The LONG Way Around the World: Portage Cards & Wrapping Up Bergen

Portage Card System:

Whereas:
- Steve and Nicole desire not to become Sherpas;
- The minors must learn to "carry their weight";
- The minors will learn a system of currency and value;

The Long Family shall institute a Portage Card system.

Definitions:
Central Bank = Steve
Porters = Steve and/or Nicole
Card Holders = Autumn, Zane, Bryce

The Terms:
- Central Bank shall issues all cards- Each card has a cash value of $20
- One card is issued on the first of each month- Cards can carry forward each month, but no more than three cards can be carried at a time.
- If already in possession of three cards, each Card Holder shall be given $20 in cash (or foreign currency equivalent)
- Cards can be traded between Card Holders
- Additional cards can be purchased from the Central Bank with a 25% service charge.
- Card Holders may not purchase a card on credit.
- Central Bank shall maintain official accounting of cards.

Special Conditions:
- If a Porter voluntarily offers to carry items, cards are not required
- If a Porter forces a Card Holder to carry or wear an item that was otherwise opposed with just cause, and Card Holder requires portage later in the activity, cards are not required.

Supplemental Terms:
- Central Bank is final arbiter of all rules and judgments.
- Adjustments to the rules shall be voted upon, whereby each Card Holder has one vote, and each Porter has two votes; majority rules.

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Bergen Wrap Up

We're about to leave Bergen and head further north to the Lofoten Islands (beginning to question our avoidance of the summer heat - projected high this week...55F). The real Bergen weather finally blew in over the past couple days, with charcoal skies and bouts of mist and rain. The town is used to toting umbrellas and tiptoeing around puddles, and the colorful buildings and cobbled streets take on an even more vibrant tone.

Over the past couple days since our road and boat trip, we wandered by foot (& bus) a fair bit. Under Zane's expert navigation (paper map!), we walked along the harbor to the Aquarium - a quaint, but thoroughly enjoyable experience without the energy of Monterey or Steinhart.

Found the sign for the aquarium bathrooms amusing (notice the anatomically correct depictions)

On one of our walks, Nicole noticed a big blue bus with large yellow words: Gratis Buss til IKEA! Turns out that Bergen is home to the largest IKEA in the world - and considering Europe, by our account, would be sitting or sleeping on the floor, and eating with their hands off paper plates without it - we decided to check it out. We hopped the bus for a 20 minute ride out of town (thru three tunnels, BTW) and had a grand ole time not buying anything, while Bryce played in the free employee supervised indoor playground, complete with a ball pit.

We woke up yesterday wondering what to do... let's Geo-cache! It is a great way to explore a city and pay attention to the little details. Our hunt took us to a pseudo old timey restaurant called Egon's, dimly lit by real candles. With bellies full, we spent the rest of the afternoon tromping around the 800 year old King's castle called the Bergenhous Fortress. Unlike many tourist spots of this nature, it was open season to go anywhere and touch anything, including the Knight weaponry lying around the various rooms. Given my zeal for Monty Python, this was great fun.

Found it!

It will be good for us to move on to our next accommodation. While this location gave us a real downtown experience and made for easy access to everything, it was on the ground floor of a 300 year old apartment with one tiny window above the kitchen sink that linked us to the outdoors.