After leaving the heavenly island off of Stockholm, we headed to Oslo. We stayed at Saga Poshtel, which was a “posh” version of a hostel, so it was certainly nice, but made it feel more like a hotel. As such, the atmosphere was definitely less social and friendly. The first night I went on a 6 mile run up the river in Oslo and then headed to bed early after a long travel day. The next day Megan and I did some solo exploring before reconvening for a bike tour through Olso. I spent time at the The Viking Ship Museum, which has three different viking ships built around 820 ad (!!).

The biking tour was fun, but Megan and I agreed that our favorite bike tour is still Amsterdam.

View from the Royal Palace, Oslo

The main walking promenade

I met a lovely couple from San Diego on the bike tour, and decided to meet up later with them. Megan wanted to try a new vegetarian restaurant so she ventured out on her own. After eating dinner at Illegal Burger, I met up with the couple at a bar. When I arrived they said they were starving so I went to an Indian restaurant with them so they could eat. I had a ton of fun with them. After, we decided to head to Andy’s Pub, which was a fun piano bar that they had been to before. The guy playing piano belted out American classic after American classic, so it was cool to be able to sing along. We finally left the bar at 1am.

The next morning I met two Austrian guys in my hostel room and decided to join them in visiting the National Museum of Contemporary Art. It was definitely a cool assortment of exhibitions, some I liked more than others. After a fun morning walking around with them, they unfortunately had to catch their flight home. It started to rain so I decided to hang out in my new favorite juice bar and book some upcoming hostels. At one point, the rain was coming down harder than I had ever seen.

This picture doesn’t even do it justice. It was like stepping out into a shower.

The rain finally let up just in time for me to head back to the hostel to meet up with Mehrdad for our final overlap. We strolled around Oslo and found a cute pizzeria that didn’t break the bank, which is RARE in Norway!

Mehrdad ready to eat delicious, reasonably priced pizza!

After dinner we headed towards the main walking promenade and found a bar with live music and decided to stop for a drink. One single drink because one beer was about the same price as the pizza we had had earlier (Around 12$!!). But despite the crazy prices, we had a really nice time listening to the guitar player.

The next day Mehrdad and I took a ferry out to Hovedøya, which is an island right off of Oslo. We walked around and saw a couple of ruins. There were a lot of families playing in the water and picnicking. Unfortunately, the sky decided to open up as we were halfway around the island. We were trapped under some trees, which, luckily, prevented a surprising amount of rainfall from hitting us. The rain let up a bit and we made a sprint for the other side of the island where the ferry would pick us up. After getting back we walked to the Oslo Opera House. It is a stunning building and you can walk on it. I mean literally on top of it, which gives you an awesome view of the city.

On top of the Oslo Opera House with Mehrdad

Sadly, it was time to hop on the train to Bergen, which meant a final goodbye to Mehrdad. Luckily, he lives in Berkeley so I am sure I will see him back in the Bay!

The train to Bergen passed through some incredible countryside. Despite a long train ride, it was quite enjoyable.

Norwegian countryside

Bergen was an adorable city in the western part of Norway. Despite it being cloudy almost every day, it was really fun to spend time there. We arrived at 10:30pm so we walked straight to our hostel and passed out. The first day Megan went on a serious hike, which required hiking boots, which meant I couldn’t join. But I walked around Bryggen, which is a World Heritage site. It’s the old wharf which was quite important from the 14th century to the 16th century. Now it houses different museums and shops.

Bryggen!

Inside Bryggen

After walking around that area, I found an adorable cafe for lunch. I had a delicious sandwich, while I read my book. Next, I took off on a Fjord tour on a boat! It’s always fun to see things from a different perspective, such as seeing the land from the water! It was a 4.5 hour tour and stopped by a water fall where they collected some fresh water for us to try. Trust me, it was delicious. We also stopped in front of another waterfall! It was definitely a a highlight of my time in Bergen. I also met a couple that had just graduated from Stanford, one of whom was from Colorado so we had a lot to talk about!

And we’re off!

A little village outside of Bergen

WATERFALL

Some fjords

I finished the day with a ride up the funicular! It offered incredible views of Bergen. Highly recommend doing this if you visit Bergen!

View from the top of Mount Fløyen

There are goats living under the viewing decks!

Unfortunately, Megan’s flight took off early in the morning so we had to say goodbye the night before. She heads to London for a day and then takes off for home!

My final day in Bergen had me exploring other parts of the city center and finding a fun cafe for lunch. I managed to read a full book before heading back to the hostel for a siesta. That night I caught up with my parents and had cereal for dinner because my wallet needed a break from Norwegian prices(!).

Bergen

Off to Denmark next! Wish me luck because I’ll be getting up at 3:30am to catch a 6am flight 😦

xoxo