Our final port of call for this trip was Bergen, one of Norway’s oldest cities. On our first day in town, we took a tour which started in Bryggen, a trading post established by the Hanseatic League in 1350.
Bryggen’s primary export was dried cod. In its dried form, it could be preserved for years (decades) and reconstituted later on, retaining most of its nutritional value. I’ll take their word for it.
We visited the Hanseatic Museum and Schøtstuene, in which rooms and artifacts from the original buildings have been preserved.
Following a bus ride around some of the main cultural sites of the city, we took the funicular up Mt. Fløyen. It was a rare clear and sunny day in Bergen, and the views of the harbor and distant fjord in the late afternoon sun were spectacular.
We departed the ship on the morning of March 10, checked into our hotel, and then took our trip to Grieg’s house, as described in yesterday’s post.
Today, we hopped a catamaran for a three-hour cruise down the 15 mile long Osterfjord. We must have snapped hundreds of photos. It’s hard to choose the best ones, and of course it’s impossible to get a feel for the scale of the landscape from a picture. Just pretend you’re standing on the top deck in a stiff, cold breeze and watching the scenery unfold around you.
At the head of the fjord are the Mostraumen Falls. The boat pulled up to within a foot or two of the mountainside. A crewman collected a bucket of water as it splashed off of the cliff wall, and we all drank a cup of pure, cold mountain water.
Then we turned around and headed back to Bergen! A hot Italian meal at a restaurant on the wharf warmed us up again. Then Jane and I went our separate ways for an hour or two; she went shopping, and I went over to the Griegshalle (concert hall) and the City Theatre to take a few photos.
We leave for the airport at 5:30 tomorrow morning. With luck, we’ll be back home by the end of the day.
This was a wonderful trip. The scenery was spectacular, the people were incredibly welcoming, we saw the Northern Lights, and we probably each gained 10 pounds. We’d recommend the Viking Ocean cruise in a heartbeat to anyone who’s interested in taking a taste of Norway.
