Alice and Helen's Travel Blog: 8 beds, 9 days part 2

Bed 5:
Being rudely thrown off the sleeper train at 7am meant an early start in Oslo. After storing our bags we wandered around the city finding the parliament building, the palace and the national theatre. We then went down to the harbour front, which was very pretty, and watched commuters arrive in on a ferry.
Definitely a nice way to get to work. We found a bathing area and a little beach you wouldn't expect in the capital city. After sunbathing here (in the shade of a block of flats) we decided to go and find the real beach. We braved the Oslo buses, managed to walk on without paying and then got caught by a ticket inspector. He was very friendly though. Once we were there we found a really nice park with a beach. It was very peaceful for somewhere so close to the capital. Alice paddled in the sea and we sat on the beach for a while enjoying the sun. While we were eating lunch we could see the rain start to come in across the mountains. It soon got to us and so we ran for the bus back to town.

Beach and flats

Joining the artic crew

Alice paddling

After searching the entire city for cheap frozen pizza and retrieving our bags we headed to the hostel. Once we were there we unpacked a bit and the two girls we were sharing a room with thought they had been robbed when they walked back in as it was such a mess. We didn't think we were that bad! Later in the evening we decided to head out for a drink in the city. It took us over an hour to get into the city, becuase we missed the train, couldn't find the bus stop or decide which tram to take. Eventually we hoped for the best and got on a tram that wasn't mentioned in the hostel instructions. When we finally reached Olso we wandered around the streets looking for the best place to go to get a drink. After a short walk we stumbled upon an Irish Bar that looked busy. We showed our IDs and somehow got in for free by saying we were part of a Staff Work Do. Success! At the bar we ordered our drinks. Helen spent £8 on a Alcopop! We claimed some seats from a couple on a date and were shortly joined by some Olso locals. He told us how amazing the train ride between Olso and Bergen was and how we shouldn't fall asleep or he'd come and find us! After one drink and not being able to afford any more we returned to the hostel.

Helen enjoying an expensive Alcopop!

Bed 6:
The next morning we were awoken early by our dorm friends. A couple of hours later it was our turn to get up. We graced breakfast, and stole lunch despite the numerous signs informing us that food was not to leave the breakfast area and a packed lunch was 45Kr. We hurridly packed and checked out of the hostel on time. We stored our luggage again and set off to explore Olso for the last time. We stumbled upon a fort with an event for children. There were woodwork workshops, bee art and craft, exploding balloons and karaoke - whoevers idea the karaoke was, our ears still hurt! We then sat and had lunch on the water front before indulging in ice cream to enjoy the hot weather. We enjoyed our ice creams too much, leaving us short for time and running across Oslo to catch our train. The train journey was long. We were awarded with some lovely views of fjords and glaciers in the later part of the journey that were often swiftly obscured by long tunnels and bridges. No fun. When we reached Bergen we wandered around until we found the place were we were meeting our couchsurfing host., Eva. She showed us the way back to her flat, which was small but so lovely!

Ice cream!

Just ran through the city centre to catch our train selfie!

This is so true of Norway

Bed 7:
The next day we had a well deserved lie in. Then we set off to climb the mountain behind Evas flat. It was very steep but we mananged it! The view of the city was worth it. We then walked back into the city to have lunch with her sister and her sisters boyfriend, they were both lovely. Then we went for coffee at this cafe that looked like it had been decorated in the dark - such a clash of colours! We then went for a walk around the city. We ended up getting caught in the rain in a business park sheltering under a doorframe until it had passed! In the evening we went for a roast dinner with Eva at the bar where she works. Her boss was so lovely that he waved the cost! When we got back to Evas we watched a Norwegian film called Kon-Tiki which was really good. Eva then showed us some Norwegian comedy music videos that were very funny!

Bergen

Scone and Jam

Weird cafe

Last full day in Norway selfie

Bergen fountain selfie

Last night in Norway selfie.

The final day dawned. We got up and packed our suitcases for the last time. How we won't miss it! We then went to explore the rest of the city. We wandered around Bryggen, which is the old wharf of Bergen. It was very pretty. We visited the fort where we sat and wandered what to do with our final afternoon. We splashed out on lunch with our remaining NOKs and continued to wander round the city before returning to Evas to pick up our bags and make our way to the Airport. Bergen airport is small and doesn't have a McDonalds much to our disappointment. Soon we had boarded our flight and were on our way home to bed 8.