Where in the world are we?
(Don’t forget to click on the small piccy’s to open them up to fully enjoy them)
How did I end up in Norway?
It all started when my friend Tor, from Bergen, Norway, wrote me a message—’Why don’t you pop over for a coffee?’ To give some context, I had just told him I was coming to visit my daughter in the UK.
The idea smouldered in my imagination until I thought ‘Why not?!’
Planning is so much fun!
Thus, my daughter, Dionee, and her husband, Marcus, my twin granddaughters, Francesca and Matilda, and I made our plans—4 days in Bergen. We read about this pretty Scandinavian city, nestled in the fjords, and decided what we would do with the time we had in this hidden gem amongst snow-topped mountains and deep, wide waters. We booked flights, accommodation, and, excited, we finally set off on our adventure.
Entering Heathrow – #lettheadventurebegin
Due to some changes to flights, that were out of our control, we arrived late at Bergen airport and took the 45-minute train through the night into the heart of the city.
Midnight in Bergen!
It was quiet in the midnight hour, and the wheels of our suitcases drummed on the ancient cobbled streets as we walked to our accommodation; far enough to be in a quiet street on a hill above the harbour near the university but close to the centre of the city.
Let the exploring begin!
We woke the next morning, excited to explore this new city. After coffee, and a plan to find some breakfast, we negotiated our way down the hill and into the streets that surrounded the harbour.
As we walked we admired the beautiful architecture of business and municipal state buildings, churches, and the music pavilion in Bergen’s first public park, Byparken.
Open spaces in the central city
Alongside, in central Bergen’s cityscape, is a large lake which was originally part of a fjord. Now filled in and built on, it houses a fountain which is illuminated at night. During the spring, one of the features of beauty here is the large cherry blossom trees which line the north side of this large pond.
A touch of Kiwi in Bergen!
(Context: New Zealanders are called Kiwi’s)
We located a supermarket (interestingly enough, called ‘Kiwi Mini Pris’) and purchased some snacks for our day out, which started with wandering around the harbour area.
Bryggen Wharf and surrounds!
Filled with fishermen, the navy boats in the harbour, and the famous historic Bryggen Wharf, it felt ‘surreal’ to be here looking at them after having seen photos of these iconic landmark buildings.
Built in the 11th century (1070), Bergen became a centre for trade within about 100 years. The area is now on the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) World Heritage List.
Some of the buildings were wrapped during a pre-summer rebuilding process that has always followed traditional methods to maintain and preserve the original structure. Not all buildings have survived the passage of time; however, sixty-two remain and once you start to explore the lanes of the main street, small shops and galleries with art studios abound. One shop that intrigued us was the 12-month Christmas shop. It was amazing to explore the multiple levels up narrow stairways, and little side rooms packed with a menagerie of Christmas decorations, toys, candles, and other goodies to enjoy or purchase.
What is that amazing sailing ship?
One of the amazing experiences of that first day was seeing an impressive sailing ship tucked into the harbour among the other ships and cruise boats. We were curious as to what it was as it had an imposing presence. But it would be the next day before we found out more.
(Don’t forget to click on the small piccy’s to open them up to fully enjoy them)
Finally the moment came for ‘coffee with Tor’
We met Tor for lunch and he took us up Mount Fløyen which offers a stupendous view! We caught the ‘funicular’ (like a little tram) for the 5-minute ride up the mountain where we spent time enjoying the vast panoramic view out over the Byfjorden and the sea lanes leading to the infamous Norwegian Fjords.
You can walk via a trail that snakes up the mountain for about 50 minutes, or you can take a tour to get you up from the busy buzzing downtown to the quiet of the mountain forest.
The view from Mt Fløyen, the great adventure playground & Trolls!!
(Don’t forget to click on the small piccy’s to open them up to fully enjoy them)
Day 1 ends on a happy note!
Back down in the bay in an area called Vågen, where for centuries life centered around the fishing industry and shipping dried cod from Northern Norway to the world, we made our way back to the ‘Kiwi Mini Pris’, purchased some food for our stay and walked back to our apartment tired but happy with our day exploring Bergen.
Day 2: A full day in the city
The following day dawned cool but sunny and we planned to walk through the streets to the ‘Akvariet i Bergen’ – The National Aquarium. We set off and wandered down the various streets towards our destination. We walked on the West side of the Nordnes Peninsula, one of Bergen’s village-like neighbourhoods close to the city. This area of narrow alleyways and paved streets with old wooden houses oozed history and a charm we will never forget.
Nordness Peninsula, the Saltwater Pools & The National Aquarium!
We only scratched the surface of exploration in this area; however, it is said that the varied architecture and types of buildings were shaped by the rich merchants and shipping magnates who inhabited the area.
Continuing alongside the sea on the west bank of the Nordnes Peninsula and the Georgernes Verft, we passed the USF (United Sardine Factory) Cultural Centre. This intriguing large building fascinated me but because it was still quite early in the day and not open, so we couldn’t investigate it fully. It wasn’t until later that I found out more about it. The USF Verftet was formally a sardine factory but now accommodates a cluster of venues for the presentation of music, theatre, films and contemporary art. There are several offices, artist studios, and an artist residency programme. The USF was once the largest cannery in Norway but now the USF aims to collaborate, strengthen, and participate in developing cultural matters and support the creative industry of Bergen.
The Nordness Sjøbad (Nordnes Seawater Pool)
Moving towards the tip of the Peninsula, we passed by the ‘Nordnes Sjøbad’ otherwise called the ‘Nordnes seawater pool’. This complex provides a diving board and diving tower, a sauna, and an outdoor training area where the heated pool sits around 29oC; however, from here you can also swim in the sea.
https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/nordnes-seawater-pool/224064/
Please click the above link to see photos of the Norndnes seawater pool and the Nordnes Park
We continued our walk through Nordnes Park at the tip of the peninsula and found our way to the aquarium as planned. Almost immediately we spotted the penguins.
The National Aquarium of Bergen!
(Don’t forget to click on the small piccy’s to open them up to fully enjoy them)
Although I am not a big fan of zoos and aquariums in keeping animals and mammals captured, I do appreciate what they do in working to preserve at-risk populations and breeding programmes.
We spent several hours here and enjoyed many exhibitions including the Gentoo Penguins; seals/Californian sea lions; European otters; snakes, starfish, jellyfish; a huge variety of fish, eels, and stingrays; turtles; rare Philippines crocodiles, ancient amphibians, and geckos; Norwegian sea fauna and more.
The aquariums hold a total of 150 tonnes or 500-150,000 litres of water and it was fascinating to see the amazing varieties of fish, mammals, and fauna within these aquariums. We spent more time here than intended and enjoyed ourselves immensely. I will let the photos speak for themselves here.
(Don’t forget to click on the small piccy’s to open them up to fully enjoy them)
‘One Ocean’ Display!
While at the aquarium we also came across the ‘One Ocean Display’. This captured our attention because it had all the information we needed about the tall ship we had seen in the harbour the day before. The ‘Statsraad Le Lehmkuhl’ left Norway in August 2021 with a plan to return in April 2023, and it arrived on time – the night we also arrived in Bergen. The expedition’s main goal was to circumnavigate the world, acting as a floating university, to create and bring attention to the ocean’s role in sustainability on the global stage and share this knowledge.
This scientific expedition, using state-of-the-art research equipment which monitored and recorded continuously during the 20-month journey, was integrated into the 108-year-old sail training ship, and the various instruments measured a vast number of ocean phenomena from microplastics, CO2, acidification, waves, and sounds from mammals and the ocean itself. During port visits the ship hosted meetings, conferences, and diplomatic engagements. After lunch, we completed our visit to the aquarium by visiting the remainder of the exhibitions deep below the ground level where snakes and alligators live.
Walking back to town!
We walked back into the town and the busy Vågen wharf area passing many iconic buildings along the way, one of which was a church built in 1621. There are several amazing old churches in Bergen and it would have taken us another full day to explore these. This church, The Nykirken (The ‘new’ Church), close to Vågen, came by its name simply because it was the newest of the town’s parish churches built at that time. Over the years, it has undergone changes following city fires; however, it was a very modern building at the time.
The original bell tower was a low ‘helmet’ but in 1955 the new church spire was built according to the original plan. Due to a beautiful angel statue with gold-coloured clothes being hoisted down over the baptismal font during baptisms, the church is often called the Children’s Cathedral and has a strong cultural focus on children.
Iconic landmarks!
Another iconic ‘landmark’, though not on land but moored in the harbour, was the DS Stord 1 – a restored, solid steam engine steamboat originally built in 1913. As we passed, its presence was felt as powerful and commanding and so we photographed it with a plan to find out more about this gracious old lady. She reminded us of ‘The Lady of the Lake’ in Queenstown, New Zealand, the mail boat ‘The Earnslaw’ which was built locally in New Zealand in 1912.
Stord 1 was a passenger steamer from 1913 to 1969 in the Fjords around Stavanger and Bergen. She was severely damaged during an explosion in Bergen harbour in 1944 and subsequently rebuilt. Following a collision with another boat in 1962, she was again rebuilt, renamed, and berthed in Oslo as a hospital ship and floating welfare centre for alcoholics. In 1980 she was sold and transferred back to Bergen for preservation. Following a fire on its first voyage post-restoration in 1987 she was again restored anew. These days you can experience a ‘nostalgic journey’ enjoyed from several decks or hired for a private function.
The Historical Fish Market of Bergen!
We wandered around the historical fish market, part of which was also heavily wrapped up during renovations. One of Norway’s most visited outdoor markets, you can buy seafood, fruit, cheese, vegetables, meat, and other condiments and goodies. A trade and meeting place for fishermen and merchants of the land and sea since the 1200s, this important location was subject to demands between the 1300s to 1500s by the Hanseatic League to move elsewhere. However, as the Fish Market began to grow in importance along with the local area, this central trading venue remained.
The Hanseatic League was said to be a unique and important phenomenon in the history of Germany and Europe. The Hansa was a ‘German Guild of Merchants’ and they created an office in Bryggen in 1360 where they dominated the area for about 400 years. They traded in western and eastern products including furs, wax, grain, fish, flax, hemp wood timber products (pitch and tar), and potatoes. They bought to Norway products like cloth, metal goods, weapons, and spices. A large number of buildings then occurred through the 1700s and 1800s, and in 2012 an indoor market, Mathallen, opened, and houses shops and restaurants which are open all year round.
Celebrating Great Friendships!!
We met up with Tor and had a lovely meal among the party crowd who had gathered to welcome the ‘One Ocean’ vessel back to port, celebrating its successful expedition and return home. There was an official process to this welcome but many of the partygoers on the boats in the harbour were already well underway. We dined at a fantastic restaurant at the harbour called ‘Restaurant 1877’ which serves delicious Norwegian cuisine with ingredients sourced from the local district.
The restaurant is housed in a stunning old building, Kjøttbasaren – considered ‘the city’s most exciting food house’, which historically was the iconic city’s meat market ‘the Bazar’. It was originally built to control the market trade in Bergen and there has been a bustling atmosphere ever since.
Housing 44 sales stalls and 27 basement stalls, it was established due to the need for honesty and cleanliness which was a problem in the markets at that time. Diluted milk and spoiled meat were common and there was a desire to control these aspects of cheating.
Originally called Byens Bazar and Torgbazaren, it was built in Neo-Romanesque style between 1874 and 1876. Architecturally designed by the city conductor, it was built with local quarry stone and unpolished brick with granite columns in the arcades and spires. Over the years the building has housed wholesalers in the meat industry, the Fisheries Museum, the Bergen Public Library, churchwardens, the Red Cross, the Police Club, and the Norwegian Scout Association.
In 1965, the building was under threat of demolition to be replaced by a 9-story high-rise office building. Protests led to its preservation in the 1990s; and, in 1997, the Kjøttbasaren was reopened as Restaurant 1877.
https://www.restaurant1877.no/en/
Cruising the Fjords of Norway
Bergen has so many wonderful attractions but, on a short visit there, you should make time for a fjord cruise! So the next morning, we made our way onto the Mostraumen Fjord Cruise boat and set off, leaving behind Mount Fløyen; passing by the Bryggen wharf, Vågen wharf, and the ‘One Ocean’ Yacht, cruise ships, Navy ships; and out past the heads of the harbour where the aquarium is located and into the ‘Byfjorden’ in the North Sea.
(Don’t forget to click on the small piccy’s to open them up to fully enjoy them)
Tracking to the right at Frekhaug, we passed under the Nordhordlandsbrua (Nordhordland Bridge), a 1,614 meters (5,295 ft) long combination cable-stayed and pontoon bridge and continued on our 4-hour cruise up the scenic Osterfjord and through the Mostraumen Channel.
This amazing West Norwegian scenery includes a maze of islands, the 1-3 kilometres (0.62 to 1.86 miles) wide fjords are deep at 639 metres (2,096 ft) below sea level at its deepest point and contain a plethora of beautiful waterfalls.
The course continued up the fjord to Mostraumen and Modalen, which is a tidal canal river, 600 metres long and 50-60 metres wide at the narrowest part, created about 1913. The history of how the fjord and this canal were forged is interesting in that between Mo and Mostraumen was a lake named Lake Movatnet and the locals had to wait for the flat land between to flood before they could take their boats up and down this stretch. Eventually, it became permanent and dredged to allow boats to traverse it during the right tides. The current is strong in this short narrow canal that mixes sea water and fresh water depending on which way the tide is moving.
The link below gives a good description and maps of the process over at least 11,000 years, an interesting read (choose EN for English).
https://www.grind.no/en/nordhordland/modalen/mostraumen
The fjord continues for about another 18 kilometers (11 miles) to Mo – usually called Mofjorden and this is the ‘end of the road’. The captain maneuvered the boat so we could get the best photos of the quaint town of Mo and the high waterfalls. This was exciting among the cold Norwegian snow-capped mountains where the fiord ends and the winding river and road are seen disappearing beyond the curve in the mountains.
The trip back to harbour
The route back to Bergen was casual and calm with the captain taking us to small villages along the banks of the fjord and around Paddoy Islands where we were very close to the nature of these forested islands in these powerfully beautiful fjords.
(Don’t forget to click on the small piccy’s to open them up to fully enjoy them)
We enjoyed the relaxed pace as we cruised back into the mooring passing under the Nordhordlandsbrua bridge, the Norwegian flag flying off the back of the boat and the lovely houses all along the shoreline.
A little shopping on Bryggen Wharf!
Our next adventure took us to the UNESCO Heritage shops on the Bryggen Wharf where we enjoyed ice cream and did some souvenir shopping.
But the highlight was a visit to the famous multi-floored, ‘all year’ Christmas Shop called Julehuset. Selling typical Norwegian Santa Claus ‘nisse’ and other celebration goodies, we perused items such as baubles, Christmas lights, candles, table napkins, nativity scenes, and other decorations.
I purchased a nice candle and a couple of other things before we finally pulled ourselves out of this absorbing fun shop and met up with Tor to say goodbye and reminisce a bit about our visit to Bergen. Eventually, as we took our time walking back to our accommodation (via the Kiwi supermarket to get some food for our final dinner!) we enjoyed the now familiar route with its lovely buildings, lake, fountains, churches, pubs and restaurants.
A few last reminders of Beautiful Bergen!
You have to leave a holiday destination sometime!
The following morning we cleaned up and placed our garbage in the amazing automatic receptacles by the street which use a state-of-the-art, award-winning, underground pneumatic pipe system Envac. After locking up we made our way down to the train station and boarded the train to the airport, having reminded ourselves of what an amazing place we had found ourselves in for a short few days and how much we had packed into our time here with Tor and this amazing Norwegian experience. We boarded our flight back to the UK via Copenhagen and finally arrived home having missed connecting flights due to being late leaving Bergen – they did try to keep us there!!
A Fond farewell
What an amazing experience we had and I want to particularly thank my dear friend Tor who only invited me for coffee; yet, we had so much more. A truly encompassing experience! Thank you!!
