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Day 2. Mooching around Bergen

Distance 11.5km. Average 16km/h.

We got up after a good nights sleep and looked out of the window to see the sun. After making breakfast we ate it outside in the garden in the sunshine. Did I mention it was sunny? We now had Sunday to explore Bergen and wanted to have a look round. First stop was the Tourist Information in Bergen which we found without too much trouble.

We went in after locking the bikes up outside, pulled a ticket and waitied our turn. It was not surprisingly, rather busy. However this allowed us to sample the delights of the gift shop, buy our first postcards and a cool pen on a string (having forgotten to bring a pen with us).

We spoke to a young lady who was able to answer our questions in excellent English. Hearing that we lived in the Netherlands she spoke admiringly of the cycle track network there, and was able to answer all our questions about where we can cycle (often on pavements in Norway) and the Allesmansrett.

Our first goal was to go up the Fløiban a cable railway that runs up the mountain next to the town centre. The pictures we'd seen on the internet showed a wonderful view so we had to go and have a look for ourselves. Although the metropolis of Bergen spreads out some kilometers the centre is compact. In a surprisingly small amount of time we'd arrived at the end of the queue and a couple of minutes later we were waiting for the arrival of the next train.

At the top we did indeed find a wonderful view together with a cafe and gift shops. After taking some photos we sat in the sun and ate lunch, musing that if we lived here we could see ourselves coming up here for a coffee every Sunday morning or maybe Sunday lunch.

After vaguely thinking about walking around the mountain we came back down to earth and wandered around the back of the old town. Although by this time it had become a little cooler, tradition dictated that we should have a drink at one of the terraces in the old harbour. With a back drop of the old wooden houses and the smell of the sea Damae drank a cup of tea and I sampled the local beer. Yummy yummy.

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