And just like that Bergen is back to normal. When the Tall Ships left Lerwick in 1999 the place was a ghost town for about a month. It felt empty and depressing. Bergen is not like that tonight. If you had arrived in Bergen tonight, there would be very little to suggest for the last 5 days that the Tall Ships in town.

Well, very little evidence. The “Picton Castle” is still in the harbour. They’ve lost their ships cat of 11 years. Chibley was on board when they arrived on Friday, but now no where to be seen. It doesn’t look like they are in a hurry to leave without him.

Wasn’t too sure where I was going to watch the ships leave today, but as we crossed the Askøy bridge in the car it was clear that there was the place to stand. So I spent 3 hours this afternoon standing on a bridge. I took over 300 photos. Put the new camera to good use.

And the best weather of the past 5 days has been this evening. After the boats have left. I can’t imagine they will be going anywhere quickly, there is literally no wind. And Tall Ships rules state that they must use their sails and not their engines. Will be a long trip to Den Helder in the Netherlands.

David

The Tall Ships continue in Bergen. Waved goodbye to Emma today. She is having to head back to Aberdeen for a resit in one of her exams. Had that been me I would have probably decided the exam wasn’t worth it, possibly the reason I’m not at uni?

Weather has been mixed. Perfect for the fireworks last night (above). Not so good for the parade this afternoon (below).

One thing about Bergen (and I’d imagine Norway and possibly Scandinavia as a whole), it’s very easy to spend lots of money on very little. 2 Cokes the other day at one of the outdoor bars was the equivalent of about 9 pounds. A pint (well, 500ml) of beer and a 500ml of cider came to the equivalent of £13. I recommend Bergen a lot to people, but never to those who I think would go on holiday to drink, can you see why?

Emma slowly drinking the very expensive drink.

David

The Tall Ships have started to arrive in Bergen ahead of the event starting tomorrow, and so far perfect weather for it.

There is always an atmosphere in Bergen, but it seems to be particularly good this weekend.

I’ll update my blog over the next few days with some photos of the event.

David

We’ve been in Norway since Sunday now, and a few days back we were treated to an Eric Clapton concert at the Bergenhaus. We and 20,000 other folk.

Honestly, I’m not the greatest connoisseur of Eric Clapton songs. I know the hits and that is about it. Despite that and that Eric isn’t a man of many words, it was a fantastic concert in a lovely location.  Even if it had been rubbish, the live version of Layla would have made up for it.

Just one downside to it all. I now want to come back in a couple of weeks for the Neil Young concert at Bergenhaus. And a couple of weeks after that for REM.  Don’t think it’s going to be possible.

David

It has been a hectic few days for me. Numerous radio shows to do, packing for holiday and my brothers birthday BBQ followed by Karoke session.

The highlight of it all was my brother and I performing Buffalo Stance by Nenah Cherry at karaoke while a drunken guy in the pub tried to break dance. Priceless.

At the airport now. Not the best of starts. Flight has been delayed, but worse than that, I have managed to physically break my laptop. A few hours ago it was sitting on the couch when it decided to fall off. I picked it up, everything seemed ok except for the loud rattle coming from it. On further inspection it would seem that rattle was a lose computer chip… and quite an important one at that.

Now the computers battery won’t charge, and it won’t run off the mains either. You wouldn’t believe how much of a pain that is. Thankfully the insurance I pay for the laptop will cover it, but its not the thing you need just before you go on holiday.

So I now have my rather slow, rather big, ancient laptop with me. I must point out I could last 2 weeks without the Internet but I need my laptop to charge my Ipod. I also like to look and play with all my photos on the same day I have taken them, therefore I need a laptop.

I’m writing this on my iPod. I’m going on holiday with the family. I still like going away with the parents, plus it’s free, I never hide the fact that the freebie is still one of the reasons I go. I am a sponger. Emma is with us. She obviously gets on well enough with the ‘inlaws’ to come.

An hour and a half delay and we are bored. Least it’s not as bad as the folk behind us, they were meant to leave at 9 this morning, it is now 2:45pm.

More later… Maybe.