living la vida disney ;)
It’s always exciting when a place exceeds the dreams you have had of it in your imagination. I have been dreaming of Bergen for over twenty years. I imagined myself here in 1989… but on a budget of $50/day, Scandinavia dropped off the table.
I had read an article in the globe and mail travel section about the “mail boat” that cruises up the coast of Norway through the fjords. Not a cruise ship but a regular boat whose principal purpose is cargo and mail delivery. At the time it seemed you could book something really basic and it didn’t cost a fortune.
It was still way out of my backpacking budget so I’ll never know but a trip on Hurtigruten in 2014 is not cheap although I am sure the cost is substantially less out of season. But I am here in Bergen on a glorious day in mid-May. It is so sunny it’s tough to type and I have to contend with my reflection in the screen as a kind of unwanted screensaver.
I wanted to save a little money on the Hurtigruten ship so I booked really far ahead and came in May instead of June. I can’t guarantee your experience of Norway in May is going to be as spectacular as mine but I have rarely had a more perfect climatic travel experience.
gorgeous bergen!
And then there is Bergen… (the Hurtigruten ships start out of Bergen)… It is like Brugge and Ljubliana – another small city that is so cute and perfect it’s hard to believe Tinkerbell didn’t scoot in prior to your arrival and sprinkle pixie dust over the place.
It’s an old trading post and seafaring port, one of the Hanseatic merchants` four most important trading centres. I am sitting typing this next to the harbour on one side and rows of adorable houses rebuilt a series of times due to fire but apparently using the original blueprints from the 12th century. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site called Bryggen.
As has already been noted, Norway is a wildly expensive country to visit so I read about all the tourist attractions but almost nothing is free (maybe a church… not all churches though) so you will have to explore them on your own. Most sound pretty small town so paying at least $12 to be underwhelmed seems a recipe for disappointment.
And the town is gorgeous so exploring it will provide plenty of free entertainment 🙂 The one thing I did pay for – and I would encourage you to do the same – is the funicular up to the top of one of the mountains (the city is surrounded by seven).
bergen via disney 😉
It`s the Floibanen Funicular and takes you to the top of Mount Floyen in seven minutes. It costs under $20 (not much in Norway does J) and, on a sunny day, the view is breathtaking. It also provides a great bird`s eye view of the city.
The other cool thing to do from Bergen is explore the fjords. I expect I will be back. There is no question Norway is gorgeous – but, like supermodels, it charges a lot of cash per hour so one has to plot a careful strategy.
I`m not sure exactly what I will see via Hurtigruten so that`s the plan for this trip. I can fly back to Bergen on another European jaunt and check out the missing fjords if I am not OD-ed on ice, water and rock in the next seven days.
Tomorrow I join the ship. Today I am soaking up the sun and the immense satisfaction that comes from realizing one’s dreams – and having the reality exceed everything one has imagined. Skol Bergen 😉
p.s. after I wrote this, I searched for a great final meal in Bergen that wouldn’t break the bank. I wanted to have fish. I knew that if I got off the main drag next to the harbour the cost would likely come down. I finally settled on Ruccola at Verdidsalmenningen 7. It’s just down the street from the station for the funicular. An amazing meal of salmon and vegetables for about 220 kroner – and the best house wine I have had in Norway!
life on planetm 
kids on a rope :)
There is a short list now of places that I absolutely MUST see and it’s one of those wonderfully pleasant dilemmas each year deciding which destination (maybe two if times are flush) will be knocked off the list.
I have had some wonderful adventures by visiting a place at a special moment in its history so I decided to finally see the fjords since 2014 would be Norway’s 200th anniversary. And I would start in Oslo on May 17th to see the National Day up close and personal.
It’s definitely a worthwhile endeavour. I think I saw every school child in Norway! But it may have just been all the children in Oslo.
That is the focus of the day. There is a children’s parade to the palace where they are greeted by the king and queen of Norway. I think I saw them waving on the balcony but I was just floating with the experience so I am sure better preparation would have allowed a closer royal sighting. But I think monarchies in the 21st century are dumb so…
following the locals 🙂
I was excited to manage to score a good spot for the parade despite not even being clear on where the parade route was. The hotel staff were vague (I gather no one bothers unless they know kids in the parade). The tradition is to dress up in traditional costumes so I just followed a group looking as though they had stepped from 19th century Norway out of the hotel until I saw a big crowd, where I parted company with the people in fancy dress in case they were going somewhere the bouncers were checking for embroidery instead of designer threads.
I managed to get a great view of the parade and sported the sunburn for a couple of days to prove it. (Do recommend a hat if you watch the parade!) It goes on for a long time. I can understand Norwegians shunning it after a few years. But there are lots of small children. While not every child is in traditional
wave that flag!
dress, almost everyone looks festive.
It’s a very cool experience as children are inherently entertaining. But what is also really heartwarming about 21st century Oslo is the inclusiveness of the society.
Sunday is the day to go to the National Gallery. It’s free! Free and Norway are not concepts you normally put together … but on Sunday you can see The Scream, antique furniture and thought provoking modern art all for free!
Combined with the parade, it offered some insight into Norwegian culture (the history is still a bit murky – plan is to clear that upon my return to Oslo). One of the museums proclaimed Norway the “peace nation”. And this is where you can score a Nobel Peace Prize.
I love nations with a smart agenda. I had envisioned Norway as one of those countries that was beyond post-modern – a country of the future. It has not disappointed. The museums were interesting and provocative (a big emphasis on human rights and free speech) but what was most gratifying to see was the diversity of children included in the National Day parade.
The whole world was represented. Not only different skin tones but different facial features. Some wore traditional Norwegian dress, which really warmed my heart. I think immigration is a total force for good. But, if you change countries, you should be madly in love with a foreign national or madly in love with what that foreign country represents. Some countries posit better concepts than others. If you like your own culture, stay put. Immigration works when people come to a new place for the right reasons.
I haven’t met enough people yet to have a solid prognosis on 21st century Norway. But I have never seen such a variety of foreign faces in a European country. And everyone was included – a handicap did not exclude you. You just had someone pushing your wheelchair.
a rope of the world 🙂
The small children were attached to a rope to deter wandering. But the diversity of the rope gave one hope for the 21st century. As does the fresh air. Go Norway! I think there is much the rest of the world can learn from these reformed Vikings 😉
Category:
shining examples, social commentary, travel stories
Tagged with: