5/4 – Bergen

Hello Norway!  After a very smooth, but chilly sail up the English Channel and into Norwegian waters, we are here in sunny, chilly Bergen.  It is a beautiful sail in – which we watch from our balcony since we aren’t arriving until 11:00am.  We even have breakfast out there – it’s warm enough, especially since our balcony is huge and we are sheltered from the wind.  We sit and watch the outer islands slide slowly past us, with houses perched precariously on the rocks – so isolated.  And we’re not even close to Bergen yet – maybe another hour?  Hardy people live here – that’s for certain.

As we get closer into the city, we start to see more and more of the iconic Norwegian house styles – bright colors with A-frame roofs.  So idyllic, until you remember where you are – and how cold it can really get here with water as your only transportation into civilization.  Hardy people….

Today is an easy day for us, we’ve been here before and have decided we’re just going to take the Funicular up to Mount Floyen and hike around on the mountain for a while.  We aren’t docking at the close in pier in town – but at an industrial pier where we have to take the “mandatory” free shuttle into town.  Not such a big deal – they drop us off right at the Lake in the middle of town – near all the museums, so it’s an easy hike into the “sentrum” to pick up the funicular. 

Spring is really blooming here – the flowers and the trees are simply gorgeous.  Sadly though – so are the allergies – and between the cold that some typhoid-cruiser has managed to impart upon us and the flower and tree pollen – we are sneezing, coughing and draining like crazy.  We’re enjoying the sunshine and the beauty – just surely not the after effects.  

With the assistance of a helpful policeman, we finally make our way to the Floibanen funicular (the guide at the bus stop was not good at directions!).  Tickets purchased, we stand in line for only 5 minutes and catch the next car up the mountain.  This ride is not for the faint of heart (although we think it is fun)!  Even though its traveling speed is only 4-6 kph, the maximum grade is 26 degrees and it feels like you are going straight up into the air. 

Out on top, we skirt the very active children’s playground (it is Sunday after all and likely one of the first really warm spring ones), and head toward the lake.  We remembered the first time we were here, and these trails beat us up!  It’s not too different this time either – because everything is an incline.  The scenery is fabulous – the trees, the vantage points, and the people.  We remembered this before when we were here – everybody is out on nice days – and we’re talking young and old:  Families carrying babies in their back sacks, young kindergarten age kids hiking up with mom and dad – and older couples or groups out for a stroll. It is a very healthy and active lifestyle here.

We’re keeping a nice leisurely pace – not letting those old folks beat us up the mountain (LOL) – and by the time we get to the new café at the top of the trail, we’ve had a good workout but not too taxing.  We forgo any snacks or beverages – OMG – the prices.  We knew it would be expensive, but this is astonishing.  $5 for a 20 oz soda? I think not.  We have water  - good old ship water (purified in much the same way that a $4 bottle of Dasani here--and often $2 in the US--is) – thank you very much, and we are perfectly happy with that.

Back down we go, enjoying the scenery, the weather and the atmosphere.  We hop on the first funicular back down – not too crazy…

…until we get down to the bottom station where there must be 500 people waiting in line to go up the mountain (already inside the paid queue and outside waiting to pay).  It is going to take them hours to get up there! Thank God it stays light here long, because these people will need it to make the most of their mountain outing day.   We learned many many trips ago that the first ones out enjoy the most stress free day (and see the maximum number of sites) while those who move leisurely in the AM pay the price all day long.

We stroll past them all and head to the Bryggen area – the old original houses that are right on the harbor, all twisted and cantilevered and some really falling down. It is quintessential Bergen – and we never get tired of taking pictures of them.

On past Bryggen, we wander into a little park overlooking the harbor. It’s lovely, quiet and green.  Spending time walking around, taking pictures of interesting carvings on the windows of the church and enjoying the fabulous tulips at perfect bloom, is an excellent respite from the crazy and packed tourist zone in Bryggen.

We of course have to walk back through Bryggen and decide it is time for a beverage.  We stop at an outdoor café that looks more bar than restaurant and order a beer and a wine. Ok – so – we didn’t really think it through, but once ordered , we figured out we had just paid the equivalent of $28US for a rather smallish beer and a glass of box wine.  Kid you not!  And we thought the ship was expensive (more on that later – look for the “A Tale of Two Cruises” post coming soon).  How these people live – we’ll never know – I mean, we know it is a very wealthy country, but really.  $28?  Wow.

On that note we decide we are heading back to the ship, because let’s face it, we have free food on the ship if we are hungry – and we sure aren’t spending the $25 -$30 necessary for one hamburger (Yup – that’s the going rate – and we thought Australia was expensive!).

Back aboard, we hang around the balcony as the temperatures start to drop and we sail on to the Fjords – next stop Flam.