1982 Bergen, Norway (7/15/1982)

Thursday, July 15, 1982

After Sue showered she threw her towel in the dryer for free. The washer was also free. Breakfast was a buffet with bread, butter and jam, cold cuts and cheeses, with coffee, tea or milk. We tasted the milk which was good. Handed in our key and walked straight to the train station to make seat reservations on the 22:30 train to Oslo for 7 NOK/$1.10.

Bergen to Oslo supplement receipt

Bergen to Oslo seat reservation

We then followed a walking tour mentioned in a brochure, heading up Marken, a typical Bergen commercial pedestrian street. Turned right at the police station on Domkirkegaten to the Bergen Domkirke/Cathedral, a relatively small church, which burned down multiple times, receiving its current look after the 1640 fire. Continued on Lille Øvregate, a typical old town cobblestoned street with wooden buildings, several of which had pointed rooftops. Instead of taking the funicular which we had done the night before, we walked up the zig-zag road to the Skansen brannstasjon/firehouse (1903 designed by architect Paul Theodor Bjørnstad) that looked like a little white wood frame church.

Skansen brannstasjon/firehouse

Walked back down into the old town, seeing an especially nice peak-roofed building with small-paned large windows having lace curtains and plants on the sill inside. One street was supposed to have local artisan workshops, but we saw many souvenir stores and one potter’s shop. Detoured left to find Mariakirken/St Mary’s Church (1180, the oldest building in Bergen). We first ran across the street to the post office for stamps, and I tried to put my film in the postal slot but it wouldn’t fit. So I took the film out of the plastic canister and then it fit. We were in time to join a Spanish tour group entering the church. The deacon at the door asked if we were Spanish, and when we said, “No,” he conspiratorially waved us inside. It was very old and dark, with paintings on the Gothic-arched ceiling and along the walls. The pulpit had detailed primitive carvings and the altar had a spectacular gold framed altarpiece.

Across the square was the glass-walled Bymuseet/Bryggens Museum showing the excavated remains of ancient Hanseatic assembly rooms destroyed by fire. Followed the docks to the Bergenhus festning/fortress-castle that was just opening. First went to the Håkonshallen/Haakon’s Hall (13C, the largest medieval secular building in Norway), paid 2 NOK/30 cents and were gestured to sit and wait.

Håkonshallen/Haakon’s Hall ticket

Håkonshallen/Haakon’s Hall

We were joined by two Germans who had just come from a cruise ship. A young girl arrived and asked if we spoke German, which two of us claimed we did not. We were told to come along anyway as the girl led us into the basement of stone floors and walls. It is used for special events as evidenced by all the new tables and chairs. It was used in 1261 for the wedding of King Magnus Håkonsson and the Danish princess Ingebjørg Eriksdatter. The hall was severely damaged in 1944 by the explosion of an ammunitions ship in the harbor. Upstairs was the only room where women were allowed, and they had to sit by the windows for any light. We climbed a narrow staircase used by royalty to the large Festhalle, decorated with tapestries, all of which were handmade and some were modern, including one over the band stage showing boats in the harbor. We needed the explanation! Another was a copy and showed symbols for the Catholic holy days. The high table with high-backed chairs is only for use by royalty, and indeed, once a year the King does stop by.
The tour ended up being in German and I was able to translate much of it for Sue. Afterwards the guide came to us to review the tour, and was surprised that we had already understood the gist of her talk. She asked if we had any questions, and Sue did. We ended up learning a lot about Norwegian history, their kings, and their “union” with Denmark, then being given to Sweden before becoming independent in 1905, only to be occupied by Germany. The Norwegians had a strong resistance movement, and the present monarch is celebrating his 25th year of reign. Norway has a parliament and the king has a three-time veto, but not much power. The veto was used to not recognize the Nazi party. During WWII, the king and government were in exile in England. We exited on the commoners’ wooden stairway and out to Rosenkrantztårnet/Rosenkrantz Tower (1559-1568) and paid another 2 NOK/30 cents for a self-guided tour.

Rosenkrantztårnet/Rosenkrantz Tower ticket

Fortunately written explanations were also in English. Saw guardrooms and a magazine (for gunpowder), rooms for the governor with Renaissance fireplaces, Gothic windows and a pair of spiral staircases, plus numerous other staircases connecting the rooms. We had to follow red arrows, but it looked like a great place for chasing and hiding. Worked our way to the top battlements for a view on Bergen and the docks, where a couple cruise ships had arrived.

View from Rosenkrantztårnet/Rosenkrantz Tower

Rosenkrantztårnet/Rosenkrantz Tower

We left the fortress and explored the area of the wharf warehouses with narrow alleys where you could see the hoisting hooks at various levels.

Bryggen/Wharf warehouse alley

Bryggen/Wharf warehouses

We stopped in a couple souvenir shops and checked at the Hanseatisk/Hanseatic Museum to see there was a tour in English at 14:00.
The sidewalks are traversed by tiny gutters cut in the stone. We went to cross a street at a green light when a car came round the corner without stopping. The next car stopped, and as we crossed, this car was hit from behind by a tour bus. The back of the hit car said “skole/school” and we hoped the new driver wasn’t traumatized. No injuries.

It was now 12:00 when we arrived at the Fisketorget/fish market. The first few stalls sold jewelry and buttons. The next few were fruit stalls where we bought a melon and a 1/2 kilo of cherries for 30 NOK/$4.75. Finally the fish stalls with several kinds of fish in various stages, from swimming in tanks, to whole, to deboned, to sliced and ready to cook, to cooked.

Fisketorget/Fish market

Fishing boat

We saw piles of pink shrimp, and Sue asked a man who was eating shrimp from a bag whether they were really cooked, and they were. The man offered us each a shrimp, and patted us on the arm and shoulder. We went to get our own bag, paying 10 NOK/$1.60 for ten large shrimp. Sue showed me how to rip off the head, pull off the legs, scrape out the roe, peel off the exoskeleton, and pull off the tail. Voilà! A tasty morsel!

Sue peeling shrimp

Everyone was throwing the shrimp offal in the water, which the seagulls enjoyed. Looking into the water, we saw a jellyfish, and a 10-kroner bill! Following the example of others, we went to a manhole where a hose is hooked up to wash our hands. We walked along the other side of the docks towards the aquarium with trees and benches where we sat for a rest.

Returned to the Hanseatisk/Hanseatic Museum (in a 1704 wharf warehouse) in time for the 14:00 tour, bought the 5 NOK/80 cent ticket and sat at picnic benches to wait for our soft-spoken guide.

Hanseatisk/Hanseatic Museum ticket

He took us upstairs and explained the history of the Hanseatic League, a commercial organization of merchants and their market towns across Northern Europe that was essentially controlled by Germans. Bergen was one of the four major foreign centers and the League warehouses were in a sectioned off area. The original buildings burned down several times. We were shown the dining room with a measured beer stein for five drinkers, and the fine box if you over drank your share. Leather buckets for water in case of fire, and dried cod (Norway’s contribution to the Hanseatic League) for good luck.
The manager’s office had a desk in one room and his winter bed boxed in the center of the building for warmth, with openings through which apprentices made up the bed. Next a storeroom where business was recorded. Upstairs to see the lavish summer bedroom and the bunks of the apprentices, where they sometimes slept two to a bed. There was a secretary’s bedroom, and the rest was storerooms. As the tour ended, a young girl managed to pull out a loose tooth, and the guide laughed and gave her a krone from the tooth fairy (so they have the tooth fairy in Norway, too!)

We returned to the train station to use the facilities, saving 1 NOK/15 cents each when two ladies held the stall doors open for us. Went to the Lille Lungegårdsvannet/a spray fountain in the middle of a square pond to sit in the grass and write postcards. Next to us, many little brown house sparrows were dust bathing, fluffing their wings in shallow depressions in the dirt, never staying still or for long in their hole. A male bird ousted a female from her hole.

Sue went to mail the postcards and to see if we could get 1st class reservations, but the train is all one class. Later it began to sprinkle, so we sought shelter in the train station. At 18:00 we went out for dinner, only then remembering that most restaurants closed at 18:00! Found the Mekka Kafeteria on Marken which was open “late” until 19:00, where we had schnitzel and peas with French fries, coffee and tea included for 33.95 NOK/$5.40 each. When they turned off the lights, we left to return to the train station for an ice cream sandwich for 3.50 NOK/55 cents. We hung out in the station while it began to pour rain and thunder. At 22:00 we were allowed to board the train and find our seats #35 and 36 in the third car. Fortunately it was no smoking, but the seats did not recline. We left Bergen a couple minutes after 22:30, going through tunnels which made the windows fog up. After the tickets were checked, the lights went out and we slept.