The bus and couple of ferries that took us up the Norwegian coast soon laid out why we put ourselves through those unenviable sleeping experiences.
<insert beautiful photos that we never actually took>
We based ourselves in Bergen for a few nights to achieve a couple of essential Norwegian experiences - a trek up into the mountains and a journey deep into the country's world famous fjords.
First up was the trek. Bergen is framed by multiple mountains, one of which our hostel was rather conveniently nestled under and from it we began the climb up Ulriken in hope of connecting with Fløyen, should we not wander too far into the Norwegian wilderness.
We took off in
Things started off easily enough with a nice gradual incline but soon enough Nix was doing the splits climbing up rocks and we were physically crawling up the mountain. It was at this point that we thought we were pretty hardcore until an eighty year old pushed past us as he ran back down the hill having already reached the top. We pushed on and were treated to this.
Then began the trek to Fløyen where getting lost was never going to be an option given half of Bergen was out doing the trek seeing as it was a public holiday for them. And I mean everyone - kids, dogs, grandmas, babies on shoulders... These people are actually mad.
With views like these and that beautiful Scandinavian sun kissing your skin you can see why it might become somewhat of an addiction.
Five and a half hours after leaving our hostel we hit Fløyen and then descended into town for low fives, espressos, a mind-blowingly good hot dog, fish soup and the nectar of the Gods. Yeah, we were pretty happy with ourselves at this point.
The following morning we staggered stiffly out of bed for this post's namesake, Norway in a Nutshell. A tour where you book a bunch public transport tickets and venture into the Norwegian countryside to get a taste of what makes this one of the world's most picture perfect countries.
First up is a train to Voss.
Followed by a bus to Gudvangen,
where you connect with a ferry that takes you through the Nærøyfjord and the Aurlandsfjord and drops you in Flåm (pronounced Flawm and so much fun to say in a cheesy Norwegian accent).
After that you hop on the world famous Flåm Railway that takes you past scenery like this
to a waterfall like this
and drops you in snowy Myrdal.
The hype is not misplaced. If you haven't already worked it out, Norway really is that beautiful.
Who cares if you pay $7 for a Coke, you could pay twice that and it still wouldn't feel like you're being shortchanged.
An overnight train then got us to Oslo for a brief eight hours exploring the city.
Tim Wendleboe
First up was a little coffee tasting session/experience/extravaganza from the godfather of modern coffee.
Sometimes people can take something that you thought you had a pretty good idea about and take it to somewhere that you'd never actually conceptualised it getting to. That's what Tim Wendleboe has done to coffee. Having a couple of coffees here is not just having a couple of coffees. It is a full blown tasting experience and you are cheating life if a coffee from here is your morning hit.
The Viking Museum
Now that we were sufficiently caffeinated it was off to the Viking Museum where the Museum's centrepieces are three incredible Viking ships which are truly awe inspiring.
We then spent our final 30 krone on a hot dog that we shared with these guys.
Some Sculptures
Our final stop was The Vigeland Park to check some of these strange and interesting sculptures. Pick the seagull photobomb.
Some Sleep
After that we headed back to an actual hotel for some last minute preparation, for our trip's most important day, and the best night's sleep we've had in months. We (and now you) thought Norway was nice. Wait 'til you see what we have coming.
The Beers
Lervig Belgian Pale Ale, Kristenmannsblod, Konrads Stout
Beer Here Henrik Kaffesort, Mørke Henrik
Haandbryggeriet Dobbel Dose, Belgian Pale Ale, Berry Blend
Naparbier/Haandbryggeriet Eskua Saison
Ægir Double Chocolate Chili Stout
