Bergen - Day 5
I know that it might seem odd that this was posted immediately after my “Bergen - Day 4” post, but I’m throwing it up preemptively, since tomorrow will be spent on airplanes and in airports.
The view from the top of Mt. Ulriken
It’s our last day in Bergen! All that lies ahead now is 15+ hours in the air on Sunday, and then we’re home. As much as we’ve enjoyed our return to Norway to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary, we’re about ready to be home. We miss our dogs and our little home and our friends, so it will be good to get back to our lives. But first, we have some more hiking to take care of.
We woke up early, had a hearty breakfast with most of what remained in our fridge, and caught the bus to the Ulkriksbanen, a cable car that takes you to the top of Mt. Ulriken, the tallest of the nine mountains that surround Bergen.
Mt. Ulriken is really more of a large, rolling plateau criss-crossed with hiking trails and dotted with little mountain cabins and small lakes. We explored the mountain for hours, stopping a few times to munch on a small snack of peanut butter, jam, and crackers that we brought along. While we were up there, a race was underway. Every year, Bergen hosts a race up the side of Mt. Ulriken, and people were gathering for hours beforehand to explore the mountain before lining up to watch the runners make their way up the muddy, rocky, steep mountainside. By the time we took the cable car back down and were walking to the bus stop, a vanguard of elite runners were making their way down the street and towards the mountain. Crazy, crazy people.
Now, we’re back at our apartment. We’ve showered, relaxed, and packed for our early departure in the morning. Tonight we’re headed out for one last nice dinner at SoHo, the same restaurant we ate at on the last night of our previous trip to Bergen, five years ago. Afterwards, it’s off to the bar in the basement of the Hotel Augustin, which is located in a wine cellar from the 1100s.
It’s been a wonderful trip that has only deepened our love for Norway. Tromsø was beautiful and unique and Bergen is better than we remembered it and so full of life. If only they weren’t so far away, we’d visit more often. Already, we’ve talked about where in the world to go next. The consensus is that we should stay stateside. International travel is great and we’ve had great trips every time we’ve been abroad, but there are plenty of places to visit back in the states, like Yellowstone or Yosemite or Glacier National Park, or even up to Canada (yes, Canada).
For now, though, we’ll bask in the glow of ten years spent together and yet another adventure that we’ve shared. Here’s to many, many, many more of both.
