Adventures of Beth and Dan: Rain, Rain Go Away and Stay All Day!!

This Wednesday we sailed into the lovely town of Bergen. The forecast was 57 and partly cloudy. Our day was to start porting at 8 with all aboard at 4:30. So many of us talked about the fact that our day here was short with so much to see! Our plans made over 9 months ago were to take a Fjord cruise at 10:00. It was a three hour cruise and we each bought our tickets online so we were ready to go; no queuing up in the ticket line for us. Knowing what we know about seats and people we were off the ship early and quickly made our way through rain drops to the docking station for the tour boat. It was fortunate that we did this because when we got there 30 minutes early a line had already formed and fortunate for us we were near the start of it. We wore our insulated water proof coats and took gloves and scarves.

Bergen is located on Norway’s southwest coast and is the country’s largest port and second largest city. It is in the center of the seven mountains and is a vision of lush green landscape surrounded by water from the North Sea. During the early 12th century we leaned that it rose to prominence for it’s dried cod trade. The old wharf section is a UNESCO World Heritage site and features Hanseatic commercial buildings as well as stone cellars dating back to the 15th century.

Once this city was ravaged with pirate attacks, fires, disease and invasions has revived itself into a bustling modern powerhouse thanks to its thriving port. A castle, Bergenhus Festning is locates at the center entrance to the harbor. Though restored there are some elements that are over 700 years old including a dungeon, royal hall and defensive tower. The Fish Market is a unique local experience. And if the sun is shining you can get a panoramic view of the city from the Mount Florence Funicular.

The Fjord cruise was wonderful. The way up boasted of quaint homes along the shore, lots of swans and gulls, brilliant green surroundings and interesting little villages. There was some narration from the captain but for some reason we couldn’t hear much more than mumbling. Folks were in and out taking photos; there was a little snack bar on the boat with hot coffee, hot chocolate and tea and the usual bagged or wrapped treats. We always have something in our backpack like a protein bar, nuts, an apple and our own water jugs but something hot was tempting. The way back the rain really began to come down in sheets. We knew what our afternoon would now entail....no funicular or much shopping because we had a long walk back to the ship.

We did swing into the fish market which was fun! Literally hundreds of folks were there; many eating, some purchasing, some doing what I did; take photos! We stayed long enough to avoid the heavy rain; then we snuck into a few little stores just perusing the local crafts never knowing what one might find. I could Dan was done with avoiding puddles and dodging into covered areas so we book hooded up and took off the the ship. A Viking Sea going ship was in port too so with all the other tourists it was more moving between slow walkers and gawkers!

We were glad to get back to the ship and take a hot shower hanging up our clothes to dry. We were back by 2:00 and had time to clean up and join a gang of friends at the Crows Nest for the departure out of Bergen. The narration by the EXC Host Jessica was broadcast on outside decks, in staterooms and in the Crow’s Nest.

Here are some of the points of information we learned from various speakers about Norway and Bergen;

4th highest income of Norway in Bergen; they have pure water and oil reserves along with Plenty of natural gas; The 2nd happiest people live in Norway; Most Vikings were from Norway; Vikings were craftsmen, skilled warriors and the best story tellers; they were also farmers. In 1066 they began to declinefor Vikings; they were good at boat construction and home construction wlong with wood carving. Often the Viking Themes were of dragons and animals.

Norway is rich with accomplishments in art and music with well known Edvarg Grieg a famous pianist known for the music “Hall of Mountain King “ based on Norwegian folk music. And who could forget Edvard Munch and his famous art work, “The Scream” with a psychological theme to it. Many say it was about his feelings rather than anyone else.

Bunad is the name of the Norwegian costume which represents family, home and geographic areas they came from. They are very ornate and detailed.

Cross country skiing along with alpine and downhill skiing is the rage here. Norway wins the most Olympic medals in winter sports over any other countr.

A way of exploration, nature and appreciating nature is their way of thinking. Hiking, alpine climbing, and high altitude orienteering are interests of most Norwegians. In late May to late July the sun never fully sets; Late November to late January it never fully rises.

Norway is a land of glaciers in the northern region. There are over 2000 glaciers and lakes full of beautiful blue waters due to high levels of oxygen. Beautiful fjords finger through the country with there being approximately 1200 of them.

Thee Northern Lights or aurora borealis are apparent during dark skies and cloud free nights mostly seen in September through April . There are over 17,000 bridges in Norway with one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. There are also over 1000 tunnels and lots of road construction happening continually. Wildlife and polar bears outnumber humans in northern areas .

The country is full of rich areas for whales and summer feeding along with moose, elk and reindeer.

Unique agricultural customs are found here with great protections in place. Modest farms and healthy environments dot the extensive coastline. Norway is the 2nd biggest seafood exporter in the world.

The Heart of Bergen is famous for it’s seafood along with brown cheese or caramelized goat cheese. A typical meal for a family here is the hotdog at least every three days! Many of them are made of Reindeer sausage.

The Norwegian cinnamon roll is called the Skillingsbolle and said to be a tasty treat. The are many myths and legends in Norway not to be made fun of. Trolls are everywhere living on rocks, mountains, caves, forests and can play tricks on people! There is a documentary called “Troll Hunter” which they encouraged us to see sometime. Norwegians dried fish and lived off this for hundreds of years.

Bergen is called the Horseshoe harbor. Living in Norway is expensive.

You will see rows of colorful homes looking like a story book theme within this unesco world heritage site with cobblestone streets. Bergen has the only Leprosy museum in the world. The Leprosy Hospital closed in 1946. The museum pays respect to thousands of personal traumas and tragedies. There is also a ship building museum.

Take the tram or funicular. 1050 ft takes 8 minutes about $15. There were 22 churches which burned in 1992 ish and rebuilt. Burned by Norwegian political arsonists.

No Uber here but many taxis.

One dollar is 8.88 kronar

And as we experienced, Norway has over 200 days of rain or snow per year!

Colorful row businesses along the walk to the cruise in the U shaped harbor.

We quay up for this Fjord ship cruise.