No bad weather, only bad clothes

Home in Gothenburg we have weathers. It can be sunny, snowy, windy and so on. In Bergen on the other hand, it doesn’t seem to work quite the same way. Based on what we’ve experienced this week, I’ve come to the conclusion that they don’t have weathers, they just have varying degrees of rain.

It has rained here every day since we arrived, amounts that one didn´t even think was possible. Gothenburg is famous in Sweden for being rainy, but even Gothenburg’s worst rain is just child’s play compared to Bergens daily amount of rain.

Since we have different weathers at home, you usually plan outside activates to days with good weathers. Here, you instead have to plan your activities to days with as little rain as possible. Therefore, since it only rained 10 mm today, it was a perfect day for a kayak trip!

In the Nordic countries, there’s a concept where you can borrow kayaks for free, and in exchange you pick up trash you find in the water along the way. We were four brave souls that disobeyed the weather and paddled out. As soon as we got down in the kayaks, the rain started. That didn’t stop us and as the Swedish expression goes “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing”. Therefore, we were dressed in full sailing gear and ready to set off.

Despite the rain it was a nice trip and to paddle in the fjord with the mountains rising around us was a surreal view. And in addition, collecting trash and helping the environment along the way was just a bonus for the whole experience.

No bad weather, only bad clothes get a whole new meaning in Bergen.

Hanna Witrén, Starboard