Scandinavia - Norway Bergen
We arrived in Bergen to torrents of horizontal rain. What a change from Iceland. After a few hours and a few snafus, we final got our rental car and headed to our first site on our long list of "want to sees". Fantoft Stavkirke is a stave church original built in 1150. However, the original church was burnt to the ground in 1992 by Varg Vikernes an original member of Norway's "Black Metal" music scene. He was convicted of arson in 1994. So the church is a restoration and not the original. However, as neither my son nor I were aware of Norway's propensity for TUNNELING, we missed the turn off and ended up in downtown Bergen. In Iceland, Blaines iPhone was our trusted navigational device. Unfortunately, tunnels put a crimp in that plan. So once out of the tunnel the iPhone began to work and we were able to find our hotel and check-in. We immediately decided to take a rainy walk around Bryggen. This is the wharf district of Bergen.
The hotel was built to fit into the architecture of Bryggen's mercantile buildings.
Many of the buildings were in a state of restoration. The older ones tend to list in one direction or another.
Found this a few doors down from our hotel. Established in 1893. I wonder.
The waterfront or Bryggen hosts merchant, scientific, cruise, pleasure and fishing boats from many eras.
For a few brief minutes we were treated to the setting sun lighting up some of the clouds.
The waterfront was nice and flat but just a block off you began to climb the hills.
At the top of this hill is Fløyen a place with magnificence views of the city and surrounding islands. There is also a beautiful park with hiking trails and a lake.
The tram to the top scales this steep hillside and was designed for everyone to sit facing the view out the back on way up. Spectacular view of Bergen.
This pano shows downtown Bergen as well as one of the island suburbs. Interesting that there are no residential developments on the tops of the hills only the base and valleys.
This pano shows the Eastern side of Bergen and a little of the valleys beyond the hills.
As it happens, Fløyen was hosting the Trolljager the day we visited. Not sure what the Trolljager is but it seems to be a race, rally, and obstacle course all mixed into one event. Trolls seem to be important in Scandinavia. We found them referenced in almost every city we visited.
We decided to take hike to the lake. However, many of the trails were blocked by race officials. We did finally find a open trail and found this.
Although there were lots of people cheering the contestants on, they really did not look like they were having fun. It was cool to begin with and swimming and climbing over these obstacles began to show a level of frustration. The pink group were some sort of team. After they exited the lake they had a steep trail to climb up the side of a hill. We decided to continue our hike!
There were many signs in forest all were in Norwegian except this one. "IF NOTHING GOES RIGHT - GO LEFT". Hmmmm!
The forest was beautiful. Old and healthy.
Found this incredible mushroom on the forest floor. I have seen illustrations of this before but thought they were someone's flight of fancy. My son did a quick research and found they are hallucinogenic. Whoa!
When we decided to go back down to the city a squall came through. Made our trip down the tram that much more exciting.
The rain was sheeting down the glass.
Our view on the way down. Pretty steep grade.
Even the dogs were concerned.
Once back in the city we decided to walk back to our hotel and find a pub for dinner. Here are a few street shots on our way back.
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Found this strange illustration on the side of a building.
Was intrigued by the stone work.
Old church and new office buildings and old cobblestone streets.
Classic cottage on the side of a hill.
Ended the evening at a pub called Madame Felle. They had a Chicago blues band playing. Another surprising sharing of culture. Dinner, a chicken quesadilla, burger and fries and six beers between the two of us, $200. Ouch! Norway was the most expensive country we visited. But what a great meal.
The next day sunshine!
Unfortunately it was short lived. Clouds moved in for the rest of the day. And so did the rain. This is St. Mary's built in the 1100s.
No idea what this was but it felt like World War II Nazi fortification.
Our next site was Bergenhus Fortress. This is a stone-built 13th century fortress that has had many additions and destruction.
These are the grounds surrounding the fortress.
As we walked the grounds we kept hearing people yelling and a clanging of metal on metal. This is we found. About a dozen or more people training in the art of sword play. Some in full regalia. One of each pair was an instructor.
The gal was the instructor and the guy her student. He looks confident here but that didn't last.
We headed back down to town. The Handseatic Assembly rooms were next. During the Hanseatic Leagues presence in Bergen they used these rooms for conducting business, social gathering and just hanging out.
Remember the Fantoft Stave church we missed on the way into Bergen. Well we got it on the way out. It was closed for the season. Note the fence around it. Only time we saw something like that. Guess even though it is a restoration, it still has political significance to some.
So endeth our stay in Bergen. We now head out on the long journey to Aslesund and the nearby town of Brunstad, our ancestral home.
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