Day 11 6 August Bergen

We got up early for our 7.30 am bus tour of Bergen. As it turned out the early one was the best as it maximised our time in the port.

We did learn that the town had been burnt down time after time and some of the wooden buildings were rebuilt on the ashes of previously destroyed ones which meant that the foundations weren’t great and some of the buildings have a distinct lean.

In 1944 a vessel in the harbour carrying explosives blew up, ultimately destroying 208 buildings and shattering all the windows in the town, causing blindness amongst many people. The customs house. The Rosenkrantz Tower and Haakon’s Hall were all damaged and had to be later restored.  Part of the anchor of the ship was found on top of the mountain which has since been dedicated as a memorial to the victims.

We finished at 9.00 am and headed to the funicular which would take us above Bergen.

The theater in Bergen. Theatre had an important function in developing national Norwegian cultural identity.

The goats are pretty chilled.

The goats had names like FBIs most wanted. One seemed to be stalking an Asian lass who was photographing it.

After spectacular views and getting up close and personal with some goats with GPS, we headed for the Bryggens (Pier) Museum. Here was the archaeological history of the area and there was a special exhibit on the 750 years of laws in Norway. 

A very modern museum. The blacked out area in the AV presentation indicates how much of Bergen was burnt out. They had fires ALL of the time. You would think they would have learnt.

Our last stop, dating back to 1240, was the Bergenhus fortress, one of the oldest and best preserved, stone fortifications in Norway.  It consisted of narrow passageways, a dungeon and 91 steep and narrow steps both go up and down.

The latest in medieval wear.

The Norwegian King who had to flee when the Germans invaded in 1940.

Lunch was an American hot dog and cheese steak sandwich, but we had done lots of steps to justify it.

We sailed from Bergen today and had a talk on the geology of the Scandinavian area by an American professor which illustrated that the cruise is aimed at Americans. I won’t be returning to watch his talks; Wikipedia will be better.

Our Bergen highlight.