Once off the ferry we made the realistic choice to taxi to the rental car place. And though only 2km away it was a convoluted trek around overpasses and one way streets to search for and locate it, and with a 8 hour drive ahead we were glad to have made the right decision, though time was money, of course; where by 5 minutes cost $30.

Our next awesome decision was to get a GPS for the car, um, yes we didn’t bring our own… Laziness, space constraints, poor thinking ahead, and lacking time to load and buy maps…. But we learned that this time we saved money having it because it tells you all the speed traps on your journey with enough time to slow down! Nice! We could have avoided about 12 chances for a ticket or so.

We also learned that Norwegians obey the speed limits, and pull over for you if they are slow. How lovely is that?!

Our drive was long, about 10 hours in the car including a few stops for photos, lunch, dinner and a ferry. But, it was scenic, with winding mountain roads, a trip up above the treeline where nothing grows and you feel like you’re in a barren wasteland of frigid glaciers, and sparsely plopped grassy topped abandoned ski shacks, then along picturesque fjords, powerful waterfalls, alternating with rolling farmlands and tiny towns.

For dinner we came across a cute little town called Gjermannshamn or something similar where we ate some great pizza and wandered a wee boardwalk as they set up for their weekend wooden boat festival. It also boasted a fantastic waterfall to photograph near the way out!

We arrived in our city center Bergen hotel, which was way more costly than we wanted, but procrastinators pay a premium for weekends in the big city. Worst of all, not at all worth the price paid, but what can you do? When you are in Rome…. You pay their prices! And whine about the cave of a room with no window! The GPS a winner again assisting us on an otherwise impossible domestic-dispute-worthy 4km scavenger hunt navigating one way streets to the hotel. Sigh. Bed time!