Cable Cars, Coffee & Crocodiles

True to the plan, we ate breakfast and went back to sleep. It was slow going after that -- mostly because it was raining elephants and giraffes. Our hotel is a 10-minute walk from the center of town. As Hart said, we'd need an ark to go anywhere. We read in the sitting room all of 15 minutes before the rain let up enough to go out.

Fløibanen, a cable car up Mount Fløyen for super views of Bergen, was the first stop. It was the one activity in Bergen I had my heart set on, so we went even though it looked like the weather would block the views. It didn't. The lighting wasn't great for Hart's pictures, but the view was still spectacular.

The highlight of the day was Det Lille Kaffekompaniet, a tiny coffeehouse with excellent coffee. They have decaf espresso, so Hart was able to join me in coffee for the first time since we've been here. (This was the first time either of us have seen non-instant decaf coffee in Europe.) We also shared an awesome slice of carrot cake (sans nuts and with a sour cream-based frosting) and a brownie. They were by far the best desserts we've had on this trip. Unfortunately, our train leaves before the coffeehouse opens tomorrow. It is open another two hours tonight -- there's a chance I'll be there again tonight. Seriously.

We didn't think to take a picture, but I found this one on Flickr. We sat in the chairs at the window and watched kids run down the narrow cobbled street. After commenting (with a smile) that they're the same everywhere, one kid ran the opposite direction of his group, looking back at them with his middle finger up the whole way!

After a long(ish) walk, we wound up at the aquarium. The seals were being fed when we got there. They did neat tricks, but I couldn't help but think of circus animals. Seals are thought to be as smart as dogs, but their tank was so small and boring. They and the penguins were both sad to look at.

Unexpectedly, the aquarium has four crocodiles. They were all small, but being that close to them was still freaky. They -- and some snakes -- were rescued after having been kept (illegally) as pets.

After that was dinner and back to our hotel. We're packing up for tomorrow's early departure. It is going to be a looong train ride.