Well today was our final port in the beautiful country of Norway. Or should we say the coldest day in Bergen with some rain, sleet, and snow. Yes….snow. With the temperatures in the 40's it was no surprise to see passing snow showers during the day, along with some clearing and a bit of sun as well. A mixed bag. Bergen happens to be the rainiest city in Norway and the second largest one next to Oslo.
The Zuiderdam arrived to the port before 9am, and was docked shortly afterwards. The skies were partly cloudy, but it was cold. For some reason, we did not recognize this dock at all. Obviously we were in a different place than we used to dock. Once secured, we watched as truckloads of deliveries come and were off-loaded. We can say for a fact there were tons of fresh produce, in particular, many flats of berries came out of the trucks and onto the ship. The snow showers did not stop the workers at all.
Set in a coastal landscape, Bergen has to be one of the prettiest cities in Europe. An ancient seafaring trade had elevated the city to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. The most photographed part of this city has to be the waterfront district of Bryggen with a row of old wooden buildings used as warehouses at one time. Today these wooden warehouses are home to artisan boutiques, restaurants, and even hotels. And as always seems to happen when we visit, some of the buildings were covered up for restoration.
Of course there were some tours here such as Bergen on foot & Mt. Floien by funicular and the Fish Market for $110 for 3 hours. A walk through Bergen and a visit to an ice bar was $75 for 3 hours, while Easy Bergen with a panoramic ride was $80 for 2 hours. A longer tour for 7 ½ hours was Hardangerfjord & Highlands for $200 with a lunch. Mt. Floien hiking was $85 for 4 hours, while a fjord and glacier seaplane flight was $700 for 1 ¼ hours. Flight time was actually 40 minutes. There were some participants since we saw the meeting time on the TV.
Thinking Bergen would be milder weather compared to yesterday in the fjords, we were wrong. When we saw the snow coming down, we knew to bundle up again and even pack the umbrellas. Docked portside today, we could watch the guests going off and saw one man with walking sticks and wearing shorts. What was he thinking? At one point, he turned around and came back on the gangway, we assume to dress warmer. As we already said, we were not in a familiar pier, and without any maps, we had to rely on other guests coming back as to where to head to find downtown and the Fish Market area. It was somewhat of a walk but do-able.
One good aspect of parking in a different spot was the fact we saw more of the town than we had on past visits. Back on the previous cruises, we had taken tours and had no time to explore the city. Now we walked to a pedestrian area that included many old historic buildings that led to a huge fountain by the name of Lille Lungegardsvenn. Several museums lined this central fountain as well as Bergen Kunsthall and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.
Not sure of the direction we needed to head for the Bryggen area, we asked some fellow cruise guests if they knew the way. They said turn left and we will find it. That brought us to a pedestrian street with some restaurants….one of which was Peppe's Pizza. How about that? Never even thought to look for another one here, but we were glad to find it. And yes, we would come back later. This avenue happened to have many high-end stores that you see in every big city. Just a few blocks away , we found the Information Shop, up an elevator on the second level of the Fish Market. This was what we really needed – a good map of the city and surrounds. Forget the cell phone download, a real map is much better.
The last few times we were here, the first time in 1996 and the second time 2006, it was summertime and the outdoor Fish and Flower Market was set up at the end of the harbor. Today the tents were gone, and there were only a few food trucks and vendors. One vendor was helpful when we asked where the tents were. He said that only happens in the warmer summer months. We continued on walking around the wharf and towards the old warehouses, some of which were covered for restoration. Kind of messes up the complete photo we wanted to get. There was a huge, masted vessel in the harbor which made for better pictures. We did notice that one of the wooden houses had a Radisson Blu sign on it. Never thought they had such a small hotel until we went around the side and saw the real hotel extended to the back street. The front of the hotel was just a façade.
Hiking further on this upper street we did find the entrance to the funicular to the top at Mt. Floien. We have done that twice, but while on a tour. Curious as to the price to ride it one way, we found it was 85 Kroner or about $8 USD. We heard from Heo and Greg that they had done the ride and made it to the top just in time with the sun out. As they left, the snow passed over and blocked any view of the city down below. From here we went back downhill and towards the Fish Market.
That's when friends Jim and Jessica ran into us and we compared notes. They agreed that we were in a different dock and the walk was not a good one for them since Jim relies on a sturdy walker/chair to get around. There was a van back at the pier available for people using wheelchairs, and at first they were told they did not qualify for a free ride to here. That meant that Jessica would have to push Jim all the way to town, some of it uphill. Finally, they relented and took them both to town. Sad that you have to fight for this service. While chatting, we agreed that the ports in Norway had been the most expensive ones on this entire trip. They had paid $24 USD for two very large oysters for lunch, which was good they said, but not that good. As we were talking, it began to hail, enough to catch some of the ice in your hands. Jokingly, Jim caught a hunk of ice and put it in his mouth, saying that would be the only thing in Norway that was free. He was so right. Love his sense of humor.
Now all we needed to do was find our way back to where we saw Peppe's Pizza, which we did locate on a busy corner. By now, this area was bustling with people shopping and school kids catching buses. Several ho-ho buses were out and about as well. It was wonderful ducking into the warm restaurant and ordering two draft beers. Looking around, we realized that many locals and tourists such as us like Italian cuisine. It sure is good on a cold chilly day, like comfort food. We ordered the large pepperoni pizza once again, and it was just as tasty as the first and second ones we enjoyed this past week. And we doubt we will come across this chain in the upcoming ports in Scotland, Ireland and The Azores.
Heading back, we took more photos of the many impressive buildings in downtown that we had missed on the walk here. Docked in the Jekteviken Pier, the Zuiderdam was close to the ferry port with a large ship in that spot. Running into hosts Luisa and Gene, they said they had been here recently while hosting other cruises, and they had been docked closer to the Bryggen area of town, close to all of the main attractions. We're just guessing, but we think HAL saved some money putting us out this far away. There was no other cruise ship in that closer pier as far as we could tell. Anyway, we were back home by 3:30pm.
Warming up in our room, we watched the sail away from our veranda after the all aboard time of 5:30pm. Leaving the Bergen area, we passed under another long bridge and many towns and villages. The ship was still in the series of fjordens with different names during our dinnertime, and finally reached the open sea by 9:30pm. Now that we are headed southwest, we expect a time change of one hour back soon. And believe us, with so many exhilarating ports in a row, we need that extra hour back as well as a day at sea. Wish it was more.
The dining room dinner menu offered the last of the Norwegian specialties, but for those who really liked the cuisine booked the "Norwegian Dinner" in the Pinnacle Grill. They will have their fill of everything fish. We were happy with simple appetizers of hot chicken noodle soup and salads as well as mains of one chicken Kiev and a traditional turkey meal with cranberry sauce. Barb stuck to mainly appetizers for her whole dinner, with a few shrimp on a bed of linguine for her main. As she normally does, the shrimp is the only part of the meal she will eat. Joking as he often does, Heo said Barb must have been a penguin in her former life since she loves so much seafood. Good thing she likes penguins, or she may have thrown her napkin at him. Dessert for us was coffee yogurt – perfect end to a fun day.
The fellows were on their way to the show with a repeat performance by comedian Sid Davis with an all- new show. They enjoyed the first one and looked forward to this one tonight. Better than the World Stage being "dark" as in no show. By the way, we had an amusing message from the hotel manager explaining the reason we were out of pillow chocolates. We had to laugh, since he said they had no luck trying to get substitute chocolates in Norway. Since they knew the supply was running out, why didn't they look for a substitute while in Belgium, one of the biggest "chocolate" countries in the world??? Duh….. Now they are hoping for shipments in Scotland, Ireland, or the Azores. Bet they get the delivery in Ft. Lauderdale…….
Really going to like a day at sea tomorrow.
Bill & Mary Ann
