Blast from the Past
Historic buildings and scenery in western Norway

We arrived on the "Norway in a Nutshell" train from Oslo at 8:30 pm in the brisk rain.
After suiting up, we walked to our hotel above the funicular station.

We stayed at Skansen Pensjonat, a pension uphill from the Fløibanen.		Our room was upstairs.
This was our room ($101 per night, including breakfast).  There was a sink in the room, but the toilet and shower were downstairs.		After dropping off our bags, we walked back down to town, got money out of the ATM, ate at McDonald's, got ice cream at the 7-11, and walked around the waterfront. We got back to our room around 10:15 pm.
After a late night, we had breakfast in the breakfast room at about 9 am. Breakfast was coffee or tea, orange juice or milk, boiled eggs (if you want them), butter, a basket of rolls/bread/crackers, and a platter of salami, cheese (Swiss and another kind), goat cheese (the brown Norwegian stuff), a little bowl of bread and butter pickles, strawberry jam, ham, and cucumber slices.  Yum!  (We ate for an hour!)		We set out to get tickets for the 11 am Bryggen walking tour, but it was full, so we booked for the 1 pm tour.  While we waited, we walked around. This is the Bergen local market hall.
The waterfront fish market was fun to walk around.  We saw whale meat being sold!
We walked all around the harbor to the aquarium.  The row of buildings on the right are the medieval Hanseatic quarter (and a UNESCO World Heritage site, of course!).
The Bryggen walking tour was AMAZING!  The woman in red was our guide. We started at the Bryggens Museum.  We learned that Bryggen means bridge, and that the waterfront is reclaimed land.  We also got to see runes!		We walked in some of the old parts of Bergen, learning that owners owned both sides of the alleys and used much of the space to store goods.
We walked to the German assembly rooms and learned about Hanseatic life in Bergen.  (This is where my camera died!) Our last stop was the Hanseatic Museum where we got to see an example of a merchant's house (where he lived with his apprentices).
After our great tour, we got a light lunch from the grocery store next to the Bryggens Museum: strawberry yogurt, creme fraiche chips, and pop.  (I had Fanta Free World Tropical Citrus [a strong grapefruit pop], and EHG had Coca Cola Light.)  We ate right along the water!		After lunch, we took the Fløibanen funicular up to the top of Mount Floyen to see a gorgeous view of the city.
A car has just arrived		Going up!
What a view!
We walked around the top some and shopped for souvenirs in this building.		At the top of the souvenir building was a cute working model of the funicular!
After the funicular, we stopped by the room and went out walking some more.  We found this: the Bergenhus Festning.  Not speaking Norwegian, we didn't know what it was. (Turns out it's Bergen's medieval fortress and where the Haakon's Hall and Rosenkrantz Tower are.) We also found a lake and explored a mall.
We flew KLM from Bergen to Amsterdam and Northwest from Amsterdam back home.  What a great trip!