Trips

Mon., 10/5/15 – Norwegian Coast
        Today we sailed to Bergen where we disembark at 2:30 PM.  We had to have our suitcases out of our rooms by 9 AM and we had to vacate our cabins by 10 AM.  So we had a leisurely breakfast.

        After disembarking at 2:45, we loaded onto a motor coach and Eva took us on a tour of Bergen.  Bergen is the second largest city in Norway and is where Eva lives. We got off the bus for a 15-minute walk in Bryggen where the old warehouses for the port are.  Since Bergen has had 36 fires over its history not many of the buildings are original.  The Bryggen area was built on the rubbish of reclaimed land and the buildings lean and have to continually be re-supported.  It is the touristy area and is made to look like it was when the Hanseatic (German) merchants operated the wharfs.  In the 1500’s as many as 200 ships a day docked briefly to unload and reload.
        Back on the bus we drove past the Rosenkratz Tower and Haakonson Fortress.  We stopped again to look at the cute little houses where fishermen used to live on crooked narrow streets or “smauts.”  There was a statue of a lady with mugs of beer in the Madam Felle Square.  She used to be in front of a tavern. 

Nordhordland Bridge	Bergen - Bryggen area
Bergen manhole covers	Bergen manhole covers
Bergen manhole covers	Madam Felle statue
Old fishermen’s smauts area	Chimney access
Bergenhus Fortress - Haakon’s Hall	Waterfront
We went to a nice residential area to have a light dinner in a historic house, Lyst og Fryd.  The chef was a city guide who worked for Grand Circle at one time and he told us the history of the house and the liquor license that was signed by the Danish king in 1730 when the house was an inn.  We ate homemade broccoli and cauliflower soup and chocolate cake.  His wife is a marine biologist who talked to us about fishing and controls on fish farms, etc.	Sign for Lyst og Fryd restaurant
Lyst og Fryd restaurant	Lyst og Fryd restaurant grounds
Tues., 10/6/15 – Bergen         We did not join Eva for the optional tour this morning to see how fishing villages have turned into towns supporting the new offshore oil and natural gas terminals.  Instead, we first walked around town a little and then went through the new fish market building.  It was like a store instead of the fishermen selling from their boats or under tents like the last time we were here.  The price of the fish is much higher because of the rent in the new building.  Some of the cases had fresh and smoked whale meat, the usual shellfish, salmon, halibut, cod, and even lutefisk.
Music Pavilion in the Bergen City Park	Statue of Edvard Grieg
Monument to the Sailors	Harbitz Clock tower
Street scene - Everyone has a cell phone	Indoor fish market
Fish market	Fish market
Guess what	Interesting city bench
We rode the Funicular up to the top and walked in the woods in the park on top of Mt. Floyen.  It was not raining and the clouds cleared away and maybe that is why every child in Bergen between the ages of 3 and 7 also went up the funicular with their teachers and chaperones.  The peace and quiet of the woods was shattered by the high-pitched voices of children enjoying the outdoors.  They were cute but ran around like bees near a hive.	Floibanen funicular to Mt. Floyen - station
Floibanen funicular to Mt. Floyen	Floibanen funicular to Mt. Floyen
On the top of the funicular at Floyen, after admiring all the views of Bergen, we set off to walk to Skomakerdiket Lake.  When we got there the young kids were putting on life jackets to go out in canoes so for peace and quiet we walked on up through the fir and hardwood woods with rock outcrops, moss, and fern.  It was pretty because it is so different from home.	Grieg Concert Hall - shaped like a grand piano
Bergen from Mt. Floyen	Bergen from Mt. Floyen
Mt. Floyen park - Fence with musical notes	Mt. Floyen park - Fun signs for kids
Mt. Floyen park - Fun signs for kids	Mt. Floyen park - Fun signs for kids
Mt. Floyen park	From the top we headed down to walk back to the city center.  We passed a lumber mill with boards drying on racks.  A man was in a shed making a wood and fiberglass rowboat and we stopped to talk to him.  He showed us his work and I really admired the boat.  I signed his guest book.         Further down we stopped at an overlook at Floydalen and sat on a bench to eat our lunch – I had made sandwiches at the breakfast buffet – and admired the city below us.  We could see all the way to the west to an oil rig in the fjord.  The last time we were here it was a rainy, misty, foggy day and we could not see much at all.
Making a boat by hand	Making a boat by hand
Making a boat by hand	Bergen from Mt. Floyen - St. John’s Church
Statue of Ole Bull	Ole Bull was a Norwegian violin virtuoso and composer. If you live in Minneapolis, you probably know that there is a statue of Ole Bull in Loring Park. There is also a state park in Potter County Pennsylvania that is named after him.

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