No Regrets!

After a quick train through the last bit of fjordland, we were in Bergen. As the second largest city in Norway, it’s a pretty good size, and there’s a good energy here. The tourists are almost exclusively Japanese, English, and German.

On our first night, Doug used TripAdvisor to find a tiny, out-of-the-way restaurant called Munken Bistro. I chose the leg of duck off the Peruvian-inspired menu, and it was amazing. After dinner, we walked the streets and found dozens and dozens of bars filled with people laughing, drinking, and having a good time. Oh, how we wished Oslo had this much nightlife. Just when I was ready to write off Norway as a boring country, Bergen surprised us all.

Our first stop was a bar called No Stress, highly rated online and by all the locals we chatted with. And it really was a great bar, with fun cocktails (my thing), friendly service (also my thing), and just an overall cool vibe (my thing, too). Tess, one of the waitresses there, entertained us with her caffeinated personality and energy. Her best tip was to grab one of the many courtesy umbrellas by the door and use to hop from bar to bar in the Bergen rain. Seems that it rains in Bergen a lot, and most bars in Bergen offer this courtesy.

All the guys are tall here. And everyone dips, even the women. They unashamedly pull dip cans out of their purse and stuff their lip in the middle of conversation. Everyone also seems very interested in American politics, most expressing concern over Donald Trump. They look to me for answers. I have none.

We ended our first night in Bergen at a club called Vaskeriet, where we mingled with some locals. All the bars and clubs close at 2am, though, so that prevents everyone from getting too crazy.

Today was a big hiking day. We started with a morning visit to 7-11, where Doug could get his bacon-wrapped hot dog for hiking fuel and other necessities. Then a quick stroll past the scenic waterfront of Bryggen.

And then the strenuous hike up Stoltzekleiven, about 45 minutes up a mountain. A combination of Doug and Conrad’s apps revealed that the hike up was 0.6 miles in length and the equivalent of 178 flights of stairs, but it ended up being quite a bit more than that for us when Doug’s phone GPS led us to a trail that was in fact not a trail but a tunnel under the mountain directly below where we were standing. But we finally made it to the top. The view was spectacular, worth every step.

Then an easy walk over to Fløyen for some more views.

And then onto the funicular for a cruisy ride back down to the city center.

This evening, we ended up at No Stress again and found ourselves sharing a table with a Kristen Bell doppleganger named Ane (ON-ah). Bell’s real-life husband is Dax Shepherd, and Doug has been told that he looks like Dax, so we made awkward jokes about that. Ane then said I looked like Matt Damon, which I’ve heard before. I went on to say that Conrad, with his musculature and man-beard, looks like Gerard Butler as Leonidas in 300. “This is Sparta!” yelled Conrad.

Unfortunately, this is where we say goodbye to Doug. He has packed his bag like a pro (OCD) and now has to head home (sad) and get back to work (chump), so it’ll be just Conrad and me continuing our adventure down through central Europe.

Tomorrow morning, we catch a flight to Copenhagen. Every Norwegian we’ve talked to has told us how amazing it is, so Conrad and I are really looking forward to it.