I have been so impressed by the very quaint city of Bergen, it truly is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It is so green and lush and clean and pretty! What more could you ask for in a city? Perhaps slightly cheaper prices…but besides the extremely high cost of living in Norway, it is amazing!

Where do I begin? From what I have discovered of Norway so far I can say that it is very advanced, more so than in Australia in many ways. For starters their houses are great, and have many more innovative features. Completely sealed off from outside drafts, the houses are centrally heated and often floors are heated too. Quite the contrast in Oz, where you can permanently feel cold in Winter.
Many people are driving electric cars here. So deadly quiet! I feel like I am almost in a future movie! Or total recall…”2 weeks… 2 weeks.” Lol. It won’t be long where the next step will be self driving cars. Electric cars are much cheaper to drive here, and there are charging stations everywhere. Very interesting! I also saw self driving lawn mowers, built in vacuum exhaust systems and the best centrally heated houses ever!

On my first day I relaxed and recovered from the long haul travelling days. That is what is so nice about being out exploring the world again, resting, reading, not working and simply going with the flow and enjoying life.

My friend has a lovely little doggy called Fluffy. I took her for an extra long walk around the local area, up and down hills, admiring breath taking views. It was great to be stretching the legs again!

The next day I decided to do a fjord tour. Up early and into town I was blown away by a picture perfect city, colourful houses, perfect green leafy trees, rose gardens, and amazing architecture. I boarded my ferry around 10am and set off for 3 hours.

Monstraumen was the final destination of this fjord tour. A small town nestled in the base of a mountain range, complete with waterfalls and sheer cliffs. It was good but to be honest I was expecting more! I learned later it was not the best tour to take. It was still really great to be out on the water and have a chat with some other tourists.

In the afternoon I met up with another friend who kindly led me on a guided tour of central Bergen. First we went up the funicular, reaching one of the highest points to over look the town. We walked to a small lake at the top of the hill, and this was one of my favourite spots to see so far. In winter all these lakes freeze over and Norwegians ice skate or play ice hockey on these lakes, so cool! Maybe I need to return in winter to enjoy a really different experience?

In the evening I was treated to a home cooked dinner of salmon and mashed potato, two of my favourite things to eat in the whole world! So that was nice. I returned home to my friends place around midnight, and unknowing at the time this was the summer solstice evening, the longest night of daylight for the year. No wonder there was still light at midnight!

Over the weekend I was lucky to join my friend at her parents house in Bomlo, around 3 hours south of Bergen. We had to take a car ferry to get there, and again it was great to see more beautiful countryside. It was a nice relaxing weekend where we looked around town a little, ate some good food and enjoyed some down time.

At the time of writing there are only a few days left of my time in Norway. It has all gone so fast, as travelling always does. I could do with another few days here to explore more of this amazing countryside that is for sure. However, it is always good to save some places to see for the future too!

My next stop will be Belgium, where I plan to visit another couple of friends. Let the adventure continue!
Anita xx