Norwegian Cruising Adventure 2022 - Bergen - Day 11

We are enjoying our third sunny day in Bergen. We have been told by the locals that is very unusual. On average, there is at least some rainfall in Bergen on 239 days of the year. September to November tends to be the wettest season and while there's no such thing as a dry season, you may have more luck from April thru June.

This building in downtown Bergen shows the dates that it was rebuilt after three major fires. All the buildings are constructed from wood and are all crowded together with little or no space between them.

After lunch we went on a walking tour of Bergen. We walked past Bergen Cathedral built in 1100 and ravaged by fire (what a surprise) in 1198 and 1248. In the second English-Dutch war, in the sea battle of Vagen in 1665, the cathedral sustained a hit from a cannon shot gone wild. The ball sits today, impaled in the front wall of the church.

This is the Bergen Cathedral. The cannonball is located left of the stained glass.

Here s a close up view of the cannonball that hit the church in 1665.

After the walking tour we checked into the Radisson Blu hotel on the waterfront.

The Radisson Blu is a half block from the harbor in the old section of the city. Great location. Tiny rooms.

Our farewell dinner (not to be confused with farewell dinner on the ship) was held on top of the hill overlooking the harbor. We took the funicular to the summit. The Fløibanen is a funicular railway in the Norwegian city of Bergen. It connects the city centre with the mountain of Fløyen, with its mountain walks and magnificent views of the city. It is Bergen's major tourist attraction.

This is the entrance to the funicular. I have been on similar inclines in Pittsburg and Hong Kong.

Here is a view of the funicular and Bergen Harbor below.

We had dinner at the Floien restaurant. This is the restaurant at the summit of Mt Floyen. We were served fresh Norwegian poached salmon. The fish was magnificent. The Norwegians salmon is farm raised in the fjords. The government tests the water quality weekly to insure there is no pollution

On Sunday we had breakfast at the Radisson Blu hotel. Baked beans are back. Yum. We went on our own walking tour to the Leprosy and Dementia museum. It may seem a strange choice for our last day in Bergen but it was very interesting and educational as well as very sad.

Norway was in the forefront of studying the leprosy disease. They eventually determined it was caused by a bacillus and not passed on through heredity as previously suspected.

We had lunch at the harbor at the delightful Fish Me restaurant. Our table was on the water. We stretched our lunch into two plus hours of cocktailing, dining and people watching. The fish was magnificent.

On our walk back to our hotel our friend Peter Fisher (Pulpit Rock) texted me and reminded me to look for a pub that was built to look like the interior of a ship. He advised it was in the row of historic buildings on the harbor. We looked inside the first pub we passed and there it was, the interior on the ship. The name of the pub is Sjoboden. It has been at this site for 900 years. It is difficult for Americans to comprehend that amount of history. The pilgrims landed in Plymouth only 402 years ago.

Sjoboden has been getting sailors drunk for over 900 years.

This is the interior of Sjoboden. Is has been built to look like the interior of a sailing ship.

Enjoying a pint at the Sjoboden. Family members might recognize the portrait over my shoulder. It looks like Elmer Pooler smoking his pipe.

This is the end. The end of our travels in Sweden and Norway. I am impressed with this lovely country. The people are polite and hard working. They respect the environment and live for outdoor activities. Half of all the shops sell camping, hiking, skiing and other outdoor activity equipment. As long as the Gulf Stream keeps sending warm waters north and the oil and gas fields don’t dry up, Norway has a brilliant future.

On Monday we depart the hotel at 11:15 am and fly from Bergen to Reykjavik to then on to Chicago. If all goes as planned we will arrive in Chicago around 6:30 pm.

Our next adventure is already planned for September 2023 when we will cruise on a similar Ponant small ship around Scotland. Our good friend Mary Berkeley will join us. Until then - be well.

This is our final photo of the blog. Priscilla took this on a back street in Bergen. The bright blue sky is in contrast to everything we had heard about the weather in Bergen.