Bergen

I know it´s been about a week since the last blog, but I guess if you aren´t blogging, you´re busy having fun, right? So, Bergen.
I left Oslo on a train during the day so that I could see all of the scenery, which was really cool, and that got me into Bergen at about 3pm. I spent a few hours walking around Bergen and checking out the scenery, enjoying the weather (it was about 10 degrees warmer than Oslo), and checking out a few stores. I went back tot the train station and got ahold of my dad´s friends who I would be staying with, and made plans to get to their house later in the evening. SO I went out and met up with a British guy i had met in Oslo who was also going to Bergen. He took a later train than I did, so he got in later, but this worked out perfectly. SO I grabbed a map, having learned from my Oslo wandering, and met up with Rob for a few pints. I then grabbed my bags from the main train station and headed over to my dad´s friends´place.
Once arriving, I was plied with tea, a Bergen Christmas ale, and then a Belarusian vodka. We ended up staying up talking until about 2 am, which Reminds me Dad, I have a different version of a few stories I have heard you tell that we can compare when i return to the States.We make plans to meet up the next day after Frank, my dad´s friend, has finished lecturing at 10 am, and then I go and pass out in a private room, which i have not slept in for about 6 days.
The next morning, and the next three mornings, I awake to a great Norwegian breakfast: toast, butter, cheese, Danish salami, shrimp salad, beets, and more cheese. And all the tea I can drink.Then I head into town for my personal tour from Frank.
We take a pretty long and filling tour of Bergen, stopping every so often for a sandwich or coffee or Norwegian pastry "You can´t come to Bergen and not have one of these," and then we meet up with Frank´s wife Marian and son Erik for dinner. I head back, clean up, and then meet their son out for a pint while we watch Arsenal win (soccer). Then we take a tour of the local bars with our local guide, Erik, and see where all the students in Bergen drink (there are quite a few students in Bergen, which I suppose is not unusual for a university town).
At one of these I loose a bet and have to go and introduce myself to a bunch of Norwegian girls with the line "Haven´t I met you before?" The obvious answer is no, especially as I am asking them in English, but they turn out to be quite cool, and we end up meeting them out the next night to go and see a play in Norwegian about growing up in Russia during Glasnost. While I don´t speak the language, turns out, it looked to be a well-acted play, and i was able to follow what was going on by watching the action.
The next day started with an excellent breakfast, visiting some museums and checking out the view from the top of the mountain that overlooks Bergen and seeing their 3 art museums. We then met up with the girls and Erik to see the play and then went to a house party followed by some more bar hopping at different Bergen bars.
My last day in Bergen I hit the last few places on my itinerary and met up with Frank and Marian for dinner, wine and dessert at their house. Then I headed back out to Bergen to grab a last drink with Erik before grabbing the train back to Oslo.
The British guy, Ron, and I headed back to the hostel to get some breakfast buffet and then I went back to the train station to get my train to Copenhagen.