It was very tough getting out of bed this morning. I slept terribly last night as my cold seems to have taken a turn for the worse. But I soldiered on, packed up and walked the 15 minutes to the station. It was a beautiful sunny day in Stockholm and no one else was around. Was lovely!
Got the train to the airport no problems and even listened to the footy on the radio along the way which was nice! Made me not feel so far away.
The airport was really strange. You check yourself in and send your own bags down with labels. Very weird! No one checked my passport the entire time - I could've been anyone
But alas I boarded my plane and enjoyed the terrific scenery along the way to Bergen. Landed in Bergen, my case quickly appeared and I easily got the airport bus. The driver announced all the stops and it made getting into town very simple - lovely!
Then I walked to the apartment I'm staying in. Dad found it on Air Bnb which is basically a website where you rent someone's apartment for your stay in that city. Vibeke, my host, is really friendly! The apartment is 50m away from Bryggen and the main area and is so spacious. Especially after my shoebox in Stockholm! I have a bathroom, kitchen, laundry and huge living/bedroom area. I'll put pictures on the blog on the last day I think. Forgot to take today.
I settled in a bit, skyped mum (the wifi is great!) and then set off for a wander. I walked around the Bryggen area to start off with. This is the wharf in Bergen which is a UNESCO world heritage site. I'll have some more information about this on Tuesday night my time as I will be doing museums and a walking tour that day!! But for today I just window shopped ($500 handbags - no thanks!). Then came the task of getting a photo of me in front of the pretty wooden coloured buildings that are part of Bryggen. Does this sound like such a hard task???? When mum is here I have perfect pictures of me in front of things. Today I had to ask four people. FOUR PEOPLE! Before I got a decent one! The first three took a photo of me and cut the top of the buildings out - really people?!?! In the end I asked an Asian man who took about 6 photos all from different angles - nailed it. Haha. I had a good laugh. Lone traveller problems! Something else strange I've found in the last few days is that being alone, people automatically assume I'm Swedish or Norwegian. I have tourists coming up to me asking me help. It's funny!! Also laughed out loud when I saw a 'Dale of Norway' sign advertising woolen reindeer patterned clothes. My brother's nickname is Dale! Thought he'd like that one. Bryggen and Bergen are so beautiful and I can't wait to learn more about them on Tuesday!
I walked through the cute little alleyways and then made my way through the fish market. Thought I might have some fish for lunch, but decided I just couldn't justify $35 for a tiny plate of fish and some lettuce. So walked out of the tourist area but discovered that due to a public holiday today (they're following me!!!) supermarkets are closed. At this point I lost my voice when trying to ask people about what was open. Picked a fantastic day to run out of strepsils didn't i? No chemists open. I ended up finding a little bakery place and bought a prawn and mayonnaise roll which was delicious. The man laughed at my lack of voice and told me to "just point!". It set me back $10 but I guess that's not too bad. Went to 7/11 and bought a bottle of Apple juice. Figure if I can't get cold and flu tablets or anything at least apple juice should give me some vitamin C. A 1 litre bottle of regular juice cost me $8 *cries*. It'd be funny if it wasn't so scary!!!
Went to the tourist information place and got some brochures and info about the hike I'm doing tomorrow. Bergen rains 285 days a year and tomorrow is meant to be relatively sunny and rain free. So I am getting a cable car to the top of Mt Ulriken, hiking to the funicular and getting the funicular down to right near my apartment. Going to be an early night for me to conserve as much energy as possible. Hope the renovations upstairs end soon. It's currently 7pm and they're still going on a Sunday.... Hmmm. Also the sun sets at 11pm and rises 4am and my curtains are like lace. Lucky I brought an eye mask!
Wanted to get some Norwegian takeaway from the place down the street that does fish soup, fish burgers etc but they closed early. So I have bought a frozen pizza and am cooking it in the oven. Lazy night in! Takeaway from there tomorrow and then I've found a reasonably prices restaurant for the night after that lonely planet recommends.
I'm getting up at 7am tomorrow to stream 3AW and listen to Collingwood vs Melbourne. GO PIES!!!!!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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