Bergen

Getting a bit slack but only writing one blog for Bergen. After a few early starts we our finding the days are long, maybe the hectic pace of the last month is catching up on us.

FRIDAY
From Balestrand we caught the Express boat to Bergen, a 4 hour trip. We got to see the rest of the picturesque  Sognefjord.

We arrived in the busy Bergen harbour close to midday and was able to check into our room immediately. The view from the room overlooks the harbour across to the old town of Bryggen and up to the top of Floien Mountain.

After getting our Bergen cards(I'm fast becoming a fan of these, free travel and free entry to museums). Wr walked through the Fish Market. Here you could buy raw whale meat. Kristin reckons you could see the Japanese tourists drooling!

Next we took the Funicular up to Floien. From here you have 180 degree panoramic views of Bergen and the fjord.

Next stop was the Leprosy  Museum, an old hospital where rhe lepers of Norway lived. The doctor A. Hansen worked here and nowadays leprosy is called Hansen's Disease. The museum was a bit underwhelming though.

Next we went to the small lake in the middle of the town, Lille Lungegardsvannet. Here they were setting up a light-show that starts at midnight Saturday, unfortunately we'll  probably  miss it as we have a 5:30 start Sunday.

On side of the lake is the Kode museum (really an Art Gallery). We went to 2 of the 4 galleries. In these we were able to see another 30+ works of Edvard  Munch, some Picasso's, Matisse, Cezzane, Gauguin and a few collections of notable Norwegian artists.

From there we went to Bryggen, the old town and sat on the street and had $12 beers!!

After wandering around we headed back to our hotel and had a break and some (cheaper?) beer ($5 a can!)  that we bought at the supermarket.

For dinner we had Ethiopian/Eritrean food at the Horn of Africa restaurant. We shared a dish that was a mix platter of all their mains. Really good food.

We explored the area around the restaurant and before we realised it was after 11 pm and beginning to rain (remarkably the weather was until then very pleasant, ~18°and warm, it is supposed to rain everyday in Bergen!). So we headed back to the hotel and off to sleep.

SATURDAY
After a bit of a sleep in and a chat to Lucy, Billy and Declan on Viber and a late breakfast (9:30) we set out to explore Bergen some more.

We headed up to the hill from our hotel to Johanneskirken ( St. John's Cathedral) via the National Stage (theatre). In this area,  there are 3 museums, the Maritime museum, the Cultural museum and the Natural History museum. We went to the first 2 but decided against the third. Worth the visits.

From there we headed to the old town and did a bit more exploring.

Then went to the Bryggen Museum, which had 2 very interesting temporary exhibitions. The first was about Runes and message sticks and name tags.
The second was from an artist called Karen Bit Vejles,  who's work was titled Scissors for a Brush. Over 40 pieces of art in papercut.

Next stop was the fortress, Bergenhus Festning and Rosenkrantz Tower. Up the top of the tower some great views. At the fortress they were setting up for a Rock concert tonight.

We decided to head back to the hotel for a recharge and on the way we ran into a Gay Pride march.

We will head out to dinner soon and try to have an early night.

Cheers,
A & K.