Det Gamle Rådhuset (the Old Town Hall) was originally built as a residence in 1558 — Bergen, Norway.

The Seamen's Monument; sculptor Dyre Vaa — Bergen, Norway.

Seamen's Monument; unveiled in 1950 to honor achievements of Norwegian seamen through the ages.

Seamen's Monument; this side is dedicated to the 17th-18th century sailors — Bergen, Norway.

Seamen's Monument; relief panels ... Viking longships (top); encounters with indigenous Americans.

A pigeon visiting the Seamen's Monument — Bergen, Norway.

Having fun with a decorative column @ Torgallmenningen, the city's main square — Bergen, Norway.

The white-trimmed building at the far end is Kjøttbasaren, a restored meat market from 1875 — Bergen

Vågsallmenningen ... the statue is of Ludwig Holberg; writer, playwright — Bergen, Norway.

Across Vågen, a natural harbor in Bergen's historic core, is the UNESCO heritage site of Bryggen.

The colorful buildings form the iconic wharf of Bryggen — Bergen, Norway.

Bryggen was the trading hub of the Hanseatic League — Bergen,, Norway.

Glimpse of the Rosenkrantz Tower ... which is part of Bergenhus Fortress — Bergen, Norway.

Fresh seafood; at Mathallen, the indoor fish market overlooking Vågen; opened in 2012 — Bergen.

Fresh king crab anyone? ... Mathallen — Bergen, Norway.

Mui heading over to the Fisketorget (fish market), which dates to the 1200s — Bergen, Norway.

Anglerfish at the Fisketorget — Bergen, Norway.

Sometimes you find a gem when you look down ... decorative manhole cover — Bergen, Norway.

"Homeless" ... sits on the corner on the street ... outside an expensive shopping mall — Bergen.

Bergen: A Meander …

August 5 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 64 °F

This is our third time in Bergen … the first two visits were cruise ship stops … just for a day.

When Celebrity Eclipse called here in 2017, we wandered the UNESCO heritage site of Bryggen, enjoying the colorful buildings dating back to the time of the Hanseatic League; had a delicious fresh seafood lunch at the fish market; and just wandered around.

We returned two years later on Oceania’s Nautica. This time, we hopped on a public bus to go out to Gamle Bergen [Old Bergen] … an open-air history museum in the Sandviken district where 55 reconstructed wooden houses from the 18th and 19th centuries allow one to step back in time.

With that in mind, before we left the apartment this morning, we perused the map I picked up at the airport yesterday and marked up a bunch of places we’d not been to before. Did we visit any of them? No. Somehow our day turned into a meander, and then we went completely off the books. I’ll leave that portion of our day for another footprint, and focus on the first part of our outing.

In fact, no sense trying to describe in words what we saw on our meander. I’ll just let the photos do the work for me.

By the way … August is prime time for cruise ships in the Scandinavian countries. Today was a two-ship day in Bergen. There was an NCL mega ship, which was relegated to the less-desirable berth, and a ‘Norway’s own’ Viking Ocean vessel, which was docked in the heart of the city. We expected that Bergen would be crowded when we made the decision to come to Norway at this time of the year. But hey … places around the world where you can escape the heat are getting fewer and fewer, so cooler temps trumped crowds in this instance.Read more