Day 35 - Wednesday, July 17, 2024 - Returning to Bergen Norway

By Ellen Outten

 

Manhole cover depicting all the highlights of Bergen. If you look closely, you'll see known elements from the city of Bergen: houses from the old part of Bergen (Bryggen), Bergenhus Forest, Håkonshalen - Bergen City Museum and Rosenkrantz Tower, Fløibanen cable car, Ulriksbanen aerial tramway and the television tower.

I had an 8:30 am walking tour of Bergen with a guide this morning.  Wayne stayed in board ship to give his knee a rest.  We did about 5 miles this morning as we walked from the ship to the Bergenhus Fortress.  This fortress built by the Vikings was occupied by Nazi's duri WWII .  There is a museum there detailing the occupation and the resistance.

The fortress is located immediately across the street f I'm the marine terminal where we docked.



Bergenhus is one of the oldest preserved fortresses in Norway. Several buildings, such as Håkonshallen and Rosenkrantz Tower, represent cultural monuments. The fortress area was a military, administrative and political center for several hundred years.

This place is also a venue where concerts are held.  I'm not sure when, but Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to play here this summer.



Irish woman who gained sainthood when she escaped from Ireland and landed in Bergen Norway 





St. Mary's Church. The oldest stone building in Bergen.


From there we walked to Bryggen but rather than just looking at the front tourist souvenir shops out front, we entered from the back and saw the portion less viewed.  This is a living cultural center and the buildings stand today as a reminder of the Hanseatic community that built them and thrived here.

The front, tourist shops of Bryggen 


The Hanseatic community was a commercial co-op.  The members were merchants who banded together ydominated trader for over 3 centuries. They were established in the 14th century in Bergen.

The Hanseatic League’s common goal was to dominate trade, protect economic interests, gain diplomatic privileges, and establish trading routes. This is their community and buildings dating back to 

Around back, you get to see the true construction of these buildings.








Our guide walked us through some more of Bergens streets I never saw three weeks ago when I was here.  

This is a familiar sight, in an historic building, McDonald's.  As our guide said, it's called the American embassy. President Clinton actually ate here many years ago.  

They weren't allowed to put up the arches.  In her words, they were only allowed to defile the windows.

Some of the other buildings as we continued our walk.


We walked to Festenplassen.  I was here 3 weeks ago by bus. I never realized that we were so close to the pier and fish market.

The gazebo where music is played and many wedding pictures taken.
Ole Bull, the Norwegian famous violinist.  There's a town in PA, Oleana, in Potter county, that he bought for Norwegians to emigrate to in the US.  I found there is actually an Ole Bull State Park there.

Our walk continuesd to the fish market where I left our guide.  

There was an indoor fish market I didn't get to visit last time so I wandered in there and took some pictures before heading back to my ship.  A total of 3 hours and 5 miles.

The Bergen fresh fish market 
Pictures from the indoor fish market 





Some interesting architecture as I wandered back to our ship 



Tomorrow we are on our own.  There's a funicular to ride and Wayne and I will do that on our own.  Weather permitting we'll see some nice views from stop the mountain looking down over Bergen.








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