Min mor i Bergen/ My Mother in Bergen

Last weekend my dear old mother and her husband Dave visited Marianne and I in jolly old Bergen. Sadly just a short 3 night visit and the weather was the worst I'd seen since I moved here. Being a mixed party of British and Norwegian however as you may imagine we were all used to this kind of obstacle and more than capable of laughing at it and refusing to let it hinder. Weather aside for now though (I plan to post about this soon) we had an awesome time and I thought I'd let you into what we thought was a great couple things to do. Sadly though after starting I realised as always I had far too much I wanted to say so I'm just going to talk about a bit of it now and other bits at a another time. (I have finally made a list of future blog topics as I always forget and therefore should be posting much more regularly)

They arrived early on a Friday evening and we all spent the night indulging in the very Norwegian activities of eating steak, drinking boxed wine and talking about how beautiful wooden houses are. We then got a relatively early night in preparation for the following days activities. We began the next morning and each subsequent morning with a big Norwegian style breakfast of baked bread rolls and a table full of exciting toppings, unsurprisingly this went down a storm. We then headed into Bergen centre to show  them the sites. I think we spent around two hours or more wondering around seeing loads of points of interest such as; Bryggen, the fish market, blue stone etc. These are all fairly obvious attractions and all well worth a wonder round. They may not play a regular part in my life in Norway but I do feel that they are great interesting things that are lovely to have close by and a must see for any tourist visiting Bergen.

After being driven slightly insane by my mothers insistence of photographing every thing in sight it was time to travel up Fløyen. A quick wikipedia search will tell you this is the most visited of the seven mountains of Bergen and it has a funicular that takes you 320 meters up that is used by tourists and citizens alike all year round. More importantly I say, it is great day out with hours of lovely walks both easy or treturous. It also provides some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. I've been to the top of the Empire state building, The Statue of Liberty, Snowdonia and a number of other British mountains and the veiws from Fløyen destroy them all in my humble opinoin. The beautiful combination of sea, forest, mountains and the city itself is just spellbinding. I have been up Fløyen I think four times now and I plan to do it many many more. Its not even just the main veiwing platform at the top of the funicular, go for a wonder around and find your own private angle to enjoy Bergen from. Few things can make me forget of England so easily and I consider myself very fortunate to live in such a beautiful city.

We went walking for about an hour up Fløyen and when the rain set in hard we found cover and enjoyed some skillingsboller, a tasty traditionally Bergen cinnamon bun. We then took a nice leisurely walk down the mountain which takes less than an hour and makes you feel you've made up for the laziness of getting the funicular up. 


I fear I must leave it there for now and once again begin my job application duties but I shall return soon, promise. 

Bryggen at the bottom and a very foggy Fløyen behind. Fortunatly the fog cleared soon after so we could actually see when we went up. As it often does though fog did make it look cool

Looking up at Fløyen from the city. In the middle you can see some of the funicular track and the building and viewing platform at the top where you get off

This was actually from the first time I went up Fløyen, it starting raining and everyone took cover allowing me to have the viewing platform to myself and capturing this lovely image. I felt like I was looking over my future Kingdom, it was a very peaceful and contemplative moment. (And also quite wet)