Sunday, September 25, 2011

Climbing Mountains

(I've neglected my blog. I simply didn't get around to Foodie Friday, but hopefully I'll be more organized for it next week. For now though, let's catch up.)

The highest mountain in Bergen is called Ulriken. Bergen is surrounded by 7 mountains - which explains the concentration of frequent clouds and rain, but the highest is Ulriken at 643 meters above sea level.

There are gorgeous panoramic views from the top, and a cable car to take you back and forth to the restaurant. 

I desperately wanted to take the cable car, but we decided to hike up and then ride down. This hike was CAKE compared to the one I've previously posted about. 

Our destination was the funny looking tower on top (which glows interesting colors on clear nights in Bergen). 

We walked from our apartment up to the beginning of the trail, and then officially started the hike. It didn't take long to enjoy the first of many beautiful views on our way up. 





As is famous for hiking trails in Norway, we climbed up A LOT of rocks that only got bigger the higher we went: 



The hike was difficult, but the end was always in sight, and in comparison to the monster hike we went on upon arriving in Norway, this seemed easy. 

Some parts were so steep that there were handrails provided which eased the strain on your knees. 

Hand rails and beautiful views.




Towards the top, you could see the cable cars going (which, on a clear day, you can actually see from our apartment, spurring my interest in wanting to visit this mountain in the first place). 

Almost there!



We made it!

The weather turned out to be perfect hiking weather, and the sun even came out when we were at the top of the mountain. 

We found a place to sit down and have our snack that we packed with us, and bought a cup of coffee at the restaurant.





There was a definite chill in the air, so we were only able to sit outside long enough to eat and snap a few pictures. 

Rocking my Norwegian wool top! :)

And of course I had my darling hubby to take one too....




When we were sitting outside, I saw this lonely coffee cup on the table with gorgeous Bergen views behind and thought that is so Norway: hiking, pretty views, and coffee.


Sooo Norway


And of course, the Norsk flag: 


We bought a cup of coffee and shared a chocolate bar inside before taking the cable car down to the bottom. 


Our cable car's shadow. 

It was a great hike, and a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon: together and enjoying ourselves in the beautiful city that we live in. :)




6 comments:

  1. how fun! i really want to get round to hiking ulriken!

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  2. I love the photo that says "soooo Norway". You got it! :)

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  3. Are you going to do the 7-mountain hike in May with 8000 of us other toughies?

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  4. it's kind of tempting!! i will definitely need to train a bit for that though, so we'll see! do you have to sign up in advance?

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  5. just a few weeks in advance - mainly because they cap it at 8000 people. Here's the English website (which still has this year's info on it). You can also do the 4-mountain version to try it out! http://www.bergen-turlag.no/7-fjellsturen/index.php?fo_id=3924

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