June 22-25
Wednesday
Our Airbnb in Bergen has a couple of characteristics in common with our previous palatial residence in Stockholm; it’s centrally located and up a couple flights of stairs with no elevator! After hauling our steamer trunks up to flights of stairs, we figured out where everything was in our apartment before setting out on a reconnaissance walk to stretch our legs. It was an easy walk to the “downtown” core before the forecasted rain started.
Securing a spot to have dinner was a bit more complicated as the nicer restaurants were reservations only. Tomorrow is Midsummers Day and Bergen is hopping. We found a nice covered patio with heaters to keep out the rain and the cold. A bottle of wine and a couple burgers later, we head back to the Airbnb for another bottle of wine to recover from what had been a long enough travel day.
Thursday
The next day, we had a very slow morning especially Ken! What an amateur! Luckily our fjord cruise isn’t until 2 pm, so there’s time for a little walk around our hood and grab some lunch beforehand.
We decided to try some fish at the first market on the pier; Ken had halibut which he said was good but a bit bony and I had some of the largest, plumpest mussels I’ve ever seen cooked in a lovely wine sauce. Yummmmm.
The weather for the boat cruise was cool but we’d brought heavier gear for that excursion and at least it wasn’t raining.
Sailing out from the city center gives us a great view of Bryggen in Bergen, which is on UNESCO’s world heritage list. From there, we sail through magnificent scenery in Osterfjorden; a fjord in Vestland county. The fjord is one of three fjords surrounding the island of Osterøy. The Osterfjorden is generally about 1 to 3 kilometres wide and the deepest point in the fjord reaches a depth of 639 metres below sea level.
Our cruise passes Modalen, Norway’s second smallest municipality. The further into the fjord we venture, the steeper and more powerful the mountain landscape becomes. We pass several cascading waterfalls.
The crew takes us safely through powerful currents of the shallow and narrow Mostraumen straits. Mostraumen was canalized (dredged) about 1913 and is The about 600 metres long and between 50 and 60 meters wide at the most narrow place.
We shared a table with a nice young man from Luxembourg and enjoyed the spectacular scenery from the comfort of the cabin with frequent forays to the upper deck to get a better view of some of the villages perched precariously on the side of the fjord and take pics.
At the halfway/turnaround point, the captain steered us so close to a waterfall that you risk can feel the refreshing spray on your face or your ass if you’re taking a selfie! What we won’t do for a “perfect” picture!!
After the cruise, we head home to change into dryer clothes and fortify ourselves with a bottle of wine before heading off to a local cafe for dinner (Pygmalion Cafe & Galleri) shrimp and chicken stir fries and more wine of course! Tomorrow is another day so home to relax after dinner.
Friday
Today we’ve got a walking tour this afternoon so we take the funicular up to the top in the morning for a panoramic view of Bergen. It’s a beautiful sunny day and quite warm.
The Fløibanen funicular in Bergen takes you from Bergen to Fløyen (320 m above sea level) in less than 10 minutes. At the top of Fløibanen there are shops, a cafè, a restaurant, activities for kids including a cool tree house and of course a viewing platform with fantastic panoramic views. We wandered around for a bit before grabbing the front seats for a bird’s-eye view on the return trip.
Before heading downtown we had a quick lunch at the hot dog stand across from our Airbnb – Trekroneren. this modest stand has been in business for 75 years or so and specializes in high-quality sausages made by a local butcher. Ken had a Frankfurter and me Bratwurst and they hit the spot.
Time to head downtown to meet our tour. We’ve got some time even with a few side trips so we stop for a couple glasses of rosé before meeting our tour.
Our tour guide is a youngish Irish fella who came to Bergen three years ago and fell in love with the city so stayed on.
We started our tour in Byparken, a large park in the city centre meant to be a firebreak. The park’s centerpiece is the lovely cast-iron Music Pavilion with Moorish details. Nearby there is a life-size bronze statue of Edvard Grieg. This native of Bergen was a successful classical piano composer during the late 19th century.
As we strolled along our guide gave us a short primer on Bergen’s history. Bergen was founded in 1070 by King Olaf III Haraldsson. Shortly afterwards, a castle was built on the northern edge of Vågen harbour, and Bergen became commercially and politically important; it was Norway’s capital in the 12th and 13th centuries. In the 14th century, German Hanseatic merchants acquired control over the city’s trade; their influence lasted into the 17th century. Bergen has remained the most important port on the west coast of Norway, despite its repeated destruction by fire (most notably in 1702 and 1916); wider streets and buildings of brick and stone have been built in response to these disasters.
Today Bergen is the second largest city in Norway after Oslo and has around 16,000 university students. There are four art museums in the city centre.
We headed up Ole Bulls Plass from Byparken to the National Theatre. Ole Bull was a 19th century virtuoso violinist, strong proponent for Norwegian theatre, founder of the National Theatre and one of Bergen’s most acclaimed citizens.
From the National Theatre, we strolled down the main drag to the which was also built as a fire break.
In the center of Torgallmenningen, the main square in Bergen, is a 7-meter high monument to Norwegian sailors through the ages – Sailor’s Monument (Sjøfartsmonumentet). Each side of the square-shaped monument represents a different age of sailing.
Apparently, the monument was the subject of controversy when it was unveiled for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is dedicated to seafaring folks but you can’t see the sea from where it is located. A pool was added later so the sailors would be more comfortable. Additionally, big chunks of history are missing and there is no recognition of the role of women. For all its flaws, it is still a striking monument.
Next stop on the tour is Bergen’s famous fish market. Norway is the second largest exporter of fish after China. In the 1950s the five countries bordering The North Sea agreed to divide the North Sea based on the percentage of coastline to the total. Norway made out like a bandit with fish but also natural gas. Norway has vast reserves of natural gas and used earnings to set up the Petroleum Fund which is worth more than 3 trillion!
Random fact that makes Ken like Norway even more! Norway has the highest per capita pizza consumption in the world which explains the plethora of Italian restaurants.
From the fish market we’re off to the Floibanen that Ken and I took to the top this morning and then a quick look at Bergen’s oldest building – St. Mary’s Church on our way to Bryggen, also known as Tyskebryggen. The row of houses on the wharf is among Bergen’s most iconic attractions. Red, yellow and white, the photogenic yet slightly crooked wooden houses, on the eastern side of the Vågen harbour, date back to Hanseatic days. This series of Hanseatic heritage commercial buildings has been on the UNESCO list for World Cultural Heritage sites since 1979.
The last stop on the tour is Bergenhus Fortress; one of Norway’s oldest and best preserved fortifications. The Fortress has a long history as a royal seat, episcopal see and military seat of power.
I wanted to check out St Mary’s Church a bit more closely so we stopped there before heading back to the Airbnb.
I opted to lounge about while Ken headed to Starbucks. After a rest, it was time to shower and get ready for our late dinner at the restaurant we’d been turned away from a couple days ago. Our reservation is for 9 pm which is late but since it doesn’t get dark it’s not a problem. Plus, we have wine to drink! Apparently a lot of wine!!
After enjoying a yummy bottle of Cava at home, we head out for a quick drink and end up with another bottle and then, of course, we needed a bottle with dinner!!
Funnily enough, we had made our reservation at a different restaurant than we thought though luckily they fit us in. Ken had the best fish and chips he’d ever eaten and I had moules and frites. The mussels weren’t as plump at those from the fish market a couple days ago but they were very fresh and tasty nonetheless. After dinner, it was home to crash!!
Tomorrow we’re heading to Oslo by train and more adventures.
Judy’s Rambles 