Bergen

We arrive in Bergen, the second largest city in Norway with a population of about 265,000. Summer goes from June to August and never gets dark. It rains one out of three days in Bergen, we are very lucky with temps of almost 30 degrees and a robin’s egg blue sky.

The whole city is beautiful and the architecture is a reflection of its prosperous past as an important centre of commerce during the days of the Hanseatic League. A small sampling of the original, colourful wooden houses of Bryggen remain, most of them have burnt down over time.

There are many other highlights, like the lively outdoor fish market where moose, elk and whale meat can be bought, in addition to every type of fish and seafood known to man.  We spend several hours just strolling through the centre of town, up and down both the better and the lesser known streets. Later in the day we take the Floibanen funicular to the top of Mount Floyen. We are sharing this port stop with 7,600 of our closest cruising friends and man it’s crowded, the lineup for the funicular is about 45 minutes each way.  The views from the top are simply spectacular.

Back on the ship we have reservations at Prego, the Italian specialty restaurant. This is a meal to savour; we have a beautiful dinner of Carpaccio, Parma Ham with Cheese, three types of pasta and a Tuscan style steak, washed down with a delicious Supertuscan. Our waiter brings us a little anniversary cake, a wonderful end to a wonderful meal.  Tonight we skip the shows and go to be at a decent time, we arrive in Flam at 6:30 am tomorrow.