Bergen, only 6 hours in port on a rainy day

[Ssislandgirl]

Hello everybody,

The last stop on our 15 day North Cape cruise took us to Bergen. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate at all. Since we were only in port from 7 to 2, we ventured out in the pouring rain anyways.

The following is a photo review of our adventure.

I had a "nice weather" itinerary set up at home, but also worked on a Plan B for rainy days, since I followed the weather forecast very closely.

We are avid DIY'ers and decided to take Bergen's Light Rail to Fantoft to visit the Stave Church. We left the ship around 7:45 and a free shuttle took us from the cruise port to a park near the Bergen Art Museum.

The Light Rail stop was on the opposite side of the park and very easy to find. Since we were running out of NOK, we purchased our tickets at the 7/Eleven store across the street. They let us use our remaining cash and charged the rest to our credit card. The fare was NOK 70 per person, round trip. The Light Rail leaves very frequently and after 20 minutes in an almost empty cabin, we exited the train in Fantoft. It was still raining, but we were well protected by our rain gear. As soon as we left the station, we were approached by several friendly Norwegians, who pointed us in the right direction to the church. I guess we looked like tourists :D . We walked uphill for about 20 minutes. No worries, it is a paved road up until the very end, where it turns into a gravel and dirt path through a wooded area for about 5 minutes until you reach the church.

Sorry about the rain drops on the lens

 

 

 

 

We were the only visitors this early in the morning.

The church was originally built around 1150 and situated in a village near the Sognefjord. It was moved piece by piece and brought to Bergen in 1883, where it was destroyed by an arsonist in 1992. Reconstruction began soon after and was completed in 1997. The church is still in private hands and a fence surrounds the property.

You can take photos of the outside of the church free of charge as long as you stay outside the fenced area. As a matter of fact, there is an elevated viewing platform on the side to allow better, unobstructed vistas.

We arrived around 9:15 and an attendant was at the church already. The owners charge NOK 50 to visit the inside and accept cash only. We would have liked to view the interior, but the gentleman who collected the entry fee claimed that his credit card machine does not work on US cards. Oh well, he would have taken $, but we left those on board as well...So remember to bring cash, any currency :cool:

 

more to come

[Ssislandgirl]

Here are some impressions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

more to follow

[Ssislandgirl]

We rode the train back to Bergen, where the rain had diminished to a drizzle by 10:30 and we decided to explore town.

We walked past this colorful gazebo with lots of beautiful plants

 

 

 

 

Saw the statues of Edvard Grieg, the famous Norwegian composer and pianist, who was born in Bergen

 

 

 

 

and Ole Bull, a Norwegian violinist and composer

 

 

 

 

more to follow

[Ssislandgirl]

We continued on towards the fish market, where you can find any Norwegian souvenir and seafood you can think of

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whale meat salami

 

 

 

 

We noticed a very historic looking and well integrated McDonald's

 

 

 

 

more to come

[Ssislandgirl]

The next stop on our walking tour was Bryggen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryggen is the old, historic harbor district in Bergen with lots of hanseatic commercial buildings lining the side of the fjord. The area is now on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage sites and is very, very scenic. We walked through the narrow alleyways for a while.

Here are some impressions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

more to come

[Ssislandgirl]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

more to follow

[Ssislandgirl]

We continued on to ride up to Mt. Fløyen by funicular to enjoy a view of Bergen from 320 meters (1000 ft) above sea level.

There was absolutely no line at the base station

 

 

 

 

The rain had stopped and the views were awesome despite the cloud cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

same fountain seen from ground level

 

 

 

 

A fountain with this precious little boy expressing his displeasure of the water caught my eye. I just love how the sculptor captured his disgust

 

 

 

 

By 1pm we were back at the shuttle stop and boarded the ship again soon after.

Despite the inclement weather, we had a fun day.

 

We enjoyed another relaxing sea day before disembarking the Caribbean Princess in Southampton after a fabulous Norwegian vacation

 

 

 

More port reviews from our most recent cruise

 

Stavanger

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2232099

 

Olden

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2233136

 

 

Flam

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2236140

 

 

Andalsnes

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2237893

 

 

Trondheim

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2239089

 

 

North Cape

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2241112

 

 

Tromso

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2242143

 

 

Lofoten Islands

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2244503

 

 

Alesund

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2245467

 

 

[TLCOhio]

Appreciate the pictures reflecting the charm, history and wonderful character of Bergen. Brings back nice memories. Too bad on the rain. During our 8 am to 11 pm cruise stop there, we were very fortunate to have perfect sunshine and temperatures all day long and into the evening.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 183,389 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[I-Cruiser]

I am really enjoying your pictures and your sense of detail.

Amazing:)

[tetleytea]

Kinda stinks to go all that way to the Stave church and then you can't go in.

[Loreto]

fantastic pictures! We will be there next May.