(Hey, where is part one?! Right here.)
On Saturday morning well before sunrise (which happens after 9am, just so you know) I headed to the central station to catch the 8:05am train to Bergen. Bergen is the second most populous city in Norway and is located on the west coast. The train ride goes through the mountains, reaching over 1200m above sea level before returning down to the coast, and the journey takes just under seven hours. Unfortunately for me, the first three or so hours I was stuck in one of those four seat groups with three other people who decided 9am on a Saturday morning was a good time to start drinking? They wanted me to move so their friend could sit in my seat but I would have had to sit backwards so I said no… Anyway, after they left, I was only left with a nice old American couple near me and and the other three seats to myself. I’ve never seen so much snow as I did on this trip! Here’s some pictures:
It was a little bit worrying at times to be in extremely remote and cold areas all by ourselves…if the train decided to break down we’d really be in a pickle. It wasn’t even that warm on the train to begin with – I put my scarf on to keep warm! Anyway, we descended quickly to a warmer altitude:
We left Oslo about ten minutes late but arrived in Bergen early which was nice! It was a short walk to my hotel but up a giant hill…kind of reminded me of San Francisco. It doesn’t look very steep in the picture but it was! The hill opposite from where I was has a funicular railway up to the top which is one of the most popular attractions in Bergen.
After I got to my hotel, the rain started. Unfortunately it didn’t really let up until I was leaving the next day. But alas I was there and I was determined to at least do some things! I decided to go to the Edvard Grieg Museum the next morning. This involved taking the light rail about 20 minutes south of Bergen and then walking about a half hour in the rain – but I did it with minimal complaining!
It was pretty quiet on a Sunday morning so I got to walk all around nearly by myself. Grieg had a hut down by the water where he could get some quiet to compose, literally called the Komponisthytten.
I made it back to Bergen and being thoroughly damp I decided to call it a day. I’d like to go back in the summer so I could see more but I did enjoy what I got to see! And, to top off the trip I flew back to Copenhagen on a relatively new plane with a new interior inspired by the 787 which they build in Charleston. I may have been the only person on the plane who noticed?
Back in Sweden, my hand continues to heal well! I won’t post a picture because I know medical stuff creeps some people out (myself included). I hope it will be mostly healed by the time I come home, which is in less than two weeks now!