Day 1 - Tuesday 7/16/2019 - Explore Historic Bergen, Norway
We woke up 9:40AM because I miss set the alarm (it was sat for Wed Thurs Friday only...). We got ready and decided to go ahead and move the two suitcases over to the Zander K hotel for keeping. They will be holding our suitcases since we will be taking the ferry to Balestrand tomorrow and staying the night. We decided to calltaxi for 10:30AM and it picked us up about 10:40AM instead of carrying the suitcases to Zander K. Now seeing the town in the daylight! Our street was so awesome. Narrow with cobblestones and flowers everywhere! So neat!
We got the bags dropped off no problem and then proceeded to walk to the Bryggen area to see the historic Hanseatic area and buildings. They were every neat! Bryggen was an UNESCO site as one of the best preserved Hanseatic areas left. The Hanseatic people were German traders and set up four main trade offices around north Europe and Bergen was one of the offices. Some of the buildings were from the early 1700s while others were built in the mid 1950s after a fire. We took a tour of Bryggen from the Hanseatic Museum and Schøtstuene which was well worth it. They were able to explain why the builders were setup like they were and how the Hanseatic people lived and why they chose to trade in Bergen. We then headed to the ‘Fish and Flowers Market’ that was full of vendors that sold fresh fish and seafood. Most of them also had a kitchen and sitting area for you to eat the catch you just bought. While in Norway, we had to have salmon and enjoyed salmon sashimi as well as a fish skewer. The day was beautiful and very sunny which is a rarity in Bergen from what I hear. We then headed back to the apartment to pick up Emily’s jacket (we might need it later in the day) and charge phones.
We got the bags dropped off no problem and then proceeded to walk to the Bryggen area to see the historic Hanseatic area and buildings. They were every neat! Bryggen was an UNESCO site as one of the best preserved Hanseatic areas left. The Hanseatic people were German traders and set up four main trade offices around north Europe and Bergen was one of the offices. Some of the buildings were from the early 1700s while others were built in the mid 1950s after a fire. We took a tour of Bryggen from the Hanseatic Museum and Schøtstuene which was well worth it. They were able to explain why the builders were setup like they were and how the Hanseatic people lived and why they chose to trade in Bergen. We then headed to the ‘Fish and Flowers Market’ that was full of vendors that sold fresh fish and seafood. Most of them also had a kitchen and sitting area for you to eat the catch you just bought. While in Norway, we had to have salmon and enjoyed salmon sashimi as well as a fish skewer. The day was beautiful and very sunny which is a rarity in Bergen from what I hear. We then headed back to the apartment to pick up Emily’s jacket (we might need it later in the day) and charge phones.
We were there about 20 minutes and headed back out at 2:45PM. Our apartment was on the land between the two harbors in Bergen and you had to climb up a hill and partially down the side to get it to our apartment from the tourist area but the city was very pretty and pleasant to walk in. We then headed to the Fløibanen Funicular and a trip mount Fløyen which was 320 meters above Bergen. We had a bit of a wait because of the crowds but the views were worth it! They even had a small heard of goats up there for brush control (the sign said so). We enjoyed some ice cream at the top and headed back down at 4:45PM.
We then attempted to go to the Bergen fortress (Bergenhus Festning), but the inside of it closed at 4:00PM and we could only see the grounds. Several of the building were from the 1200s. The tower was under refurbishment during this time. We then shopped a bit in the Bryggen area and got dinner at a brewery near the food market area called Bryggeriet. Not bad at all! Emily has a massive pile of clams! I had pan fried Hake which was good as well. We then headed back to the apartment arriving at 7:45. We did a load of laundry, showered and called it a night at 10:30PM.
Safe Travels,
B&E
Safe Travels,
B&E