Day 8 (June 29): Bergen
We started the day with a large breakfast at the hotel knowing what lies ahead. We then walked to a bakery that makes custom sandwiches on many types of bread/rolls. We got something fresh plus two brownies. And then…
We bought a bus pass to Ulriken (cable car location) but we did not take the cable car up the mountain. We hiked up! On the bus ride over to Ulriken, the driver was playing country music - one of the few types of music I really just do not listen to whatsoever. So I hear: somewhere out there my ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend is scrolling through my Instagram. I was laughing and told Jill the line.
The hike up took close to 90 minutes and it was challenging for me with regular size legs. Jill showed some strength walking up this crazy trail almost straight up with many huge climbing steps. When we got to the top there was a sign for the "outdoor gym" but we took a pass because where we were at that point was just the beginning.
From the top of the cable car to the Fløyen Funicular top is a 13km hike up/down some challenging terrain called Vidden. Well, we did that hike too for a total of over 10 miles on the day! Beautiful views and a great day outdoors but my legs are very tired and dirty after this journey. Near the end we stopped to buy me another bottle of water as I had drunk my 3+ liters on the hike. I did not notice this shop was the place to buy typical Norwegian waffles - I was too tired. Fortunately we rode down the funicular rather than hike down the hill at the end.
Dinner was at Frescohallen right in our hotel so we didn't have to walk any further. That's the good news. The bad news is the comedy of errors from the staff for the meal. It started with the hostess handing us menus at our table and we asked about wines. She flipped the menu to the back and said because there is a party (over in part of the restaurant) we are only allowed the selection printed on the menu which was sparse. Jill asked to speak with the manager. Twice. She came back with the full wine menu rather than the manager.
Our server asked if we wanted anything to drink but that menu only had two gin & tonic choices so we asked if there was anything else. Of course! Let me bring you the cocktail list. That should have been part of the sitting down process. I selected the first item on the list which looked like a signature hotel cocktail. He came back and said they didn't have the ginger syrup to make that cocktail. So I reluctantly selected something else. He came back again and said something like "that is the ONLY other cocktail we cannot make tonight because we're missing blah blah blah". So I went with an espresso martini.
Our starters came out and Jill had some oysters. The guy that brought them out knew no details on them when Jill asked. He did go back and ask the chef and came to tell us they are from Bergen and the other oysters they sometimes have are from Canada. Jill asked what they are called. He didn't know. He repeated the "ask the chef" and came and told us the name. We finished our starters and sat there with nobody cleaning up our dishes, our empty cocktail glasses, or anything else. They had yet to ask what we wanted from the wine list so Jill eventually brought in the manager. He apologized for all the stuff and offered a complimentary dessert.
I'll just say Jill's wine choice was excellent but the steak was mediocre. In addition, the manager brought our silverware before our main dishes arrived. It was normal knives but we both ordered steaks causing Jill to ask if this was the correct knife. He looked at our choices and brought us steak knives. This is the manager after we have clearly indicated several things going wrong. We decided we were going to skip any free dessert or spend any more time at the restaurant and found a cocktail bar on the map less than 10 minutes away. The hilarious thing about this entire experience is Jill talked to the hotel manager the next morning and they have it all on videotape. The entire evening is recorded to watch the mess unfold.
We went to Lysverket for cocktails but they haven't served drinks for about 5 years. The nice guy there sent us to Tempo Tempo which is only a couple blocks from our hotel. Young & loud local vibe that the guy from Lysverket said they go to after the shift. The nice guy there gave us recommendations for Lofoten and Oslo. We walked out at 10:40 and started walking the 3 blocks back to the hotel and the sky was on fire with an amazing sunset! So we walked down to the wharf for quite a show to finish the evening.
