Moving on to Norway

So many places to go

November 3, 2022

Thursday, after a nice lunch of leftover chicken and rice, Anne drove me to the airport.  I had fun using their new automated bag check.  One simply uses a machine to produce the bag tag, fasten it on, and feed the bag onto a belt so that the tag can be read.  My travel agent told me that the checked bag wasn't included on this flight, so I planned to pay.  But the machine never indicated that I needed to pay anything, so I sent it on its way.  I believe it was quite close to the weight limit, but I don't even know if it was weighed.  Then, arriving at security, I tipped back my water bottle to empty it before going through, only to have an agent tell me that I could just leave all liquids in my bag.  I breezed right on through.  If these systems don't end up with too many glitches, they will make travel a bit easier.  

After poking my head into a few overpriced souvenir shops, I opted to sit in a little food court near my gate.  Soon the smell of salmon soup convinced me that even though I just ate lunch, a bowl of soup now would save me from having to figure out supper in Bergen. 

Salmon soup and dark rye bread

Because my flight to Norway was on a small plane, when it was time to leave, we went downstairs and out to a waiting bus.  I thought this bus, covered with the composings of Jean Sibelius, to be more attractive than the ones back home.

Our little Wideroe plane was not very full, so I had a couple of seats to relax in for the couple of hours of flying.  The plane's coloring and shape, plus that funny black propeller made it look like a toy.

It was nice to get up above the clouds for a bit of sunshine, and then, soon after, as we approached Bergen, Norway, it was getting dark.

Once on the ground, I easily figured out where the bathrooms were, thanks to these cute wooden signs, before grabbing my bag off the belt and making my way through the "nothing to declare" channel.  

I had not prearranged transportation to my hotel as I was considering the bus.  But at the last minute I decided to just take a taxi.  It was a quiet ride, due to the fact that my driver seemed to speak very little English.  For me, the hardest part of taking a taxi is feeling confident that they really know where I want to go.  Once in Portland, Alyssa and I took a taxi to a performance at a well known concert hall.  The taxi driver didn't know what were talking about.  This time I showed him a screenshot of the front of the hotel, along with the address, through his open window, before getting into the taxi.  We went through an insanely long tunnel, by far the longest car tunnel I've ever been in.  And then when we arrived right at my hotel, I was a bit shocked by the bill.  6,100 NOK, or around $60.  It was not a long ride.  

My hotel, the Radisson Blu, was right on the end of the row of ancient wooden buildings that make up the UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The rooms are very nice, but down long confusing corridors.  The front entrance is very nice and new, located around the corner from the building shown in the photo below.

In the photo below, my room is one of those on the right side, so the windows look directly across at the other rooms.  With the dark days, incessant rain, and only one small window that had a drape to open, it was a bit depressing.  I did get lots of exercise going back and forth to my room, as I had to go down 5 or 6 hallways to get there.

Below are views from some of the corridor windows, looking out at the old buildings, and also the atriums that are over the dining areas in the hotel.

The location of the hotel couldn't be beat, as it was so close to all the historical areas of Bergen, the cute little shops, and the beautiful harbor.