We arrived in Bergen after a lengthy evening train journey from Oslo. We rode through mountains and along lakes, watching the light dim until we arrived at Bergen station and walked to our hotel, the Ole Bull Best Western, named for a Norwegian violin virtuoso.
Poppin’ around? Look at Scandinavia | Stockholm | Oslo | Bergen | Stavanger | Preikestolen .
One of our first destinations was the Bergen aquarium. It’s quite nice, with penguins, crocodiles, and oh-so-many fish, as well as an axolotl; I am reliably informed the last is an internet-famous species of salamander. The aquarium also has two California sea lions, Amy and Keela, who perform a show with their handlers that was fun to watch. Even before that, we eyed them in their tank, and Amy (the more experienced once) was quite good and making eye contact and playfully swimming away for show.
We were very close to the old town of Bergen, near the old Hanseatic wharf and several other historic sites. The day after we arrived, we got up and walked straight over to the tourist center to get oriented, after which we decided to spend time in the old city fortress and the area around it.
At some point we set off on a quest for a cat: the Cat in Stone. It may not look like much but in person it was quite charming.
It was worthwhile to spend a little money to walk through the old Rosenkrantz Tower, which dates back to the thirteenth century. The name of the monarch who had it built was King Magnus the Lawmender, and I have to say “Lawmender” is a great title. The tower was expanded on in subsequent centuries and served as a good orientation to pre-modern Norwegian history.
Next, we walked over to the Floibanen, a funicular railway that would take us up Mount Floyen for amazing views of the city. There were also some goats employed for groundskeeping, which you could approach and pet, and there were plenty of hiking trails and natural paths to walk along.
In the woods was also the Tubakuba, which is a small cabin that can be rented for overnight stays.
On our last day we visited the Troll Museum. We almost skipped this; do not skip this. It’s fun and absolutely worth the time and money. The various exhibits take you through the folklore of trolls and their depictions in music, ballet, and other arts, up to modern times. The museum also includes other folklore, with a striking exhibit about the Draug: restless spirits of drowned sailors who lure the living to their doom at sea.
We departed by ferry to our final stop: Stavanger. No Draug were spotted.
