Day 12 – In Bergen

It was always part of the plan to stay in Bergen for a whole day. It’s known as a rainy city, but today the sunshine really stood out.

There was a little rain to begin with, and although the phrase is cheesy…it’s worth looking for rainbows. And there was a double rainbow this morning. A few minutes later the main ‘bow turned into a full end-to-end rainbow. What a start to the day! ☺️

Being driven into Bergen was an alien feeling today. Sat in a car… on the other side of the car, in Norway… felt very peculiar 😂

It was also surreal to be back walking in a city that I knew I’d ridden to. The large Bergen’s Tidene newspaper logo on the train station was a reminder of my first arrival here a few years ago.

It was fab to spot the various murals, or graffiti, on the Bergen buildings.

The last time I was here in January I saw the gingerbread city (Pepperkakebyen) which was an indoor illuminated display. It looked both delicious and brilliant ☺️

It’s always a joy to pop into the AKB Illustrations shop, which features the work of Anna Bjørdal along with guest artists. I met Monika today (a very talented guest artist) and had a chat along with Lise Hopland (another excellent artist, her work is featured in the Blekk shop and was my tour guide for the day) ☺️

We spoke about how I prototype my boardgame designs, shared details of Can’t Go…my first game available to buy…and the 2026 design challenge, where I’m creating and prototyping 12 new games in 2026. I’ve done seven so far ☺️

The unicorn on Bryggen is worth noticing. Just don’t look at his bits 😂

Blekk was on the list of places to visit. This is a regular place to see when in Bergen.

I had a varied chat with Andreas about board games, places to visit in Northern Norway and art. His charcoal artwork in the shop is brilliant, especially the series inspired by seven feelings, including music, joy and adventure ☺️

The sun shone especially brightly in the afternoon and the harbour of Bryggen looked amazingly picturesque. The photo below doesn’t really do it justice!

Such a beautiful view!

Outland was also on the list of places to visit. Their range of boardgames is extraordinary. And I’d definitely like to get my game stocked in their shop. I love spotting games I recognise by other designers that I know. Can you spot Kavango by the amazing Matt and Zara?

I love noticing the little details in places I visit. Even the manhole cover looks like it’s raining in Bergen 😂

It was also a treat to be able to show my hosts my game, Can’t Go ☺️

And obviously, I didn’t win. But that won’t come as a surprise to anyone 😂

So that was Day 12! I definitely dropped really lucky with the weather today. Will be heading off South in Norway tomorrow. Hopefully the sun stays around! ☺️

Thank you for reading ☺️