Bergen, a place you’d love to love

(Click here to view my complete Bergen photo set.)

Before you visit Bergen, there are a few things you ought to know. Bergen is known as The City of Rain, therefore always have an umbrella along. I didn’t actually gave the rain much of a thought, as I thought it might probably be just a slight drizzle. How wrong I was. Well, they didn’t call Bergen the City of Rain for no reason. The day we arrived at Bergen, it didn’t rain but it literally poured! Great. What a way to start my holiday. Luckily we were well prepared and had with us waterproof boots and jackets as well as umbrellas. Sometimes it can be really wet and dirty on the streets and wearing rain boots seemed to be like a fashion statement there. Aside from the rather unpredictable weather, Bergen can be quite charming when the sun decided to be friendly. One of the main attractions of Bergen is the famous Hanseatic wharf – Bryggen. It is a row of old but well-preserved wooden merchant houses built during the Hanseatic time. Nowadays they house mostly souvenir shops. A section of it is opened to visitors. You can still see that time has left its indelible mark on the construction despite various restoration efforts. A walk along the Bergen harbour is a must-do thing. Ships, yachts and boats of all sizes and dimensions can be found docked there. We even spotted a yacht from some VVIP (with a helipad no less!). However I love the one above the most! Like a feminine version of the pirate ship from Captain Jack Sparrow, no? The area around Bergen is quite uneven and rather hilly. Our B&B was situated on the other side of a hill and we had to walk up and down this slope everyday! I happened to notice that houses in Norway are very different from those in Germany and wooden houses like those above are typical in Norway. Another highlight when you visit Bergen is to walk up to the Mount Floyen which is free of charge or take the funicular railway. From there you can get a bird’s eye view of the beautiful view of Bergen. There is a natural reserved forest at the top where you can hike, have a picnic or simply sit and enjoy the view below. After a day’s walk around town, we took an evening stroll on the other side of town facing west and it was located facing the sea. Although it was chilly and windy, surprisingly the area was deserted as well aside from a lone boy fishing by the sea. It was wonderful watching the sun set in all its glory with the sea glistening like diamonds.When the sun has set, it’s always worth another walk to town (for us it meant, another walk up and down the slope) to simply enjoy the night view of the harbour. Bergen is wonderful.