Bergen, Norway

April 26, 2023

This morning we sailed into Bergen Norway, The second largest City in Norway. it is an international center for aqua culture and it is also the center for the offshore petroleum industry. It is one of the main stops for cruise ships in Europe with over 300 calls a year.  For today Carol booked us on walking tour of the City with a visit to the icebar for a drink. 9-30 sharp, we left the ship we had about 25 people in our group. Our tour guide stopped now and then to tell us about the history of certain buildings and the City. I think she could have shortened her stories to maybe 10 minutes at a time instead of twenty. The weather was not ideal to stand around, with hail falling down on us and a temperature of 4 deg celcius. Bergen is a very attractive old city with numerous colorful old buildings. After our walk through the downtown area, we set out for the Magic Ice Bar. On arrival in the lobby we were given Polar jackets and gloves. When we got inside the bar, where the temperature was a balmy -5 deg celcius. We were greeted by numerous ice sculptures and the seats and even the bar was carved out of ice. We were served an cranberry tasting alcoholic beverage that did warm up our bodies. After having taken several pics, we exited the bar, ready for our walk back towards the boat. One thing we noticed is that the red telephone booths are used to make telephone calls and they also house an used book exchange. During our walk back we got snowed on, now we pretty well had all different weather precipitation in one morning. After arriving back at the boat, we went for a nice hot lunch at the Lido( chicken in hot peanut sauce).We really enjoyed the scenic sail out towards the North Sea. It looked a lot like the west coast of Vancouver Island, very rugged. 

Tomorrow is a sea day as we are heading for Scotland. It also will be Orange Day on the ship, celebrating King Alexander’s birthday. This will mean people dress in orange and lots of Dutch foods will be served. (yummy)

Cheers