Bergen – first impressions

As I covered in my FB post we had a stress free journey here on Sunday and we’re safely and happily on our apartment by 2pm. The local pizza was really very good and we are keeping a return visit in reserve for later in the week.

Today was our first opportunity to get a feel for Bergen so we opted for a (mostly) random wander about after breakfast. These 2 buildings were the first aim.

One of the little joys of our location is that there is a teeny, tiny ferry (via a 12 seater electric boat) from our side of the harbour to the other. The ‘driver’ was a chatty, nice young man who told us of his recent month in Aberdeen – “what were you doing there?”, we asked – “oh driving boats” he replied, “it is always driving boats”. The pictures are of the actual boat and a shot of the quay where we boarded by the Nykirk,

A swift and short walk took us to the Rosenkrantz Tower which (a) has had a ‘very’ interesting history and (b) has that history very well presented.

The last picture there was Haakon’s Halle – we had wanted to visit but, sadly, it closed today for a private function. Shame but we may try again later in the week.

Next was a short walk to the Bryggen – the old part of Bergen and a main tourist attraction. We weren’t that impressed as it was very similar to the Royal Mile in Edinburgh – basically interesting and historical but plagues with ‘tat’ shops AND, it is fair to say, a significant number of said tourists.

After a coffee stop that was still in the busy area we detoured to back streets and found ourselves mostly alone on very quiet streets around the Cathedral – a much better idea of old Bergen.

Sadly the cathedral was closed – it seems to open for just a couple of hours every Friday so no good for us. Still an impressive building though.

We walked back up to the apartment via a really quite good coffee shop that also had sandwiches where lunch was taken and then to Vinmonopolet. All alcohol sales in Norway are via the state and this is one of the shops here in Bergen. It is fabulous – such a wide range of almost every alcoholic drink you could imagine. Prices are Norwegian (high) but reasonable in that context and we were chuffed to see a wide range of English Sparkling wine.

Back then to the apartment for a rest and to dodge the rain (again – I know!). Once it was dry we headed to the nearest reasonable supermarket but took a random walk around the immediate area and were well impressed.

So tonight we dine in with a mixed charcuterie platter of cheese & meats and a good Portuguese red. If there is a patisserie tradition in Bergen we haven’t yet found it so no pudding.

First impressions are good – ignore the obvious tourist magnets and use common sense and curiosity to find the ‘real’ Bergen. Tomorrow is an open book – the weather forecasts (I check 5 including the Norwegian one) have all been wrong about today – so we will plan as we go. The only definite is meeting one of my old pals from work back in the late 80s.