Bergen to Balestrand
It's about 9:30 pm as I type. We've just settled into our hotel in Balestrand and thankfully they have free wifi.
Our morning started in Bergen to rain. We went through the breakfast buffet and packed up, checking out and stowing bags for the day as we didn't leave until late afternoon, giving us the day to explore Bergen.
Margo hadn't packed an umbrella, so acquiring one was our first task (our hotel was out of loaners). We ended up buying one at a 7-Eleven because, being a Sunday, the department stores were closed. (Other American chains I saw include McDonalds, Burger King, and TGIFridays, but not one Starbucks.)
Next to the train station to finalise our schedule, something Margo was unable to do online. I got this picture as we sat on benches.
We split up from here for the next few hours. Margo and Sarah went to take a ferry bus to the aquarium, and I set out to explore Bergen on foot.
This is the Lille Lungegardsvann pond; in the background on the right is the Bergen Art Museum. On the top is a strap dangling from my sleeve. I'd been meaning to include it in a picture for some time.
This is a street featuring retail.
Bergen is in a valley, and the downtown peninsula has two spines of hills. Here's a view from the top of one.
And now I'm going to confuse you and write captions after the photos.
This is the Torgallmenningen square bordered by hotels and department stores. But again, being Sunday, most everything was closed. I'm sure it's quite busy otherwise.
I first saw one of these about ten years ago in a McDonalds in Sweden; I'm glad they are still in use. When you buy a drink at a fast food restaurant, it's filled with ice. When you throw it in the bin, the ice melts, and the restaurant ends up carting lots of water to the landfill. To save money and fuel in hauling this extra weight, they have sinks like these right at the trash bins. I have no idea why this hasn't caught on everywhere, especially after ten years. This is at a Burger King where I stopped to get a bite and a sip. (Remember, everything else was closed ...)
This sign clearly indicates a Gentleman's Crossing. Naturally, I was forced to walk down the street a bit and jaywalk.
Another view of the ferry harbour and the fish market. On the hill you can see the terminus of the Floibanen funicular trolley, offering a view of the city.
We left Bergen on a high-speed catamaran ferry, much like the ferries from Seattle to Victoria, B.C. We had about a four hour journey to Balestrand. We spent it with occasional trips topside for views like these, but mostly we sat belowdecks watching through the windows as it was still raining. From my iPod I selected as musical accompaniment the dark electro of Norwegian band Bel Canto, which fit the scenery well.
I also brought a library copy of a Kurt Wallander mystery by Henning Mankell. The novels take place in the Swedish town of Ystad, near Malmo. It's always cloudy and the characters drink too much and are crabby at each other, and the merest bit of violence causes untold moral anguish.
Our scenery alternated between dense evergreens and rocky scrubland. As we progressed, the hills became more mountainous and steep and ... fjordlike. I took lots of pictures but most were through the rain-spattered windows and were quite rubbish. This is probably the best shot I took.
Our ferry was very agile. We had several stops along our route, but we'd be in and out in maybe 2-3 minutes. This is one of the villages we pulled up to.
We arrived in Balestrand in the evening. As our hotel is quite a ways uphill, they'd arranged to pick us up. We're well pleased with it so far. Here's our room's balcony.
Balestrand is a smaller village; there's just a few shops and restaurants in town. I look forward to exploring it in the morning before we leave late morning by ferry for the first leg of our journey to Oslo.
Our morning started in Bergen to rain. We went through the breakfast buffet and packed up, checking out and stowing bags for the day as we didn't leave until late afternoon, giving us the day to explore Bergen.
Margo hadn't packed an umbrella, so acquiring one was our first task (our hotel was out of loaners). We ended up buying one at a 7-Eleven because, being a Sunday, the department stores were closed. (Other American chains I saw include McDonalds, Burger King, and TGIFridays, but not one Starbucks.)
Next to the train station to finalise our schedule, something Margo was unable to do online. I got this picture as we sat on benches.
We split up from here for the next few hours. Margo and Sarah went to take a ferry bus to the aquarium, and I set out to explore Bergen on foot.
This is the Lille Lungegardsvann pond; in the background on the right is the Bergen Art Museum. On the top is a strap dangling from my sleeve. I'd been meaning to include it in a picture for some time.
This is a street featuring retail.
Bergen is in a valley, and the downtown peninsula has two spines of hills. Here's a view from the top of one.
And now I'm going to confuse you and write captions after the photos.
This is the Torgallmenningen square bordered by hotels and department stores. But again, being Sunday, most everything was closed. I'm sure it's quite busy otherwise.
I first saw one of these about ten years ago in a McDonalds in Sweden; I'm glad they are still in use. When you buy a drink at a fast food restaurant, it's filled with ice. When you throw it in the bin, the ice melts, and the restaurant ends up carting lots of water to the landfill. To save money and fuel in hauling this extra weight, they have sinks like these right at the trash bins. I have no idea why this hasn't caught on everywhere, especially after ten years. This is at a Burger King where I stopped to get a bite and a sip. (Remember, everything else was closed ...)
This sign clearly indicates a Gentleman's Crossing. Naturally, I was forced to walk down the street a bit and jaywalk.
Another view of the ferry harbour and the fish market. On the hill you can see the terminus of the Floibanen funicular trolley, offering a view of the city.
We left Bergen on a high-speed catamaran ferry, much like the ferries from Seattle to Victoria, B.C. We had about a four hour journey to Balestrand. We spent it with occasional trips topside for views like these, but mostly we sat belowdecks watching through the windows as it was still raining. From my iPod I selected as musical accompaniment the dark electro of Norwegian band Bel Canto, which fit the scenery well.
I also brought a library copy of a Kurt Wallander mystery by Henning Mankell. The novels take place in the Swedish town of Ystad, near Malmo. It's always cloudy and the characters drink too much and are crabby at each other, and the merest bit of violence causes untold moral anguish.
Our scenery alternated between dense evergreens and rocky scrubland. As we progressed, the hills became more mountainous and steep and ... fjordlike. I took lots of pictures but most were through the rain-spattered windows and were quite rubbish. This is probably the best shot I took.
Our ferry was very agile. We had several stops along our route, but we'd be in and out in maybe 2-3 minutes. This is one of the villages we pulled up to.
We arrived in Balestrand in the evening. As our hotel is quite a ways uphill, they'd arranged to pick us up. We're well pleased with it so far. Here's our room's balcony.
Balestrand is a smaller village; there's just a few shops and restaurants in town. I look forward to exploring it in the morning before we leave late morning by ferry for the first leg of our journey to Oslo.
posted by Michael Nelson at 12:33 pm
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