Norway - the Floyen funicular

This morning we woke to glorious sunshine!

After days of relentless rain, this, in itself was cause for excitement.

With our geared locked and secured in our tent, which we then in turn, locked to Lisa's bike using a long cable, we got ready, threw on our riding suits and took “Tinkerbell” (my ‘pet name’ for my R1100GS)  south and back into Bergen to explore.

Taking one bike was a good move as, having paid 10 Kroner to ride the toll road into Bergen, we promptly missed the turning into the centre, went too far south, and ended up having to pay again to get back in.

Once parked, we went straight to the Floyen funicular. The views from the top are stunning and easily worth the 50NOK ticket charge to ride to the top of the mountain. At the top we soaked up the sun and began to explore, starting with the smart restaurant and coffee bar. Our budget wasn't going to stretch to a meal but, after we had finished our longish walk in the woods, the gold-foiled ice creams were just too tempting!

Bergen attracts people from all over the world and we heard every conceivable language, however, not once did we hear another English voice.

Back at the bottom in Bergen central, an afternoon of window-shopping was on the itinerary. Purchases would have to wait until another country however, as Norway was already proving to be as expensive as we had been warned. Although Lisa did take great delight in the designer cookware. Neither of have ever seen so many reindeer and fox fur bags and boots!

As the sun got higher our need for cold beer became stronger. Finally, throwing expense to the wind, we sat down in the main square and as our beers arrived the local brass band struck up. We think that upon reflection the shock of the band may have been the reason our waiter launched our immensely expensive beers over us, soaking us both! A thousand humble apologies later, and with two fresh glasses in hand, we laughed it off.

We dried in the sun and whilst smelling nicely of beer, we sat back and began to really enjoy our surroundings. I think we're going to like this travelling lark!

Back at our camp site, we prepped dinner and washed our clothes after the beer-bath in Bergen. The GS's make a great but expensive washing line!