August 9

We toured the second largest city in Norway today, Bergen.  There are 250,000 people living here and it is really like a living history museum.  It is considered Norway’s most international city and most prices in the shops are shown in many currencies. When you sail into the harbor, there are houses on the hillsides, most with the distinctive red roofs.  

We took the hop on hop off bus (which had wifi by the way!) all around the city, then got off in the most historic area and also where the wonderful fish market is.  You can pick your own crabs, lobster, or almost any other type of fish and they will cook it on the spot for you. Notice the huge pot of sauteed peppers to go with your dish.

Those crabs are enormous.  As you can see above the fish market sign, they sell bologna type sticks of moose, elk, reindeer and whale.  We had samples but didn’t buy any!

The other thing we saw on one of the side streets was this stand selling hot dogs made from every type of meat you can imagine, lamb, reindeer, etc.  You get the idea.  We didn’t have one of those either.

One of the most interesting areas is the Hanseatic wharf Bryggen.  There is a row of the old wooden structures that house wonderful shops of all kinds and if you wander in the alleys between them, there are even more working shops.  There was a lovely purse made of moose skin, and I almost bought it but then I felt sorry for the moose.  As I said, they take all types of currency!

Norm fell in love with a troll.  They are plentiful here.  

St. Mary’s church is one of the oldest buildings in the city, it is from the 12th century and survived the many great fires that took place here.

There are some lovely little narrow streets that are cobblestone and wind down between the houses. And beautiful parks and gardens.