Small Surprises In Bergen, Norway

22 Jul Small Surprises In Bergen, Norway

We went on the most scenic road trip in the world.

Bold statement – yes.
A little biased towards this Nordic wonderland – definitely.
Enough footage to prove it – we’ll let you be the judge.

Having arrived in Bergen with no plans or expectations, we somehow managed to meet a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend who was kind enough to play hostess. We received a personalized tour of the cobbled city streets, a very comfortable bed belonging to a beautiful aspiring 13yr old blogger, and an evening involving a silent concert in front of the Lille Lungegårdsvann, as part of the annual Bergen International Festival. It was the perfect start to this leg of our journey. Thanks again Kat, Maria, Max and Martina.

After a quick trip to the outdoor Viking market, and a stroll through a local forest that felt like the set from a children’s fairytale, we waved goodbye to our beautiful hosts, and hopped into our rented Skoda, heading north along the Norwegian coastline. Foggy fjords, pristine waters and tunnels extending up to 24,5km (#funfact Lærdal Tunnel is the longest road tunnel in the world and is located in the south of Norway) were exactly what awaited us. That, together with car-transporting ferries (a definite first for us) and weather ranging from gushing rain storms to gorgeous heat waves, made our dream of road tripping through Norway real. It was so much more than our minds (and bodies) expected.

Night one saw us stopping (unexpectedly) at the closest hotel, checking in a little after midnight and enjoying the luxuries of buffet breakfast and a warm shower. Night two, however, was somewhat different. After finding a campsite nestled in the most beautiful valley we had ever seen, our sausages were out and soon our new friend’s whiskey as well. Lugging our rented tent nearly 5000kms meant, come rain or shine, we’d be camping in the fjords of Norway! And it was incredible…but not at all what we had expected. As spectacular as the valley was, and as inviting as the summery sun seemed to be, as soon as it went over the mountain peaks, the ground became cold. Shivering cold. So cold, that when we lay in our tent, in our not-very-warm-or-very-winter-prepared sleeping bag, covered in almost every clothing item we brought, we could still feel the ground’s icy layers moving through our skin to the inside of our bones, causing us to clench and shiver uncontrollably. In the end, sleeping turned out to be something we only hoped of doing, whilst we lay curled up on the backseat of our rental car, shivering into the early hours of the morning.

After realizing that it wouldn’t get any warmer, or more comfortable, we decided to head back to Bergen, where we managed to enjoy one of only 60 of the city’s annual rainless days. And what a beauty rainless-Bergen is! The views from the top of Fløyen were gorgeous, and the inside of the Bryggen buildings felt so incredibly like Cape Town. We, very quickly, fell in love with the city’s charm and non-Oslo-ish, old fashioned design and culture-rich, winding alleys. In hindsight, one day in this historical fishing town was certainly not enough. Beautiful Bergen, you will see us again.

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