Day 13, 14: Bergen on the best day of the year!

It rains a lot here in Norway.  It rains a lot especially in Bergen.  Megan, Julia and I were so blessed to have a warm, sunny Saturday in Bergen.  It was amazing.

Today is Saturday and Megan, Julia and I went to Bergen.  Bergen is about 2 hours north of Rosendal by fastboat.  It was great!  We ended up on the same fastboat as Sylvia and Donna.  So on the way to Bergen we had a nice talk.  We also had the opportunity to take a bunch of pictures of the fjord side.  It was cool to be able to go upstairs on the top deck of the fastboat and feel the wind in my face and also get a better view of the scenery around.  On the top deck there was also this Norwegian flag and so I got a picture with that.

Once we were in Bergen then we just started to walk around.  We found a nice little mall/shopping complex.  We went inside but didn’t end up buying anything there.   There was this cool elevator though.  It was one of those elevators where you have to open the door in order to get to the elevator.  Also the elevator was pretty small.  But it was nice and smooth.  I contemplated buying a pair of gloves that were 70% off so they were like 300 kr but then decided that I didn’t need them and therefore didn’t buy them.  I also saw these very stylish shirts that were 249-450 kr and again I thought that they would be cool but again I didn’t buy them.  At the top of this shopping center there was this café and it was really fancy looking with its china and napkins.  We didn’t eat there.

View from the cafe on the third level

After that paragraph you might wonder what we actually did.  We left that shopping center and then started to roam the street again.  We found way to the main street and started walking towards this church.  We found this nice and wide street, similar to Arbat in Moscow and Chelyabinsk, and so we walked down that walkway.

I saw that there were these people that were making pancakes on the street and so we stopped and looked at them for a little while.  I wanted to see if I could get a pancake but they were only for the kids.  I was a little disappointed but oh well.  I then went and talked to the people and found out that they were a church organization that was out just to give pancakes to kids and balloon animals.  That is about when this guy straight up gives a balloon dog to Julia.  She was flattered and then takes picture with him.  She carried that dog around all day.

I saw a “Moods of Norway” store which is really fancy but I was really excited to go inside.  One of the first things that we saw inside was a rack of those Norwegian sweaters that are a hit.  The thing is that they hit the wallet pretty hard as well.  1000 kr hard.  I didn’t by one.  Then I went upstairs because that is where the men’s apparel is.  I saw a couple cool shirts but again they were really expensive.  There was this long-sleeved shirt that had tractors on top of the arms.  It was cool but expensive ($50).  Then I went downstairs to join Megan and Julia.  While Julia was trying on a sweater I was looking around and I commented to Megan, “Don’t you think that those two girls look like models?”  She replied that everybody in Scandinavia looks good.  I felt like that was a stereotype. But those two workers did look really pretty.  While Julia was checking out because she bought a sweater Megan tried on a beanie that said, “Kiss me I’m Norwegian.”  That made me have a really funny comment come to my mind that I didn’t share until later on in the day.  But it was essentially that I should have had the really pretty workers put the beanie on and then I would have had my invitation to give her a kiss.  In the moment it might have worked.  But now the moment is passed.  Maybe next time. (shucks!)  Plus there was a large pink tractor in the store.  Welcome to the Moods of Norway!

Lunch.  Dinner looked very similar

We left Moods and found a café/convenience store where we had lunch.  All of us had calzones.  Then Julia copied me and bought a Fanta Exotic as well.  Both were very good.  See the picture.

We ate off a cool table.  It was one that was easily impressionable.  It seemed like it was the thing to do to scratch your name in the table.  Do you see my name?

Then walked along that center walkway a ways further.  Then I thought that the road was closed off a little ways in front so that we couldn’t get to the church that we were initially draw to.  So I made a little detour.  Megan was happy for the detour because she liked some of the buildings that we passed and took pictures of them with them.

Eventually we walked around and got to the church.  That was when Sarah called and needed some reassurance about taking a bus from Rosendal to Odda and then a different bus from Odda to Bergen.  It took her a while to be convinced but eventually I was able to help her feel better about things.  While I was doing that Megan and Julia got kicked out of the private rehearsal that was going on. Lesson learned” If you walk in like you should be there then the Norwegian people won’t recognize that you don’t belong for a while.

From there we did some more walking round.  I also got a bunch of pictures of famous people.  We also found the central park with its water feature which is like a big flection pool but not to reflect on.  There was another statue of a famous person.

In the center there was a gazebo and in that gazebo there was this band that was playing music.  It was pretty cool.  They were pretty good but I really couldn’t understand the words that they were singing.

We found that public walkway again and walked down it.  It we got to the crossroads at what I would call the very center and there were two rallies happening there.  There was a rally of Christians.  I think they were called pixies. But they were singing songs to Jesus and offered to bless us or heal us or pray for us.  We all declined.  The girl that talked to us was from Oregon but just living in Bergen.  That is about all we found out about her.

At that same time there was another rally that was like 5 meters away.  It didn’t seem so positive.  I didn’t take a picture of them because they seemed like they were upset.  Something about people dying and don’t kill more people.

Then also when we were at that spot badda-bing badda-boom I spy the American missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Megan and Julia were really excited to go and talk to them.  It was kind of funny that right after we talked to the pixies we also talked to the missionaries.  They were nice and told us how crazy the pixies were.  We also talked about how we were coming to church with the Fieldings and they were excited.  But then it was time to go because they had stuff they needed to do.

There was also a parade of drummers that had walked by.  When we asked other people why they were here or what they were doing they just said that because of the beautiful weather that they were out.  Bergen doesn’t have that many sunny days so you really have to enjoy them when they come.  The parade and the drums were going on for multiple hours.  We saw them multiple times but the people that made up the parade each time were different.  I remember one pass through the kids were holding crosses and another time they were carrying rifles (with the bolt removed).  So it will be interesting to see the pictures of that.

After walking around the center some more we found a gift shop.  It was a pretty good find because all three of us found some souvenir to buy in the store.

We walked down the main strip again and this time we walked past these people in animal costumes that were giving out free samples.  I am a sucker for free samples so I stopped us to get what they were giving out.  It was a tiny piece of soap.  It was to get us to go inside the store Lush which has all sorts of soaps and body washes.  I ended up getting a vegan cookie that wasn’t too bad and having a “tester” of two products.   Both of the products made my skin really soft and I thought it was weird.  No, I don’t want my body to feel this soft.  This is girly.  In the mall I needed to go to the bathroom and unfortunately I had to pay 10 kr to get the door open for the bathroom.  Ridiculous!  There were women walking in and out of their bathroom and I wouldn’t have had to pay if I went in there but that wouldn’t be acceptable.

It was at this time that we found out that Sarah and Nate weren’t going to be able to come to Bergen.  The timing was going to be all wrong and Nate wasn’t ready and Sarah was going to come herself but then she forgot her wallet and it was just a mess.  We were all disappointed about it.  But that is life.

We explored that mall for a while.  That is where I bought a compression shirt because it was 99 kr. (about $12)  I had grabbed a m/l shirt and put it on and it was way too tight!  So then Julia was nice and got me an xl/xxl and that fit me better so I bought it.  It came in the nicest bag every.  It was a biodegradable bag that had a shoulder strap that seemed very durable.  The bag was really cool.

We left that mall and traveled across city center and rode the tram up to the Floibanen which is the mountain that overlooks Bergen.  It was really cool to overlook the whole city.  It made me realize how big it actually was.  We had been walking around the city center and I was thinking that it wasn’t that big of a city.  But then I saw the rest of the city and now I believe it is a bigger city.  I would say that this place was similar to Ensign Peak in Salt Lake because you can see the whole city.

Up at the top I bought some souvenirs and those were cool.  We also got a waffle that Julia and I shared.  Then, instead of riding the tram down, we just walked down.  It took us about 30 minutes to cover the space that the tram covered.  But it was easy walking because it was all downhill.

At the bottom we walked along the wharf (the place where all the docks are) and where the picturesque shops are.  All of the shops were closed but there was still some very nice window viewing that happened.  We were able to see where we would want to go to buy some souvenirs and stuff next time.

Then funny story as we were walking along that street.  We were walking and then there were these two Norwegian guys that had their iPhones out and asked the girls if they could take a selfie with them (but in Norwegian).  Megan understood the body language and the word selfie (because it was the same word) and agreed.  Then Julia joined in once she picked up on what was happening.  So the guys took the selfie and then the girls also took the selfies.  The guys were talking about how they were doing this as part of a bachelor party.

As we walked away Megan realized that she had missed her chance.  Earlier she had said that her new goal was that before she left Norway she wanted to get a picture of a Norwegian guy giving her a kiss on the check.  That could have been that guy.  But the moment was gone.  Julia suggested that she could go back but Megan didn’t.  I didn’t voice my opinion then but I wouldn’t have let her do that.  Or at least strongly discouraged it.

We walked back to the café/convenience store and had dinner there.  I had another calzone.  Last time I had ham and cheese.  This time I had chicken and pesto.  I didn’t realize but pesto is really big here in Norway.  Or with the Americans that I came with.  I also noticed that almost everybody has the same headphones.  I think that that is pretty funny.

The eating place is upstairs in that café and so we went up there and ate.  After eating we were just sitting there and so I took a little nap.  Then Julia woke me up and said that they were going somewhere (bathroom maybe) and I said that I would just stay there and watch all the stuff.  While they were gone I did some reflection on the day.  What had I spent money on?  How much did I spend?  What were we going to do?  What were those teenagers that were also in the café doing?  How many back rubs is that one teen boy going to give? (the answer was 3 to 3 different girls).  Then the girls came back and talked about how they just had the most awkward experience. (link to Megan’s blog)

By this time it had gotten dark and time to find out way to the house that we were going to be staying the night at.  We go to the central park which is where the Bybaren (light rail train) goes.  We bought our tickets and then had to wait like 7 or 8 minutes because the train left after only Megan bought her ticket.  It was no big deal.  We just waited a little bit and then got on the train.  On the train I enjoyed wi--fi.  So I updated my snapchat story and my other snapchats.  I also looked on Facebook and email.  It was all very good and very timely because I was finished (or at a good place to stop really) about 2 minutes before we got off the train.

Neighbors house

After getting off the train we looked at the board and saw that the bus 60 was pulling up and that was the one that we needed.  So we jumped on that bus and talked to the bus driver about getting to where we needed.  It reminded me a lot of when Julia and I had first gotten to Rosendal.  We had directions of where to go and what to do.  But hadn’t done it before.   It is exciting but also kind of scary because what if you get on the wrong bus.  But I didn’t really think about that (thankfully).  We had ridden the train to the last stop and then we rode the bus to the last stop and met the mom Hallie at the Kwik market (a little grocery store) across the street.

Hallie had walked in right after Julia and picked up some eggs.  When she was checking out she asked, “Are you the Americans looking for a ride.”  Julia said, “Yeah.  How could you tell?”  Then we went with her to her house.  I was excited to see what it looks like in the daytime because everything was so dark when we drove up.  There isn’t very much light pollution here In Norway so it is fairly dark at night, though you can’t see stars.  I am not sure why.

Backyard

The house that the Fieldings live is beautiful and decorate like an American house.  They were having a surprise birthday party for their daughter and so we came after the party was over.  Or just about over.  There were still a couple friends over but the party was mostly done.  Hallie was so nice to let us have food and was so generous at making sure that we were taken care of.  It was all so very nice.

The girls slept in one room and then I was given Braden’s room (the 14 year old son).  He was so nice to let me sleep in his bed.  Boy was that a good nice sleep!  It was a very nice bed.  It was because I had my own room that I was able to write the first day because I wrote before going to sleep and then again once I woke up.

Sunday was a pretty great day.  It was nice to have a family meal where the whole family was there.  We had egg hash because Hallie didn’t realize that she didn’t have any more tortillas.  It was still really as well.  I ended up taking seconds.  When asked if I wanted anything else I asked for toast and unfortunately that is something that they didn’t have.  I felt bad that I had asked for something that they didn’t have.  But I ended up having strawberries and those were really good.

Once breakfast was over then we drove with Brian (dad) to church and had a good conversation with him about our perceptions of Norway and his perceptions.  That was really interesting because we are on different sides of the education fence.  Educator vs parents of pupils.

Church was good.  Megan comment, “The church is so true.” After realizing that she had Wi-Fi at church.  I thought that that was pretty funny but I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t glad that I had Wi-Fi as well.  The first meeting was Priesthood and that was nice.  There was an elder that translated for me.  I was particularly touched by the opening Hymn.  I like Hymns in general and singing that one really helped me feel the Spirit.  Sunday school was taught by Sister Fielding and it was good.  We talked about the Atonement.  We read a bunch of scriptures and a bunch of people shared really good thoughts.  Then there was sacrament meeting.  We had these nice little headset things that allowed us to have the English translation of the speaker.  All throughout church everybody was really nice and very welcoming.  I think part of it was that I really stuck out.  I was the only one there in a colored shirt so I was pretty hard to miss.  But in general people are really nice and welcoming as well.

After church we went home with the Fieldings.  While dinner was being made Hallie told me about how I could use the phone to call my parents and it wouldn’t cost a bunch.  So I took her up on the offer and called home.  Nobody answered initially which is what I expected.  So I just started talking to the answering machine because then mom would hear the message and then she would be able to pick up.  That worked out.  I was then able to talk to mom, dad and Katie for like 30 minutes while dinner was being prepared.  The family had started to eat by the time that I got off the phone but it was chill.  I was able to get my food and not have to wait for other people to also get their food.  The food was great!  It was this chicken casserole with rice.  I loved it.  I wish I could have had seconds but then it was time to go.

The family was sad to see us go but we had to leave in order to catch our bus, in order to catch our light rail train in order to catch our fast boat to get home.  We had a long journey ahead of us.  It was a really good thing that we got dinner from the family because once we got back into the city center then there was like nothing open.  We had a hard time finding anything that was open in order to get out of the rain.  Saturday was beautiful weather but Sunday was the normal Bergen rainy weather.  Because of that, we had to seek refuge from the storm.  We ended up finding this semi-large glass building that sells fish and we were able to stay in there for about an hour before our fast boat left.  I passed the time by watching an episode of Boy Meets World.  I tend to do that a lot recently.  Pass the time by watching Boy Meets World.

There were a bunch of people on the fastboat and there were a bunch that got off at Rosendal.  The boat ride was nothing of confidence.  I forgot how loud a herd of carry-on luggage sounds.  I would guess that there is some convention here in Rosendal this week because there were a ton of people that all had suitcases and were all heading to the Fjordhotel.  Then on Monday I looked in a window and saw a lot of posters that validated my assumption.