22 May

Well, today was a lot more working.  I met all of my artists and got them checked into their super swaggy 2000 NOK/night hotel rooms.  I also made lots of deliveries, stuffed some more folders and envelopes, and did some other office-oriented work.  Since my first two artists arrived at noon and my second two arrived at midnight, my evening was totally open to explore the city a bit.  It finally stopped raining at about seven, which was nice.

What was even nicer was Per and Kaja inviting me out for dinner and drinks at Cafe Opera and then Lugen! (Pronounced "Looshen.")  I had some really awesome falafel with baba ghanoush, and I finally got to try some Norwegian beer.  Festival staff get a discount at some of the bars and restaurants in Bergen, so a pint of beer was only 48 NOK!  (About $8.00.)  Needless to say, I won't be doing much drinking over here.  I got to try the Oslo beer and the local Bergen beer, both pilseners.  They were pretty good, I would say about on par with a typical German pilsener - except about three times as expensive.

After I finally had all four of my artists checked in it was past midnight, so I had to find the bus and get back to my hostel, five miles or so from the city center.  I didn't get back until after 1 am, which was the latest I've been up since I got here.  I am far north enough now that it never truly gets dark, rather it gets "darker."  Even in the middle of the night with an overcast sky I have to draw the curtains to block the light. 

Waterworks near the SAS Radisson Hotel

Bergen by day

Same spot, at around 1:15 am