Riding the Bergensbanen

Monday was all about riding the Bergensbanen, the Train Line from Oslo to Bergen. We had big expectations as this line is called, variously: "one of the most spectacular scenic experiences in Europe" and "one of the most scenic train journeys in the world!", others have said: "the view is always spectacular here, even when it’s raining".

But before we get into the enjoyment, which was much more impressive than either of us were expecting, let's go back to the beginning of the day.

Breakfast

Today, instead of the more usual early days, I awoke at 5.26am only four minutes before the alarm was due to go off. 

I showered and completed the other ablutions and Drew did the same. We went down to breakfast at 6.30am and we were second in the queue. The large number of cruise passengers we experienced the first two days here were no longer around.

This morning there was porridge in addition to the regular options do I availed myself of that rather than the yogurt of previous days. 

We left the breakfast room at 7.10am and went up to our hotel room for a final clear out and check and we left the room at 7.30am, making use of the 'check-out' facility in the Thon app, a helpful tool, meaning we only needed to drop the keys off on our way out.  

Oslo Station

We know it is a two minute walk to platform 12 where the Vy app says we are catching the train to Bergan. Platform 12 is the nearest one to the hotel side entrance of the train station and we had scoped it out on our way to dinner yesterday. 

Drew had to redo his laces as we left the hotel, so he sat beside Olav Thon and did so. 

Even with the key drop and the photo we were still on the platform at 7.40am. 

Our VY app confirms we are in carriage 1 and even shows a train map so we can stand on the right part of the platform before it arrives, this is furthest away, so we walk gradually along past other people already waiting. 

The Bergensbanen

The train pulled up at 7.50am and we got on, here is Drew doing just that

and we had plenty of time to put our luggage in the rack (my sister will be glad to know they are right next to us, so can't be easily stolen - though why people would want our dirty clothes I have no idea! It is something that she seemed concerned about with this journey!) 

We settle comfortably into our seats 

and help ourselves to the complimentary coffee - we paid £4 extra each to sit in the Pluss carriage and this paid off in the first cup of coffee, let along the other five during the next few hours.

Departure happened at 8.12am precisely, 

we can track every step of the journey on the Vy app

The first leg of the journey is from Oslo to Hønefoss, here are some of the images from it.

 

we arrived at  Hønefoss Station, our first stop, at 9.50am. We had been encouraged by the marketing blurb for this trip to get on and off at stations to stretch our legs and take photos that wouldn't be captured from the train, so we availed ourselves of this, going each in turn, rather than both together, even we aren't going to abandon our luggage entirely! 

After the train left Hønefoss it was announced that signal difficulties on the line were causing a delay, the train is having to stop to let oncoming trains pass safely, and they are then doing the same for our train. Still, in truth, the train is so comfortable it feels like a bonus to be on it for eight hours rather than the seven we are scheduled for! I caught up with a whole raft of emails that have been sitting unread since Friday. I worked on them online and then linked to the station wifi whenever we were stopped to send them.

From Hønefoss we travelled to Flå Station in the spectacular Hallingdal. The sights got more and more interesting as we progressed. Next we arrived at Nesbyen 

then Gol. Gol is a popular stop as it has good bus connections to Hemsedal, which is one of the ski destinations in winter and is a hikers' paradise at this time of the year. 

We were getting later and later at each stop causing real anxiety to some passengers who were scheduled to travel on the Flåm Railway which leaves from Myrdal, which is on this route, thirty minutes after we were due to arrive. 

As we approached Geilo, a station set on a mountain called Hardangervidda which is set in a National Park with the same name as the mountain, The line is 908 meters above sea level at this point, plus the Flåm travellers had some good news, the Flåm train was going to wait for them.

Even though Geilo was high we still climbed and saw more high mountains on every side, including a mountain glacier before arriving at Finse, a mountain village which is inaccessible by road and can only be reached by the train. It is the highest point of today's route at 1,222 meters.

From Finse we travelled through a 10.9km tunnel as we crossed from one side of the mountains to the other. Mountains behind us, we headed to the Western Fjords, these, unlike Oslo Fjord are real Fjords in both the English and the Norwegian meanings of the word. Flåm, for example, is in the Aurlandsfjord and there are many others here. 

We arrived at Myrdal at 11.28am and lots of travellers left the train and headed to the Flåmsbana for their trip.  (An aside for Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fans, of which there are many among my readers), Flåm is pronunced in a similar way to which the mattresses on Sqornshellous Zet say flollop.)

When we got back on the conductor adapted a traditional phrase into: "Do what you do best, sit down and enjoy the ride." And we did, for the rest of the journey we were encouraged not to get off at the various stations, to allow the train to get closer to its original time.

Thon Hotel Bristol - Bergen

We arrived at Bergen at 4pm into the large airey station. 

It was a flat walk of ten minutes from the station to the hotel.

The time of our arrival might have raised an interesting point! Something I've not mentioned previously is that Thon hotels (it may be other hotels in Norway too) have a policy which states:

So, if we had not pre-paid our booking would have been cancelled and they could have let our room to someone else! 

Of course, a month before the start of the holiday I prepaid the booking for the Oslo hotel, the plane could have been delayed, and the one in Bergen, as potential train delays needed to be factored in. It clearly paid off as we had no problem today. Incidentally I had already prepaid the first night in Trondheim and Bodø as we will be arriving at both places much later than 4pm, but that was already factored into my plans.

As in Oslo, we were give free bottles of water, apparently as Thon members we are eligible to such treats, I didn't want to disappoint the receptionist to say it was the 20% discount on of bookings as a member that was a more convincing sell to me than any water might be! 

Are you thinking, why Hotel Bristol, well, it's those marketers again. In the 1800s John Augustus Hervey, the wealthy Marquess of Bristol was seen as the epitome of a wealthy traveller having only the best. A hotel in Paris, where he had stayed, was the first to take the name in 1816, even using the Bristol coat of arms. With its reputational successes other hotels became to select the name to imply Hervey had been there, even though he might have been no where near.

We settle into our room, check out the room facilities and the amazing view over the heart of Bergen 

and walk to the only laundrette in Bergen, Clean Kokos, a seven minute walk away.

Clean Kokos

Washing and Drying clothes have been a highlight of our holidays since my first trip to America, with my brother, sister and brother-in-law in 1994. Regular interactions with local folk, not other tourists often occur and can lead to some fun interactions, as I've retold in blog posts over the years. Clean Kokos had exactly those charms, well most of them anyway, the fact that the majority of users were tourists, was different, but pre-travel I'd been warned that Norway as very few Laundrettes as Washing Machine/Dryers are ubiquitous in even the smallest Norwegian home.

We arrived at the laundrette at 4.55pm. We put our washing in the machine and used the device on the wall to pay the 75 nok for the Wash at 40c, it took 59 minutes. The machine dispenses the detergent automatically, avoiding a problem we've had in the past in the USA, when we found it easier to buy washing capsules in a supermarket than work out the various complex ways of getting suds!

The wash is complete at 5.40pm and then we dry our clothes on medium for 65 minutes again at 75 NOK. However, between the two points one of the bank of machines had gone on the fritz and wasn't taking links with the machine or the laundrette's app. A long and repetitive discussion occurred across English, Italian, French, Swiss French and Spanish languages as the situation was explained, first bilingually through a shared language and then in the person's own language to their husband, boyfriend or pal. It would have high potential as a sitcom I think. [Co-pilot's note: He has, dear reader, forgotten the comical interlude which was created by an American gentlemen tourist coming in and opening machines willy-nilly. It was only made funnier, by have Mrs. American Tourist, every time he was about to do so, shouting: "Not now Ray".

The young British's ladies screech of 'That's my machine' as he opened her dryer was high-pitched enough for Ray to own up and agree to pay for it to start again.]

Anyway, machines back in working order and taking payment we finished drying at 6.50pm. We walked back to the hotel and made a speedy turn around to dinner.

Bjerck Restaurant and Bar

At lunch time, while on the train, we had discussed options for the meal tonight. Having looked at a number, there are a lot of options all close to the hotel. We agreed that Bjerck's Restaurant and Bar looked interesting, so we booked it only.

We were glad we did because as we arrived a couple was being turned away as the restaurant was full. 

We however were seated and had some wonderful views over Bergen.

We began with Sourdough Bread with whipped butter, chilli hummus and hummus. The bread was fluffy and not as chewy as a typical sourdough, it wasn't as sour as we would have at home, but it was very tasty. The chilli hummus was a surpriuse, really tangy after the night before we thought chilli wasn't the done thing in Norway, but it clearly is. The actual hummus wasn't surprising, just a pleasant home made dip without any variation from any other hummus, other than it was chunkier than bought varieties.

My starter was green gazpacho served with watermelon, cucumber, jalapeño oil and chili cheese toast. How strange, with my eyes shut I could taste all the tastes of Spain, with an extra bit of Mexican chilli heat, but when I looked I saw bright green vegetables and watermelon - while my sense were confused however, my tastebuds weren't, they and I absolutly loved this astounding variation of an old favourite. Well done to the chef. 

Drew had crispy duck confit, Hoisin sauce, Asian salad, kimchi, mango and pickled cucumber. The waitress offered to give me the Kimchi separate from the rest as she beleived it was so spicy that it would spoil the other items. Drew, not wishing to create a scene went on with this suggestion. It turned out that the kimchi, did have a bit of a kick, a surprising kick, it provided a perfect bit of spice in the dish, all in all it was a great starter, which the kimchi set off perfectly. Drew said he could see why non-chilli eaters might thick it was spicy, but for someone who eats chilli most days it wasn't a necessary warning. 

For mains I had one of the specials: Bjerck's princefish - This was a large plump piece of Cod with white asparagus, parsnips, shrimp, cream sauce, kale, baby potatoes and puff pastry, though I still don't know what place these little triangles of pastry had in the dish, I ate them anyway.

The cod was glistening as only well cooked fresh cod can, it was cooked just enough to be still translucent inside, just right for me, the vegetables were el-dente, indeed to the extent I had to use the steak knife that was on the table to cut the parsnip. Fresh, clean flavoured, lots of vegetables - a perfect combination for a main course.

Drew opted for Fish and chips with pea stew, gribiche sauce and fries and had an equally large fish, though one with batter. Drew thought that he had been given some kind of megadon fish, famous in these waters but unknown to him, but it was really only Cod. The fish was juicy, fatty from the batter, warm and salty. He thought it was really delightful. The peas had a hint of mint through them, which might have worked well with a lamb dish, but was unusual with fish. The chips were crunchy and clearly cooked in clean fat, as they had none of the droopiness of a post-midnight kebab shop. 

For dessert Drew had chocolate and blackcurrant, this was chocolate ice cream with caramelized white chocolate and a blackcurrant espuma. The chocolate ice cream was rich and velvaty and it came with a bed of pistachio and cookies which gave a very welcome crunch to the dish. Drew thought the espuma was perfectly fine, but he's not sure he would go out of his way to have another blackcurrant espuma. 

My dessert was the Cheese Board, which I requested without any of the sweet elements on the menu, chutneys etc. They brought me a lovely lot of lovely cheese with fruit trimmings and no sweet stuff, perfect. The cheeses were Burrata, sorry Elaine! Truffle camembert which was walking along the plate with a punch of flavour. A hard cows cheese, the waiter couldn't remember the name of, but it was of the parmesan style, which I've noted is so well loved in this country. Finally, a Stavanger Blue with a punchy flavour, an absolutely delicious hard blue cheese.

The meal was served at a gentle pace that fitted with our gentle and relaxing day on the train. We had arrived at 7.30am and it was 10.25pm before we left, but at no time did we feel we were hanging on for them, it was just the local pace of life away from big city Oslo.

Back to the Hotel

Like, it seems, everywhere in Bergen, the hotel was nearby. Having left Bjerk's at 10.25 we were going up the lift at 10.30pm and were back in the room a minute or two later. 

As I had some photo editing to do, we got to bed just before midnight.