Sara and Robyn say “hallo”

July 3: Bergen

The hotel where we are staying has lovely frescoes in its dining room (it’s a Michelin rated restaurant) so what better way to start the day (which is cold and rainy)!

As part of our “Norway in a nutshell” package, today we had our own private guide to show us around Bergen. Her name was Solveig and was really knowledgeable. She explained the regional differences between the various traditional costumes, and the significance of the Seafarers memorial which has 4 sides, with each side depicting a different period of seafarer history. (we are standing in front of the Viking period).

There is a bluestone in the middle of a mall which commemorates the 2011 event in which a Norwegian far-right extremist killed 77 people, many of them teenagers, in a bomb attack and gun rampage. The attacks left Norway stunned and grieving. People laid flowers at the site where the bluestone is now located.

The fish markets (which are more like our retail fish shops) had an amazing and colourful array of fresh fish, crustaceans and smoked fish. The packet next to the spotted wolffish is whale. As there is an issue with overpopulation of minky whales, Norway is allowed to kill them for domestic consumption only.

Robyn is pointing at prawns fished from the fjords, as well as stock fish which is dried in the sun and lasts for months.

Great cheese display too. Here you can get brown goats cheese!

And I am standing in front of the 2018-19 World Cheese Champion, Fanaost, which comes from the smallest dairy ever to win top prize. It is made on a farm which we passed on our fjord cruise, and the local farmer credits its sweet-and-savoury taste to the 14 different grasses that make up the diet of his 12 cows!

We went up in the funicular which has sensational views of Bergen.

At the top of the funicular, you can get a sense of how big Bergen is, and you also get to meet some very tame goats.

Interestingly, the signpost which shows the distance to various cities, used to include Moscow. But in light of the Ukrainian war, Moscow has been removed and replaced by Kviv. It is the only sign in its country colours!

Sydney is shown at 16,162 km away!

Finally, we visited the historic waterfront area where the Hanseatic league (who were merchants from Germany) established an office in 1350 and took control of the stock fish trade between the Lofoten islands and the rest of Europe. The area has been damaged several times by flood, fire and an ammunition explosion. There was a plan to demolish the whole area and replace it with apartment buildings but a local campaign was mounted to ensure the area was not destroyed. Instead it is now a UNESCO world heritage site, and adds significantly to the character of Bergen.

One of the historic warehouses was sinking as a result of the earlier disasters and there is now a major project to raise it and stabilise it. It will take several years to complete.

Dinner tonight at same restaurant which Chris and Tone took Anne and Terry to, when they visited. For future reference it’s called Bryggeloftet & Stuene.

Lovely dinner ….Rob had Bergen fish soup, followed by tuna. I had halibut, followed by trifle. You can tell who has the sweet tooth!