Following a really early start in Glasgow we arrived in Bergen at about 11:15 am local time and the first thing we did was to look for the bus we needed to catch into the city centre. As you can see I used my nice big suitcase :D.
At first we were very unsure of what we were doing but the man there on duty was so helpful and explained what we needed to do and where to go. He told us to get off at the first stop which was the Bergen bus station instead of the bus stop at the Radisson Blu hotel as that was closer to the area where we were staying.
After getting off the bus we went to find the living accommodation that had been organised for us during our stay in Bergen. We are staying at a lovely guest house, my bedroom has a lovely wallpaper with birds and flowers and trees and quite quirky ornaments hanging on the wall it’s got a fabulous view of all the colourful houses climbing the hills and yet feels secluded. I started to unpack and pretty soon it started to feel very homely, a nice little place to relax.
After getting our bearings we decided to go and have a little explore. We agreed that we both wanted to sample some of the more traditional local areas and headed off to find the fish markets. However after such a long morning of travelling and having not eaten we had to give the fish market a rain check and kept our eyes peeled for a nice café to eat lunch.
We happened upon a few lovely coffee bars but continued exploring until we reached a beautiful park in the centre of Bergen, which had at its centre a beautiful lake Lille Lungegardsvann. It was here that we found a fabulous cafe in which we had lunch, we chose a ham and cheese toastie and a chicken and bacon pasta. Both were very yummy however we were still quite hungry so we treated ourselves to a Daim cake (like we get in Ikea at in Glasgow).
After that we went to the Kode Art Museum complex and visited Kode 4 which was full of Norwegian artist such as Nikolai Astrup, whose paintings had beautiful depth and intricacy which had similarities to themes from Haugtussa poems. The student price for two day ticket was 50 kroner which is about £5.00 or $7.50, this meant that we could go today for as long we wanted and return tomorrow time permitting. It was a brilliant experience and I do hope that we can get back tomorrow and perhaps will go to building three or two.
We then went to find where the Grieg Academy was located so that we were prepared for tomorrow morning ready to start at 9 am sharp. It was a little tricky to find at first but when we succeeded we found the most beautiful yellow building.
To finish our day we decided to try again to find the fish market which was called Bryggen. At The fishmarket we found a variety of stalls. It was here that we met I lovely salesman who offered to let us taste some of his fish. We tried Norwegian salmon from a locally sourced farm and also wild salmon which was very delicious. We also tried whale which had a strange meaty texture and the sales assistant recommended that we ate it raw on salad instead of cooking it.
For dinner we then went to a lovely restaurant called Bryggeloftet & Stuene for a lovely one course meal. I had beef and George had salmon. It was very delicious and George tried an India pale ale brewed locally. To end the day we found a supermarket to get some supplies for the evening back at the hostel along with some breakfast things for the morning.
I’m going to have a quiet night in to recuperate from the 3 o’clock start this morning.
So excited for tomorrow!
And ‘colourful’ suitcase!
Enjoy:)
Easy to spot on the carousel 😊, thank you I did.
Best wishes
Charlotte
How exciting! A new adventure sure to delight and entertain! Enjoy..
Thanks Annette it was a great experience.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Wow! Thank you for sharing this beautiful Charlotte. Glad to see that everything went well. I wish you and george, a wonderful stay, and beautiful discovery. All my best wishes to you both!
Merci Pascal it was excellent.
Best wishes
Charlotte
What an experience! Looking forward to updates
Thanks Jane hope you enjoyed my diary I’m hoping to make time to put a finale post on tonight.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Thanks for taking us with you.
You’re welcome 😊.
Best wishes
Charlotte
How you found time to record this eventful leg of the adventure so comprehensively is amazing. You are a human dynamo!
Thank you 😊.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Fantastic!
😊 best wishes Charlotte
Happy singing and happy holiday!
It was a fabulous experience.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Sleep tight, can’t wait to read your next installment.
😊 best wishes
Charlotte
Look awesome, the fish you tried look so good.
It was delicious
Best wishes
Charlotte
Looks like a great day, thanks for sharing your pics!
😊 I just ran out of time at the end of the trip to do my final instalment but I’m hoping to complete it tomorrow.
Best wishes
Charlotte
A good reminder…There is a lot of the world left to see!
Looks awesome there!
I’d love to go back and see the Fjords.
Best wishes
Charlotte
It looks like you are having a wonderful adventure. I hope the singing goes well.
The whole experience was fabulous.
Best wishes
Charlotte
have fun guy & gal. don’t forget the souvenirs.
We pretty much only had the first afternoon for shopping and exploring the workshop was very intensive, brilliant experience. Hope you’re well Eric 😊.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Looks and sounds fantastic, have a great time and enjoy xx
Thanks Gill see you at the end of June.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Always glad to read ur blog.. U r a ray of sunshine 😀😀😀
☀️thank you 😊.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Enjoy your stay there! 🙂
Sending hugs!
You’d have loved Griegs house, very interesting like a home frozen in time.
Best wishes
Charlotte
You know I can never get good selfies. How do you do it?
The benefit of having long arms and not taking myself too seriously 😄.
Best wishes
Charlotte
So that is my problem. I just take myself way too seriously. Hmmmnm…..
What an adventure! It’s so much fun exploring new places and food, and it sounds like you are having a fabulous time. And I love that coat of many colors!
I love my new summer raincoat too, it needed a fleece under it because it was quite chilly. We had an amazing adventure.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Very colorful you. Enjoy your visit.
Thanks Diane I’ve always leant toward the cookie colours 😊.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Sounds wonderful! I have a friend in Bergen, and now I am even more excited to go visit her out there. Enjoy yourself!
Best regards,
Cate
You will love it Cate, I will go back for sure.
Best wishes
Charlotte
What a fabulous post Charlotte! You had such a busy and interesting day you must have been exhausted. I hope all is going well. Best wishes Clare x
It’s caught up with me a bit today Clare, my parents came up to watch my end of year exam recital yesterday so they’ve been looking after me 😊.
Best wishes
Charlotte
I am so glad! I hope the recital went well. You must be exhausted!
Sounds like a lovely place and visit. Fish looked good too! Enjoy your weekend. Thank you for sharing your pictures. Xo
You would love it Janice it didn’t go dark till nearly midnight.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte, for including your friends in your trip. What fun!
Thanks for reading about my trip Brenda 😊.
Best wishes
Charlotte