today is the day we finally get to board ms nordkapp! we saw one of her sister ships yesterday afternoon when we strolled round to check out the location of the hurtegruten terminal and to see if it was walkable dragging our suitcases! it is. afterwards we wandered around the steep and pretty lanes of the nordnes peninsula area of bergen.
in the morning after eating our odd breakfast that arrives in a paper carrier bag hung on your door handle (remember this hotel is way cheaper than any other we could find in bergen!) we set off to explore the town. the sunshine of the day before had gone so the light for photos wasn't very good. but it was dry which is a bonus according to the girl in the souvenir shop on the bryggen we got talking to. the bryggen warehouses so often seen in photos of bergen are isolated amongst some not so pretty buildings but are interesting nonetheless so several photos were taken, bien sur.
coffee too in one of them before we headed up to the terminal of the floibanen funicular railway. i had been checking out a webcam placed at the top of this mountain/hill before the holiday so had hoped we would do the trip up. we rose magestically into a snowy landscape and came out onto icy paths and two groups of small children being taken for a walk along the many snowy trails. we gawped at the views to the east, south and west which are magnificent and could see sunshine glinting off a fjord to the south.
feeling chilly we descended back to the town and continued our saunter. i wanted to strike off into what turned out to be lille ovregaten to photograph our first sighting of the little wooden houses and narrow alleys that climb the hillside we had just seen from above. as lou turned down a street to take a photo he was accosted by a chap also taking some. at first he thought he was being picked up and maybe he would have been if i hadn't appeared from around the corner! the chap in question was from bergen, very friendly, very chatty and very proud of 'his' bergen, especially the old houses we were standing amongst. (rough guide doesn't make them as old as he told us but what the heck!). we passed a good half hour in his company as he showed us how to get better shots of the rising narrow streets, complimenting lou on his camera choice as he was carrying a nikon too!
he pointed out a plaque to somebody on a wall (i shall look up the history of it later) and tried to get us into the second oldest church in bergen but it had just shut for the day. he told us about why the roofs of the area were different colours. it may not have been all true but it made a good story! :) he waved a cheery goodbye and, by now thoroughly chilled, we went off in search of lunch! a lonely planet recommendation close by our hotel offered hot carrot and cauliflower soup which hit the spot very nicely!
in the morning after eating our odd breakfast that arrives in a paper carrier bag hung on your door handle (remember this hotel is way cheaper than any other we could find in bergen!) we set off to explore the town. the sunshine of the day before had gone so the light for photos wasn't very good. but it was dry which is a bonus according to the girl in the souvenir shop on the bryggen we got talking to. the bryggen warehouses so often seen in photos of bergen are isolated amongst some not so pretty buildings but are interesting nonetheless so several photos were taken, bien sur.
coffee too in one of them before we headed up to the terminal of the floibanen funicular railway. i had been checking out a webcam placed at the top of this mountain/hill before the holiday so had hoped we would do the trip up. we rose magestically into a snowy landscape and came out onto icy paths and two groups of small children being taken for a walk along the many snowy trails. we gawped at the views to the east, south and west which are magnificent and could see sunshine glinting off a fjord to the south.
feeling chilly we descended back to the town and continued our saunter. i wanted to strike off into what turned out to be lille ovregaten to photograph our first sighting of the little wooden houses and narrow alleys that climb the hillside we had just seen from above. as lou turned down a street to take a photo he was accosted by a chap also taking some. at first he thought he was being picked up and maybe he would have been if i hadn't appeared from around the corner! the chap in question was from bergen, very friendly, very chatty and very proud of 'his' bergen, especially the old houses we were standing amongst. (rough guide doesn't make them as old as he told us but what the heck!). we passed a good half hour in his company as he showed us how to get better shots of the rising narrow streets, complimenting lou on his camera choice as he was carrying a nikon too!
he pointed out a plaque to somebody on a wall (i shall look up the history of it later) and tried to get us into the second oldest church in bergen but it had just shut for the day. he told us about why the roofs of the area were different colours. it may not have been all true but it made a good story! :) he waved a cheery goodbye and, by now thoroughly chilled, we went off in search of lunch! a lonely planet recommendation close by our hotel offered hot carrot and cauliflower soup which hit the spot very nicely!
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