Bergen, Norway, during the summer for Neal, finally

Neal, my son, has visited here a few times, but always in winter darkness. This summer, he finally got to SEE Bergen, during the day, along with all the tourist attractions! He and 3 friends came over, and we really did ALL the tourist stuff.

Let's see: Neal and Danny wanted to hike, so we did the hike from Ulriken to Fløyen over Vidden. The weather forecast was wrong! The first 4 hours we were in dense salt fog, so got no distant vistas. But we got salt water facials! Once we got to the lakes that are used for drinking water for Bergen, we finally got to see something.



Another hike was up Stoltzekleiven, and then over to Fløyen and down. You MUST watch the video on that link! Stoltzekleiven is just about straight up the mountainside, so steep that most of the way has steps. One segment is called Melkesyren, or Lactic Acid, for the burn in your legs. At the summit is a giant arrow and a fantastic view.



Coming down to Fløyen, we stopped at the kids' climbing park and took a couple of rides on the zipline. Being big people, we had to keep our feet up to avoid the ground - but it was my first zipline ride! Yay!


Two of Neal's friends from Vienna spent the weekend here, and I took all of them to Cornelius Restaurant. There are videos at the bottom of that link - check it out! It is an experience, with a boat trip out to the island (which has no name on Google Maps), then a multi-course dinner with wine pairings and descriptions of everything by the servers and sommelier. The windows look over underwater lights and the dock. There's an aquarium with a connection to the sea so you can see what you're eating.

The four of them went to see Hardangerfjord, the Hardangervidda Nature Center, and Vøringsfossen Waterfall on Sunday. Again, fog, but it cleared up JUST for the 20 minutes that they were to see the giant waterfall. They said the food was great in the museum, too.

They toured Haakon's Hall and Rosenkrantz Tower. (No sign of Guildenstern...) Cornish Pasties kept our energy up. We found Arven gold and silver factory and workshop while wandering around there, and Neal bought a beautiful silver espresso spoon. He needed to replace the cheap tourist one he had that broke. Great find!

We hiked up Fløyen. We all ate at the Fish Market multiple times. We cooked in the apartment and had cozy evenings. It was grand!
Goats at work, clearing the undergrowth on Fløyen

Standing in front of the outdoor swimming in the fjord pool on Nordnes

Neal and Danny and I did the Hanseatic Museum guided tour, which is now outdoors through Bryggen and back behind to Schøtstuene. The Hanseatic League ruled commerce for centuries in this whole part of the world. Only men, and only German men at that, were allowed. There were some tensions...

Fantoft Stave Church was built in 1150, moved to Bergen in 1883, then burned down by arson in 1992. It was rebuilt exactly as original, so we can all still enjoy it.

Another of my favorite museums is the Leprosy Museum. This is where they finally figured out what caused leprosy.  The history is full of stories.

We three took the light rail and a bus and a ferry to the Ole Bull Museum on his island, Lysøen. It was a lovely day. We hiked up to the tower at the high point, before the tour of the fanciful villa.

What an imagination Ole Bull had to build such a villa!
Gamle Bergen, or Old Bergen, is a reconstructed old town, including such delights as a dentist's office from before electricity!


They put on little plays in the streets. Here is a snooty woman and a working woman having a philosophical disagreement. Loved it!

As a special added bonus, I had American friends who used to work at WesternGeco come visit Bergen. We met at the Bergen Aquarium, surrounded by a zillion toddlers. It seems that everyone has had babies since we worked together!
Walking through the underwater tunnel


Comments

  1. Hi Pilla! I met up with Dale Wilen and Joe Clark yesterday for lunch. Both are doing well and both have lost a lot of weight, they are healthy, happy and were wondering how you are doing. Miss you.

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  2. Ernie Z was here! Love the photos.

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