Bergen, Fiord, and Glacier



YWAMers Sarah (Norwegian) who is Laken's roomate, Dina (Norwegian) a good friend, and Martha (also Norwegian) another good friend who is leaving to go to nursing school.

Laken made arrangements for us to take a 6 hour train to Bergen, a city of 300k on the west coast.  It is a charming place with lots of water in fiords and many very nice homes.  In fact, I keep looking for one that is not so nice, but it seems everyone has maintained their home extremely well.  My thrifty daughter has booked us into a downtown hostile.  It is more of a youth scene, but any age is welcome and this is a very nice hostile with pretty new looking decor in an historic setting.  For those of you who have not tried a hostile it is not for everyone.  The positives is you will meet other travelers and learn things about the location you might miss.  Everyone I have met in three hostiles I have stayed in have been very nice and eager to be helpful if needed.  The negatives are that you sleep in a room with 4 to 12  other people, some who may snore, and some will leave early or get in late.  Everyone is generally as quiet as possible but you are awakened frequently--the trick is to mutter to yourself "I'm only out $16 tonight" or in the case of Norway "I'm only out $40 tonight".  Once you learn the ropes of hostile living, it is a nice addition to your travel options and talents.  I had travelers in my room from Australia, Denmark, Japan, etc.  Laken had four girls one night and eight (full) the next.  In Rome I was in a room with men and women, so you never know what your arrangement might be. 



My room at the hostile.  There are 8 beds. There are also 8 locking closets.

We spent our full day on a boat--a really nice one--speeding up Norway's larget fiord to a town named Fiordland where we were taken by bus to the glacier museum and then to the glacier itself.  We got back to Bergen at 8pm and were invited to come to the home of the family that Laken spent last Christmas with.  They were great to meet and Magnus and his son Roger took me out in their boat to fish--I caught my first mackeral at 11pm on the longest day of the year in Norway.  We got back to the hostile at midnight, but it seemed like early evening.  I slipped into my bunk (probably woke everyone, but hey, that is the way it works).  Our train back to the base stopped in Oslo where we were told that the station was under major construction and we would be taken to another train outside of town. While waiting in a line for the bus a news team interviewed Laken about the inconvenience.  The bus ride gave us a glimpse of downtown Oslo which seems to be all under construction.  I would like to see it in a couple of years because it was cutting edge, artsy architecture that will be impressive when finished.  That night some of Laken's friends told her they saw us on the 6 o'clock news.  We are in the opening shot-- http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tv2.no%2Fnyheter%2Finnenriks%2Ffull-stopp-for-jernbanen-gjennom-oslo-3817417.html&h=wAQExW1TwAQGVLd6kP1bzlt5sWS8ZuBe1IDXj5PK2Q-IxeQ&enc=AZOSK-_J3Wt_z9xLuHXAZaKkB9hfsjS6RGwmWCZo0dkaZq13stUTpKViu7OicYNZEkf-2lxBJCrlWKkgA6V8JFfY

A little taste of Norway news--not that different from ours.




Bergen as seen from a street on the hillside. An historical and hip place to visit.  And yes, they have McDonalds--where you can get a burger and fries for around $16 (that;s a special)

I chose this dish with a long name, that was hash.  It was tasty and warm at $20,  drink not included.



Wind blown but liking the Nordic day, even with a little rain.

This group of 12 scandinavian teens were headed to a camp up near the glacier.  They had all the equipment needed for traversing the glacier ice.  What an adventure.



The twin hull ferry that took us uip the fiord 140 kilometers at 34 knots (I checked with my gps) This boat could accelerate as fast as any ski boat .  It was also very maneuverable.



One of many views as we headed toward Fiordland.



The tail end of the glacier, where melting ice was pouring water into this lake.

Magnus and Roger took me out to a good fishing spot while the rest of the family and Laken built a fire on shore, a tradition to mark the longest day of the year.  This was about 11pm.  I caught my first fiord fish, a mackarel.  We caught two in just a few minutes.