Travel

From Oslo to Bergen & Some Nice Surprises Awaiting Us Upon Arrival

It was the 17th day of our Interrail trip...

We left Oslo for Bergen in the morning...

The train rushed by lakes, lonely wooden houses, streams, waterfalls, enchanted forests, snow covered mountains and through never-ending tunnels, for 7 beautiful hours.

The Bergen Railway is supposed to be one of the most gorgeous train routes in the world... And guess what? It really is amazing! It's not only advertising.

I wonder how life in one of these remote houses really is?

It's been years since I've seen snow (except on TV, of course!). So I stuck my face to the window almost the whole way.

The train stopped at Myrdal Station (867 meters), the highest point of the Flam Railway and the highest train station in Scandinavia. We didn't take the very touristic Flam Railway (although almost everybody else did), but decided to go on to Bergen instead. When we arrived in this train station there was an announcement that wrongly labeled Myrdal Station as the highest train station in Europe. But just days later, in Switzerland, we got pretty close to the Jungfraujoch Railway Station situated at 3,454 meters.

Upon our arrival in Bergen in the afternoon, we were handed in the two Guest of Honour Cards (that granted us free entrance to all museum and attractions in the city for the next few days) the guys from VisitBergen left for us in our hotel's reception.

And so our 3 days and a half Bergen adventure began...

First stop was a pastry shop and a delicious skillingsbolle (cinnamon bun). Though far from the original price and way smaller (probably a quarter or less) than the one we had in Gothenburg, it was still the same finger liking goodness.

So good in fact that even this little sparrow wanted a bite. She actually not only wanted, but also insisted in having a crumble. When her jumping in front of us while making very noisy and convincing sounds didn't work, she decided taking by force what she thought was rightfully hers. Of course, she was so cute, dancing and flying around us and trying to steal our cinnamon bun that in the end we couldn't resist and fed her. Sometimes being a burden goes a long way.

After eating our skillingsbolle and feeding our new friend (or better said the other way around), we continued walking through the open market just next to the bakery.

Among the warm wool clothes, slippers and wonderful souvenirs that were being sold here, there was this cute troll statue. It seems to me that every Scandinavian city has it's share of trolls and Bergen is no exception, especially since Norway's most celebrated composer, Edvard Grieg, made the troll stories the kids were talking about even more popular by pretending his Bergen house was haunted by trolls.

With such a great introduction, all there was left for us to do at that late afternoon hour was go to a Grieg concert. The concert was held in Korskirken (The Church of the Cross), in an intimate atmosphere, as part of 'Grieg in Bergen' annual festival. His music is arresting, and I'm sure that even if the name didn't ring a bell to you, as it didn't really for us either, you've heard and (most probably) loved some of his most famous songs, like 'Morning Mood' and 'Solveig's Song'.

After the concert, we went for a stroll through the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bryggen.

Most shops in Bryggen were already closed by now, except for the unconventional Christmas Shop. We could have wondered the premises for hours as this find made us really happy. Stumbling upon something unexpected in our travels has not only became the norm, but also the fuel that keeps us going.

For more Bergen travel tips and ideas, you can check out VisitBergen.com

Though we used the Interrail Global Pass for our journey, it's worth noting that single country passes are also available.

- A Trip Into The Past. Wandering Through The Old Bergen Museum
When we first decided to include Scandinavia on our InterRail itinerary, we literally expected to see wooden houses and nothing but wooden houses. We weren't prepared for Oslo's beautiful but brick made buildings for example. Therefore we started...

- Having Fun In Bergen: Hiking Mount Floyen (a Photo Essay)
Mount Floyen is one of those places where you can take a deep breath and the whole world becomes a happier place. On our 3rd day in Bergen we took the funicular up the Mount Floyen, where we enjoyed some amazing views over the city and hiked through the...

- The Cute Locals Of The Bergen Aquarium
By some kind of cruel irony, just after visiting the fish market, we went to the Bergen Aquarium. We walked for about 15 minutes, 'cause all in all the Aquarium is not so far from the city center, and when we finally arrived there we were...

- Fish Your Food At Bergen Fish Market
After visiting the souvenir market, we went to the fish market just across the street. The fish market is situated by the harbor and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bryggen, and though it wasn't as huge as we expected it to be, I believe its charm...

- Our 10 Favorite Photos From Bergen, Norway
As part of our 1 month InterRail trip through Europe, we spent 3 beautiful days in Bergen, as Guests of Honor of Bergen Tourism Board. During this period, we literally took thousands of photos, but after a quick look, these are our favorite so far. Osterfjord ...

Travel