B is for Bergen; B is for Beautiful

Who would have thought that the west coast of Norway, which everyone told me gets more rain than I could imagine, would be so sunny, bright, and hospitable? Bergen is lovely, and everything my return to Berlin was not (starting with clean, but that's another story). It's nice to be by the sea, and with more smells of wood and salt than subway. Kolz was right - trying the variety of yummy fish and seafood was a good way to go at our lunch today. I'm excited about the communal dinners we have to come.*

My conference has also been good and productive - I'm a little rattled about my talk tomorrow, but the people have been really wonderful thus far. And they're keeping everyone on time, keeping us caffeinated and fed, and good god, it's sunny...so it's a reasonable workshop crew.**

To prove my point, here's the Bryggen, or the old Hanseatic league wharf...




and here I am after my ride on the funicular Fløibanen, with the fjords, North Sea, and city behind/below me...




and here is Che.

Clever Norwegian taggers.


* Said communal dinners were indeed awesome, involving fish for which there is no English translation, apparently, and other yumminess. The only drawback was my collision with a dinner plate (left forehead, right on the hairline, if you're curious) during dinner service. I take it as karma for the sleep deprivation that none of the red wine sauce got onto my crisp white paper-giving shirt.

** The talk went well, overall, and I got good feedback (though not super-specific). The funicular ride was actually after the conference finished Friday -- my choice was between going up the mountain and going home for a nap, and the former colleague who invited me to Bergen practically carried me up the mountain himself. It's not to be missed, and to put just how sunny it was into perspective, that photo was taken at 7 pm.