Saturday 11th November – Bergen

Oh What A Night!!  From what I can make out, the only person that seems to have slept through it was our cabin steward.  Every other passenger, waiter, cleaner or barman missed a good few hours sleep as the sea tossed the ship in all directions.  From what I can make out, the captain must have found calm water at around 3am and that was when everyone could finally sleep.

So this morning, no one got up early.  We are not due into Bergen until 10 o’clock,  and no one needed to hurry.  The restaurant closes for breakfast at 9am, so you can imagine what the Bistro was like.  It Peter and I two or three circuits to find a table.

No escorting today, because we had our own ideas of what we wanted to do, which was to take the funicular up the mountain (Mount Floen) and have a walk around the top.  Bergen is known for its rainfall, and today was no different.

Wrapped in waterproofs we made our way past the Bryggen to the little station, and after 180 kronas and a short wait, we were in the funicular car and on our way up.

We’ve been up here before, on a tour which meant we didn’t have much time and I

it was getting dark too.  There was snow today, and the rain had turned to sleet.  But we had all the time we wanted to wait for the clouds to clear.  The views were better than I remember.

Hoping the weather might remain dry, but not expecting it, we set off to explore.  There are loads of paths and tracks leading from the funicular station.  Covered picnic areas, bbq stands, and small notices to keep the kids interested were everywhere.  Despite the snowy paths, a group of Norwegians ran past us, amazingly surefooted across the slippery surface.

Our plan had been to put in a good few miles walking up here, but with repeated bouts of hail and sleet, we decided that a short walk would be more than enough.  (And not only that, our legs were tired and achy from coming down that hill yesterday).

We took the funicular back into the City, and then headed for Starbucks and McDonalds, wanting a little bit of a change from food on the cruise ship.  A wander around the shops reminded us how expensive it is in Norway.  Even the cheapest souvenir tat such as fridge magnet or a pencil would set you back a minimum of £5.  We left it all there on the shelfs.  We did end up buying  a couple of sets of shoe spikes though.  Much lighter than our metal micro spikes, these were what had been keeping them Norwegian runners upright earlier.  It might be a couple of years before we put them to use though.

So that was our day in Bergen.  The captain has warned that he is expecting rough seas again later, so our cabin window remains battened down, but the sea is calm at the moment.

Tomorrow is a sea day, and then we should be back to Tilbury early on Monday morning. Fingers crossed for smooth sailing.