Day 17: Soaking up the last rays of Norway

on January 3, 2020

The frozen rain was hitting the window at various period throughout the night. It’s not quite rain, not quite hail, and not quite snow… I’m not sure what it is, except that it put a stop to plans for a long run 🙁

It’s our last day in Bergen and our last day in Norway, so it felt like a day to finish off the museums we started, soak up the city, and grab a couple of souvenirs.

The KODE art museum where we saw the Edvard Munch works yesterday is four separate buildings, of which we only saw two. Today we went back to see the museum for fine craft and design, and the museum for contemporary and modern art.

KODE 1 is in a beautiful old building, that was restored in 2017. The old staircase has a striking modern piece in the centre, called Helix 18m. A stunning blend of old and new.

The museum was hosting the Norwegian Craft Association’s 2019 exhibition. A favourite was Power Pencils – “How a pencil is shaped is decisive for how one uses it. These pencils encourage a more physical form of drawing” – there would be something fun about drawing with an axe!

Places I’ve been, Things I’ve Seen expressed moments and ideas collected over time, like those that are collected while travelling or throughout life. Made me wonder what our collection would look like…

KODE 4 is the museum for contemporary and modern art. Like yesterday’s museums there is a leaning to Norwegian artists with many works by Dahl, Munch, and Astrup, in addition to pieces by Picasso. There are many representations of Bergen over the years.

Bergen city streets are interesting. The main centre has many large 5-6 story buildings filled with smaller shops. They’re smaller and more boutique than the centres we’re used to, and many look like old buildings that have been restored and converted. On the other side of town, shops are all housed in the little wooden buildings we’ve mentioned in recent days.

There is a saturation of hairdressers for some reason, more than any other shops, and at least 3-4 in every block. I can’t work out if the Norwegians have high demand, or if there is just a massive over supply!

In contrast, there is a distinct lack of bottle shops. The Norwegian government operates ‘Vinmonopolet’, an alcohol retail monopoly where only one company is allowed to sell beverages with alcohol content above 4.75%. The hours and locations are extremely limited (only 2 in Bergen, open to 6 on weekdays, 3 on Saturday, closed Sunday). Supermarkets can sell beer, again, with limited hours. You can take the beer to the checkout, but they won’t sell it outside certain hours. Imagine how all of this would go down in Australia…?

We also went in search of a place to recycle bottles and cans. In Tromso there was a distinct requirement to self-sort into multiple boxes and bags, in Oslo there didn’t seem to be any in-home requirements, and in Bergen we’d seen the reverse vending machines in the supermarket but nothing in the homes. From what I can gather, we donated our refund to the Red Cross, and also had the option to enter a lottery. Meanwhile, despite all the talk of recycling, we seem to be the only people who bring their own bags to the supermarket.

So, as the sun sets (at 3:45) on our time in Norway, we reflect on a busy fortnight. We’ve see fjords and eagles, skied and played in the snow, fallen in love with wooden houses and Viking ships, enjoyed national pride for local artists, gone days without daylight, and seen the most magnificent light show on the planet. We couldn’t ask for more!