Day in Bergen

Bergen - The capital of Western Norway! A pulsating metropolis rich in historic, cultural and educational significance. The second largest city in Norway (after Oslo), the locals here speak a specific Norwegian dialect known as Bergensk. They also speak excellent English (as we have found everywhere) so we are very fortunate travellers. This city is 1000 years old (yes, one thousand!!) and was essentially the capital of Norway until the early 13th century.
We took a walking tour this morning (I'm beginning to like these) and discovered lots of hidden gems. We start with a visit to the National Theatre, one of the oldest in Norway, then wander along the rose-lined streets past the pavilion to Lille Lungegardsvann, a small lake enclosing the city fountain. We walk past the Leprosy Museum (the leprae bacillus was "discovered" here in 1873 … the beginning of the end of leprosy), the Bergen Cathedral (under restoration so we couldn't go in, much to Samara's delight) and St Mary's Church (which has a cannon ball embedded in its face, courtesy of the British navy in 1665) and move on to the oldest, and arguably most famous, part of town … the old wharf of Bergen known as Bryggen. This is the place you always see on postcards, with the pretty coloured, triangular-roofed buildings lined up along the east side of Vågen Harbour. The buildings are warped and bent and showing their age (450+ years ... i feel like that now and I'm only 29!!) but they are mighty fine indeed. We peak through the windows of Bryggen restoration sites where they lift the buildings to fix them from the bottom up. The back streets here are narrow and coloured and tight and cute. It's quite lovely. There have been a number of fires here over the years and each year the Bryggen have been rebuilt. The worst fire was in 1702 where almost the entire city was razed to the ground. It is now a UNESCO world heritage site and rightly so.
We were treated to lunch today at one of the restaurants in the famous Fish Market area. I am gobsmacked at the price of seafood here … Luckily we can catch our own at home a lot of the time! We are served a "large fish tasting plate" and it is all delicious. There is one fish I don't recognise amongst the different salmon, mackerel and prawns … it's dark meat and doesn't taste fishy at all. We ask (but perhaps shouldn't have) and discover we have eaten whale!!!! You cannot hate us as much as we hate ourselves right now!! We are ashamed and horrified and feel unclean though it's quite commonly served here.
We walk off our mortification after taking the Fløybanen funicular train to the top of Mt Fløyen. The day is amazing and the view is amazingly spectacular!! There are loads of people there but it's a perfect day for a viewing. We meet the local goats (Samara has patted goats and dogs today … she's doubly happy) and walk the 3km downhill to the Rozenkratz Tower at the Bergen Fortress, famous for only ever defending against one attack - and that left a cannonball in the wall of the church! After a glorious morning, it turns to rain for a while … long enough to soak me through since I wasn't wise enough to bring my raincoat. Another very full day.Read more