Odysseus Abroad: Bergen, Norway

Bergen - Flam - Hansiatic - Bryggen - Floyen - Museums

Fairy lady of the watery valleys of Norway

Bryggen UNESCO site

Moonday August 5th

We flew over our little red house (See Iceland Trip) on the lava prairie with good view of Reykjavik as we departed Iceland for Bergen, Norway, the city which controlled trade with Iceland for many years. Seat A side had view of the Ofusa delta, Stokkseyn, Selfoss and the heights of Hestafjall and Vordufell, which was the terrain of our first nights in Iceland, but unfortunately much of the rest was under cloud. Prihyrningur and the small Tindfjallajokull ice cap came into view, but we flew north of Eyjafjallajolkull which I missed. The dust covered snow dunes of Myrdalsjokull were visible, but the massive Vatnajokull to the north, able to make it's own weather, was under cloud cover. Clear skies revealed the oil rigs of the north sea, but a washing machine of rain and cloud wrapped the fjords and mountains of Norway as we made our approach on our Iceland Air 757, the Rolls Royce turbofan not being bothered a bit by the large quantities of water being consumed; in fact these engines love water as it keeps their T3 and T5 temperatures down, allowing them to load up if more power is needed. Soon we were being hypnotized by the large sweeping window wipers of the Fly-Buss-Bergen which battled the rains all the way to the, dumping us umbrella-less on Christies Gate for a brief walk across the square toward Ole Bulls Pass to our hotel, Radisson Blue right at town center.

Not having run in a week, I took an 8KM rout to wake up, crossing the main Torgallmenningen pedestrian way, the fish market and west past the old wooden harbor front buildings which make up the UNESCO heritage site of the old city; I laughed that our old wooden house in Kansas City would probably be a UNESCO site if we applied! An imposing stone castle, Rozenkratz-tarnet, stood along the bank and in the waters was the most enormous supply ship I had seen, possibly a cable laying ship, as the opening on the rear end could not have been for fishing. Further along Sjogaten the tourist sites faded away, but the buildings more interesting in many ways, as they were the old wooden harbor type, but in commercial use as supply depots or ships supply stores, rather than tourist traps like the UNESCO site. The locals lined up at the bus station bored and wet as they observed me running by in the rain. On the return I passed the most beautiful high cheek-boned blond young woman cycling in athletic gear, a Norwegian princess on a mundane Monday afternoon commute to the practical wet suburbs. The Alleluia of Handel’s Messiah was being repeated in the main square by the a talented group of trumpeters under the awning of high priced stored. I was not sure why this English piece which was first played in Dublin Ireland 1850 was now washing the air of the main square of Bergen, again and again, bit it may have been one of the few pieces they had learned.

While I ran the family had stopped in at a high street restaurant nearby; for the equivalent of $16, Annette was delivered an undrinkable red and returned it for a beer instead. One always hears that Norway is expensive, but only when one witnesses the prices does it really mean something. The locals use the practice of vorspeil, or “pre-party”, where you drink at home or “off-line” from liquor store or duty free (which everyone maximizes), before you actually venture out for the evening in a real bar; otherwise they could never afford a night out.

Tiw's day August 6th

Having witnessed the clear skied over the Atlantic on the flight, I was confident the rains would eventually relent, but yet by Tuesday August 6th, as we embarked on our Norway in a Nutshell tour on rail, bus and boat. The first part was a ride of the regular train from Bergen to Oslo, but we would alight at Voss; of course there is nothing regular about a train route across the interior of Norway, the route is circuitous and dictated by the hard rock that even the glaciers couldn't tame. There were five "Norway in a Nutshell" passengers for every regular passenger and it was easy to spot the difference; one group showing the reserve of those consumed with real life, that of work, school or home and the other group jolly and unconstrained. After two long tunnels we were running alongside the Osterfjorden (East Fjord), then inland to Dale, Evanger and eventually Voss, where we alighted to take the back row seats of a bus to Gudvangen. Rarely do we take tour buses, but it was worth it for the day tour of the Fjords and reminded me of wet school tour trips back in Ireland, sheets of water cascading off the roof as the bus changed angle. An number of mighty waterfalls came into view along the way, being fed the more by the recent rains. A new road and tunnel bypass Stadlheim, the town marking a traitorous steep hill overpass, but the tour bus took the old road for effect, the bearings, suspension and axles being pushed to full stretch, especially on the descent down the switchbacks and I wondered whether they had called ahead to block traffic, as the bus took both lanes.

We were first in line for the ferry at Gudvangen and watched as it reversed in to discharge the vehicles which could not, preferred not to pass through the fifteen or more kilometers of tunnels from Flam. Being first on we got prime seats upper deck by the window. The ferry was full, so we gave up our two remaining seats in the six seat booth to part of a Norwegian family, proof that Norway in a Nutshell is not just for tourists. The father had left for Switzerland and his sons from two different marriages sat with us, one an athlete, the other more contemplative. We conversed about Norway and Switzerland for most of the trip while their parents also visited from time to time. They had both taken the apprenticeship route, rather than University, which is one of the strengths of education in the Germanic countries and probably why they can still compete in high quality manufacturing. We rounded the Y between two fjords and got an impressive view of the tall bluff which once stood at the meeting point of two glaciers. A brief stop at the idyllic fjord village, Undredal, to drop off passengers and we were on our final leg to Flam, where I got sight of a large oceangoing vessel which confirmed that the deep channel fjord flanked by high walls did connect to the sea some 100 miles away. Flam is not so much a tourist town, but more of a depot for processing large groups which converge there from ships, trains and road buses. The brew pub there had drafted an English brewster in to work the fermentation; imported as most things in the remote village, including her Irish husband who tended the bar. A mile or two out of town one would see the typical rural Norway, but a cycle in the rain was rejected for a seat at the bar. Hoping to get away for an hour on a kayak, I wandered over to the beach hut which rented them, but they were more for structured tours. We boarded an old train from Flam at sea level to the elevated town of Myrdal at 2844ft. Although only 10 miles away, the track track covered mesmerizing views of the valleys, mountains and waterfalls, broken by tunnels from time to time. Six or eight slide windows in each carriage opened down from the top half way allowing people to gain a better view and pictures of the scenes as the train slowly climbed the track to Myrdal; all were opened except for that of a french lady in the middle of the carriage, which I only noticed after she had come and closed my window when my back was turned to the other side view. I reopened it to continue taking pictures, as did many others who approach for a turn. The grumpy lady repeated her attack later when I had walked down the carriage for another view, preferring to impose on us than put her jacket on, but the preference of the group in general won out and the windows were reopened to gain sight of the impressive scenes. At Myrdal we boarded the regular train back to Bergen with change at Voss. The weather cleared finally that evening as we viewed sundown over the city center from our balcony.

Osterfjorden; The rain and mist of Norway make Ireland look Mediteranean

Welcome to Voss

All the cascades were in full flow for our visit

I was cast back to my youth in wet Ireland with the scenes of our 1st full day

Boat from Gudvangen to Flam

High walls of the fjords

Switchbacks from Stalheim (Stadheimskleiva)

Undredal an old goat herder's town along the sea fjord 100 miles inland

Seagoing cruise ship parked at Flam

Norway runs more than it's share of cruise companies

Train from Flam to Myrdal

Valley bursting with water

The high point of Flam-Myrdal train ride, waters falling from heights over the last tunnel

Arna train arrives in Bergen

Torgallmenningen square central Bergen

Odin's day August 7th

Bergen had changed from the dreary overcast to bright clear skies as I ran along the waterfront Wednesday morning, the city looking optimistic now, like it would have when the German traders first came during summer times in the 12th century to buy stock fish, which were abundant and a valuable protein source for their homeland. They traded in groups called Hansa, pooling their resources for better effect and introduced German goods to Norway including Rhineland wines. Our first stop in the morning was the Hanseatic Museum on the waterfront at Byrggen & Finnegard, housed in building from 1702 which replaced those destroyed by fire around that time. The basement room displayed tools of the fish trade made of wood, rope and iron, which supported the process of packing and transporting the catch. Growing from Germany, the Hansas were efficient tight-nit groups who held the capital to finance their trade and who brought new blood in via apprenticeship. They spread throughout the cities of Europe under the approval of local authority. Each Hansa had a seal and many were on display, including one from Dublin from 1276; the port cities showed ships, the inlanders showed armies, city gates or agriculture. People were smaller then as evidenced by the bed chambers which looked like cupboards. The apprentices beds were built four together, bunked two high, and boxed in behind sliding hatches opening on both sides.

Hanseatic Seals of European cities

Dried fish traded south

Our next stop was the Rozenkratztower across the Bryggen on the water front. Built in 1560 by Governor Erik Rozenkrantzon on the ruins of a keep by King Magnus Lagabote from 1270, it's lower rooms show the eclectic combination of stone work from various early developments. The Governor brought in Scottish stone masons to complete the later tower which reflects the architecture of Scotland. King Magnus brought in a well thought out national code of laws in 1269, but got resistance from the church, so in compromise the lands of the church remained under church law. Reading through the laws of Magnus on display in the upper tower it is evident that they were quite progressive for the time, allowing for example that a thief should be punished severely, but not if he was starving. The laws mark the early concept of a nation rather than fiefdoms. Behind the tower is the Hakonshallen hall a large solid structure built in the 13th century and significant in size even by today's standards. Fires and even a munitions explosion in the harbor in 1944 threatened it's existence, but it still stands, all be it with a new roof. One can walk the fill circle of the roof terrace of the Rozenkrantz tower and gain a great view of the city and harbor. As we walked the streets nearby we came across a statue of Snorri Sturluson, Icelandic poet and lawspeaker of the Althing in 13th century and indicative of the close connection Bergen has with Iceland. We entered the Bryggens Museum nearby where the timbers of an ancient viking ship unearthed in the port were on display. Artifacts excavated from a millennium of trading along the waterfront were also displayed. Upstairs was an exhibit on shoes which seemed to be reaching to make something of it's subject matter.

The fish market on the waterfront of Bergen is famous, but infamously expensive. However, we some place reasonable to buy take-away and with some wine (from the special liquor store) we retired to a shaded seat alongside the Lille Lungegardsvann (Lake Park central Bergen) for a picnic, behind us Grieg Hall, before us the high hill of Floyen - the seafood was exceptional. The boys attempted to walk the public tightrope on the east side of the park, but fell off as did all the others who tried. Finally I tried and got most of the way across and made a last imbalances lunge for the finish, making it but also falling over and ripping my stitches open enough to start bleeding, ending my attempts. We made our way back through town to the cable railway to the height of Floyen. The family lined up at the ticket booth and I set off running, challenging them to a race to the top, hoping the ticket line moved slowly. It was a beautiful run up the switchbacks and there was still no train by the half way point. Following a lady runner for a while, probably a local used to hill running, I didn't need to navigate and was soon at the top 23 minutes after departing and arriving at the cafe there as Annette's glass of wine was being served - race lost! Annette took Conor on a treasure hunt trail at the summit while Liam and I walked down the trails. Worried in the evening when there was no sign of their return to the hotel, nor answer of phone and imagining them wandering the dark trails of the hills lost; we were relieved when they walked in after having also walked down rather than taking the train.

Sitting on the balcony that evening we pondered Norway. Not only is a meal in the country very expensive, tipping is now being expected on top, which indicates the culture confusion being experienced by a wealthy European country being influenced by American norms; however, in the US wait staff get paid below minimum wage with few benefits and depend on tips for wages, in Norway staff get full wage and benefits as well as access to amazing government services and tipping is not a part of the socialist agenda. Across the street from our balcony and up a side allow marked with neon sign was Dreams Striptease. Each evening a young lady, who looked and dressed like a school teacher, emerged with a bicycle and trailer sign advertising the club and traveled around town soliciting customers. Her demeanor and look reflect the pragmatism of the Norwegian people, very different from the racy and exotic look typical of such joints. People and groups passing by the sign took a second look, some returning for a third, being curious as to what was on offer. Expensive as things are in Norway, I could not imagine what costs one might incur in a Bergen striptease joint. Skateboarders congregated on the street each evening and the delicatessen across the street was kept busy all evening being a practical place to get affordable dinner.

Erik Rozenkrantz

Grand tower rooms

Additional floors were installed for more room over the years

Snorri Sturluson, 13th Century Icelander of repute in Bergen

A mine from World War II

Music pavilion along Christies Gate

Ole Bull, the Bergen Violinist

View west from Floyen

Thor's day August 8th

We considered visiting Grieg's home in Troldhaugen an hour or two outside of Bergen, but decided to relax in Bergen instead for the day. While writing these notes I was scanning through boxes of old slides from an estate sale in Houston; there were pictures of Grieg's home from 1972. We started the day wandering up the steps to Johannes Kirke, the iconic red brick Gothic revival church built late 19th century on the heights over the city center in the Sydnes neighborhood. A sign on the door advertised a free organ concert that evening and indeed there was a powerful organ in a modestly decorated interior.

We continued on to the Maritime Museum, where on two floors set around a large square courtyard was laid out the significant human development in seafaring over the known history of Norway. Although a country rich in fish and lumber, Norway would never have seen the powerhouse of production from the British industrial revolution, but it harnessed very well the machinery from that revolution to advance the maritime and inland resource developments. Beautiful wood cut boats going back centuries and some reproductions from over a millennium ago were on display. Norway would always have had access to wood and with good craftsmanship, they were strong ship builders.Eight hundreds years ago, when the Hanseatic traders started their summer sojourns in Bergen, the waters of the fjords and out to sea were thick with boats bring in the cyclic fish catch. As ships developed into modern factories at sea, complex systems housed in iron, the Norwegians maintained their dominance on the waters, although the source of the technology and materials now came from overseas. Shipping of people became a big business, initially the emigrants to the Americas from all of Europe including Norway as described in a special exhibit there. A revolution in shipping also brought a revolution in exploration and Norway followed on the footprints of it's Icelandic son, Leif Ericsson with explorers like Roald Amundsen who focused on other Arctic passageways west and east, as well as South and North pole. Then they discovered oil and developed the ships to handle the harsh ocean conditions; Gulf of Mexico supply ships wouldn't do, as their rear end exhaust stacks would get swamped in the high seas, so vessels with high front end stacks were engineered. They also developed an oil fund to retain the windfall from the finite resource under development which boasts almost $800Billion in reserve, or an impressive one and a half times the country's annual product, a reflection of their culture of planning for the best of the community.

Next was the Cultural History Museum around the corner where the rooms started with the earliest stone spearheads and fish hooks from the tribes who repopulated the northern lands as the ice sheets melted. Hunter gatherers would have followed elk and deer north and supplemented with fish and berries. Their stone tools became more and more robust over the millennia; then came the metal ages, migrating through from central Europe, marking their stark effect on tools and weapons, which quickly advanced to a shine. Prior to the Latin alphabet, the Norway wrote in Runic script like the Teutonic areas, and there were a few large stones demonstrating the ancient writing on display. I was reminded by the Ogham script of Ireland, but could see little in similarity. A set of rooms were set aside to display Henrik Ibsen's period in Bergen, where he lived between 20 and 26 years of age and was stage director for the Norwegian Theater of Bergen. A miniature model of the theater was on display, the real one having burned down. We had seen Ibsen's Hedda Gabler a number of years prior in Houston, quite a plot.

We walked across the park to the Natural History Museum, which is operated together with the Cultural History Museum. Room after room of skeletons and stuffed animals were on display in the traditional manner, lined up side by side and packed in every angle. It wouldn't take much imagination to recognize evolution throughout the wide array of mammals, fish and birds there. Intricate bones of tiny rodents and the massive hulks of calcium which framed the whaled of 100 tons and more, both derived from the bone structure of a fish, the latter having been evolved from mammals which returned to the ocean from land.

That afternoon we bought food for a picnic and sat in the gardens before Den National Scene, National Theater, near a statue of Ibsen with exaggerated features. Many young college kids hung around the center grass in the free sunny day, drinking and smoking.

That evening I headed up to Johannes Kirke (Johan Church), the grand red spike of brick sitting on a hill over the city center which had advertised a free organ concert that evening; however, the door was locked and on second reading of the smaller print, the concert was only one day a month. Others also walked up looking for the concert, so my misreading was not all my fault; above the sign read "Free Concert Tonight" and I saw someone rip the paper sign away in frustration. I wandered around the interesting Sydnes neighborhood down to the palace of justice sitting high on a hill overlooking the harbor to the west, it's office windows fill of old law books, not surely dating back to those of good King Magnus of the 13th century. In a country of wood and fires for the cold, many a building and book would have burned down over the centuries. On my return I wandered over to the large Nyagrdsparken (Park) and walked it's length to the east and back by the lake, something best done in daylight, as a darker side of Bergen is revealed; a mixed bag of drinkers and drug users, homeless and the insane congregated along the main pathway and up in the nooks and crannies of the gardens.

The grand organ of Johannes Kirke

Norway has long history in wood crafted boats

Cylinders which changes the Nordic world

Bone fish hooks of the pre-metal age

Runic script, the Teutonic script predating Latin alphabet

Perils of the north

Innovative cross, much more convenient

Death pulls hard on life of little understanding

The reverse engineering of land mammal to sea creature

100 to 200 Tons, the largest mammal

Sami people of the north

Henrik Ibsen, Stage director Norwegian Theater in his 20's at Bergen

Johannes Kirke

Nyagrdsparken

Nyagrdsparken aside, generally the Norwegian character is shaped by the need to plan for winter, take care of community members and traverse difficult terrain and it is reflected in the society and infrastructure of the country. Things are very expensive, but people are paid well even for routine work, so they can maintain a quality of life; as a tourist, of course things are also expensive, but you don't get the benefits of health care, schooling, etc. Each morning I would run along the waterfront west down Bryggen and around Bergenhus with great view of the sea ships and local sail boats. The old wharf houses and businesses were more beautiful than the pimped out shop houses along UNESCO Byrggen, with names like Knut Knutsson, an electrical supplier; Knut would have been son of Knut historically, but by 1923 Norway adopted the family surname under the father's line like much of Europe. Friday August 9th we departed for Copenhagen, Denmark.