Things did not start well in Bergen. I had a one hour “layover” in Voss, coming from the fjords with all my stuff to grab a train after the scenic bus. Given that it was Constitution Day, it was a holiday and people were walking around in their outfits … 

I didn’t want to use a locker for just one hour so dragged my stuff to a nearby park and ate my snacks and admired the views. I should’ve known then to change out of my boots and base layers but I thought I’d be sitting on a comfy train another 1.25 hours then in my airbnb, which was close to the station, so it seemed fine. But it was hot since I was no longer in the mountains and a cold fjord area.

My first issue, I got on the wrong train. It was on the same track and going to the same place but left 15 minutes earlier. I had a panicked moment that I was heading in the wrong direction but it was fine. In fact I think it was a more expensive one as it didn’t make any stops. When the conductor came by I think he was annoyed though he said others on the train had done the same thing. I offered to get off but he basically said there were no other stops! That said I think it’s only 15 mins faster so in total I got in a half hour earlier than expected. 

Though that’s when my troubles started. I hadn’t gotten the code to get my key for the airbnb. Like in Helsinki, the property was managed by an agency and I had to go to one place to get the key and then to the apartment. But I had been texting that I was arriving soon, that I had arrived, and that I made it to the key place. No response. The Airbnb write up said check-in was self-managed any time after 3 which was exactly when I arrived in Bergen. No response, no code, no idea what was going on. After 15 mins I tried contacting airbnb support (which btw they make difficult, I’m sure to discourage you from doing it)… and finally got someone to respond. But all he did was to try to contact them and likewise he didn’t get a response. There were a few numbers one could call but I don’t have telephone service, only data, so I tried to get Luca to call them from Amsterdam but he had work to finish on a deadline and I had to wait awhile longer. 

Terribly long story sorta short — I went to an uncrowded restaurant across the street to save data and get out of the fray (I had been camping out on the stairs of the place so basically on the sidewalk). Lest one forget it’s CONSTITUTION DAY!

So the streets are packed and everyone is out wandering around, drinking and smoking, while I have a huge backpack and wintry clothes on. I was pretty miserable. 

The Airbnb support guy finally gets back to me after 3.5 hours and their “guarantee” that I will not be left stranded is BS. I had moved to a Thai restaurant with thankfully very nice people, had a ridiculously expensive rice dish (Norway IS expensive, especially to eat and drink), changed in their bathroom, got a beer and was finally given the ok to cancel. But their “alternatives” were all several km from the town or quite expensive. And I was too annoyed with Airbnb to book with them again. Instead I went on last minute bookings.com. Even my cheap room thru them was twice the price of the airbnb but it was at a Clarion in a central location w free breakfast. And the breakfast was ridiculously massive. They basically had everything (sweet, salty, hot, cold, meats, cheese, eggs, fish, fruit — even gluten free breads and such). The only thing they didn’t have was waffles; they had pancakes instead. I should’ve taken a photo of the three buffet lines.

Anyway it was almost 7 when I finally checked in and dumped my bag. I mostly wanted to crash and be annoyed but the very sweet girl at the reception told me I had plenty more to enjoy because the fireworks wouldn’t start until 11 (!) and there were bands starting to play at 9. So though I wanted to go to bed, I felt I ought to experience a little of the festivities so I rallied.

The fireworks were supposed to be very good but I didn’t think I could sit in the park that long!? It was 9pm by the time I finished walking around and I couldn’t imagine sitting for another 2 hours on the park bench I’d snagged. Fortunately for me, a recent college graduate and her grandmother sat on the bench next to me. We (of course) started talking —they’re from WY and the grandmother’s dad came from Trondheim (third biggest town in Norway) though I don’t think he ever made it back. Anyway she decided she would take grandchildren who graduated HS to NY and grandchildren who graduated college to Norway! She wanted to see her dad’s hometown and make a connection with relatives. 

Anyway since this grandma was going to make it to 11:15 for the fireworks I felt I had to do it too! That said, who knows how old she is?! I could be a grandma of a 22 yo if we all started young! And somehow I feel like people from WY might do that. Though she did say her husband had died .. and in my opinion she looked to be in her upper 70s?! Definitely had a lot of wrinkles …. But anyway it was nice to have them for company (Casey and Marianne I think?).  After it was over, we ran our separate ways to try to beat the crazy traffic. 

Thankfully I could walk back to my hotel but they had to grab a bus. It turned out that in one of their Norway stops, their airbnb host also sort of abandoned them — though they eventually tracked him down. The Norwegians actually seemed quite organized and considerate but maybe they’re just not that worried about people getting to their place??! I don’t know. It’s definitely not fun to feel like you’ve been abandoned! 

It’s actually a gorgeous city. Like picture postcard perfect pretty. To me it was like the Glasgow-Edinburgh comparison. I sorta liked Glasgow better, as I liked Oslo better, but I feel like you can’t miss Edinburgh or Bergen because they’re so darn gorgeous. Like every corner has another pretty view whether cute houses, narrow streets, water/mountain (7?) views and so on.

In fact in maybe half the tours I’ve been on, the guides aren’t even from that city? Of course I always take the English tours so maybe that’s part? Or that’s the “best” job they can get as non locals. Idk. 

I did a walking tour in Bergen the next morning and it was one of my smallest groups. Probably everyone was exhausted from constitution day!  The guide said the day after was known as their equivalent of a hangover day… so it was me and two very tall Wisconsonians. A (6’7”) father and (6’5”) son. The mom and sister were taking a break. Meantime they told me they’ve been out touring for basically 3 years??!! Omg? Though it sounded like they went back to their various US homes at times; with the Schengen visa, one cannot be in the mostly European countries over 90 rolling days so they must’ve been doing something? Anyway I was impressed but they weren’t terribly forthcoming with details. Meantime that guide loved bashing Swedes; fortunately my tour mates were German/Irish heritage. I don’t know how they got so huge. The guide (who was not over 5’10”) confirmed the Dutch are tallest on average but the Norwegians are next. Anyway it was an interesting tour and he said he’s one of only 5 guides in Bergen who are actually from there. 

Other than Swedish jokes, my Bergen guide had us try the Norwegian brown cheese (which I’d already tried but I like it), said that it always rains in Bergen (though I never saw any?!), and talked about the hanseatic (German) history. Bergen became rich under German merchant influence — they were well positioned for trading posts!

More about Bergen in the next post!