Bergen, Norway: June 24 to June 26

After nine days at sea (!!) we arrived in Bergen, Norway early on the morning of Tuesday, June 24. As I opened my curtains at around 7:30 A.M. I was met with the most glorious view shown in the two pictures below.

That initial impression lasted; Bergen is an amazingly gorgeous city and I have spent the past three days exploring with various groups, individuals, and on my own. Below is a sampling of how I spent that time; it would take too long to include everything (and you would likely fall asleep) so these are some of the highlights. They likely won't do the past three days justice; they have been spectacular. (Advance apologies for the overuse of adjectives like beautiful, wonderful, spectacular, glorious, etc.; they are hard to avoid and accurate.)

Tuesday
The day began with an 8 AM meeting where we were briefed by a diplomat from the US Embassy on the history of Norway and some safety tips (there weren't many; Bergen is incredibly safe and it's light for almost 24 hours a day). The economy is one based on oil and Norway is a major exporter. They are investing wisely and so their economy appears to be booming. When they exhaust their oil resources they will return to the fish business. They have
socialized medicine, wonderful maternity and paternity leave policies, and attending university is free. Taxes are about 25% and included in the sticker price you see. And Norway is very, very expensive. A bottle of water or soda is about $4.00; a meal will run you about $40.00-50.00 without wine (about $20.00) or beer (about $12.00) and gas seems to run about $9.35/gallon. Desert is also about $20.00. Your "run of the mill" souvenir is about $15.00. You get the idea.

Norway chose not to participate in the EU and thus their money system consists of the Kroner. Right now, with the US economy the way it is, the exchange rate is about 5 kroner per $1.00. We quickly became quite good at rounding and dividing by five to figure out how much things cost.

I had plans to meet with LaVahn and MF Hoh later in the morning and to take a city tour at 1:00 but I was anxious to explore so I set off on my own for the next hour. I ran into Karen (Ryan) and her son and we followed the crowd into the city. Although it was cold, windy and raining the main street we encountered was beautiful. We found the ATM and explored some stores but mostly I was happy to be walking on solid ground. The odd thing is that once you get your sea legs walking on land can be a challenge. Most of us stumbled around as we still felt the ship rocking even though we were off the ship.

I headed back to the ship to meet up with LaVahn, his wife and Bill Wilkerson and we did some more walking, grabbed lunch and went to meet our tour bus. SAS has an endless list of 1/2 day trips, days trips and overnight trips. I prefer less structured activities but wanted to go on the tour to get the lay of the land so I signed up for the Bergen City/Mt. Floyen Tour. The tour bus drove us around Bergen and we got a nice history lesson on the downtown area of the city.

We saw several old buildings and churches and learned a great deal about the historic buildings located on the water.



The Kontor (a foreign trading post) in Bergen was the last of the four Hanseatic Kontors to be established and it lasted the longest. The society consisted of all males; members were not permitted to marry and returned to Germany when their term was completed. This Kontor closed in 1899 ending almost 500 years of trading between Germany and Norway. Below are the buildings where the Germans lived; they are currently under restoration as they are sinking and tilting (see the stairs in the second picture). This is the result of the building being built on top of about 7 meters of ash which is very soft; the ash is the result of hundreds of years of fires because all of the buildings are built of wood.


Our last stop was to the top of Mt. Floyen which we accessed by taking the funicular (like a tram). Despite the fact that it was raining off and on, sometimes even pouring, the view was spectacular. The three pictures below show the funicular, and two views from the top of Mount Floyen (the second one shows our ship which looked quite small next to the giant cruise ship).

At the end of the tour we returned to the ship and then headed out to dinner. LaVahn had information on a great restaurant which we walked to quite easily and the three of us (LaVahn, MF and I) had a wonderful dinner. (We have grown quite tired of ship food and so it tasted even better.) I had the salmon. At 7:30 LaVahn and MF headed back to the ship but given how light it was (and how stuffed I was) I decided to walk. I spent the next two hours walking up and down a number of streets and also found a beautiful mall (where I bought a few pieces of warm clothing). At around 9:30 I headed back and along the way encountered a range of people including David Gies who had just arrived (his wife has been on the ship working in the library) along with a few other people. We strolled back to the ship amazed at the night and the nightlife and the light (I know I keep mentioning the light but the midnight sun is fascinating.) The picture below was taken at around 10:30.

Wednesday

Our plan today was to meet at around 9 and explore Torget (the famous fish market and craft fair). A few of us headed out along with Haley Parker (rising 4th year UVA student). The fish market was wonderful... all kinds of crafts and souveniers but also amazing fish with free samples of salmon, shrimp and cod (I tasted the first two) as well as reindeer, elk, moose and whale (which I passed on). Haley, MF and I decided to shop and stroll for about an hour before meeting back at the market for noon. We paused to take some pictures at this beautiful plaza area with a fountain.

By noon we were back at Torget for a great meal of smoked salmon and salad and then headed to the archaeology museum! They have a great permanent exhibit on the historic district and a temporary exhibit on witches which was nicely done and interesting though Bergen apparently only burned at the stake one woman thought to be a witch. For my fellow archaeologists below are three pictures just for you.

After a few hours at the museum we divided up and Haley and I took off on foot. We walked and walked and walked (and walked)... through the town -- the stores, the plazas, the churches, the small alleyways, the University of Bergen, and up and down almost every little street we found. We stopped for ice cream ($5.00) and a soda ($6.00).

This is St. Paul's Church and the view of the city from the stairs...

and this is one of the main buildings at the University of Bergen...

We loved the restaurant from the previous night so much that we decided to return so Haley and I met up with LaVahn, MF, Gordon Braden and Bill Wilkerson at around 6:30 for another wonderful dinner (this time I skipped the desert and this was less stuffed by the end of the meal!). We walked back at around 10:00 and headed to the Faculty Lounge for a drink. About eight of chatted for an hour and then, as I was heading to sleep, I ran into my daughter (who I never see!) who filled me in on her wonderful day -- an all-day excursion on busses, boats and a train to see the fjords (a few of her pictures are below because they are so beautiful). Plus she seems to have befriended a troll... a rare occurrence here in Norway where trolls can do scary things to us humans.

Thursday

Another rainy, damp day... so common here up North. Our plan was to head to Ole Bull's villa and we were determined to go despite the weather. This involved navigating two busses and a small motor boat to get to the island on which his villa was located. As we got off the first bus to switch busses we encountered the Casteen clan (John and Laurie and their two children and Laurie's mother). We all eventually made it to the island and the house which was magnificent. Built in 1872/1873 the pictures below don't do the house justice; it is piece of art. We listened to a short tour and walked through the parts of the house in which we were permitted and then (cold and wet) sat down for a cup of coffee and a small bite to eat at the Kafe. We had a delightful conversation with our tour guide, Anna-Clara who is a German exchange student studying education at the University of Bergen.

We had to catch a 2:30 ferry so that we didn't miss a bus and so we began the long, windy, terrifying trip back. Terrifying because the bus drivers navigate the roads leaving enough room to fit a tissue between them and the oncoming traffic. And, we were heading downhill on very windy roads. But we made it back to town where we did some more walking and ate a light (ish) dinner and I am now back on the ship!

Tomorrow is our last day in Bergen; we leave at 2100 hour for St. Petersbger; ship time is 1900 hours. That is the time by which you have to have passed through security and swiped in with your card. Being in line doesn't count and since everyone tries to spend as much time as possible in port, the line can be long. If you are late you get docked time at the next port. This includes EVERYONE: Faculty, Staff, students, etc. Thus, my plan is to get up sort of early, head out at around 9:30 to do some last minute walking, shopping and eating and to return to the ship by 3:00. This should give me some quiet time before dinner to grade papers and prepare for my Saturday and Sunday classes. (Yes, we teach on the weekends as there is no concept of day, week, weekend here on the ship.).

Monday is "Russia Day" and we will pull into St. Petersberg at 8 AM on Tuesday. Right now my plans include a tour of the Circus Museum with Rebecca (she is taking History of the Circus), and then the ballet in the evening. I'll then do some exploring and plan to spend a day (or two) at The Hermitage. As of right now I have decided not to go to Moscow as I have never been to St. Petersberg and it seems to be a very walkable, relatively safe place. Stay tuned!

P.S. Check Facebook for more pictures and less text!