Now that I had my own personal Norwegian Tour Guide (who shall now only be known as S here in this blog, to protect his innocence), he had kindly arranged a day trip to Bergen for the both of us. An 8 hour train journey there, which was said to be the most beautiful train Journey in Norway, and a 2 hour plane trip back to Oslo, just in time for my flight back to Dubai.

At least for me, the highlight of the train ride was the 20 min rest stop at Finse, which had views of several glaciers. For an Australian now permanently based in the desert, this was the coolest thing ever, especially since the only other time I had seen a real glacier was in Iceland on the Golden Circle Tour only a week before. It was similar to the feeling I had when I saw snow for the first time – something you’ve always wondered what it looks like in real life, that you’ve only ever heard of through documentaries, have only ever seen in photos and video footage. S also told me that this was the location of the mountainous snow scenes of Hoth from Star Wars – The Empire Strikes back. So by looking at these photos you can imagine what Hoth would have looked like if it had a maximum temperature of 17 degrees Celsius...


Finse, at 1222m above sea level, the highest station in all of Norway.


Glacier close-ups

We also managed to pass some fjords during our journey, which I really wanted to do on my last holiday in Norway.




Eventually we do arrive in Bergen, and whilst we were both tired, a few small naps on the train meant that we still had some energy to sightsee. Firstly it was off to Bryggen (Norwegian for Wharfs), a UNESCO Heritage Site for which Bergen is so famous for.


Next we took the Fløibanen up to a lookout tower at Fløyen to get the best view of Bergen.



Have to admit - was pretty hard getting an acceptable shot of the cable car, the angle was insanely steep.


A troll!

And here are the rest of the highlights of Bergen...


Monument on Torgallmenningen


Statue of Ole Bull, Norway's most famous violinist.


The Grieghallen, named after Edvard Grieg, and also host of the ESC in 1986 (I couldn't help myself). If you haven't heard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite, please do, it is absolutely brilliant.


Den Nationale Scene, Bergen's largest theatre


A wonderful statue of Henrick Ibsen outside the Den Nationale Scene.


Johanneskirken, also known as St John's Church.


Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum, or the West Norway Museum of Decorative Art.

Labels: Holidays

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