Bergen and More

Monday September 8, 2025

Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway

Fun Facts: Bergen

• Bergen averages 265 days of rain per year, making it the rainiest city in Europe, but no rain today! Yahoo!

• Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, after Oslo.

• The world's longest bike tunnel is in Bergen; it is 3 km long. In the middle of the tunnel, there are art installations, a digital sundial, and benches.

• Bergen was founded in 1070. The name comes from "Berg"which means 'mountains,' and vin (now gen) means 'new settlement where there used to be a pasture or meadow.'

Today is our last day aboard the Viking Sky. We leave tomorrow morning for Florence. And by morning I mean we have to be ready to depart the ship by 3:15 a.m.!!! Yikes!!!

Bergen:

Since we have been to Bergen before we decided to just walk around the city today. We had a great time, found a park with lots of birds and dogs, and got a different perspective of the Bryggen Wharf (shown above and below).

The Bryggen Wharf is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. In the early 1400s, the Hanseatic League began building an enclave for their commercial and financial businesses. The wooden buildings were ravaged by fires several times, but always rebuilt. Most of the houses there now were built in the 1700s, and the on-going restoration and preservation is done using medieval techniques, materials, and tools.

This house lists on the front all the dates in was reconstructed- 1480, 1712, 1912

Check out the house second from the right (with the clock). The gray door on the left is definitely leaning in. All of the houses here are settling, and several are leaning slightly. But they are so close together they are actually supporting each other!

This picture shows how big the Hanseatic enclave really was, with several more rows of buildings behind the colorful front row.

Look carefully... do you see the house front that is fake? We thought the cover designed to look like the house was a wonderful way keep the look of the row, while still providing maintenance and upkeep to the houses.

Pictures from our walk in Bergen:

From the top left going clockwise - The train station; The Bergen Cathedral (1000 years old); the fortress by the Harbor., and a statue of Ole Bull - a famous Norwegian Violinist and Composer.

We came across a beautiful park with a lake that reminded us of the lake in Eastlake. And there were lots of birds there!

Also in the park - A Tufted Duck

Common Starling

European Herring Gull

Dogs of Bergen:

While on this cruise we met a very nice couple who have an interesting way to spend their time on the cruise. They take beautiful pictures while visiting an area, then they select one picture they want to work on, and create a 5x7 watercolor painting of the picture! They have water color paints and brushes in "travel sizes" that they take on all their trips!

We had a really great time on this Viking Homelands cruise, visiting cities and countries for the first time. We learned a ton....and hopefully, you learned a few new facts, too.

We are off to Florence tomorrow....to explore the actual city and surrounding areas like Lucca, Sienna, and some Tuscany wine vineyards! And, we know it will be an exciting adventure because we are meeting our friends, Jon & Yvonne, who are here in Europe celebrating their 30th Anniversary. Did we mention they are foodies and wine connoisseurs! Jon researches exceptional restaurants to visit and they have warm relationships with some of the wine vineyard owners. So excited!