Bergen

We left Prague yesterday and flew to Oslo then to Bergen, Norway where it was raining cats and dogs! We have an attic room in the Admiral Hotel, no A/C but none needed. We quickly walked to a nearby restaurant and had a lovely seafood dinner.

Today we walked the downtown while shopping for base layers as we may not have prepared well for this leg of our adventure.

We then explored the UNESCO Heritage area of the harbor. The old town is called Bryggen with some of the buildings built in 1702. The old buildings are connected by large overhangs and roofs and they are filled with arts, crafts, and touristy stuff.  A few restaurants or cafes are nestled in as well.  We had a delightful lunch in one of them.

The harbor was guarded at one time by the Rosenkrantz Tower and fortress.  The oldest part of the building was built in 1270.  The way it looks today was built around 1563.  It was during this time that Denmark ruled over Norway.  In 1944 a cargo ship carrying explosives exploded next to the tower and collapsed the upper floors.  When reconstruction was started in 1960 they discovered the original construction of the tower.  This was what we saw on our walk through very narrow passages and cramped stairways.

A large festival is being held in the area around the tower called “Feelings Festival”.  We heard some of their music late into the night.

With the owner of Pinocchio’s 

Our friends, John and Susanna, met us for drinks after dinner at a delightful Bar and Restaurant called Pinoccio’s owned by an American chef and his Norwegian wife.  Highly recommend it!