Bergen, Days 2 and 3

Bergen has been an absolute blast, if I do say so myself. I have been so busy out and about since I got off the ship; I feel like the only time that I am on the ship is to sleep and eat breakfast. I will pick up where I left off after my last blog, in which I was getting ready for my hike up to Mt. Floein yesterday. Oh my gosh, it was spectacular! For those of you who get a hardy chuckle out of the fact that I was leading a hike, I was not the trip guide, I simple had to make sure that the group showed up and stayed in tact. There was no way I could have led this hike by myself.

I woke up around 7 AM yesterday morning and got ready to go. The hiking group met at 8:30 AM. There were 89 people scheduled to go on the hike; of course some students were unable to rise and shine for the trip. The trip started out with a chat with our guide, Erik. Erik is a retired school teacher, who leads hiking excursions April through September just for fun. He was born and raised in Bergen and loves talking about it. After a walk through downtown Bergen, we boarded the Funnacular, which looks like a subway car, and works like a cable car, only its on a track that goes up the side of Mt. Floein.

After getting off the funnacular, we traversed over to the small gift shop so I could pick up some postcards. I love you all and sorry that you all are not getting a postcard from Norway--between stamps ($2/stamp, USD) and postcards ($14/11 postcards), it pretty much wiped out the Norwegian kroner that I thought would last me the entire time we were here. After getting postcards, I met up with the group and we started the hike up to Mt. Floein. Describing the views that I saw yesterday in words does it no justice. You simply have to look at the pictures and just imagine it in 3 D and in more vivid color. It was just fabulous; and a great work out! We made a couple of stops along the way and saw some great lakes, naturally made springs and waterfalls and just spectacular views. Erik our guide definitely took the group off the beaten path and when all was said and done, we hiked for an hour more than originally planned. Studnets were anxious to get back, as many had made plans to go to the town of Voss, which is an hour away from Bergen and was hosting Extreme Sports Week. Several students had signed up to sky dive and do white water rafting.

After finishing our hike, my friend Marco and I headed into town for some lunch. After making a few purchases at the local 7-11, which is not the typical US 7-11, these 711's have great food options and many locals go there on their lunch break.

After lunch, we walked around town and took some beautiful photos of the city. We went back to the ship and met up with the rest of the RD group for dinner out. We ended up eating at a delicious Thai restaurant--the shrimp pad thai was fabulous--and walked around the city. It was absolutely beautful and Norway truly is the land of the midnight sun. I cannot get over how clean and beautiful the city is and how there is virtually no crime and no poverty. I would feel completely safe walking around by myself, but from what I have been told, St. Petersburg will offer a starkly different contrast to this luxurious Norwegian fishing town.

Today was a good day; I was able to sleep in and catch up with folks that went out last night. Apparently the students were all out in full force, but I had no desire to go out since a beer runs anywhere from $10-15.

Megan, Marco, David, Justin, Shauhin and I met up to head back into town. Megan, Shauhin and I set up camp at a great coffee shop named Pygmalion and watched the locals and wrote out postcards. After finishing our coffee, we went exploring deeper into the city. We met up with the rest of the group for dinner at the same Thai restaurant, and then went to a local hangout, Dr. Livingston's for a beer (I gave in and had 1 while I was here) and watched the soccer match between Spain and Russia. The European Cup is currently happening in Europe, and it's like the biggest thing going on in the news right now, so the game had huge implications as it was the second semi-final game. After chatting with some locals, we left Dr. Livingston's and went to Sjoboken Bar, where we heard live music was playing. Well live music was playing alright, but it was all Bruce Springsteen songs. :)

Megan and I headed back to the ship and here I sit getting ready for bed. Tomorrow is our last day in Bergen and we leave for St. Petersburg tomorrow night. Love you all!