Norway! - Part 3: Bergen

We arrived in Bergen at about 21:00 (9:00 PM) on Monday evening, June 22. We had brought along lunch for the fjord cruise but nothing but nuts and other snacks for dinner. So we were hungry. We decided to find our hotel, the Scandic Ornen, and have dinner there. We found the hotel easily just a couple of blocks from the railway station, checked in, and asked about their restaurants. They have a pub with bar food which had just closed, and a fancy, but very meat intensive, restaurant on the top floor. We decided to give that one a pass and went out in search of a more palatable repast. At 9:30 in the evening, in Bergen at least, this was a losing proposition. As a last resort, to avoid a low blood sugar meltdown (oops, too late) we ended up at a Burger King where we found enough gross and greasy food to get us through the night.

Back at the hotel we realized that they had decorated with reflective surfaces everywhere! You couldn't wait for or ride an elevator or walk down a hallway without seeing a full-length apparition of yourself. Ugh, who needs that? They must cater to a vain class of tourist - oh right, rich Americans. Otherwise, it was quite nice though, and the breakfast smorgasbord was impressively large and tasty so, the next morning, we chowed down like we didn't know where our next meal was coming from.

We had looked online a bit to see what we could do for a few hours in the morning before our train for Oslo left at noon. CJ noticed the Hanseatic Museum was close by, and right up her academic alley, so we set our course for the waterfront. We had thought of riding the funicular to the top of Mt Fløyen for a panoramic view of the city but, as you can see below, there would not have been much point.

The lower part of Mt Fløyen

On the Waterfront

Street scene along the waterfront

The Hanseatic League was a confederation of merchants in the Baltic region that operated for about 400 years (1400-1800) including in 17th century Russia (the town of Novgorod). Hence, CJs interest. The museum in Bergen was one of the League's offices (there were four across northern Europe) and employed quite a few teenaged apprentices who were overseen by the head merchant and a large and extremely hierarchical band of overseers. All employees were German and no women were allowed. The original building burned in a city-wide fire in 1702 and the existing one was built soon thereafter. It was unheated and all food was served cold to prevent fires in the future.

The Museum

View of boats through an 18th century window. Artistic, right?

Main reception room

Head merchant's office (chancellery) off the reception room

Private staircase for the head merchant's exclusive use. 

Dining room for the journeymen and apprentices. Cold food only. Decor features 100+ year old desiccated fish

Managing merchant's upstairs office

Mariakirken - 12th century, oldest standing building in Bergen. Owned by the German merchant's office.

Mariakirken

Assembly buildings nearby owned by the League

Dining room in the assembly buildings (heated and with hot food).

Kitchen in the assembly buildings

Sunlight in the kitchen

Rosenkrantz Tower - fortress used to intimidate the Hanseatic traders

One of the most important Norwegians. Also Edvard Grieg, the famous composer.

Lille Lungegårdsvannet

Mt Fløyen - now too late for riding the funicular

Rhododendrons and the city library

After these delights, we got onto the train to Oslo, arriving in the early evening. Checking in (again) at the  First Hotel Millennium, we found that we were upgraded to a suite! It was very roomy and nice, plus it was on the 7th floor away from the street noise. We went out to dinner at a pizza place and, on the way back, noticed this fine establishment. Of course we regretted not eating there but no trip is perfect.

No doubt a good feed