10/30-11/01 - Bergen

So I'm gonna put these 3 days into one post. Not because we weren't busy, but a lot of our time in Bergen was hanging out so obviously I'm not going to write about that.

Hallvard has a full time job and and Helge is a student. Ben is in between jobs right now so he offered to show us around the city, very cool. But first he insisted on cooking us breakfast, I hadn't eaten an actual breakfast like that since I started traveling. Bacon, eggs, toast. Amazing.

We saw Bryggen, the big touristy colorful houses on the water just like Nyhavn in Copenhagen.

Then we decided to climb one of the peaks that surrounds the city. There are trams that go up but Ben said those were too touristy so we just went by foot. He said it would only take half an hour....3 hours later we were still walking. Not a bad thing though, it was a beautiful hike and the view was fantastic. It was crazy being on sea level and then just an hour later we were above the snow line.

Relaxed a bit before our big traditional dinner that they promised us. It was whale and blood sausage. The whale was really surprising, it just tasted like a fatty steak, not like fish at all. And the blood sausage tasted just like gingerbread, yum.

Went out for drinks afterward and Hallvard paid for everyone. What awesome hosts, they treated us so well.

Woke up late Friday, Halloween. Went out for lunch at a cool studenty cafe, and then walked around the more hip area of the city. Went to some record stores and then back to the apartment.

One thing both Mike and I were really excited to see was the Fantoft Stave church. Stave Churches were the first churches erected in Norway, 1000 years ago. They are completely wooden and there are only about a dozen left in the country. In the early 1990s when Black Metal starting to getbig, a lot of these churches were burned down by band members who took the music a bit too seriously. The most famous one of these is the Fantoft Church, right outside of Bergen. So on Halloween night we walked through the woods and found it lit up in a copse. It was awe-inspiring and creepy at the same time. Unfortunately those who rebuilt it made it look too new so it's really not the same as seeing an original.

After a pint of Guinness we went to a metal show. Unfortunately the band sounded generic and American, not what we were hoping for. At least we met the guitarist from Enslaved outside. Got home late and watched The Thing, which I fell asleep to even after a cup of coffee.

Really nothing special the next day. We just hung out with the guys until it was ready to go to the airport. Missed the first bus by 30 seconds and got to the airport 20 minutes before our flight. Since it's international we thought we wouldn't make it on. No one even said anything and we made it on no problem.

So ends my Scandinavian adventure. Probably the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. Met some amazing people, saw incredible places and made memories that I will never forget. I'm already missing it like crazy.