No photos (to speak of) today, but today was a travel day: GOT –> BGO.
Got off to a decent start, when the hotel (Draken) let us have a 12:00 check-out. We were having a slow start both because it had been a pretty good night the night before (excellent, really) and because SAS had already messed up the early option, by rescheduling the previous 10:30-ish flight to 15:35. So we’d booked a hire car transfer to the airport for 12:30 and scheduled from there.
By 12:45 we were trying to make contact with the driver, and by 12:55 we got the hotel to book us an ordinary taxi to the airport. That was both on time (five minutes later) and almost half the price of the no-show hire car.
Some airport lounge whinging to the booking company has apparently resulted in a full refund, so in the end we’ve come out slightly ahead: yay!
The flight was on an Embraer 900, a tiny little bus that was never-the-less completely booked. Four seats across: two on either side of the aisle. Tiny overhead luggage lockers. Too low for the air bridge at any of the airports: we had to schlep our luggage down and across the tarmac and then up the (steep!) stairs of the front door entry. Still, we elbowed our way to the front of group 4 and got enough space for our lenses and cameras.
Half an hour to Copenhagen, then reverse the process: luggage, cross tarmac, up stairs to arrival lounge B4: same as departure lounge. We were continuing on the same plane, in the same seats, but had to get off and on again anyway. Sat in the wrong seats the second time, causing a small scene, but we still fitted and off we flew.
Dark when we arrived at Bergen on time at 18:35. Picked up our checked luggage and then followed the signs to the light rail station (outside, down in a lift, station below arrivals hall). Bought tickets, on the second try, and bang: there was the train so we were bundling ourselves and our bags on board. Some 26 stops into central Bergen, but at least it was fast and clean and only took 45 minutes.
As is usual when you land in a strange place with only google maps to guide you, we set off in completely the wrong direction, course corrected by going around a spurious block, and then reached the hotel, which was exactly where it was supposed to be, a few hundred meters from the end of the light rail line.
At reception there was something of a scene going on. The receptionist indicated that it would not be resolved for a while and would we like to take a seat. We asked if we could leave our luggage in her care and go a bit further to the restaurant, to get some dinner. And so that’s what we did.
Dinner was quite lovely, highlights being the Bergen-traditional pressed (“persian”) Cod and the duck breast.
Then we checked-in without bother and went up to our room, which is also lovely. But the TV is of the primitive variety that has broadcast channels and no Netflix, so that plan has been scuppered in favour of going to sleep.
Night all.
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