Bergen September 2024 – part 3

Yesterday (Wednesday) was something quite rare in Bergen according to residents – a warm, sunny day. It seemed rude to come all the way to Bergen and not take account of one of the most famous locals the composer Edvard Grieg. His house (now a museum) is in Troldhaugen which was, in his day, a very rural spot and, these days, is an upmarket residential area.

The journey out was easy on the Light Rail tram that goes to the airport followed by an uphill walk for about a mile or so.

The house is, like many, made of wood and was, in fact a summer house. The location on the water’s edge was just lovely and it was so quiet & peaceful.

Edvard was quite a small chap – only 5 feet tall – and the statue was life size. Nina (his wife ) was even smaller! The tour was, necessarily given the compact house, a guided tour and 20 of us seemed a little too many. I lingered in each room until most folk had dispersed.

The house is pretty much as it would have been – Grieg himself died in 1907 but Nina lasted until 1935 and spent a lot of time at the house.

All the walls were were covered with drawings and photos of the Griegs and many of their famous (and not so famous) friends.

Outside there is a performance space with a grass roof artfully hidden in the hillside. Sadly closed for the winter season as of the day before we went so no performances.

The composing ‘hut’ where much of his writing happened is right by the lake of course. Well nigh impossible to get a decent photo but the following give a clue

All in all a very entertaining visit and a good start to them day. We returned to Bergen, took lunch in a small cafe/patisserie and returned to the apartment for a rest. In the evening we spent a good couple of hours in a bar by the harbour with my pal Mel. It has been such an unexpected treat to ‘bump into her’ in this way and we hope to meet up again this evening for our last night celebration meal.