Second and last stop in Norway was Bergen, where I fell in love with the old houses that are spread around the city in small groups. Unfortunately, most of the city is different nowadays and the traditional parts are almost gone. Some of the nicest old areas are «Knøsesmauet», «Byggen» (tourist hotspot) and the area at the foot of the hill «Fløyen», near the funicular. I went up the hill too to enjoy the views. Instead of taking the funi, though, I chose to walk up, only takes about 45 minutes and is well worth it.

Nearly as beautiful as Bergen was the scenery I saw on the train from Oslo, which went up some mountains on its way towards the west. Suddenly there was snow literally everywhere around us, lakes with ice swimming on the surface and everything was beautifully lit by the setting sun. The views were gorgeous.

I spent a fortune on drinking coffee in Bergen too. «Kaffemisjonen», only a minute away from my hostel, had great but expensive, coffee. I liked «Det Lille Kaffekompaniet» even better though: probably the best coffee you can get in Bergen, served in a super cute little coffeeshop just above the funicular station of the Fløibanen funicular to Mt. Fløyen (and hence still quite centrally located in the city) in a fairytale-like street. They usually had some freshly baked cake or chocolate cookies too.

I had another good experience at «Kunsthall», where I saw a beautiful film called «Tiden Går» («Time Passes») by Ane Hjort Guttu. It was a story about an art student who meets a young begging woman and joins her sitting and waiting on the street every day. The film discussed a lot of topics and ideas that I spent a lot of time thinking about a few weeks earlier when I was working on About Giving and Taking.

I visited the guys at Bergen Grappling for a few rolls and I went to Frontline Bergen three times. I really loved the atmosphere and the vibe at this place as well as the high-quality training and instructors.