Rainy Day in Bergen

Tuesday, September 6 

Happy Birthday to our Brian!!

Last night at dinner, we were talking about how the English spoken here (BTW, EVERYONE speaks it fluently) is largely unaccented, or lightly so.  Tom was convinced that one of our servers had to be American, and asked if that were the case.  In fact, he was Dutch!  When we remarked on his native-sounding English, his response was that he watched a lot of  American TV because it rains so much here; today, we found out what he meant!

This morning, we walked about ten minutes to a light rail station to board a train that took us downtown in about twenty minutes. It had rained overnight and there was a light drizzle when we began walking around in Bergen.

The terminus of the light rail is located in the museum district, a very attractive area encompassing lakes, museums, the National Theater, landscaped parks, a flower-bedecked bandstand, and fine pedestrian spaces marked with fountains, flowers, and monuments.

At the harbor, we walked through the fish market and back to explore the Bryggen again, to see what we’d missed yesterday and to shelter under the wooden overhangs of the old tenement buildings. The Bryggen and Bergen are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and we stopped in the UNESCO Center, housed in one of the old wooden buildings of the quarter.

When the wind-driven rain increased, we took shelter in a hotel lobby until it let up, and then walked to the Bergen Fortress at the end of the wharf.  We walked on the fortress walls and around the fortress compound and then visited the Bergenhus Fortress Museum, which is devoted to the history of the fort, military history, and -- most interesting to us – the activities of the Norwegian Resistance Movement in the Bergen area during World War II.  Neutral Norway had been easily occupied by the Germans in 1940 and a puppet government established.  Bergen had longstanding trade and naval ties with Great Britain and became an important center of the Resistance and source of intelligence information for the Brits. It’s not hard to imagine how dangerous and difficult resistance operations were and the extensive displays at the museum put a very human face on those who risked so much to stand against the Nazis.

We were welcomed to the museum by a host who gave us an overview of the exhibits and then chatted at length with us.  He has been to the States many times, including a visit to Phoenix, Sedona, and the Grand Canyon.  His usual point of arrival is Minnesota (no surprise!), where he has organized regular exchange visits between the National Guard and the Norwegian Home Guard.  

The museum was a dry haven, but we encountered heavy rain as we left.  We made our way back into the old center, intending to visit the Cathedral, but it was closed as large-scale renovation was under way.

By then, we were wet enough and decided to call it an afternoon and head back to the light rail station and our apartment.

This was our last day in Norway, as we fly to Iceland early tomorrow morning. We have loved this beautiful country and could easily spend more time here.  And -- it bears repeating – everyone speaks GREAT English!