Steve and Cathy's Blog

We have a smooth journey across the North Sea, cruise up some fjords past beautiful islands and arrive in Bergen, Norway at the appointed 9:00am arrival time. We have decided once again to forego any excursions and to just roam the downtown tourist area of the city. We step off the ship around 9:30 and walk the mile from the cruise pier to the Bryggen, the historic waterfront, once the center of commerce when the Hanseatic League dominated the city. The wooden buildings shown as the feature (first on the Facebook post) photo were old warehouses from that era. 

The Costa Mediterranea and the AIDAluna cruise ships are also here today, so the area is packed with us tourists. Our first order of business is to pick up a small cable at the Eplehuset (Apple Store) that allows Steve to transfer photos from the memory card in his camera to his Mac Book to remedy a packing oversight. It’s easy to find, everybody in the place speaks English (as do almost all Norwegians to a certain extent, we find), and we are out of there in just a few minutes.

Our next stop is the Tourist Information Center to purchase tickets for the highly recommended Floibanen funicular, a tram that goes from the city center up to the top of 320-high Mount Floyen – a six minute ride that affords us magnificent views of Bergen and the surrounding area. The center is really busy but extremely well organized, and we take a number to talk with one of the staff. In about fifteen minutes, our number is called. We ask a couple of stupid questions (“Do you know how long the wait is for the tram car?” How could the young lady possibly know this?) and purchase tickets. 

It is now around noon, and we cleverly determine that we will take the Floibanen while everybody else is eating lunch. Ha Ha. The entrance to it is packed with people with the same idea. However, the line moves quite quickly because these Norwegians are really good at managing these crowds. In less than 25 minutes, we and 69 others are herded onto a tram car and whisked to the top. It’s a beautiful ride, and everybody is excited at what they are seeing.

Cathy takes a seat while Steve runs around taking photos of the amazing scenery. Bergen is Norway’s second largest city after Oslo, and quite possibly the country’s biggest tourist draw, with a population of approximately 225,000. The fjords are gorgeous, of course, and the city stretches inland for several miles. 

There are all kinds of activities at the top. Hiking trails through the Trollskogen forest, small picnic huts along those trails, a lake, restaurants, souvenir shops (of course) and even a zip line. We do go for a short walk in the woods, and the flora is amazingly like northern Maine. The one attraction we do visit is a group of three goats. They aren’t tethered, and you can have your picture taken with these placid, apparently tourist-familiar animals. Kids are all over the place, and each waits his turn (and us too) to be photographed with one of them. Very fun.

We spend about an hour there and decide that lunch is in order. We only wait about ten minutes or so for our tram car, and arrive at the bottom in no time. It’s now around 2pm, and we settle on a place called the Harbour Café. Essentially it’s a pub with good food and outdoor seating. Cath has a huge bowl of fantastic fish soup (Fiskesuppe in Norwegian). Steve … shame on him … has a Royal Burger (Royal Burger in Norwegian, apparently), but it is really, really good – and big. Of course he must pair this with a local beer – Hansa Pilsener. Delicious.

It’s now 3:30, and we decide to walk back to the ship. We’ve gotten just a taste of Bergen and Norway but we certainly are impressed. Everything, from sidewalks to buildings to even trucks are clean and neat. The people are friendly and efficient, even though the place is mobbed with tourists. 

We return to our stateroom and relax. I have no recollection whatsoever concerning dinner. Neither does Cathy. But I’ll bet it was delicious.

We sail away at 7:00pm. We are headed north to Alesund, 186 nautical miles away. Steve wakes up at 12:25. It’s still light out. Amazing.