A new day, a new country, a new currency, a new language! Since Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland is only about 251 miles from Bergen, Norway, that is where we ended the British Isles Explorer cruise. Lerwick is 751 miles from London by sea, and 349 miles from Edinburgh/Leith.
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| View from our stateroom, which was on the port side |
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| They are hooking up all kinds of hoses to the Viking Venus |
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| View along Vågen, the bay cutting into the city of Bergen in the north |
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| Yes, there is a submarine down there |
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| Håkonshallen/Haakon's Hall (mid 1200s, in Gothic style) was the royal residence and banquet hall |
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| Rosenkrantztårnet/Rosenkrantz Tower (1560s) was covered with scaffolding in 2018; this time we could see the three slits through which cannon could be fired; it is interesting to note that the cannons do not face the sea, rather they point toward the once German-owned warehouses on the Bryggen wharf |
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| A sleek black yacht, Shinkai (2021, designed by Vitruvius), is a superyacht that has its own three-man submarine, plus two tenders, and a Toyota Land Cruiser |
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| A repurposed telephone booth: "Take a book, give a book" |
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| It's a little free library! |
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| Sjømannsmonumentet/Seamen's Monument (1950, by Dyre Vaa) honors Norwegian sailors from the time of the Vikings to the 20th century (KSS) |
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| Bronze reliefs of different eras: here is 19C whaling and shipbuilding (KSS) |
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| The city was filling planters with pansies |
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| A COVID-19 test station in Festplassen |
In Festplassen we caught bus #6, and fortunately we could purchase tickets with cash (a total of 40 Norwegian Kroner/$4.80 for two 90-minute tickets)! We disembarked at the Ulriksdal bus stop, crossed the street and headed uphill. It was a 10-minute walk, but we felt like we walked halfway up Mount Ulriken!
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| There was snow on the ground |
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| We reached the Ulriksbanen/now Ulriken643 lower station, and purchased round-trip tickets from a vending machine (a total of 690 NOK/$79.21) |
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| The cable car system was apparently totally replaced, and in 2021 the Ulriken643 opened using the largest gondolas in Norway |
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| We entered the 'Bruse' gondola, and prepared to be raised to 643 m/2,110' above sea level |
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| Everything already looks tiny as we begin the trip |
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| Well, you can see the spread of the city of Bergen |
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| We are above the tree line, and below are steps for those who walk up the mountain! |
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| Kent with a column containing a line from the Song of Bergen (1790, by Johan Nordahl Brun) |
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| The line is: "Sorgen forgik mig paa ulrikens top/ The sorrow left me at the top of the Ulriken" (Mt Ulriken is the highest of the seven mountains surrounding Bergen) |
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| Communications tower atop Mt Ulriken |
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| Panoramic view from Mt Ulriken |
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| The other gondola is named 'Bella' |
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| The "thing" to do at the top of Mt Ulriken is to have tea and a cinnamon bun; it appeared the Viking group had to pay for their own refreshments as well! |
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| We settled for hot chocolate and a 7Fyell IPA beer with our cinnamon bun (total of 235 NOK/$25.94) |
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| A small group of preschoolers arrived to have their snack outdoors! |
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| Time to head back down the mountain, passing those steps again; our gondola also had two local women who had just walked up Mt Ulriken, something they do a few times per week! |
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| This tower remains unidentified |
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| Who in the United Staes would allow a group of young kids to walk on an uneven wall? |
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| We noticed that some of the transport were trolley buses (by Solaris/Škoda Electric) |
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| Articulated MAN biogas-powered bus (biogas is produced from biodegradable materials (biological waste, sewage sludge and landfill gas) including purification to get a gaseous fuel (bio-methane); apparently one of the biggest problems is that demand will outgrow supply: so everybody needs to poop more! |
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| Light rail car ceiling of children's art |
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| Fantoft Stave Church is a 1992-1997 reconstruction of an 1879 church that was moved to this location to save it from demolition, then burned by arson; the stone cross is from southern Norway |
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| A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building, named for its post and lintel construction |
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| A section of the 1879 church |
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| Bybanen/Light rail (2008-2010) uses Stadler Variobahn trams |
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| Back in Bergen, a fish market |
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| Norwegian fisherman statue at Jack's Country Saloon |
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| Former Kjottbasaren/Meat Market (1872) |
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| The row of reconstructed brick warehouses |
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| An ancient hoist crane? |
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| The wooden warehouses |
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| Lifesaving equipment station? |
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| This is what we were able to complete of the 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle |
