After settling in to our hotel, we met friends who had arrived ahead of us for a drink. Then we all walked uphill one street to see if we could find someplace a little less frenzied than the waterfront cafe scene. We stumbled on Nama, a pretty (and quiet) sushi and Asian restaurant and had a very nice meal. And it was nice to be able to chat with people without having to answer questions about Trump, something that has dogged us every day of this trip.
Our first stop on Saturday was a visit to the fish market. Though fun to see, it was clearly more aimed at retail and take-away food than it was a wholesale market full of fish being brought in real time; that being said, the fish and shellfish looked very fresh. There were lots of items packaged for tourists to take home, including caviar and reindeer sausage. I know, I know, that's not fish. But it was available from several of the vendors.
Or perhaps a reindeer hot dog?
Being a lover of shrimp, I have been a very happy camper in Scandinavia.
We'll be in Norway at least 10 more days, so one order of business was to exchange all the "leftover" Danish and Swedish krone into Norwegian krone. (Even though this trip takes us to four European countries--Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the U.K.--and all but Norway are members of the EU, none of them use the Euro; each has its own currency.)
Having accomplished that critical mission, we walked the waterfront, got good views across the narrow inner harbor to our ship (which had arrived early that morning) and to the picturesque Bryggen district. Bryggen (pronounced Brew-gun) is the money shot of Bergen, a row of colorful old wooden warehouses dating back to times when Bergen was part of the Hanseatic League.
Our first view of the Viking Sea, which will be our home for 2 weeks.
Bryggen
One of the things I especially wanted to do while in Bergen was to take the funicular to the top of Mt. Floien (one of the seven mountains rimming Bergen). We walked up to the ticket and departure area. On this beautiful, warm Saturday morning, we were not the only people who'd had this brilliant idea. About the time we got through the queue and had our tickets in hand, a group assembled on a cobbled street sloping up past the ticket area. They appeared to be posing for a group picture, but proceeded to break into song. It was such a nice break from the noise of the crowds, we stayed and listened to them sing a couple songs before we headed to the line for the funicular itself.
The funicular goes up one very steep hill--1000 ft. in just 7 minutes. And when you arrive at the top, you have Bergen sitting at your feet. We spent quite a bit of time up there, enjoying the views and watching the interesting crowd, which included a group of young adults in Viking garb. No explanation.
The inner harbor and Bryggen area; our cruise ship is at the end of the pier to the right of center.
A broader view of the full harbor, with a Hurtegruten ship departing. You bump into Hurtegruten ships pretty regularly in this part of the world. It is the cruise line I always expected to use if we ever cruised the Norwegian coast. We changed our mind when we found an itinerary on the new Viking ocean line that really appealed to us.
We met a nice couple from Edmonton (they wanted their picture taken) and ended up spending a half hour or so visiting with them, talking crazy politics, Canadian and Northwest airline options, and past and future trips. They had arrived on the Viking Sea and would be disembarking Sunday morning. They told us tales of the ship and shared their favorite aspects and restaurants, etc. They had sailed around the Baltic Sea, departing from Stockholm and visiting Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Talinn, Gdansk, Berlin, Copenhagen, fjord country, and ending in Bergen. A number of people on their cruise (39 we would later learn) were staying with the ship and adding our Into the Midnight Sun itinerary to their already completed Baltic Jewels trip. That would put them on board for a month. Yikes, that's a lot of sailing time. Our Edmonton couple were, instead, flying north to spend a week in the Lofoten Islands, an area we'll be sailing through and one I'm most excited to see. We had a fun visit with these two.
The effect of this transition between two cruises on the Viking Sea meant quite an increase in activity in town. We had the 900 passengers who were ending their cruise and spending their last 2 nights on board here (plus, potentially, a couple more days) and the 900 passengers who will board on Sunday, some of whom had come to Bergen early, such as us. And we weren't the only cruise ship in town either. The Disney Magic was there immediately before we arrived (sorry, Jill, we didn't get to see it), and we saw three others come and go while we were in town. The town, though smaller as we wished, was a beehive of activity.
After our views from Mt. Floien, we wandered the cobbled lanes away from the tourist bustle. This is a charming town in a pretty setting--and more charming away from the crowds. Hard to complain when we are part of the tourist crush ourselves, but noisy throngs crowded into the small inner harbor waterfront cafes and souvenir shops is not what makes this the place you want to remember.
We also visited the Hanseatic Museum, which gave us a taste of what these old, old waterfront buildings look like inside.
Sunday was pretty focused on transitioning to the cruise ship and learning our way around. We had some pretty nice front row seats for views of the harbor too.
Since the ship would not sail until 6:00pm on Monday, we set off on our own in the morning to visit the Bergenhus Fortress and Rosenkrantz Tower...
...and the Mariakirken (St. Mary's Church), with its fabulous triptych altarpiece and ornately carved pulpit (no interior photos allowed, alas).
Then in the afternoon, we had an excursion (the first of only two optional excursions for which we signed up). It was called A Taste of Norwegian Farm Life. About 40 of us boarded a bus and went out of town to a farm on Lake Jordal. The fifth-generation owner walked us through his farm and explained how small farms work in Norway. It was a pretty setting on a slope above the lake. We got to meet and walk in the fields with his noisy, curious sheep, including a darling little 10-day old black lamb. We also met his three horses, one a working horse with an impossibly long wavy tail. The other two were Norwegian Fjord horses and were for riding.
The Norwegian Fjord horse, with its traditionally cut mane with a dark stripe.
After listening to the trials and tribulations of farming in a highly regulated environment and enjoying mingling with the animals, we went up to the farmhouse porch/patio, where we were served local apple or raspberry juice. We had been told we would be served baked goods, and frankly I was expecting a plate of cookies before we reboarded our bus. Instead, we were ushered into a large room in the old original farmhouse for a sit-down tea. Flower centerpieces, candles, dishes printed with the name of the farm, and antiques sprinkled around the room. We were served three different pastries the owner had made, and they were done expertly. The next thing we knew, our farm owner and one of his employees came into the room, each in their own personal national costume. He explained the importance of this costume to each Norwegian and when one gets them (girls at their confirmation and young men about 5 to 7 years later). He then sat down at the piano and played a favorite Norwegian piece. It was quite an interesting afternoon.
We got back to the ship in time for our requisite safety drill, and then we sailed out of Bergen. Such a beautiful setting, with its islands and mountains.
We ended our evening with the Captain's welcome and introduction of key staff and a revue of upcoming entertainment. Guess we're on a cruise now!
We're headed north. Fjords and Arctic Circle, here we come.
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