After breakfast at the hotel we decided to do the hop-on hop-off bus, or the Ho-Ho bus as Marian dubbed it. These are always a good way to get a quick feel for a city, and so it was this time, but only of central Bergen. This town is all chopped up by mountains and inlets so you could only get the feel of the whole thing by driving for days.
The bus was nearly empty because, the driver explained, there are no cruise ships in port. "Bergen is a village when no cruise ships are here," he said. Dominating the parts of the port we saw were a fleet of huge, red fishing boats.
Also saw old warehouses reflected,
And an odd statue of Henrik Ibsen in front of the theater where he worked as director and producer in the early years of his career.
After a break for planning we decided to visit the aquarium. We hit it just in time for the sea lion show: some trained California Sea Lions being put through their tricks.
And a penguin chick being weighed,
And other aquarium stuff.
"Oh yeah, been there, done that."
To get back to "our" end of the bay we took a tiny ferry boat.
After a rest break we walked a couple of blocks to the Floibanen, a tramway up a steep hill to a restaurant and view area.
Looking up from our corner to the Floi view area upper right.
The first part of the run is in a tunnel under those houses.
The track is said to be only 26° but it feels like 45°.
From the top: super humongo panorama of Bergen, click and scroll. The part of Bergen we're in is around the long inlet on the right (Our hotel is at the lower right corner of the inlet.)
Down from the mountaintop, we strolled behind the Bryggen looking at roofs.
And back along the front again.
The evening plan: attend an organ concert at the Domkirke.
We were early for this, and walked around the church, which meant walking up and along a hillside. There are houses much higher up. The rock is some kind of shale, but the layers are tilted almost vertical. The whole cliff is studded with bolts, presumably rods driven into the hill to hold it together.
On the slope the houses are jammed in tight to fit the limited building space.
Property lines confused a little?
Inside the cathedral is quite plain, as befits Lutherans. (The State Church of Norway is a Lutheran denomination.)
However the organ has a face!
Fortunately it sounded better than its expression. We enjoyed the concert.
Afterward, about 9pm (and still hours from sunset) we walked into the open-air fish market and had plates of fish and new potatoes.
For lots more pictures (of sea lions and penguins and boats and buildings) than are posted here, visit the Smugmug gallery.
No comments:
Post a Comment