Today we had a very relaxed schedule: eat breakfast, and take the Fløibanen (inclined rail) up a mountain to take in some views whenever we wanted.
After gorging ourselves on the “free” hotel breakfast—which included several glasses of champagne placed suggestively near orange juice that everyone pretended didn’t exist—we did some light souvenir shopping and sight seeing around Bergen. Today was rainy and foggy, but a bit warmer (~50ºF).
We wanted to see if the fog would break as the day wore on, so instead of heading up the Fløibanen in the morning, we made a dinner reservation at the restaurant at the top and enjoyed a laid back afternoon. I tried a skillingsboller, which was probably talked up a bit too much as the “must try” treat before leaving Bergen. It looked like a cinnamon roll, and tasted like a cinnamon twist donut. It was good, just not “go out of your way to get one” good. I’d say maybe I had a mediocre one, but we went to one of the top rated bakeries in Bergen. /shrug
We finally took the train around 2, but… You guessed it. The fog persisted, and so did the rain.
The area at the top of the Fløibanen offered a number of hiking trails, some paved, some not. We opted for the road less taken in pursuit of a Trollskogen, AKA: troll forest. I don’t know what it is about Norwegians and trolls, but these little guys are everywhere and for my fellow Seattleites (ish) they’re just like the Fremont troll if not a little creepier.
We got soaked and up to our ankles in mud (I literally almost lost a shoe) but it was fun to be in the woods on the other side of the world and still feel just like being at home.
Apart from some light troll hunting, we also happened upon a small goat herd before enjoying a drink with dinner.
Tomorrow is an early day (we leave for the airport at 5:30 to be in Tromsø by ~10 am), so we’re hitting the rack early. Tomorrow we have an aurora watch dinner cruise, but unless the clouds are more sparse up there (which is still somehow ~600-some odd miles North of Bergen), we’re not too optimistic we’ll get a good view. We’ll see!