Cinque Terre is known as a heaven for avid hikers. The five villages of Cinque Terre are connected via well-marked hiking trails. The ’shorter’ hiking trail from Riomaggiore until Monterosso is known as the Sentiero no.2 which is about 9km long. I know I wouldn’t be able to cover the whole trail in a day without wearing myself out, so I did the trekking in two days, which, in my opinion, is optimal, with enough time for you to walk leisurely around the villages.My second day of adventure in Cinque Terre started from Corniglia. It was a lovely day, blue-sky with soft patches of harmless, white clouds. I headed towards the vineyards in the direction of Vernazza. The morning sun was still hanging low in the sky when I started out my hike. The path led me through orchards and along vineyards. From afar, I caught a glimpse of the charming village of Corniglia, perched atop a cliff above the glistening waters.  Occasionally, I’d passed by a hiker or two, who greeted me with a cheerful buon giorno. The path was sometimes paved smooth while at times it was a little rocky. I was mostly alone throughout the hike. However the thought of losing my way didn’t occur to me at all.Steep slopes of wild bushes, vines, cacti, all thriving in this superb Mediterranean weather and an open sea spreading invitingly just below the slopes resided on one side. Rocky walls, terraced vineyards and olives orchards settled on the other side of the path. There were so much to behold, so rich a view made perfect by the blue sky and sunshine.The trail from Corniglia to Vernazza was well-marked and it took me about an hour and a half to reach Vernazza. I saw the tip of Vernazza jutting out magnificently as I descended towards the town. It was such a lovely sight to behold. Vernazza was already bustling with life as I strolled along its streets at around 10am. People were shopping for groceries and restaurateurs were already vying for their first customer of the day under colourful canopies outside their restaurants. I bought a postcard with exactly this view of Vernazza above, as seen on the way to Monterosso (but the picture above is taken my me ). My second leg of hiking to Monterosso continued and uphill I charged. This part of the hike was the most challenging as I couldn’t recall how many flights of stairs I’d climbed. The sun, at this hour, was already hot on my skin.The path from Vernazza to Monterosso became a little hostile and sometimes it was so narrow that it was only as wide as my feet placed side by side. It was quite tricky when there was opposing traffic from other hikers, with nothing for me to hold on to except leaning closely to the wall on one side and letting other passed me by.  Wild, thick shrubs and the unforgiving sea were just scant inches away from the path with no handrails in between.After about two hours of uphills and downhills, with T-shirt soaked wet with perspiration and I was all hot and toasty, I finally caught a peek of Monterosso, nestled comfortably behind some hills. It is also the only village amongst the five with a sandy beach. The water was a colour of bluish aquamarine and it was so clear. I immediately regretted that I didn’t brought along my swimming gear with me. There, I have an excuse to visit this wonderful place again .

A tip from me: do have proper footwear and clothing (both waterproof) if you plan to hike the Pulpit Rock. Pack along your lunch and bring enough water to replenish your energy, you’ll need it for your way down . If it starts to rain on your way up, just put on your rain coat, keep smiling and trudge forward no matter what. Trust me. You won’t be disappointed .

The fish market of Bergen is a tourist attraction in itself. Whenever I mentioned Bergen to some friends here, the first thing that came to their mind was that I should try the famous fish sandwich from the fish market. Or another recommendation from various travel guide is to get a packet of prawns already cooked with sea water and simply eat them by the harbour. I was of course tempted to do just that but the idea of walking around the whole day later on with my fingers reeking of fish convinced me to think twice about that.

I had a fun time ooh-ing and aah-ing while strolling amongst the fish stalls. They have giant, fleshy prawns and crabs. Plenty and plenty of crabs! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this container full with crabs, alive and crawling about, just like those you can find in Asian wet markets! If you have some extra moolah to spend, the king crab is here to satisfy your palate. With 20Euro a plate, it’s still affordable, no? Another highlight of the fish stalls is these nicely arranged fish platters. Some of these are so prettily assembled that you’ll rather look at it than eat them. That’s, if you don’t mind eating them cold. Fancy having some caviar? They even have them in paste! Somehow they tasted a little off (to me) and the smell is a tad too fishy for my liking. Glad I didn’t buy any of those. But aside from canned caviar, they do have canned sardines, canned mackerels, canned crab meat and all sorts of canned food from everything fish! Aside from fish, you can find some rather exotic stuffs like these extra smooth seal skin. Or these super soft wolf fur! If you are planning to look for some souvenirs in any form, from bizarre-looking-nightmare-inducing viking dolls to ‘authentic’ Norway pullover to commemorate your trip to Bergen or Norway, the fish market is an interesting place to hunt and get an idea of what to buy. If you don’t have enough cash with you at the moment to indulge in that king crab platter or to buy those furry wolf skin, don’t worry, I saw those fish stall owners pulling out a portable credit card machine, all too ready to swipe your credit or debit cards . See, that’s what I call a modern fish market . Oh ya, I wouldn’t leave Norway without having my share of the crabs . Yummm, it’s mouthwatering just thinking about that wok of fried crabs with prawns and tomatoes (cooked at a friend’s place).

Before you visit Bergen, there are a few things you ought to know. Bergen is known as The City of Rain, therefore always have an umbrella along. I didn’t actually gave the rain much of a thought, as I thought it might probably be just a slight drizzle. How wrong I was. Well, they didn’t call Bergen the City of Rain for no reason. The day we arrived at Bergen, it didn’t rain but it literally poured! Great. What a way to start my holiday. Luckily we were well prepared and had with us waterproof boots and jackets as well as umbrellas. Sometimes it can be really wet and dirty on the streets and wearing rain boots seemed to be like a fashion statement there. Aside from the rather unpredictable weather, Bergen can be quite charming when the sun decided to be friendly. One of the main attractions of Bergen is the famous Hanseatic wharf – Bryggen. It is a row of old but well-preserved wooden merchant houses built during the Hanseatic time. Nowadays they house mostly souvenir shops. A section of it is opened to visitors. You can still see that time has left its indelible mark on the construction despite various restoration efforts. A walk along the Bergen harbour is a must-do thing. Ships, yachts and boats of all sizes and dimensions can be found docked there. We even spotted a yacht from some VVIP. However I love the one above the most! The area around Bergen is quite uneven and rather hilly. Our B&B was situated on the other side of a hill and we had to walk up and down this slope everyday! I happened to notice that houses in Norway are very different from those in Germany and wooden houses like those above are typical in Norway. Another highlight when you visit Bergen is to walk up to the Mount Floyen which is free of charge or take the funicular railway. From there you can get a bird’s eye view of the beautiful view of Bergen. There is a natural reserved forest at the top where you can hike, have a picnic or simply sit and enjoy the view below. After a day’s walk around town, we took an evening stroll on the other side of town facing west and it was located facing the sea. Although it was chilly and windy, surprisingly the area was deserted as well aside from a lone boy fishing by the sea. It was wonderful watching the sun set in all its glory with the sea glistening like diamonds.When the sun has set, it’s always worth another walk to town (for us it meant, another walk up and down the slope) to simply enjoy the night view of the harbour. Bergen is wonderful.