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Bergen is a major port city on the west coast of Norway sort of due west of Oslo the capital city. Oslo is the largest city, Bergen the next in size. We stayed in the old city near the harbor and didn't get a sense of this being a big city -- in fact it has a very small town feel. Both cities are quite far north -- about the same latitude as the Shetland Islands which are well off the north coast of Scotland. This makes for long summer days. Albeit cool summer days. I hate to imagine what the winters are like.
Bergen is sheltered by mountains in an archipelago of islands and is a jumping off point for some steep scenic fjords. We were only there for a few days, Kate was busy with meetings, but I got to tramp around the old city a bit. We did get to do some things together -- like riding the Fløibanen funicular to a hilltop view of the city. We booked a cruise of the nearby fjords on the last morning but it was raining and cloudy -- we didn't get to see much of them.
We flew in from Oslo crossing over snow covered mountains in between. It's not terribly far as the crow flies (about an hour by air) but an awful long distance were you to drive over the mountains. It's about 8 hours by auto and you'd be driving over mountains and through some snowy stretches. Probably an interesting drive ... if you had the time.
We almost missed our return by air to Oslo after the morning of the disappointing fjord tour. We hadn't counted on the time it would take to get back to our hotel, pack our gear and take a bus out to the airport. The airport is about a half hour out of the city. We end up running through the airport at the last minute to catch our flight. This was in the days before 9/11 when airport security wasn't as anal. I suppose it wouldn't have been the end of the world had we missed the flight as there are lots of regular flights between these two cities.
Bergen is most famous for the pretty wooden warehouses that line the harbor. The "Hanseatic Wharf" (see the photo above) dates back to the middle ages when Bergen was the major trading port for Norway and a northern partner in the Hanseatic League. These days these old wooden structures house gift shops and the like. It's an interesting area to explore with lots of back lanes. There's also pretty lanes to explore up the hill sides into residential areas.
Further down the wharf towards the sea is an area of historic castles and forts. Rosenkrantztårnet (a 13th century tower) and the Bergenhus Fortress are worth exploring. At the town end of the harbor there's a market, cafes, open pedestrian square and sturdy buildings of stone and brick. We had dinner one night in a restaurant overlooking the harbor. Seafood, as you would expect, is a specialty. Wine and alcohol are prohibitively expensive.
Bergen is an interesting city to explore.
Ps. These notes and recollections were prepared in January of 2021 during the COVID-19 lockdown. Photos are macro photography copies of slides taken at the time.
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