We ended up staying the full five nights in the same room, Room 304. The bed was incredibly comfortable. One day, after making it to breakfast, we went back to our room and slept until 2:15. For us, Bergen really was a dream.
On the first day, since we appeared to never leave, our maid was not quite sure whether we wanted the room made up. I am a good tipper, however, and she eventually figured out that we could be her last stop before heading home.
There was a grocery store a half a block away from the hotel. It was not entirely necessary, as the hotel provided a breakfast spread (including eggs and bacon you could cook yourself, fish and cheese, and an entire breakfast buffet) from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. (until 11:00 a.m. on weekends), make your own waffles from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. (it is surprising how pleasant an afternoon "waffle-break" can be) and then a dinner buffet from 6:30 until 9 p.m. All this and a bar at the reception (literally, the receptionist would move five feet from the check-in desk to the bar and pour you a drink; I tested it over a wide variety of times and it always worked). You never had a chance to get hungry or thirsty.
Afternoon Waffles!
The grocery store did have cookies and ice cream, both of which we availed ourselves on the stay.
We had a wonderful time relaxing. We found out that our room was regularly rented out as the "bridal suite" at the hotel. I suppose mainly because of the enclosed balcony and the king-sized bed (real bed, not two twins pushed together).
We slept incredibly well, although not always precisely on the same schedule. On the third evening, I did my normal "collapse in a heap" in bed around 10:30 p.m. and awoke to find Karen on the computer around 2 a.m. We talked for a bit until Karen said, "let's have a couple of Vodka shots". It was hard to argue with a comment like that; so I don't think I tried. We sat up until I don't know what time and we continued to join one another. The next morning came a bit harsher than normal, but it was a delightful night! I love that Girl!!!!!
The bath/shower arrangement was a typical European layout. I really don't know what they are thinking with their bathrooms. First of all, I love a hot big bath, as much as anyone. But the bathtubs in Europe are not big; they are dwarfish little contraptions which don't really have a "flat part" they just have rounded sides. The shower is almost always an "add-on" to the bath. They rarely have standalone shower arrangements; rather, they have the handle attachments to the tub faucet which are specially designed to pour water on your head as you switch the water from the tub faucet to the shower attachment. On top of that, you can get the tub water at exactly the right temperature before turning on the shower attachment, but the shower attachment hose contains a reservoir of cold water so the water that spills onto your head when you switch it to the shower is always freezing.
So, you now have the water going into the bathtub. Our Bergen hotel room had the classic European "half-wall" of glass which is specially designed to redirect the spraying water so that it doesn't go directly onto the bathroom floor. Rather, it goes indirectly, underneath the "half-wall" of glass and around the end of the "half-wall" of glass (mostly because it really isn't a "half-wall", more of a "quarter-wall" with lots of openings). After showering, because of this ingenious design, the bathroom floor is awash in water. Fortunately, we have the specially designed European towels, which are slightly thicker than a lace doily, but don't soak up quite as much water.
Because of the European towel-absorption shortage, Karen and I try and space our showers so that one or the other of us can take advantage of whatever towels have been left for the room and the other gets the next day. I would contrast this to our American hotel experience, where I can be my normal towel hog every day (using different towels for each part of the body) and no one notices or cares.
But I digress, the water is going into the tub, except for the water which is going onto the bathroom floor, and I climb up from the bathroom floor into the tub. The tub floor is actually about a foot above the bathroom floor and the tub sides compensate for the height difference by being a little bit higher than a normal tub would be. The combination makes for a teetering entry into, or exit from, the tub; with a constant danger of being "high-centered" at any moment - and not in a good way.
So, I am standing in the tub with the water sprinkling on me with the force of a light mist. In the meantime, my feet are on the bathtub floor which is curved gently from both sides, so that at no point do I feel like I am not in danger of falling over. There is no bar soap, what they have is the soap gel dispenser on the wall, with a specially designed cover that pushes against the gel dispenser unless it falls off, which it does regularly.
I like to shave in the shower, but this is not the time or the place. The idea of a sharp instrument in this precarious position just sounds wrong.
Eventually, I am done showering, not because I'm clean, just tired from the effort. So I turn off the water and ease myself carefully over the bathtub edge trying not to permanently damage anything of importance. Once on firm ground, I'm able to daub myself with the "so-called" towels. That effort brings me from "wet" to "mostly damp" and I reenter the hotel room and air dry for an hour or so.
We did venture out into Bergen in between sleeping and meals. There was this fortress which I don't think actually was involved in any actual battles (though it burned down a couple of times and was heavily damaged in an accidental explosion - kind of like a fort for teenagers). There was the tower part which was from a long-ago century which spilled all over the place with secret rooms, dungeons and no toilets and was quite interesting right to the point where you stepped out onto the roof, which is not my favorite place to be (why are all the views in high places?). There then was the huge Hacking Hall (spelt, "Haakon Hall") which was built even longer ago than the tower part and where people used to do Viking hall-things.
We ventured back to the hotel and another meal (I forget which one).
I have discovered a recurring theme on trips outside the United States. It really doesn't matter how good the food in the particular country is or how long you've been traveling. At some point, an irresistible desire to have a hamburger takes over. I'm not sure if it is an innate part of the American-being or if it came from our upbringing, but it is clearly part of traveling.
Through the wonders of the Internet, we discovered that Inside Live & Rock Cafe was a recommended destination for burgers. It may have been, but it had the distinct look of a slightly abandoned warehouse (as in, they might come back, but probably not), the theme "dark and gloomy" seemed prevalent. The street itself was slightly larger than a back alley, with graffiti, which we didn't seem to find much of elsewhere in Bergen. We looked at each other and didn't try the door, afraid that it might work.
That day we ended up at restaurant that claimed it had burgers. It was called the "Loge Haven", which loosely translated means "a place with chairs". It certainly had those, so we took a couple and ordered hamburgers. The hamburgers were made from an oddly colored substance with some of the characteristics of meat, but the general demeanor of something artificial, like brown pressed foam. I'd like to say that it was good, but let just say it was burger-like.
The Loge Haven did have an excellent selection of beers and it had a lovely covered outside patio where we sat. The cover was retractable, but since it was Bergen, it was raining, so the cover stayed on. Given the amount of rain in Bergen, the retraction device may not get much of a workout. We had an excellent Porter from Stvanger.
We walked up the hill from the Terminal and after about eight blocks came across the Royal - Gourtmetburger & Gin. Now this is what we were talking about!!!! These hamburgers were great!! Real hamburgers, perfectly cooked, with all of the accoutrements. Top that off with excellent french fries (crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, not too big) that they served in a tin can - it actually worked quite well to keep the fries hot.
We had our burgers, now it was time to board the boat!!!
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