Tuesday, June 25, 2024
We left Balestrand this morning and took the same ferry from Dragsvik to Hella, where we stayed on the ferry and continued across the big fjord to Vangsnes. We drove 15 minutes along the fjord to the town of Vik; this would be our last opportunity to view the mighty Sognefjord.
We tried to find the Stave church in the town but the roads leading to it were closed (due to construction). So we settled for visiting the Hove Stone Church, a Romanesque structure from 1170. It’s one of the oldest stone buildings in Norway. We admired the exterior, as the interior was not yet open today.
Our last ferry crossing.
Below, Hove Stone Church.
We then left the fjord behind and drove up over the Vikafjellsvgen, another road over a high mountain plateau. This one was dotted with small lakes and many structures that appeared to be summer vacation cabins. Unfortunately, there were lots of power lines, so we didn’t take many photos.
Our last fjord view, looking down toward Vik.
Near the summit of the Vikafjellsvgen.
Nice waterfall right
next to the road.
We drove down to the tourist center of Voss (passing many tourist buses on the Norway in a Nutshell route) and then turned west and took a highway that followed the main railroad line to Bergen. After the challenge of parking our car near our hotel, located adjacent to the Bryggen (the historic harbor district and a UNESCO site), we set out to explore the very busy town. After the quiet fjords, seeing this many people was almost a shock!
We wandered along the waterfront near the old buildings of the Hanseatic Quarter and then walked to the 12th century fortress. We first visited the impressive Håkons Hall, which features a magnificent room from the 13th century used for Royal events. There was also information about the destruction of the fortress during the Second World War and its subsequent rebuilding.
Hakon’s Hall exterior, left, detail, right, and interior below.
Top photo, the stone part of the Bryggen.
We went next door to the seven story Rosekrantz Tower, built in 1240, where we had a stupendous view of Bergen from the top level, next photo.
This nice carving was in the Rosenkrantz Tower, left, and fortress courtyard, right.
After that, we wandered through the back streets of the Bryggen, until we got to the Cathedral, which, disappointing for us, was not open and undergoing restoration. We wandered back to our hotel and enjoyed one of the outside cafes near the waterfront since the cruise ships crowds were somewhat diminished from earlier.
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
We woke up to a sunny day and are looking forward to going up the Floyen funicular. But when we got back from breakfast, there was fog on top of the funicular. We cooled our heels waiting for the fog to lift and when it looked like it would, we took off on a ten minute walk to the lower funicular station. We rode the funicular about five minutes or so up to Floien/Floyen and by then the fog was gone. So the terrace offered stupendous views of Bergen below us. The funicular is in the lower right corner of the top photo.
We took a short walk through a forest to a small lake where children were paddling around in canoes. We then walked back to the main area where we interacted with friendly cashmere goats before taking the funicular down to the lower station.
We walked along the cobbled street parallel to the main Bryggen street and went to the wonderful Bryggens Museum. The collection was discovered during excavations made after the last major fire in 1955 (we learned Bergen has burned at least thirty two times in its history!). The collection includes remains of very old buildings. There are also archeological finds of mostly everyday items. There are also fragments written in Runes which have been translated into English. These were everyday messages and such. They also were hosting a special exhibit to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the Norwegian “Law of the Land” which set basic legal rights, and pre-dated the Magna Carta, much to our surprise. This is an excellent museum.
A Hanseatic era building, above, Bryggen alley,
right, and book of the law of the land, below.
We next went to the Hanseatic Museum of Schøtstuene which contains original and reconstructed Hanseatic assembly and other buildings. The main branch of the museum is closed for restoration. But we did learn enough to appreciate the importance of the Hanseatic League in Bergen for over 500 years.
We then took a peek at St Mary’s Church, one of the few old stone buildings in Bergen.
After lunch near the harbor, we walked through the outdoor fish market (fisketorget) and we noticed the more upscale adjacent indoor fish market. From there, we wandered through the more modern part of the city, which also has some attractive old buildings. We saw a nice park, with a lake in the middle, a food truck court and the main railroad station, which is the terminus of the Norway in a Nutshell tour.
The main square in the “modern” town above, and a nice street near the train station and away from tourist crowds.
We walked some more through the modern downtown and found a curvy street that reminds of Lombard Street in San Francisco. Then we walked back to the harbor in the Bryggen and went back to our hotel to cool off (today’s temperature was in the mid-70s). We came back out and had a cool drink at one of the cafes near our hotel and then returned to the nearby Bryggen Fortress, where we explored its museum. It is a museum a military museum, not the sort of place we often visit. But it has excellent exhibits about the effects of World War II on Bergen and the efforts of the Norwegian resistance.
Three photos from our stroll this afternoon. Our hotel is visible on the far left of the bottom photo, with the green dome on top.
There were no cruise ships in town today so the really crowded city was easier to navigate than yesterday.
We then decided to have one more seaside beer and talk about our time in Norway before having a lovely dinner away from the tourist area. Tomorrow we fly to Finland.
We enjoyed time at one of these cafés both afternoons.
Here is a map of the places we visited in Bergen.