Bergen Delivers Stunning Day of Views and Sunshine

Day 34, 2023 North Atlantic Adventure

Wednesday, June 14, 2023; Bergen, Norway.

The third time was the charm for Bergen. It is said to be the rainiest city in Norway (more rainy days than London), and my visits in 2019 and last April proved that true. Today was sunny, with an almost cloudless sky, and warm. Everyone was outside taking advantage.

In late April, it was just more than three weeks since I fell and fractured my kneecap. I was walking with a brace, but took an Uber from the cruise pier to the town center. This time I walked, putting about five miles on my exercise app. My tracking map showed more, but it included the Fløibanen funicular ride to Mount Fløyen.

After the short ride and admiring the views, we explored the expanse of trails.

Children were playing everywhere, as there are ample playgrounds with swings, slides, jungle gyms and even low ziplines. Ten cashmere goats wander the area, clearing it of excessive vegetation and posing for selfies. There even is the “cone” – a kind of treehouse built using shipbuilding techniques – that you can rent for an overnight stay.

It appeared that many (fit) people hiked or biked the almost 3 kilometers up to Fløyen. Back “in the day” my hiking family certainly would have opted for walking down. But I’m not sure these knees would have appreciated it, and we were lucky enough to get the front row for the return funicular trip.

Back in the city, I wandered with Barbara and Richard through Bryggen, a historic much-photographed district along the waterfront. Narrow alleyways weave between the colorful buildings that once served as houses. These aren’t the originals, which were destroyed by fire, but they were rebuilt in 1702, so for this American they are still old. And still under renovation.

I took a little time to sketch the Bryggen rooftops from the path above them, struggling to get all the angles to line up at the right places. The effort will take some reworking when I have a little time.

I thought about posting pictures of the t-shirts I bought in one of the Bryggen shops for my adult nephews, who always want something in a foreign language, but decided the definitely not-safe-for-work language is too easily translated into English. I’m sure they will love them!

Barbara had admired the etched pub beer glass my sister Elaine purchased in April, so we returned to Bryggeriet, a microbrewery next to the fish market. Barbara snagged one of the last of the limited edition, and I found the fish soup just as good as I remembered.

Back on board the Zuiderdam, I stopped by guest services to pick up a copy of the nationality breakdown for this cruise of 1,870 passengers. I am not surprised to learn that there are slightly more Dutch than Americans. (Technically, I’ve always thought that anyone from North or South America qualifies as an American, and thus the Canadians would flip that count.)

Here’s the tally, which I presume comes from passenger passports:

• 726 Netherlands
• 683 United States
• 175 Canada
• 106 Australia
• 49 Germany
• 46 Belgium
• 14 New Zealand
• 12 United Kingdom
• 6 Switzerland
• 5 China
• 4 Austria, Italy, Malta, Mexico
• 3 Hong Kong, Romania, Sweden
• 2 Argentina, Colombia, Czech Republic, Spain, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan
• 1 Netherlands Antilles, Brazil, Malaysia, Ukraine, South Africa