Fell way behind. We had a great time but eating delicious things, as usual, kinda fell to the wayside. We were eating to live, not the other, more fun way around. We only wished that we had gotten out of the cities more but B wanted to experiment with not having a car (we have a car only these last few days and while at times, it was a small PITA to schlep our bags on buses, trains, and ferries but we always pack light so it wasn’t so bad). Traveling like this made us feel like we were reliving our carefree 20’s and 30’s and of course, having a 9-year-old always keeps us young.
We ended our trip outside of Bergen, in Øygarden. Some of our meals pictured below.
A really good bakery in Flåm, right at our rustic lodgings. Cinnamon roll (I didn’t try), sourdough and seeded rolls were delectable.
In Bergen, a nice dinner at Frk. Schmidt after we got turned away upstairs at their sister restaurant, Pingvinen. We were told by a local that Pingvinen is better but we liked little sis. Meatballs for SO, a plukkfisk (fish stew) for B (I think he preferred versions he’s had in Iceland), and a fish soup for me (good, but small version…I knew I would be helping SO with his accompaniments, which were all good, except for the weirdly raw carrots).
Fish and chips at the harbor in Bergen for SO. Can’t remember what B and I ate that evening!
I want to come back and check this place out!
View from the kitchen window at our final place. We ate in, cobbling together a salmon and vegetable soup for a couple of nights and then eating the rest of our food because the cottage was so great.
We had a simple, well-prepared meal at pretty much the only place open when we were wandering around Øygarden. No English menus, which we loved. Sausage for SO, fish and chips for B, veggie burger for me. We did some incredible hikes (arduous at times, but we were all up for the challenge and the pay off was great!).
On this trip, along with our July trip to Iceland, recent reports of tourists acting badly are not exaggerated (although hardly new). The cruise ships are a big contributor in Norway, where we saw the clueless masses descending upon, for example, lovely Flåm, with no regard for the local culture. Since the beginning of time, there have always been bad tourists. But things have anecdotally gotten worse—what’s changed? Is it social media, creating a world of entitled people, driven by their need to check off destinations/experiences on some metaphorical checklist? Too much money to be made on these unsuspecting tourists? We three are not above reproach, of course, since we are part of the problem. But we do our best to leave things better than how we found them and treating people with respect, from restaurant workers to the people cleaning our apartments. Staying off the well-trampled path is another way, where we can have meaningful interactions with locals, albeit brief. These are all such important things to talk about with young Spring Onion. I have hope for his generation!
