This morning we docked in Bergen, the second largest city in Norway - Oslo being the largest. Bergen is and always has been a very busy port for fishing and trading.
Our dock is adjacent to the Bergenhus fortification (Hakenshallen and Rosenkrantz Tower) and a short walk along the Bryggen, a series of Hanseatic warehouses, to the fish and flower markets at the end of Vagen harbor.
Norwegian license plate for the mainland |
Decorative man-hole cover for Bergen
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The fish market was an enticing place to buy fish for dinner or to buy a shrimp or lobster roll or a salmon and egg baguette, etc. and eat it right there. If it had been better weather we would have had lunch there.
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Fish market at the end of Vagen harbor |
Fish market
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Fish market
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Fish market |
Fish market - sure looked good
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Politicians are the same everywhere!
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Bergen is the rainiest place in all of Norway, I think, and the clouds and fog and mist settled in as usual. We still decided to ride the funicular (the Floibanen) to Mt. Floyen and hike around the trails up above the city. The ride to the top takes seven minutes and goes through two tunnels on its steep ascent. At the top we looked out over the city and fjord just before the fog closed it all in.
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Funicular car |
Funicular seen from across the city
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Bergen from Mt. Floyen |
Bergen from Mt. Floyen - Vagen harbor
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Bergen from Mt. Floyen - mouth of Vagen harbor, Bergenhus fortification, and the docked Prinsendam
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Bergen from Mt. Floyen - last shot before the fog |
We hiked/walked on the crushed rock roads to Skomakerdiket, a cute little lake with a bunch of camp kids canoeing and having noisy fun. We went on up to Blamansvatnet Lake but couldn't see it for the fog, headed toward Rundemansveien, but got on the wrong trail so we headed back to the Floibanen to return down into the city. Our rain jackets and hats and Gortex boots dept us dry in the mist. It was great to get out and exercise after two days at sea and the fir and spruce trees and ferns, flowers, and moss were nice after the barren tundra above the Arctic Circle.
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Tremendous park with lots of hiking trails on Mt. Floyen above the city
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This language is also impossible
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Skomakerdiket Lake |
Although foggy and wet, it was a nice hike
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We ate lunch on the ship and then walked back into town and up the street that is so steep in one block that the sidewalk is all steps. At the top is a red brick church, the Johanneskirke. Next to it is the Botanical Garden, which has many rhododendrons that must be beautiful when in bloom. The water lily pond was in bloom and it was a restful place to walk.
Johanneskirke
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University library |
Sample from the botanical garden
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We came back down into the city park with statues, a large lake, a bandstand, and many museums along one side. The city museums are all closed on Mondays. We wandered through the shopping areas. There are many wide pedestrian only cobblestone streets and traffic was not a mad rush like in London and other large cities. It was nice to stroll along. We wandered through the narrow alleys around the Hanseatic warehouses. They are crooked, out of plumb, built of wood, and so close together that it is obvious why fire has destroyed the whole block several times in history.
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Somewhat interesting sculpture in spite of the language barrier presented by the sign - it had four sides but I only seem to have gotten three |
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Statue of Edvard Grieg with an attractive hat
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An old building |
The Hanseatic League controlled all trade with northern Norway for 200 years. Their warehouses and the museum are preserved by UNESCO's World Heritage program.
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Hanseatic League warehouses - no longer plumb |
A rabbit-warren of alleys and buildings
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Back to the ship, dinner, a beautiful sunset over the fjord and off to bed. The sun set at 10:30 and will rise at 5:30 - we still have short nights – but at least we have night!
Tues., 8/10/10 - Bergen, Norway for a half day
The sun was out this morning, evidently for the first time in about three weeks here in Bergen. We decided to just stroll out toward Nordnes, a peninsula where the Akvariet (aquarium) is. We had nice views of the ships in the harbor from the other side of the Vagen harbor. There are two boats (Bourbon Orca was one) that must be for hauling fishing nets (or whales) over the stern. The stern is very low and rounded and the bow is very high, maybe 6 stories. Two other ships must be used to service oil rigs at sea. (The North Sea is full of operating oil rigs.) There is a huge crane aft and a helicopter deck above the bow. These also had very high bows and lower sterns for work area.
Specialized fishing vessel - Bourbon Orca
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Ship with helicopter landing pad |
Nykirken (new church)
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Nykirken (new church) - steeple date says 1761 |
We passed the Nykirken (New Church) and went to the park at the end of the peninsula. It was quiet, tree lined, and very pleasant. There was a totem pole (looked Alaskan) at the point. We walked the people paths around the Akvariet, and the Hogskolen and Nordnes Skoles (schools) and into Fredriksberg park which had a boat mast atop the hill. It seems that mothers take their young children out for fresh air or to the little playground parks in large prams. We figure that the weather is usually so bad with mist or rain that they can keep the babies dry in the covered perambulators.
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Totem pole in the park at the end of the Nordnes peninsula
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Interesting sign |
Some of the streets in Bergen zigzag up hill for a block and have steps instead of sidewalks. Others are just narrow steep cobblestone alleys. Around every corner was something unique.
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Sailing out to the North Sea from Bergen was very scenic. There are so many islands varying in size from a rock pile to large islands that it reminded me of the 1000 Islands in the St. Lawrence River. Many of the islands had elaborate houses with pools, boathouses, and protected docks. We sailed under two bridges that our ship can only clear at low tide. It took us two hours to clear the islands and enter the North Sea.
Housing in Bergen
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Housing in Bergen |
Mouth of Vagen harbor with two cruise ships at dock |
Nordnes peninsula - on right
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Sail-away sights
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Sail-away sights |
Sail-away sights |
Military craft speeding past us shortly before we sailed out into the North Sea
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