The North Atlantic with Pat and Phil: Day Fifteen - Bergen, Norway Saturday 26 July 2014

Up about 6:30 am -- having breakfast in Lido as we dock right in the middle of everything -- we are off the ship and walking around by 8:30 am. The Tall Ships are beautiful -- not many people around this early. Bergen is a town with a population of about 260,000 people. The Tall Ship Races are here every six years.

Pat on Deck of Zeendam!

We find the Information Center and purchase funicular tickets to Mt. Floyen. This funicular has been running daily up the steep hillside since 1918. Once on top the view is spectacular and for those more energetic there are hiking trails and lots of activities for kids including a "Troll Forest" which we visited. After about 30 minutes we're ready to go back down --- which we did. It was amazing to see how long the lines are at the bottom -- I bet it's a two hour wait. We called this one right!

Phil on Bergen Waterfront!

Back on terra firma -- we found St. Mary's Church but it is being renovated so we could not go in -- then we came across the Bergen Museum. This is a small museum with a nice permanent exhibit. It is situated just behind St. Mary's Church and has a section inside where foundations for the earliest Bergen buildings were discovered -- they are laid out in the exact original locations. Most of the existing older buildings in Bergen were built after the 1702 fire which devastated the city.


View thru Roof of Finicular!

The crowds are building -- so we decide to go back to the ship for lunch. It has also gotten quite hot and humid -- temperature is 86 degrees F. After lunch we are on a mission -- a pharmacy for cough medicine and cough drops -- and a place that has

wifi.

View from Mt. Floyen!

Back to the information center -- which is considerably more crowded than this morning --- and off we go with directions to the pharmacy and to an "off the beaten path" café. The Pharmacists are very helpful over here -- no self-service. We discover "Sirkus Escalon" -- a café during the day and a night club later on. A nice table outside with a strong wifi signal is available. The weather is unusually warm -- most places do not have air-conditioning -- our waiter told us he had to buy a pair of shorts yesterday to wear to work.

Pat in the Wi Fi Zone!

We head back to the Veendam about 4:00 pm -- since we are in a non-tourist area we walk back seeing some local scenes --- a wedding procession, a private party with lots of singing going on -- Phil looks like a true paparazzi getting that photo. We come to a shopping area with a very large plaza and all sorts of activities for kids -- Legos -- life-size games such as Chess and Scrabble.

Phil as Paparazzi!

People are engaged and enjoying the beautiful day. As we get closer to the ship we must fight the throngs of people in town for the tall ship festivities which will continue through the night including fireworks. We've enjoyed our time in Bergen -- but are leaving at 6:30 pm.