As I sit here on our big balcony overlooking the sea with small sailboats to huge cruise ships occasionally passing by or stopping at the port, I'm in awe. The scenery, the air, the charm; it's all beautiful. How we lucked out with such gorgeous weather, I'm not sure, but the sun is shining and the temperature is warm. I never would've thought that I'd be wearing a tank top, shorts and flip flops in Norway!


We arrived on Thursday June 15th after a short flight from Edinburgh. After checking into our Airbnb and meeting our host we did what we usually do and checked out what essentials are here, each place we stay at the host stocks the place with some items, but we need to see what we have to buy. Generally there's some type of cooking oil, salt and pepper, but other times there's a lot more. Here our host left a big bowl of fruit, a bottle of wine, a little jug of milk, coffee and tea. I feel like European hosts tend to leave gifts a lot more frequently than American hosts. We headed out to find the nearest grocery store, and as per usual, I found a better one after that initial shop. The prices here are definitely higher than the UK, but at least the exchange rate from NOK to USD is pretty easy, just divide everything by 10. The area we are staying in Bergen is called Bryggen, and it's full of cobblestone streets along the water and going up hills, shops and restaurants galore. Bergen is home to 7 mountains which surround us. Also, because Bergen is located on the North Sea, it has a big port here and there are lots of cruise ships, ferry and fishing boats cruising along.


Friday June 16th we just explored Bryggen and Bergen center on foot stopping into a few shops along the way. We walked about 5 miles, so then came back to our place to relax and of course for Paul to work. Our Airbnb has two totally different sides to it, you have the living room, master bedroom and balcony side which sits high on a hill and overlooks rooftops of other houses and the sea. The other side which contains the kitchen and the boys bedroom is ground floor and faces a street, so people and cars are going by on a regular basis. Because of the gorgeous weather, windows must be kept open for air flow, so it's like stepping into a different world going from the living room to the kitchen! It's a very modern Ikea apartment. But the balcony is the star of the show and where I plan to spend most of my time.


Saturday June 17th we went paragliding off of Mount Ulriken here in Bergen. We took the gondola to the top, 643 meters up, then jumped off with our guides and paraglides! Taking off was a bit tricky, we had to run sideways through long thick grass while attached to another human and a sail pulling you back. Kyle took off first and made it look effortless, but then Paul tripped and landed on a rock, ending up with a big bruise on his leg, but managed to get up in the air on the second attempt. Braydon and I had to wait for our turns. We only had two pilots, so after the first riders, the pilots had to make their way back up the gondola to take us for a ride. There were gorgeous views from the top of the mountain, so Braydon and I didn't mind waiting. When it was our turn, I went first and managed not to fall, but Braydon did trip on his first attempt at taking off, luckily he did not get hurt. We all had excellent flights, Braydon's and mine lasting a bit longer due to more winds the hour or so later in the day. The views were spectacular and it was very peaceful! You are supposed to land on your feet when landing and kind of run a bit until the sail falls to the ground, I did not manage that and landed on my feet but then went down to my knees, and Paul claims to my side as well! I believe Kyle tripped on landing as well, but Paul and Braydon brought it home smoothly. Unfortunately you never know how long your flight is going to be, it just depends on the winds at that moment and whether or not the pilot can catch an updraft, so it could be as short as 3-4 minutes, or as long as 20 plus. It was something that the boys really wanted to do and Paul had never done it before, so figured we would do it on this trip. I actually went paragliding 25 years ago in Interlaken Switzerland with my cousin, I still have the t-shirt I bought as a souvenir. It definitely is a memory that stays with you forever.


After our morning adventures we grabbed lunch in town at the fishmarket and farmer's market, I got to try Norway's famous brown cheese and lamb sausages. Paul got a reindeer hot dog and Kyle got some fresh muscles. Bergen is known for their famous fishmarket area. The thing I noticed about it is that their is no smell walking through it!


Sunday June 18th Father's Day! It took myself and the boys a little bit to remember it was Father's Day, oops! We made up for it by bringing Paul on a fjord cruise to Mostraumen. It was a round trip cruise lasting about 3 hours. The fjord starts off wide but then eventually narrows with big mountains on either side, waterfalls flowing freely down into the fjords. It was beautiful. We even got close enough to one waterfall to feel it's spray. The tiny village of Mo is adorable, I believe it has only 100 residents. I would have loved to have walked around the village, but our cruise did not allow that. We just came into the harbour in front of it enjoyed the views of the waterfalls and went back out. The boys were less interested in this sightseeing cruise, but Kyle brought his chess board and they sat inside playing chess and looking out the windows. Paul and I enjoyed walking all around the boat seeing the views from different angles.

Two things we didn't plan for happened afterwards. One, apparently all grocery stores are closed on Sundays and we had very little food at home and two; Kyle's stomach started hurting. We made do with left overs for dinner, I made rice for Kyle and I, but he could only eat a few bites before things went really downhill for him. He was sick for the rest of the night running back and forth to the bathroom from the couch. (Definitely not fun with only 1 toilet for 4 people!) The poor kid had a fever, was shaking and couldn't stop vomiting. It was a rough night.

Monday June 19th, Kyle (and I) barely slept the night before, and he was still hurting and couldn't keep anything down, so I went to the pharmacy and 7-Eleven to get some provisions. Side note, apparently Gatorade is banned in Norway because it contains carcinogens and other unhealthy ingredients! Gatorade was exactly what I was looking for in 7-Eleven, luckily though I found Powerade to get some electrolytes into my boy. Braydon and Paul decided to go out searching for Geocaches and found 3! Then grabbed some scooters to ride around on. They enjoyed their outing.


Tuesday June 20th, Kyle woke up feeling a lot better and proclaimed he still wanted to go to the piano concert I had already purchased tickets for. The 30 minute lunchtime piano concert was held at a music hall on the homestead of Edvard Grieg, a Norwegian Composer from the late 1800's. His house and hut where he composed all of his music overlooking a beautiful fjord were turned into a museum on the property. 3 out of 4 of us enjoyed the concert, Braydon wasn't so enthralled with it. ;) Unfortunately Kyle's stomach started hurting again during the concert, so afterwards we just made our way back to the house.

Wednesday June 21st was our first rainy day on this entire trip! We've seen some rain showers, but not enough to keep us inside. We were looking for things to do inside, because the remaining things I have on our to-do list are outside adventures. We thought about going to a science museum, but the kids were not too excited about it, so ended up staying in and playing some card games-I won by the way! ;) In the afternoon while Paul worked and the boys played video games or watched movies, I went out exploring a different area of Bergen. I love finding the narrow little cobblestone streets and colorful houses. All the balconies having flower pots on them making everything so pretty.

Thursday June 22nd, our last day in Bergen! We took the funicular up Mount Floen, another one of the mountains surrounding Bergen. The views again were spectacular from the top. There were goats wandering around up there and some cool playgrounds, a small lake as well. We walked down the mountain back to our place after exploring the top for a bit. It was pretty steep, but the path was gravel or paved so we got down pretty quickly. Time to pack up and get ready for an early boat tomorrow morning.


A few things: Bergen is a lot bigger than I imagined it, it is a pretty good sized city, but the tourists really just go to the harbour area called Bryggen that contains the fishmarket and old wooden houses. Norway is pretty much a cashless environment. Everywhere is tap to pay with your credit card or Apple pay, etc. Even the pay toilets and the vendors at the farmer's market use tap to pay. The one thing that I'm not sure I can get over though is the cost of everything. I tried to buy a can of coke at the fishmarket, it was going to be $4.50, I ended up finding it somewhere else for a dollar cheaper, but still, that is the norm. Beers and wine are between $10-$13 each at a bar, and we are not talking top shelf stuff! Wine and any alcohol including beers over 4.7% alcohol level are only sold at a liquor store, and you cannot buy alcohol in any store after 6PM and none on Sunday's. Alcohol is taxed very high, the government is trying to curb the drinking and any unhealthy foods, sugar and tobacco are also taxed at a higher rate. Another thing I noticed, not related to alcohol or money, is that drivers here are very considerate to pedestrians in a cross-walk. I feel like I just have to think about crossing at an upcoming cross-walk and the cars in both direction have already stopped and are waiting for me to take the leap.