'll only share one." He ate 3/4s of it. It was indeed tasty.
Off to sleep.
Next: Two Things We Did Not Do: The Bergen Card and Cornelius
Jun 30th, 2024, 05:21 AM
#26
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If we had been in our 30s or 40s, not as well traveled, however, we would be driving a car across Norway in search of hiking trails. And we would have loved it just as much.
Last edited by Moderator1; Jun 30th, 2024 at 10:42 AM. Reason: removed response to a deleted post
Jun 30th, 2024, 05:58 AM
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Two Things We Did Not Do: The Bergen Card and Cornelius
I think at this point some of you are wondering why we did not do the Bergen Card if we had been fans of the Copenhagen Card. I can tell you that I debated the same point over months. And in the scheme of what we had shelled out for the trip, the fact I spent any time on this issue was stupid. It just boils down to these factors:
1) We had very little time to tour Bergen on the day of our arrival, a Friday. Our transport into town for the two of us cost $4.15. So of course, no Bergen Card for that day. That decision was a lay-up, even if one tried to do the "Well, if you activated the card at 5 pm Friday, you'd have until 5 pm Saturday to use it." Yep, if one included our trip on the Floybanen, the card might had paid for itself. But I just did not want to schedule anything. We had enough scheduling coming up.
2) The Saturday during our stay was a HUGE cruise ship influx day. Everything we wanted to see would be clogged. I figured we MIGHT buy a 24-hour card, but if I had to wait in lines for anything, I was out. I adopted a "wait-until-I-get-there" position.
3) Sunday was our DIY Norway-in-a-Nutshell Day. We were staying a spit from the train station. What good would the card do us for that day? No Bergen Card for this day.
4) Monday we had to be at the airport by noon for our next leg. Again, the Bybanen only would cost us $4.15. No Bergen Card for this day.
If we had been able to stay four days, I think I would have gone for the card for at least one of the days. I had interests on the outskirts of town which the card would cover in terms of fees and transport. And if we were staying on the outskirts of town, I might have purchased it. But the fact was that we were staying between Bryggen and the rail station, and we had very little need of "hop on the bus" or "hop on the tram" transport.
Something that began to aggravate me when I researched everything was the number of video and website bloggers whose experiences with the Bergen Card had been paid by the card corporation. I felt I was becoming part of a big con game.
I DID however, make reservations for Cornelius. Some people say the movie "The Menu" was based on it. That's questionable. But it's true that for dinner, they pick you up at a dock, transport you to an island, feed you a tasting menu with an optional wine pairing, and then take you home. Two weeks before, I cancelled our reservations.
Why? It's just a matter of age and past experiences. After much discussion with my husband, we came to the conclusion that our desire for tasting menus has come to an end. We've eaten high on the hog throughout LA, San Franciso, NYC, Paris and London in our lifetimes. Now, we just don't need the food thrill. We'd rather meet people and just leave when we're tired. That may be a sad conclusion for some readers but to others, I'm sure it makes perfect sense. We had the all-day, very scheduled adventure of Norway-in-A-Nutshell the following day, and we needed an early bedtime.
1) We had very little time to tour Bergen on the day of our arrival, a Friday. Our transport into town for the two of us cost $4.15. So of course, no Bergen Card for that day. That decision was a lay-up, even if one tried to do the "Well, if you activated the card at 5 pm Friday, you'd have until 5 pm Saturday to use it." Yep, if one included our trip on the Floybanen, the card might had paid for itself. But I just did not want to schedule anything. We had enough scheduling coming up.
2) The Saturday during our stay was a HUGE cruise ship influx day. Everything we wanted to see would be clogged. I figured we MIGHT buy a 24-hour card, but if I had to wait in lines for anything, I was out. I adopted a "wait-until-I-get-there" position.
3) Sunday was our DIY Norway-in-a-Nutshell Day. We were staying a spit from the train station. What good would the card do us for that day? No Bergen Card for this day.
4) Monday we had to be at the airport by noon for our next leg. Again, the Bybanen only would cost us $4.15. No Bergen Card for this day.
If we had been able to stay four days, I think I would have gone for the card for at least one of the days. I had interests on the outskirts of town which the card would cover in terms of fees and transport. And if we were staying on the outskirts of town, I might have purchased it. But the fact was that we were staying between Bryggen and the rail station, and we had very little need of "hop on the bus" or "hop on the tram" transport.
Something that began to aggravate me when I researched everything was the number of video and website bloggers whose experiences with the Bergen Card had been paid by the card corporation. I felt I was becoming part of a big con game.
I DID however, make reservations for Cornelius. Some people say the movie "The Menu" was based on it. That's questionable. But it's true that for dinner, they pick you up at a dock, transport you to an island, feed you a tasting menu with an optional wine pairing, and then take you home. Two weeks before, I cancelled our reservations.
Why? It's just a matter of age and past experiences. After much discussion with my husband, we came to the conclusion that our desire for tasting menus has come to an end. We've eaten high on the hog throughout LA, San Franciso, NYC, Paris and London in our lifetimes. Now, we just don't need the food thrill. We'd rather meet people and just leave when we're tired. That may be a sad conclusion for some readers but to others, I'm sure it makes perfect sense. We had the all-day, very scheduled adventure of Norway-in-A-Nutshell the following day, and we needed an early bedtime.
Jun 30th, 2024, 06:33 AM
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Just looked at the above blurb. "San Franciso"? Egads, my typing and proofreading are sinking to an all-time low. I do know how to spell "San Francisco". I would have failed Writing 101 at this point.
Please bear with me. Or perhaps find a literate post.
Please bear with me. Or perhaps find a literate post.
Jun 30th, 2024, 03:13 PM
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Melnq8--Excellent question.
I asked my husband tonight at dinner what he thought, and he said, "Basically, NYC prices overall. A lot more on some things; cheaper on others." When I planned the trip, I certainly thought almost all transportation was cheap and our hotel costs were hardly stratospheric, especially when one considers that each breakfast buffet could bolster one until late afternoon or dinner.
Food and beers were more expensive because you are also paying servers an actual living wage (a discussion we got into tonight with our favorite servers at our very favorite local restaurant).
My husband added, "You know, Disney World and Hawaii are up there." True.
And I am more than willing to pay a premium when everything WORKS. I loved Switzerland 25 years ago because so much of our day was seamless--everything just functioned. And we felt that way on this trip--we rarely had a travel struggle.
One more thing. No asking, "Do you speak English?". Heck, we could hear the immigrant workers from far-flung countries working in Scandinavian kitchens shouting in English to each other in various accents.
But I'd say we rarely heard American music. Everyone we encountered knew American culture, but we felt they were rather buffered against it, and that was indeed refreshing.
It was fascinating.
I asked my husband tonight at dinner what he thought, and he said, "Basically, NYC prices overall. A lot more on some things; cheaper on others." When I planned the trip, I certainly thought almost all transportation was cheap and our hotel costs were hardly stratospheric, especially when one considers that each breakfast buffet could bolster one until late afternoon or dinner.
Food and beers were more expensive because you are also paying servers an actual living wage (a discussion we got into tonight with our favorite servers at our very favorite local restaurant).
My husband added, "You know, Disney World and Hawaii are up there." True.
And I am more than willing to pay a premium when everything WORKS. I loved Switzerland 25 years ago because so much of our day was seamless--everything just functioned. And we felt that way on this trip--we rarely had a travel struggle.
One more thing. No asking, "Do you speak English?". Heck, we could hear the immigrant workers from far-flung countries working in Scandinavian kitchens shouting in English to each other in various accents.
But I'd say we rarely heard American music. Everyone we encountered knew American culture, but we felt they were rather buffered against it, and that was indeed refreshing.
It was fascinating.
Jun 30th, 2024, 03:35 PM
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Enjoying your report on Bergen. We had some of the smallest showers we've ever encountered on our Scandinavian trips, particularly our apartment in Bergen. We went to a grocery store to stock our apartment, and that's when we learned about the ins and outs of buying alcoholic beverages in Norway. Mr_go asked the clerk where we could buy a bottle of wine. His response: "The easiest way would be to fly home to your own country."
Jun 30th, 2024, 03:47 PM
#32
And I am more than willing to pay a premium when everything WORKS. I loved Switzerland 25 years ago because so much of our day was seamless--everything just functioned.
I hear you. One of the many reasons we like Switzerland so much.
Interesting about the wine ms_go. But I guess being unable to find wine would lower my overall trip costs
I hear you. One of the many reasons we like Switzerland so much.
Interesting about the wine ms_go. But I guess being unable to find wine would lower my overall trip costs
Jun 30th, 2024, 08:22 PM
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Fascinating trip report. I would love to visit Scandinavia some day but it’s not high on my husband’s list. In general, what did you think of the food? My dh is worried he won’t like the food.
Just curious why you didn’t include Finland on this trip?
Just curious why you didn’t include Finland on this trip?
Jun 30th, 2024, 08:33 PM
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There is actually a fairly large liquor store in the middle of Bergen with a large selection of wines. Prices were not bad at all 2 years ago. Did not find prices in Scandinavia much worse than San Francisco problem because the exchange rates are good
Jul 1st, 2024, 03:41 AM
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ms_go--Re wine. Things have changed. There were a lot of places we could buy retail wine and beer. There are two Vinmonopolets (governement-run wine and other alcohol type stores) in Bergen, and for beer, as long as it has an ABV of 4.7 % or under, you can buy it in one of the various types of grocery stores (Kiwi, Meny, Rema 1000 and more). If I recall correctly, you can't buy retail alcohol past 6 pm on Saturday, even if the store is open to 11 pm, or anytime Sunday. So for Saturday or Sunday festivities, one just stocks up by Saturday afternoon. I would not see that as an issue if I were living there. Of course, I went to college in a "dry" town, and my state didn't allow alcohol sales on Sundays until a decade or two ago, so perhaps I've been mentally "trained."
IF--and that's a BIG "if"--I'm reading the regulations correctly, taxation on alcohol is done by ABV for anything between 4.7 and 22%. I'm a fan of such taxation from a personal view: it would motivate breweries to produce flavorful beers that aren't merely "I want to get drunk" beers. My husband and I obviously swill, but we only buy 4.7% or 4.8% beers for the house and seek out lower ABV beers when we eat out.
One pretty interesting thing is your alcohol allowance if you are flying into Bergen from Copenhagen or Stockholm. I knew about it beforehand, and sure enough, the Duty Free shopping area at BGO was packed.
According to the Hinterland Travel website, within the limit of 6,000 or 3,000kr, travelers who are staying more than 24 hours may bring in alcohol duty free that is
KarenWoo--
Re food: You would not need to limit yourself to strictly local cuisine. We could find any type in the four cities we visited--American junk food, Sushi, Thai, Italian, you name it. Anyone who is a vegetarian or needs gluten-free items would be quite happy in any of these four cities.
My own fear before we went was having an Interstitial Cystitis (IC) flare because of my response to vinegars, citric acid, and nitrates. I steered clear of anything pickled (and there are a lot of things pickled in all three countries) but I could chow down day and night on local breads, local cheeses, and fish accompanied by beautiful fresh vegetables. I did not tempt fate with all the berries everywhere--I can never count on my IC response to the ones I get here in the States, plus sugar negatively impacts me. No cute little pancakes for me. Their local apples passed muster and I kept to that. My husband adores pickled vegetables and pickled fish, eats cups of berries daily, so his tummy was always satisfied by Scandinavian cuisine. I did not try whale steak (I was not even tempted), but we did try various forms of reindeer.
Re: Finland My husband's strict trip-length limitations limited the number of places we could visit. Although I like two Finnish Nordic Noir authors, I have never longed to see Finland. What I would like to have added is Iceland. Icelandic crime fiction is up there with the best.
MJS--You hit the nail on the head--exchange rate. And of course, it's how you spend your money when you get there. When the dollar was strong in the 90s, I routinely leveraged my road warrior husband's frequent flyer miles to fly direct Economy to Paris often. People would say, "But Paris is so expensive!" And we'd say, "It's one-half the price of Disney World. And we're not eating at Tour d'Argent--we're mostly eating street and cafe food."
IF--and that's a BIG "if"--I'm reading the regulations correctly, taxation on alcohol is done by ABV for anything between 4.7 and 22%. I'm a fan of such taxation from a personal view: it would motivate breweries to produce flavorful beers that aren't merely "I want to get drunk" beers. My husband and I obviously swill, but we only buy 4.7% or 4.8% beers for the house and seek out lower ABV beers when we eat out.
One pretty interesting thing is your alcohol allowance if you are flying into Bergen from Copenhagen or Stockholm. I knew about it beforehand, and sure enough, the Duty Free shopping area at BGO was packed.
According to the Hinterland Travel website, within the limit of 6,000 or 3,000kr, travelers who are staying more than 24 hours may bring in alcohol duty free that is
- Restricted to travelers 18 years and over, alcohol volume exceeding 22% restricted to travelers 20 years and over;
- 1 liter of an alcoholic beverage containing more than 22%, but not more than 60% alcohol by volume;
- 3 liters containing more than 2.5% alcohol and up to 22% alcohol; and
- 2 liters of beer containing more than 2.5% alcohol or other beverage with between 2.5% and 4.7% alcohol; or
- A proportional combination of these goods, as found on Norwegian Customs Alcohol Quotas.
KarenWoo--
Re food: You would not need to limit yourself to strictly local cuisine. We could find any type in the four cities we visited--American junk food, Sushi, Thai, Italian, you name it. Anyone who is a vegetarian or needs gluten-free items would be quite happy in any of these four cities.
My own fear before we went was having an Interstitial Cystitis (IC) flare because of my response to vinegars, citric acid, and nitrates. I steered clear of anything pickled (and there are a lot of things pickled in all three countries) but I could chow down day and night on local breads, local cheeses, and fish accompanied by beautiful fresh vegetables. I did not tempt fate with all the berries everywhere--I can never count on my IC response to the ones I get here in the States, plus sugar negatively impacts me. No cute little pancakes for me. Their local apples passed muster and I kept to that. My husband adores pickled vegetables and pickled fish, eats cups of berries daily, so his tummy was always satisfied by Scandinavian cuisine. I did not try whale steak (I was not even tempted), but we did try various forms of reindeer.
Re: Finland My husband's strict trip-length limitations limited the number of places we could visit. Although I like two Finnish Nordic Noir authors, I have never longed to see Finland. What I would like to have added is Iceland. Icelandic crime fiction is up there with the best.
MJS--You hit the nail on the head--exchange rate. And of course, it's how you spend your money when you get there. When the dollar was strong in the 90s, I routinely leveraged my road warrior husband's frequent flyer miles to fly direct Economy to Paris often. People would say, "But Paris is so expensive!" And we'd say, "It's one-half the price of Disney World. And we're not eating at Tour d'Argent--we're mostly eating street and cafe food."
Jul 1st, 2024, 06:05 AM
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Bergen Day Two—Falling down Floyen and Bergen Fest
"They are coming! They are coming! The cruisers are coming!"
That was my mantra for our only full day in Bergen. I had researched which ships with how many passengers would be in Bergen and Flam over our stay. Over three thousand passengers from two ships would soon be hitting Bryggen, the "cute" area, between 8 and 11 am, and soon they would be clogging the streets until around 5 pm. Our plan was to survey the Bryggen stuff before bodies blocked the view and to decide our day's other activities according to weather and whim.
By 8 am, we were wandering around Bryggen, the Hanseatic section of old Bergen. We both knew the history of Hanseatic Europe by now, although we both agreed none of our world history courses had ever informed us of it. I made sure to share various articles on it with my husband pre-trip, knowing for sure he'd read them because the whole history was about markets and economic structures. Yep, he had absorbed the information thoroughly. At 8 am, nothing was open, but since the museum I really wanted to see, The Hanseatic Museum, was essentially closed for renovation with only a partial touring substitute, I was fine with just seeing the area. Most of the time, these historic buildings are hosting tourists in search of souvenirs. We do memories, not trinkets.
I had printed out a little walking tour with a map for each of us, and we wandered from site to site happily on this quite pleasant, but crisp morning.
As predicted, by the time we left the area, tour buses were pouring in, walking tours were starting, and streets were getting filled.
Where were we going? To the top of Mt. Floyen, of course. The cruise crowd had yet to reach the entrance yet, and our funicular car up was sparsely populated. We had coffee and a pastry at the little cafe near the funicular station summit, chatting with the early morning servers who shared some funny stories about recent tourists. My husband said, "And what are you going to tell the next customer about me?" I quickly interjected, "Strange old man, even for an American." They giggled. We wished them well as we exited.
Our next stop was to take a closer look at the adjacent hill-top playground. We had loved hiking in Switzerland because at the most illogical hiking trail juncture, one would come upon a playground. It's no wonder that our kids felt Switzerland was a fairyland. We could see our grandkids looking at Norway with the same view. We took pictures of the troll guarding the playground, zapping them back home.
Now we had time to visit the Mt. Floyen goats, whose individual head shots were displayed with their names along their little sidewalk shelter. Mandatory petting time! Two of our grandchildren only drink goats milk because their parents think its helps their eczema. I have no idea if it does or doesn't, but because we had had to stock it for one of their visits, my husband used it in his coffee. He loved it. Now we always have a quart of goats milk on hand. My husband made sure to tell every goat how grateful he was for their contribution to his life. We took our own head shots of our personal favorite goats and zapped those back home too.
It was time to descend. In preparation, I had loaded the Scandinavian versions of all my bird apps, and I could easily identify common local birds. The air was full of bird sounds, mainly because we were so high above any traffic sounds. I checked out all the wildflowers. What a lovely day and what a lovely descent.
Until it got steeper. Obviously, I'm pretty fit for an ol' gal, something that allows me to continue to live in denial about my crumbling left hip and knee. I walk fast. I can still easily run up stairs. I can go down stairs quickly if I pay attention. What I can't do is put weight on my left leg at certain angles because my femur and my tibia slide past each other. Since I'm rarely doing descents at a steep degree in my daily life, I had not given one second's thought about walking down from the top. Even going down Copenhagen's Round Tower had not been difficult. Now I knew I was in deep do-do.
I solved the problem. There were handrails at certain junctures, and I just zig-zagged my way from one to the other, making do with tree hugging when need be. It was slow-going in places, but my super-fast husband was super patient with me. We both resolved not to let this ruin our day. If we had to be slower, well, we'd just enjoy our surroundings more. The descent is supposed to take 45 minutes to an hour--and it would be longer because we were heading to the Fish Market--but I'd say I added a good 15 minutes onto the time.
We started seeing people coming up. We passed a little football tournament, and we got to watch parents and their kids enjoying the pleasant weather as much as we did. By now, all our early morning clothing layers were off; it probably was 75 degrees.
As we neared the bottom part of our journey, we entered the alleys of terraced neighborhoods. Doors were framed with roses, little rock gardens dotted sloped yards, railings were adorned with potted flowers.
When we finally reached the Bryggen bottomland, we knew what we needed now--beer. Easier said than done. The cruise influx made it hard to move through the crowd. On top of it, unbeknownst to us, we were in the middle of BergenFest, an annual international festival. In the middle of tourists were locals dressed in traditional Norwegian garb. Both local and cruise tourists had grabbed every outdoor seat and table in the area.
No matter--I knew a secret from my reading. Jack's Country Saloon at a corner of the market area would probably have available seats INSIDE. And it did. The beers weren't great, but we found a low ABV one, settled into a table next to a window overlooking the docks, and people-watched away. The only problem was that the sound system blared out country music, and the tunes were mostly strange Norwegian versions of some very bad American classics. Every time a new one came one, we dissolved into giggles.
We knew we needed food, and we needed it now. The convenience of an Airbnb obviously doesn't grant the luxury of a hotel breakfast buffet. I told my husband that according to all my travel sources, one should not buy a meal at the Fish Market because of pricing and quality, but we agreed it was time to break the rules. We were granted seating at one of the nearby inside restaurants (I don't have a clue as to which one), a seat that also had a view of the docks. We each ordered a cup of the local fish soup and a seafood salad that was generous in portions. We were quite happy.
We ventured outside, and we somehow found seats near the Fish Market performance stage. It was sort of fun, but gosh we were tired. I had hoped to explore the Nordnes and other Bergen neighborhoods that day, but it wasn't to be. We went back to the apartment, did a load of wash, then headed to our nearby Kiwi to buy provisions for our next day's "Norway-in-A-Nutshell" excursion. We also bought things for a "snack meal" for ourselves that night, and we spent the rest of our time quietly reading and doing laundry. If felt great.
Next: Planning our DIY-Norway-in-a-Nutshell
That was my mantra for our only full day in Bergen. I had researched which ships with how many passengers would be in Bergen and Flam over our stay. Over three thousand passengers from two ships would soon be hitting Bryggen, the "cute" area, between 8 and 11 am, and soon they would be clogging the streets until around 5 pm. Our plan was to survey the Bryggen stuff before bodies blocked the view and to decide our day's other activities according to weather and whim.
By 8 am, we were wandering around Bryggen, the Hanseatic section of old Bergen. We both knew the history of Hanseatic Europe by now, although we both agreed none of our world history courses had ever informed us of it. I made sure to share various articles on it with my husband pre-trip, knowing for sure he'd read them because the whole history was about markets and economic structures. Yep, he had absorbed the information thoroughly. At 8 am, nothing was open, but since the museum I really wanted to see, The Hanseatic Museum, was essentially closed for renovation with only a partial touring substitute, I was fine with just seeing the area. Most of the time, these historic buildings are hosting tourists in search of souvenirs. We do memories, not trinkets.
I had printed out a little walking tour with a map for each of us, and we wandered from site to site happily on this quite pleasant, but crisp morning.
As predicted, by the time we left the area, tour buses were pouring in, walking tours were starting, and streets were getting filled.
Where were we going? To the top of Mt. Floyen, of course. The cruise crowd had yet to reach the entrance yet, and our funicular car up was sparsely populated. We had coffee and a pastry at the little cafe near the funicular station summit, chatting with the early morning servers who shared some funny stories about recent tourists. My husband said, "And what are you going to tell the next customer about me?" I quickly interjected, "Strange old man, even for an American." They giggled. We wished them well as we exited.
Our next stop was to take a closer look at the adjacent hill-top playground. We had loved hiking in Switzerland because at the most illogical hiking trail juncture, one would come upon a playground. It's no wonder that our kids felt Switzerland was a fairyland. We could see our grandkids looking at Norway with the same view. We took pictures of the troll guarding the playground, zapping them back home.
Now we had time to visit the Mt. Floyen goats, whose individual head shots were displayed with their names along their little sidewalk shelter. Mandatory petting time! Two of our grandchildren only drink goats milk because their parents think its helps their eczema. I have no idea if it does or doesn't, but because we had had to stock it for one of their visits, my husband used it in his coffee. He loved it. Now we always have a quart of goats milk on hand. My husband made sure to tell every goat how grateful he was for their contribution to his life. We took our own head shots of our personal favorite goats and zapped those back home too.
It was time to descend. In preparation, I had loaded the Scandinavian versions of all my bird apps, and I could easily identify common local birds. The air was full of bird sounds, mainly because we were so high above any traffic sounds. I checked out all the wildflowers. What a lovely day and what a lovely descent.
Until it got steeper. Obviously, I'm pretty fit for an ol' gal, something that allows me to continue to live in denial about my crumbling left hip and knee. I walk fast. I can still easily run up stairs. I can go down stairs quickly if I pay attention. What I can't do is put weight on my left leg at certain angles because my femur and my tibia slide past each other. Since I'm rarely doing descents at a steep degree in my daily life, I had not given one second's thought about walking down from the top. Even going down Copenhagen's Round Tower had not been difficult. Now I knew I was in deep do-do.
I solved the problem. There were handrails at certain junctures, and I just zig-zagged my way from one to the other, making do with tree hugging when need be. It was slow-going in places, but my super-fast husband was super patient with me. We both resolved not to let this ruin our day. If we had to be slower, well, we'd just enjoy our surroundings more. The descent is supposed to take 45 minutes to an hour--and it would be longer because we were heading to the Fish Market--but I'd say I added a good 15 minutes onto the time.
We started seeing people coming up. We passed a little football tournament, and we got to watch parents and their kids enjoying the pleasant weather as much as we did. By now, all our early morning clothing layers were off; it probably was 75 degrees.
As we neared the bottom part of our journey, we entered the alleys of terraced neighborhoods. Doors were framed with roses, little rock gardens dotted sloped yards, railings were adorned with potted flowers.
When we finally reached the Bryggen bottomland, we knew what we needed now--beer. Easier said than done. The cruise influx made it hard to move through the crowd. On top of it, unbeknownst to us, we were in the middle of BergenFest, an annual international festival. In the middle of tourists were locals dressed in traditional Norwegian garb. Both local and cruise tourists had grabbed every outdoor seat and table in the area.
No matter--I knew a secret from my reading. Jack's Country Saloon at a corner of the market area would probably have available seats INSIDE. And it did. The beers weren't great, but we found a low ABV one, settled into a table next to a window overlooking the docks, and people-watched away. The only problem was that the sound system blared out country music, and the tunes were mostly strange Norwegian versions of some very bad American classics. Every time a new one came one, we dissolved into giggles.
We knew we needed food, and we needed it now. The convenience of an Airbnb obviously doesn't grant the luxury of a hotel breakfast buffet. I told my husband that according to all my travel sources, one should not buy a meal at the Fish Market because of pricing and quality, but we agreed it was time to break the rules. We were granted seating at one of the nearby inside restaurants (I don't have a clue as to which one), a seat that also had a view of the docks. We each ordered a cup of the local fish soup and a seafood salad that was generous in portions. We were quite happy.
We ventured outside, and we somehow found seats near the Fish Market performance stage. It was sort of fun, but gosh we were tired. I had hoped to explore the Nordnes and other Bergen neighborhoods that day, but it wasn't to be. We went back to the apartment, did a load of wash, then headed to our nearby Kiwi to buy provisions for our next day's "Norway-in-A-Nutshell" excursion. We also bought things for a "snack meal" for ourselves that night, and we spent the rest of our time quietly reading and doing laundry. If felt great.
Next: Planning our DIY-Norway-in-a-Nutshell
Jul 1st, 2024, 11:36 AM
#37
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Planning a DIY Norway in a Nutshell Excursion
I should make it clear from the get-go that doing DIY version of "Norway in a Nutshell" will not necessarily save you money, especially the way I booked it. But my planning gave me what I wanted: control.
Here's the deal: my husband gets motion sickness with various types of travel, and I must take that in account when planning. I could not believe when I married him that he could not do roller coasters. Having come from a family who made Coney Island and Blackpool coasters priorities on our childhood trips to NYC and England, I was totally shocked. At first I wasn't that sympathetic, but when someone turns greens, well, you have to feel sorry for them.
I nearly killed him last year on an endless and crowded Galway-to-Inishmore Ferry excursion, although the seas certainly were not rough, and I resolved to do my best to make it up to him. The goal was to get him confirmed forward facing seats on the train portions.
What IS Norway in a Nutshell anyway? It's a means by which one can experience the beauty of Norway in one day via the Bergen-Oslo train line, a bus, a two-hour electric ship fjord cruise, and a fun regional train line. You can book the whole thing through Fjord Tours easy peasy. By all accounts, the day can be hectic, but most people say afterwards, "Totally worth it."
My personal goal was to make the day less hectic and less happenstance. To accomplish that, I first consulted a couple of cruise ship websites to find out which boats with how many passengers would be in Bergen and Flam during our stay. Some of the Bergen cruisers would take advantage of longer port stays to do the route; others would end their cruise in Bergen and do the same.
Note: Only smaller ships can now stay in Flam, but even they can impact the fjord cruise part of the journey.
It soon became apparent that the Sunday of our Bergen stay would be the best day to do it IF I found a way to get one of the earliest Bergen-Oslo trains.
I had read about the trip for months and would have morning coffee watching videos before I settled on my trip plan. As many other posters will explain, when people buy a "Norway in a Nutshell" package, all they are getting is a bunch of various independent tickets. There are no tour guides. There are no cruise directors. You are on your own anyway. But that does not mean the package or the package people have not offered value. Using the official Fjord Tours website, you can test various routes and dates until you settle on something that will work for you. I played around with it forever and with the VY website until I thought I knew what we would do.
Again, I emphasize that I used the Fjord Tours website to give me a planning structure, not for purchase. And again, for my husband, I wanted to do my best to nail the confirmed FRONT FACING seats on the trains beginning and ending the day. The Norway in a Nutshell package only offers open second-class seating. No confirmed seats. The line to get onto the "free for all" cars at the rail station has been reported, at times, as a nightmare. In addition, I wanted to make sure every part of our booked trip was refundable.
Well, my routing was firm; my ability to book was not. The problem was that VY, the national rail site, would not load the fare for the trains I wanted, if at all, until 3 months before our trip. I made sure I had established a VY account with an approved and attached credit card so I could pull the trigger as soon as the time and fares appeared.
On March 18 in the evening, my VY routes for June 16 showed up on my screen. Within five minutes, I had booked my Bergen-Voss and my Myrdal-Bergen seats, front fact, left side, and refundable. SCORE. The Flam Railway portions had no such seat reservations, but I got my tickets for that route via VY too.
I immediately went to the Norway's Best website and within seconds booked the right fjord cruise and our connecting Voss-Gudvangen bus.
Done!
_________
I'll relate later how everything went so you may be able to get some tips, but I do want to share that it's important to display the PDF tickets on your phone or have them printed out. Too many people thought email confirmation of the trip was enough. It isn't.
Again, I apologize for my bad typing. I'm in a hurry to get some of these entries done before I leave.
Here's the deal: my husband gets motion sickness with various types of travel, and I must take that in account when planning. I could not believe when I married him that he could not do roller coasters. Having come from a family who made Coney Island and Blackpool coasters priorities on our childhood trips to NYC and England, I was totally shocked. At first I wasn't that sympathetic, but when someone turns greens, well, you have to feel sorry for them.
I nearly killed him last year on an endless and crowded Galway-to-Inishmore Ferry excursion, although the seas certainly were not rough, and I resolved to do my best to make it up to him. The goal was to get him confirmed forward facing seats on the train portions.
What IS Norway in a Nutshell anyway? It's a means by which one can experience the beauty of Norway in one day via the Bergen-Oslo train line, a bus, a two-hour electric ship fjord cruise, and a fun regional train line. You can book the whole thing through Fjord Tours easy peasy. By all accounts, the day can be hectic, but most people say afterwards, "Totally worth it."
My personal goal was to make the day less hectic and less happenstance. To accomplish that, I first consulted a couple of cruise ship websites to find out which boats with how many passengers would be in Bergen and Flam during our stay. Some of the Bergen cruisers would take advantage of longer port stays to do the route; others would end their cruise in Bergen and do the same.
Note: Only smaller ships can now stay in Flam, but even they can impact the fjord cruise part of the journey.
It soon became apparent that the Sunday of our Bergen stay would be the best day to do it IF I found a way to get one of the earliest Bergen-Oslo trains.
I had read about the trip for months and would have morning coffee watching videos before I settled on my trip plan. As many other posters will explain, when people buy a "Norway in a Nutshell" package, all they are getting is a bunch of various independent tickets. There are no tour guides. There are no cruise directors. You are on your own anyway. But that does not mean the package or the package people have not offered value. Using the official Fjord Tours website, you can test various routes and dates until you settle on something that will work for you. I played around with it forever and with the VY website until I thought I knew what we would do.
Again, I emphasize that I used the Fjord Tours website to give me a planning structure, not for purchase. And again, for my husband, I wanted to do my best to nail the confirmed FRONT FACING seats on the trains beginning and ending the day. The Norway in a Nutshell package only offers open second-class seating. No confirmed seats. The line to get onto the "free for all" cars at the rail station has been reported, at times, as a nightmare. In addition, I wanted to make sure every part of our booked trip was refundable.
Well, my routing was firm; my ability to book was not. The problem was that VY, the national rail site, would not load the fare for the trains I wanted, if at all, until 3 months before our trip. I made sure I had established a VY account with an approved and attached credit card so I could pull the trigger as soon as the time and fares appeared.
On March 18 in the evening, my VY routes for June 16 showed up on my screen. Within five minutes, I had booked my Bergen-Voss and my Myrdal-Bergen seats, front fact, left side, and refundable. SCORE. The Flam Railway portions had no such seat reservations, but I got my tickets for that route via VY too.
I immediately went to the Norway's Best website and within seconds booked the right fjord cruise and our connecting Voss-Gudvangen bus.
Done!
_________
I'll relate later how everything went so you may be able to get some tips, but I do want to share that it's important to display the PDF tickets on your phone or have them printed out. Too many people thought email confirmation of the trip was enough. It isn't.
Again, I apologize for my bad typing. I'm in a hurry to get some of these entries done before I leave.
Jul 1st, 2024, 09:31 PM
#38
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AZ, thanks for explaining what Norway in a Nutshell is. I always wondered about that. So it sounds like NIN is good for people who have a very limited time in Norway. Am I right? This is not something a person would need to do if they have a week or so, I gather.
Jul 2nd, 2024, 04:45 AM
#39
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KarenWoo--As always, a good question.
Sure, you do not have to see this area, and in fact, I originally had not planned to do so. But then I began to see that it would be like traveling all the way to the Sierra Nevada mountains in California near Mariposa and not being bothered to go to Yosemite. More specifically, it would be like visiting Yosemite and not seeing Half Dome, El Capitain, and Bridalveil Falls. This small area of overall Norway packs a similar scenic punch. It's not the only lovely area of Norway to see by any means, but it's a gem.
As to "full week", what do you mean by a full week and what do you personally want to experience? Are you talking about a full week in Bergen? A full week of travel between Bergen and Oslo? A full week in the Vestland? Or just a full week in Norway, which in reality, was close to what we were doing anyway? Is one driving or relying on public transit?
More than most trips I've planned in our 45 years of marriage, the possible permutations of exploring this part of Norway, even with our current physical limitations, seemed to be endless. I have compared starting to plan this trip, and particularly this segment of the trip, with how I felt planning our family of four's 1999 hiking trip to the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. By then we had been hiking with our kids throughout the American West with no problems, and the kids were already used to European travel, so I thought, "This will be a lay-up." Foolish me. This was in the days when not everything had a website. I found I was trying to map out our rail routes via rail lines that may have been destroyed in avalanches and at the same time trying to find kid-friendly hiking routes on trails that may have been washed out by the time we got there. The choices of how and where we could go within our limited time seemed infinite. Luckily I came upon a company, now defunct, that specialized in reasonably priced group family hiking trips in the Bernese region. All I had to do was plan our itinerary before and after the trip segment and then "hand over the keys" to someone else. Sure enough, there were mornings at the group's map meeting where the guide, the owner who grew up in the area, would say, "This trail washed out last night. We're going to do this route" or "There were mechanical difficulties on the cable car yesterday. I'm sure, knowing the Swiss, it will be repaired by end of day. We'll rearrange our morning plans like this..."
Sadly, I could not get my daily guide update on this trip. I was stuck being the director, although I could sub-contract if I needed to do so. And I felt stuck for quite some time. I checked out every possible alternative to "Norway in a Nutshell" routing that existed, KarenWoo, reading blogs and watching videos for months with my morning coffee. There are "drive-it-yourself" versions that my husband would not do. There are "take-this-alternative fjord" versions. One could skip the electric boat fjord tour and choose to do a Zebra fast-boat thing. You can take a ferry from Bergen out to the area. There are tour guides who will pick you up in Bergen and drive you out to key points, let you take whichever fjord tour you want, take you around to various waterfalls, and then send you back or forward via rail. Some people happily stay overnight in Flam or Voss, ziplining and cycling and doing mini-hikes.
Add onto to these permutations the fact that the Bergen-Oslo rail line does have sudden line failures due to ice, snow, cable corrosion, and derailments. All the plans one finally makes can go topsy-turvy when all morning trains are delayed for two hours.
I probably was surprised as much as anyone that when I finally did my power-point presentation to my husband of some reasonable alternative versions, we both leaned toward sticking as closely as possible to a one-day traditional routing so we could keep our days in Oslo.
Next: Our Final NIN Routing*
*I may have time to add how the day went. Sadly, my overall remaining writing time is constrained because of our upcoming trip, and I may have to delay that detailed narrative for two weeks. As always, forgive my typing. I proofread the above three times, but it's scary how many errors I make, and how many I don't catch, now. Then again, my typing is MUCH better than my current handwriting
Sure, you do not have to see this area, and in fact, I originally had not planned to do so. But then I began to see that it would be like traveling all the way to the Sierra Nevada mountains in California near Mariposa and not being bothered to go to Yosemite. More specifically, it would be like visiting Yosemite and not seeing Half Dome, El Capitain, and Bridalveil Falls. This small area of overall Norway packs a similar scenic punch. It's not the only lovely area of Norway to see by any means, but it's a gem.
As to "full week", what do you mean by a full week and what do you personally want to experience? Are you talking about a full week in Bergen? A full week of travel between Bergen and Oslo? A full week in the Vestland? Or just a full week in Norway, which in reality, was close to what we were doing anyway? Is one driving or relying on public transit?
More than most trips I've planned in our 45 years of marriage, the possible permutations of exploring this part of Norway, even with our current physical limitations, seemed to be endless. I have compared starting to plan this trip, and particularly this segment of the trip, with how I felt planning our family of four's 1999 hiking trip to the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. By then we had been hiking with our kids throughout the American West with no problems, and the kids were already used to European travel, so I thought, "This will be a lay-up." Foolish me. This was in the days when not everything had a website. I found I was trying to map out our rail routes via rail lines that may have been destroyed in avalanches and at the same time trying to find kid-friendly hiking routes on trails that may have been washed out by the time we got there. The choices of how and where we could go within our limited time seemed infinite. Luckily I came upon a company, now defunct, that specialized in reasonably priced group family hiking trips in the Bernese region. All I had to do was plan our itinerary before and after the trip segment and then "hand over the keys" to someone else. Sure enough, there were mornings at the group's map meeting where the guide, the owner who grew up in the area, would say, "This trail washed out last night. We're going to do this route" or "There were mechanical difficulties on the cable car yesterday. I'm sure, knowing the Swiss, it will be repaired by end of day. We'll rearrange our morning plans like this..."
Sadly, I could not get my daily guide update on this trip. I was stuck being the director, although I could sub-contract if I needed to do so. And I felt stuck for quite some time. I checked out every possible alternative to "Norway in a Nutshell" routing that existed, KarenWoo, reading blogs and watching videos for months with my morning coffee. There are "drive-it-yourself" versions that my husband would not do. There are "take-this-alternative fjord" versions. One could skip the electric boat fjord tour and choose to do a Zebra fast-boat thing. You can take a ferry from Bergen out to the area. There are tour guides who will pick you up in Bergen and drive you out to key points, let you take whichever fjord tour you want, take you around to various waterfalls, and then send you back or forward via rail. Some people happily stay overnight in Flam or Voss, ziplining and cycling and doing mini-hikes.
Add onto to these permutations the fact that the Bergen-Oslo rail line does have sudden line failures due to ice, snow, cable corrosion, and derailments. All the plans one finally makes can go topsy-turvy when all morning trains are delayed for two hours.
I probably was surprised as much as anyone that when I finally did my power-point presentation to my husband of some reasonable alternative versions, we both leaned toward sticking as closely as possible to a one-day traditional routing so we could keep our days in Oslo.
Next: Our Final NIN Routing*
*I may have time to add how the day went. Sadly, my overall remaining writing time is constrained because of our upcoming trip, and I may have to delay that detailed narrative for two weeks. As always, forgive my typing. I proofread the above three times, but it's scary how many errors I make, and how many I don't catch, now. Then again, my typing is MUCH better than my current handwriting
Jul 2nd, 2024, 06:56 AM
#40
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Our Final DIY NIN Routing
OUR DIY NORWAY IN A NUTSHELL ROUTING
7:45 AM STATION ARRIVAL--Our Airbnb was about a five-minute walk away. As predicted, there was already a long line ahead of us, mostly of people trying to make sure their luggage would fit onto the train somewhere near them. That was not our problem because we were returning to Bergen, not going onwards to Oslo.
8:08 AM DEPARTURE BERGEN BY TRAIN (confirmed forward-facing seats; I chose the left side and made sure there was a window next to our seat row and in the row in front of us)**
9:17 AM ARRIVAL VOSS
10:10 AM DEPARTURE VOSS BY BUS (no reserved seats possible)
11:30 AM ARRIVAL GUDVANGEN
12:00 PM DEPARTURE GUDVANGEN BY FJORD BOAT (no reserved seats possible)
2 PM ARRIVAL FLAM
2:55 PM DEPARTURE FLAM BY TRAIN (no reserved seats possible)
3:51 PM ARRIVAL MYRDAL
5:04 PM DEPARTURE MYRDAL BY TRAIN
7:10 PM ARRIVAL BERGEN (confirmed forward-facing seats; I again the left side and made sure there was a window next to our seat row and in the row in front of us)**
**VY can guarantee seats but cannot guarantee forward facing because they might have to switch rail cars. And one always is advised to check the site the day before and the morning of departure because of train cancellations and delays.
Because I may not have time to relate exactly how everything went plus provide some further key insights today, and because I may not be able to write that chapter by tomorrow, just let me inform you that everything went even better than I expected. My husband was able to face forward on every leg, even the ones without possible seat reservations. I was so worried about our time gaps at Voss and Myrdal, but we quite enjoyed them. Those gaps made us feel "out of the fray". I could not pre-plan our perfect weather, but I shall take credit anyway and I told him so.
Trip Report to Be Continued in Two Weeks
I can probably answer some questions for a few days.
- This was for a Sunday mid-June.
- I used VY and Norway's Best websites to book everything.
- All my ticket PDFs were printed out and separated into page protectors that I cut in half, and I also had back-ups on my phone Kindle app.
7:45 AM STATION ARRIVAL--Our Airbnb was about a five-minute walk away. As predicted, there was already a long line ahead of us, mostly of people trying to make sure their luggage would fit onto the train somewhere near them. That was not our problem because we were returning to Bergen, not going onwards to Oslo.
8:08 AM DEPARTURE BERGEN BY TRAIN (confirmed forward-facing seats; I chose the left side and made sure there was a window next to our seat row and in the row in front of us)**
9:17 AM ARRIVAL VOSS
10:10 AM DEPARTURE VOSS BY BUS (no reserved seats possible)
11:30 AM ARRIVAL GUDVANGEN
12:00 PM DEPARTURE GUDVANGEN BY FJORD BOAT (no reserved seats possible)
2 PM ARRIVAL FLAM
2:55 PM DEPARTURE FLAM BY TRAIN (no reserved seats possible)
3:51 PM ARRIVAL MYRDAL
5:04 PM DEPARTURE MYRDAL BY TRAIN
7:10 PM ARRIVAL BERGEN (confirmed forward-facing seats; I again the left side and made sure there was a window next to our seat row and in the row in front of us)**
**VY can guarantee seats but cannot guarantee forward facing because they might have to switch rail cars. And one always is advised to check the site the day before and the morning of departure because of train cancellations and delays.
Because I may not have time to relate exactly how everything went plus provide some further key insights today, and because I may not be able to write that chapter by tomorrow, just let me inform you that everything went even better than I expected. My husband was able to face forward on every leg, even the ones without possible seat reservations. I was so worried about our time gaps at Voss and Myrdal, but we quite enjoyed them. Those gaps made us feel "out of the fray". I could not pre-plan our perfect weather, but I shall take credit anyway and I told him so.
Trip Report to Be Continued in Two Weeks
I can probably answer some questions for a few days.
