Bergen
In Bergen, we were awestruck by the hundreds of years of history all packed into one seaside town.
If you read my last post, you’ll know that recently, I have been revisitng some travel memories from way back when we could travel. Here is the adventure we had in Bergen…
After we got to Bergen, we checked into the hotel, and then we headed to take half of the Rick Steves self-guided tour. We plowed through the beautiful old Bryggen area, which is mostly toppling over or leaning, but still pretty. It reminded me of Nyhavn, in Copenhagen, or the neat rows of houses on Akersveien in Oslo. Only one side of the area is not toppling. That side was constructed recently as a facade to cover up the ugly hotel behind it, which would ruin the whole aesthetic. You can also go in be
tween the rows of houses, where there are shops and spots for photos. It can almost seem like walking in between the buildings could kill you- some of them are tipping so much they look like they are about to fall over! This makes sense because the oldest structures date back to 1702!
After taking in the pretty street, we headed to St. Mary’s Church. The church has a nice exterior. It doesn’t look so old, but it turns out that it dates back to the 1130s or 1140s! It looks new because it was restored for five years from 2010 to 2015. It’s so crazy to stand there, taking in and admiring that beautiful church and to think that hundreds of years ago people stood in the same spot admiring the same incredible architecture.
Then, we walked over to Bergenhus Festning (or Bergenhus Fortress). The Fortress also has buildings dating back far in history- some buildings are as old as the 1240s. The grounds are quite big and fun to explore. I enjoyed taking in the view of the water, the boats, and the other side of Bergen. Once again, I was awed by the idea that I was standing in an area that dated so far back in history.
After admiring the Fortress, we headed to the touristy fish market, like the one in Helsinki. But before we got there, it started to rain. It rains a lot in Bergen. According to the Rick Steves guide, there is a saying in Norway, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.” I disagree- we had bad weather. Still, I give it to the Norwegians for being so positive! Luckily, the fish market was covered, so we could escape the rain. There were bright stands and lots of fishy delicacies! We got some great fish and called it a day.
The next day, we took a walk up Fløyfjellet, a “city mountain” in Bergen. We had lots of fun walking up. We brought sandwiches for lunch from Godt Brod Korskirken, a local bakery. And of course, we brought our raincoats! The hike offered beautiful views. We also wandered around and found a park that had a zipline! It was fun to do and definitely worth the climb. 
The best part about the hike was that it wasn’t really touristy. The tourists all took the cable car up to the top for the views, so we got to hike along with the local families. It felt like an experience you would only get if you lived in Bergen, so it was pretty cool that we got to do it even though we were just visitors. And of course, the views at the top are breathtaking! Even though we didn’t do much that day, it took up a lot of time because we really stopped to smell the roses- or ride the ziplines- and take in our last day in Scandinavia.
STAY TUNED FOR MY ADVENTURES IN DUBLIN!
