Bergen

We have had a busy week. We have been hanging out with our daughter Pamela and her friend.

A few highlights in no specific order:

There is a fish market in the middle of town. Located right on the harbour but mostly set up for tourists. There are no commercial fishing boats unloading. We tried smoked whale meat, smoked salmon, scampi and other things. They provide fully cooked meals as well as fish for sale.

The first day or two were the usual boat chores and repairs. We needed to replace our fresh water pump (the one that delivers hot water) and the heater needed more work. Neither of these chores would stop us from cruising but they were nice to have in this cool climate. While cruising the marine store I found a beautiful pair of frying pans with removable handles. At $300 CDN I left them there.

 

The harbour is full of interesting boats.

We visited several stores looking for a gasket for my pressure cooker. The Norwegians certainly embrace bright colours and fun designs.

We also had to go shoe shopping if Alan was to do much more walking. That would have been better if we had planned ahead and bought them in Canada, but the shoes are great.

We passed a store our son-in-law would appreciate.

Alan and the girls visited the Maritime Museum.

We took a ride on a funicular up the side of the mountain above Bergen. There is a restaurant, walking trails and a playground at the top. This is not to mention the fabulous view. The train has several stops and is used as public transit for people who live on the side of the mountain.

So which one is the troll?

Going down…

One day we took everyone out for a sail and lunch in a pretty cove. It was the first time Pamela’s friend had been sailing and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. Warm and sunny.

You cannot go to Norway and not see a fjord. We opted for the expedient Norway in a Nutshell tour. It involved regular passenger train, ferry and steep incline train. We each took hundreds of pictures. Apparently we were very fortunate to have one of the first really warm days of the year. It meant that the waterfalls coming down from the snowpack were spectacular.

All Aboard!

I have never been a big fan of pictures through moving vehicle windows but some of these turned out well.

Our bus took a road that was one lane wide and included many switchbacks but the views were wonderful.

We boarded a ferry to get a different perspective of the Sognefjord. Unfortunately there were so many people that it felt like a cattle car. The sunny weather and the gorgeous views made up for it.

There were several places with a few collections of houses.

We were back in Bergen by 8pm after a fabulous day.

One evening as we strolled down the pier we came to a collection of old American cars.

The logistics in Bergen were easy. Groceries were a block away. Payment for our dock space and power was available in a credit card machine or from the employee who made the rounds. Weekend were busy with boats rafted out up to six deep. It often meant people walking over the decks until all hours, sometimes a little unstable after all the partying. If you were tied up in one of the outer positions it often meant jockeying for positions to let an inside boat leave. On Saturday there was another outdoor concert, this time featuring Elton John. We walked up and listened to a dozen songs or so.

On our last day we took a tour of the historic centre of Bryggen. These were the original (or rebuilt because of the many fires)  commercial buildings of the Hanseatic Society. This was a German trading company that set up outposts all over the Baltic.It was an all male company where employees were not allowed to socialize with locals except for trade. Our Guide made the history come alive as she explained each building. We began in the Bryggen Museum.

This is one of the first building built of stone. Architects and tradesmen had to be imported from Britain to teach the new skills.

A meeting room inside one of the buildings

A washbasin

This is the passage way between the houses. It was gated and for residents only. The buildings now house restaurants and offices.

We ended the visit with a lovely dinner out. The restaurant featured Tex-Mex of all things but it was very tasty and the company was lovely.

We headed out Sunday morning with Pamela on board for a week. Our first stop was at the dock which said 24h diesel. More and more pumps are becoming self serve with no human supervision, particularly on Sunday where everything shuts down Unfortunately they only accept Norwegian credit cards. We did not need fuel desperately- so we set off. We sailed slowly north to Askoy Seillforening (yacht club). This morning it is quiet and wet. We will head out when the laundry is done for Fedje.