The weather was starting to look better this morning. I woke up and took some photos and videos of the arrival into Bergen. The ship actually sails under a bridge to get to Bergen.
Once again I was the first guest off the ship (I’m serious). I took some pictures of the pickup trucks in the water. They are offshore supply ships, but they look like floating pickup trucks to me.
My target today was to go up in the Fløibanen funicular to a viewpoint overlooking Bergen and the harbor. There is a gondola further away that goes higher, however pictures would not come out as nice from there due to atmospheric conditions (further away = more atmosphere the light has to travel through).
I took some pictures of some of the buildings and statues along the way.
I reached the Fløibanen funicular shortly after they opened for the day. It was nice because there weren’t mobs of people in the car, or at the top.
The ride up took a while as the funicular stopped at intermediate stations, but eventually I reached the top.
When I was at the top I saw someone had stuck GoPro mounts on the handrail, so I mounted my GoPro to the mount and started a time lapse video of Bergen while I was taking photos.
I walked around the area at the top and decided to go check out the lake (it’s really not worth it).
The “troll forest” was overrated as well, and it was difficult to find and get to.
A few more photos at the top.
I headed back down the funicular to continue my adventure as I had a couple of other things I wanted to see while I was in Bergen.
On the way to my next location I walked through the UNESCO World Heritage site, Bryggen.
Today Bryggen is mostly a tourist trap with souvenir shops. It is still beautiful regardless. It’s worth walking around and it is very close to the harbor.
Not far beyond Bryggen I reached the Rosenkrantz Tower.
I bought a ticket and walked up the steps through the different exhibits. There was also a nice view at the top. It is not for those of you who are claustrophobic as the stairs are quite narrow.
The tower itself was badly damaged due to an exploding ship (accident) in 1944 and was rebuilt.
A few more pictures of the exhibits on the way down, then some exterior photos of the tower.
Next to the Rosenkrantz tower was Håkon´s Hall. I took a couple more photos outside of the other nearby buildings.
The banquet hall in the castle was very nice.
There was also an exhibit showing the damaged caused by the ship explosion in 1944 to Håkon´s Hall, the Rosenkrantz tower and surrounding buildings.
The basement was turned into a large meeting space.
I took some pictures of the outside of Håkon´s Hall.
I wandered around to the extent I could because part of the area was closed off for a concert or event. Near the end of the fortress there was a group of canons and a statue of King Håkon VII.
While wandering around I found a sign for a free museum, the Bergenhus Festnings museum (in English the Bergenhus Fortress Museum).
The main exhibits in the museum were dedicated to World War II and the Nazi occupation. There was even an enigma encryption machine in the museum, which was interesting because of the recent movie about Alan Turing and his success in not only breaking the code, but keeping it secret.
There was a nice model of the fortress and a few maps showing how it had changed over time.
I was told I could hike up the hill a bit further to the higher section of the fortress. The higher section of the fortress provided a nice view of a group of boat houses and a section of road that winds past a cliff.
On the way back I walked past Bryggen again and took some more pictures.
I even found a decorate manhole cover.
I had to take this picture of the US Embassy (McDonald’s) in such an old building.
I took some more pictures of the old buildings as I walked back to the ship.
Rather than walk directly back I took the more scenic route which went past the central lake.
There was also a small park area with more fountains and statues.
When I finally got back to the ship there really wasn’t any food options, so I ordered room service (free – and no delivery fee). I ordered a Caesar salad, Salmon with fries (normally comes with vegetables), and a piece of chocolate cake. I also had them bring iced tea and lemonade to make an Arnold Palmer.
I set up my GoPro to take a time lapse video of the sailaway and proceeded to the Magic Carpet for drinks and to enjoy the scenery as the ship left Bergen.
I had dinner at Normandie tonight. There are no pictures of dessert because I had a bit too many Colortinis to remember if even had dessert, but from the picture of the menu I think I did have the Cherries Jubilee and maybe also the strawberry angel food cake. I started with French Onion soup and escargot as usual. I had the Beef Tenderloin en croute (translation: Beef Wellington).
After dinner I enjoyed the entertainment / music while having a few more Colortinis.
Today’s timeline:
