Travel Diary: Day 6, Bergen

Today I decided to skip waking up ridiculously early to see the port as we entered and catch up on a bit of greatly needed sleep again. I did make sure to get some breakfast, though, as there were only a few days left and I wanted to make the most of it all. It's pretty good I did because I discovered that bacon and croissant compliment each other perfectly (though I'm certain that my stomach and my heart don't agree). As a result of taking it a bit slower we left a bit later, which was actually quite good as getting up and leaving early was getting pretty exhausting.

Bergen is nicknamed 'the rainy city,' and on that particular day it really lived up to its name. Grey clouds filled the sky, and the day was punctuated with spells of fairly heavy rain. In my opinion, this did lower the tone of the day, making it somewhat more tiring and unpleasant. We did what we mostly do when we explore a port- wander around aimlessly, with no particular plans of anything we specifically want to see or do (which is not something I like doing, but is something that I have to do.) Actually, we did plan to see a fish market, though we got were unable to find it, and the weather didn't particularly encourage us to persist with trying to find it. However, we did find a restaurant that served fish that was quite impressive, with tanks of live crabs and lobsters and large, dead fish that actually looked quite spectacular on display, ready for costumers to purchase and consume. It also looked pretty nice, and my nostrils weren't assaulted with the smell of dead fish. The rain spells convinced us that it was better to head back to the ship a bit earlier, otherwise we'd just end up huddling in front of shop doorways in an attempt to shelter ourselves from the wind and rain. I have to say, out of the four places I visited, this was the one that I enjoyed the least. The not-so-pleasant weather certainly contributed to this, but I also found that Bergen was less scenic than Andalsnes and Alesund, lacking the beautiful mountains and lakes, and it felt slightly less quaint than Stavanger. I still thought it was pretty, nevertheless. 

We intended ordering room service, but decided to check out the buffet anyway. Since we happened to be in the buffet area we decided we might as well get ourselves a little to eat. We returned to our cabins to shower and generally relax with a book and a drink. Somewhere in the mid afternoon I decided that I wanted afternoon tea as I only had two more left, and, having been reminded that it was a special one filled with chocolate treats, I dashed all the way up to deck 16 (well, 'dashed' is a bit inaccurate seeing as I took the lift, there were no stairs midship, which I would have taken if I could have). The selection was lavish, with a ridiculous amount of elaborate, decadent, delicious-looking cakes, cupcakes, doughnuts and desserts, I had to restrain myself in order to prevent myself from taking all the desserts. Since I'd come up alone I sneaked these treats back to enjoy in the comfort of my stateroom. We also decided to order the room service we'd discussed earlier- it's not everyday you have the opportunity to order free room service. However, only a few minutes after we'd ordered, the captain came of the speaker announcing that there were whales visible, so we naturally dashed up to one of the top decks to see them. I love spotting the likes of dolphins, whales and other sea creatures on cruises- they always look so amazing, it really makes my holiday. These were pilot whales, so they looked a little like dolphins as their black fins bobbed up and down amongst the waves. Satisfied that I had finally seen a sea creature in this trip I returned to the cabin. Our pizza arrived shortly after we did, and we devoured it, along with the chocolate treats I'd brought back. 

On the journey back to Southampton the water was pretty choppy, and this could certainly be felt in the ship. As a result of this I ended up feeling quite travel sick, and this combined with the fact that it was a formal evening (and I did not have the patience to make myself look nice), I wasn't keen on anything in the restaurant menu and they were serving Italian food in the buffet, meant that I really did not want to go down to the restaurant for dinner. However, bearing in mind the fact that I didn't have a lot of time left on the ship I forced myself out of bed and into my formal clothes, put a bit of make up on and ate in the restaurant, While we waited for our pager to go off I ordered a ginger ale, which helped largely with the nausea. I quite enjoyed my meal, even if it was a bit much for me and I struggled to finish it. By the time we'd finished at the restaurant my sea sickness had cleared up, so i felt able to go for a bit of a walk around the ship to soak up the atmosphere as it's pretty nice at night! As per usual, we finished up at the cabin (where else would we go?!) for our penultimate sleep on the ship.