To all the people that have done some research into Norway, I think it is safe to say you have all heard about Bergen. And if you did, you’re probably dreaming about paying a visit to it, too. If not, if thus far Norway attracts you for its nature only, which is understandable, let me persuade you. This adorable little town is as local as it gets, and the habitants care deeply for their beloved fjords and ensure it’s being taken care of in the right way. That is why visiting this town, spending my money and time here, contributes to the sustainability of this wonderful town and its magical surroundings. Funny thing is that despite my enthusiasm, before visiting Bergen I had never heard about it either. As Bergen is the Dutch word for mountains, it just kept confusing me and at some point I just had to find some information on it. And this was the moment when I put it on my bucket list, and the moment I knew my parents were going to visit me in Norway I demanded we would visit this adorable, peaceful little fishermen’s town.
During the cold snowy winter of 2017, we went on this wonderful trip together. It started off as perfect as possible as we took the train from Oslo to Bergen. And well, that train trip happens to be part of Europe’s most beautiful train trips, safe to say it’s part of the world’s most beautiful train trips too. And let me promise you that this is more then justified. The trip started off between the calm, peaceful green hillside of Oslo. Little red-wooden farms on top of the hills, being put in the golden spotlight of the sunshine. Wild rivers finding their way trough the woods, to end up at their peaceful end destination: endless, clear blue lakes. It’s insane how it took us an hour only before we entered an entirely new landscape, being the pointy silver mountains, now pitch black gigantic lakes and either snowy or still green plains. The train trip revealed more and more of the Norway that is being promised to us in all the tempting magazines. But better. Endless green pine forests, picture-perfect mountains, silvery shining due to their sparkling untouched snow. Less and less little fairy tale cabins appeared, so vulnerable between the giants. Before the darkness settled in, it allowed us to enjoy one of the most magical views I have ever experienced. Wherever we looked, snow was present. At the end of an almost endless plain of snow, the golden sunset awaited. Nightfall was coming, and as we could look so endlessly far, on the opposite side of the glowing sunset, the sky was already turning pitch black.
7 hours of beauty, 7 hours of pure, untouched wilderness. 7 hours without literally seeing anyone, perhaps 5 cars on 4 roads. What an experience. Norway in a nutshell, and without any doubts the most impressive and yet affordable train ride I have ever been on. In the darkness and cold we arrived at the old, chilly train station of Bergen, where us and our suitcases started to find our way to the hostel. We wandered trough the cold, dark, snowy streets of Bergen, passing by the cosy lights behind the windows of local pubs, where the locals were enjoying their expensive beers. We finally arrived at the hostel, grateful and warm, where I had a lot of fun as I got to witness my parents first experience in a hostel (do we have shared rooms ? – oh my god bunk beds !). I couldn’t even complain. I was here, I was warm, I was with my parents at a perfect place after having missed them for 3 months due to my au-pair job in Norway by that time. We put on our backpacks and entered the darkness, for a stroll besides the pitch black water, as the famous, Unesco heritage worthy Brygge was around our corner. If you do know Bergen or you simply Google it, this is what you will get to see: the little row of tiny wooden houses, basically pushed against each other and therefore leaning forward. All of them painted in different colours, the brightest colours possible. I was in love with the old wooden look and the innocent shop windows underneath it. Their orange lights revealed some antique artefacts, and one of Norway’s proud mascots: the little fairy tale characters. Brygge is an important part of the world’s legacy, which makes it even more precious to look at it. You’re looking at something that can never be replaced, that can never be found anywhere else and that will never be copied. Something unique, for valid reason.
What I love most about travelling, is the little unexpected surprises overwhelming you just like that. An alley reveiled itself between the adorable houses, so we entered. The moment we did, we seemed to have entered a small town where everything exsisted out of wood. The ground underneath us, the buildings beside us. There was literally nobody here, it was just us surrounded by those empty wooding buildings. Their windows were dark, we saw no possibility of entering the cabins. The few sounds of the few cars we just heard had completely vanished, as if we just entered a secret porchway to another world. We were lsurrounded by those mysterious dark wooden buildings, in the heart of what looked like a medieval town. It was quite obvious that people were neither living here, nor working here. The mysterious atmosphere of those old wooden buildings was undeniable. This was another surprise, another part of Bergen’s cultural, mysterious, unique legacy. The snow was cracking beneath our shoes as we bumped into a very random, rather modern sculpture of a fish. It’s not a secret that this town has always played a very important role as a fishermen’s town, and the beauty is that it still does. Because where is the fish as fresh and as good, as in the pure waters of the fjords ? At the same time the habitants care deeply for the preservation of the fish population and therefore have, thank god, very strict rules about catching them.
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