We didn’t leave the ship until around 10:45 this morning to venture into Bergen.  My husband decided to turn on his cell service today since we were going to be in a big city and I’m glad he did.  We used it several times while walking around the city.  

The first destination was the fish market or torget (as it is called here).  We wandered through the stalls outside marveling at all the different types of seafood you could purchase including whale!  There were also several stands with elk and moose meat as well as donuts, ice cream, and other international foods.  We missed the indoor market at first, but wandered through on the way back to the ship. It was very crowded and tough to navigate.  It was mostly for people to sit and eat.  

We then walked to the Bryggen dock with all the wooden houses. Several of the houses were under renovation.  It was neat because you could look in the windows to see what they were doing.  In one of the houses you could see the long wooden beams with bark still attached being fitted.  I can’t read Norwegian, but it appeared that the houses were leaning too much and had to be straightened.  I would guess that it may have something to do with being right on the salt water and the fact that the houses were built in the 1700s.  We wandered around the alley ways looking into the shops.  We passed a bakery that smelled delicious, so we went inside and bought a cinnamon roll.  It was very doughy and different from the twisted one we had in Flam.  I liked the twisted one better, but this bready one was tasty too. 

We headed to the Rosenkranz Tower and the Hakonshallen museum. The whole area is a military base of operations, but you can go in the tower for about $14. The museum was closed when we were there.  We did not go in the tower, but we wandered around the gardens and the smell of lilacs permeated everything.  It’s my favorite.  

Our next stop was St. Mary’s Church, which was opened in 1178.  I wish I could tell you what the inside looked like, but there was a wedding taking place and it was mobbed with people. 

We continued to the Mount Floyen funicular.  There was a very long line and we stopped for a few minutes to decide if we wanted to spend time waiting. The line seemed to move quickly, so we took a chance. Once we got to the line I remembered that you could get tickets online and it was supposed to be cheaper.  It was not, but we did not have to wait to buy tickets.  The line to get on the funicular looked really long as well, but we waited maybe 5 minutes and got right on the next ride up the mountain.

The views from the top are spectacular.  We could see everything clearly, including the seven mountains that surround Bergen.  We decided to hike over to a lake that was up on the top.  It only took about 10-15 minutes.  We almost took a much more difficult trail back, but turned around last minute and stuck to the trail we already tread.  The lake was calm and you could see right to the bottom. There were a few ducks swimming.  After returning to the area near the funicular, we sat for a few minutes for a phone call.  There was a store, cafe, ice cream shop, and playground for the kids.  There were several hiking trails and one went all the way to the city center (it was about 3km). 

On the way back to the boat we wandered through the fish market again.  I thought I might want to try something, but the crowds were even thicker than before and I was not craving anything I saw.  The other neat thing we saw in Bergen was a converted telephone booth into a lending library. The city itself was very beautiful and I enjoyed the winding streets lined with cobblestones.