Where was I? Ah yes, Bergen. Bergen was in many ways lovely, but the relentless rain did take the shine off the experience a little, and meant that we had to spend a fair amount of time indoors. The Leprosy Museum was definitely a highlight, both for its insight into the history of leprosy in western Norway (yes, I know that doesn’t sound tremendously thrilling, but was actually very interesting) and the chance to wander round an old, and beautifully-preserved Norwegian building. We also went to the West Norwegian Museum of Decorative Art, largely by chance (it was pouring, and that was the nearest open museum), which was a fairly random collection of exhibits, but did have a very interesting furniture and textiles section.
We stayed in the Alkoven Guesthouse, which I would highly recommend, especially if you can book the Red Room (which has a view and a television, though we were in the Green Room and it was perfectly fine): very well-located, slightly out of the centre and close to some very picturesque streets full of traditional houses, and only about ten minutes walk to Bryggen. Kitchen facilities meant that we could cook for ourselves (i.e. prepare our own cheese sandwiches) before going out for a leisurely beer at Cafe Kippers in the USF art centre, watching the midsummer bonfire burning on the other side of the water.
After a couple of days in Bergen we headed on by bus to Ålesund. I had been mistrustful of Nor-Way Buses‘ guaranteed seating (no pre-booking, you just turn up fifteen minutes before your bus and buy a ticket) but it did work out, and I imagine the bus journey (which involved four ferries crossing various fjords) would have been gorgeous in good weather, but was rather grim amid the mist and rain. Still, by the time we came into Ålesund, the sun had finally come out, which made us rather well-disposed towards the place.
And deservedly so, as Ålesund is absolutely lovely: thank you, JEB, for making me go! Mostly we just wandered about admiring the art nouveau buildings, but we also exerted ourselves enough to climb Aksla Hill, which was well worth doing for the sake of the view. We also went to the absolutely wonderful Art Nouveau Centre, which was a genuine highlight of the whole trip. The Centre itself is in a former pharmacy that has been beautifully preserved; downstairs there’s an interactive exhibition about the fire of 1904 which destroyed the city and caused it to be largely rebuilt in art nouveau style, and upstairs there’s a gorgeous exhibition of art nouveau furniture and textiles. The museum is connected through an underground passage to the art museum next door, which, quite by chance, was housing a rather magnificent exhibition by a local sculptor, Lillian Torlen. (And I ended up buying a pendant by Janniche Torlen, inspired by the exhibition, which was an excellent birthday present to myself.)
Getting back to Oslo from Ålesund was a bit of a trek, but the scenery along the way made it worthwhile. We got the bus from Ålesund to Åndalsnes, and the route was simply gorgeous, alongside crystal clear fjords reflecting the snow-covered mountains (the bright sunshine certainly helped, too). After several hours in Åndalsnes (where there is not much to do other than marvel at the surrounding scenery - unless you have a car, that is), we took the Rauma Line, almost by accident - it was simply the easiest way to get back to Oslo, but good lord, the scenery was almost frighteningly magnificent.
Oh! And in Ålesund, we stayed in the HI Hostel, which was also very good: well located, cheap-for-Norway, with a hearty breakfast included in the price, and we had a double room (with bunks rather than a double bed, but still) complete with en suite, kitchenette and fridge (for storing our illicit beer) and even an antiquated telly on which we could watch the Turkey-Germany European Cup semi-final. Recommended.
