We are firmly settled in the apartment. Although we went to bed a bit early last evening both of us slept soundly and rather late, not getting up until after 07:00. That seems to happen when we travel by train any distance. My sense is that the motion of the train for some hours at a time tickles our rocking-to-sleep gene sequence. That and our street was very quiet.
After breakfast Susie started a load of laundry and both of us worked on our respective blogs, keeping up with our travel journals as it were. Even though it continued to rain throughout the morning, once our home chores were done out we went to see Bergen, Norway.
From our front door we walked about 50 feet to the entrance of the funicular. We had hardly any wait for the next car upwards. No sooner had we stepped out of the car and onto the platform at Fløyen when we were met with incredible views of the city.
looking down our street - our apartment is near where the Norwegian flag is flying
turning around is the entrance to the funicular
looking down, our neighborhood is near the lower right corner of the small harbor
The ride down was uneventful -- but then so was the ride up -- and we set off strolling the nearby old part of town. Known as Bryggen this is perhaps one of the most well-known scenes in the city. Unfortunately between the rain and the remodeling projects underway getting a decent photo of the classic Bryggen scene was nigh unto impossible.
But it was fun to stroll the tiny alleyways between the buildings and peek into the various indie craft shops.
a bevy of boats of all shapes, sizes and uses scattered over the harbor
a view of the famous Bryggen area
looking back up to the funicular
close-up of the Bryggen area
one of several narrow alleyways with shops in Bryggen
From Bryggen it was a very short walk --basically across the street -- to the renowned fish market. Well, renowned may be a bit of hyperbole. Because of the weather some of the stalls were closed. Anyway, the place is basically vendors selling various fish dishes for takeaway or eating on-site.
From the fish market we walked over to Mathallen, the year-round indoor food market next door to the open-air market. Here the large restaurant Fish Me is attached to a series of food stalls selling everything from sushi to cheeses and various other delicacies to go.
Upstairs is the very nice tourist information office where you can also purchase tickets for the various cruises and tours around western Norway. Anyway, we picked up some literature on more fjord tours (one cannot get enough of those things).
From the waterfront we walked a handful of short blocks to the Byparken area to scope out where we would pick up the tram that will take us to the airport on Friday. It's an easy walk from the apartment. In fact there was a tram just leaving and we noted on the handy departure board they leave about every five minutes.
From the tram stop we meandered around a few backstreets on the way back to the apartment to have lunch.
Naturally we stopped at the bakery almost next door to our building and picked up a couple of boller to enjoy after our sandwiches. We agreed they weren't as tasty as those from the Flåm Bakeri!
mandelbolle (almond) on the left and fyltbolle (jam/cream) on the right.
After lunch, a nap and more laundry we discussed our next two days in Bergen. There are certainly museums to see along with a handful of other local attractions (an aquarium for example), but we concluded that since we are in Western Norway, the heart of Norwegian fjords, to the fjords we must return!
So we now have tickets for an extended harbor cruise of the greater Bergen area for Wednesday (a 90-minute trip). This should give us a better idea of the city from the sea. And for Thursday we opted for a 3-hour fjord cruise to Mostraumen. We already know how beautiful this country is -- not to mention how friendly the people are -- we just want to see more of it.
Fully rested and with our remaining itinerary set, we ventured back out. We had one objective in mind, which eventually became two and then turned into a most pleasant distraction.
The first objective was to find a kitchen store we had passed the day before. Susie wanted a small stainless steel pitcher to warm milk for morning coffee since there was no microwave in the apartment and the on site Nespresso's milk frother/steamer function was on the fritz. We can't have that! We did indeed find the store and, while they didn't have a pitcher, we ended up with a very small saucepan. Perfect.
The second objective was to find a restaurant for our last evening meal in Bergen so we could make a reservation ahead (a big music festival in town). I had come across a recommendation of a particular restaurant that was not far away -- but then in Bergen nothing seems to be "far away" from wherever you are. We eventually located the eatery but upon examination ruled it out. Let's try again.
While on our search we came across the Seafarer's Memorial. A truly superb work of art and full of stories to tell and people to know. . .
As we walked through the theater district we also stumbled across this lovely bit of green space as well: Ole Bull Plass (plaza).
Bull, a noted Norwegian violinist and composer, founded the national theater and his statue faces the lovely park. The statue group consists of Bull playing the violin while below is a skald playing a harp. The skalds were Norwegian poets who performed for Viking kings.
It's probably no coincidence that just across the street in a large well-trimmed clearing is another native son of Bergen, the composer Edvard Grieg.
Ole Bull and the skald
Edvard Grieg
From there we drifted our way back home for a light veggie stir fry with rice and in for the night. We also locked in reservations for our final dinner in Bergen on Thursday. More of that later.
Another gorgeous morning in Stockholm and another leisurely breakfast at the hotel. The four of us headed out for the nearby Slussen ferry that would take us back to Djurgården Island. This time our goal was the Skansen open-air museum. An interesting combination of historical buildings outlining Swedish history -- rather like Colonial Williamsburg in the United States -- there is also a children's zoo, lots of green spaces, cafes, a restaurant, a reproduction of a Sami camp, as well as a collection of Nordic animals.
walking up from the ferry to the bus stop
Once back on the island we went in search of the bus stop and the no. 7 which took us to the next stop and the Skansen museum-park.
park entrance
lots to see and do
lots of parents pushing strollers
The park thoughtfully provided an escalator to take you to the top, allowing you to walk down.
Once at the top we were greeted with some rather spectacular views of Stockholm.
But we weren't there to gawk but stroll and enjoy the experience.
One of the unique things about Skansen is many buildings were removed from other parts of Sweden and reconstructed here to demonstrate the (recent) history of the country. Lots of old log buildings and even several entire farms were moved here.
But there were also gardens as well as replicated later 19th century town buildings to visit as well.
an herb garden
one of the original buildings that were built on this site in the late 19th century.
past the rose garden -- several holding just tulips for the moment
the rose garden abutted against more lovely views of Stockholm off in the near-distance
looking back toward the Vasa museum
using stakes holding wool to deter deer
We found one of the small cafes near the old town quarter and settled in for a little sweet and coffee.
it was a very nice place to take a break from the cobblestones
Leaving the cafe we retraced our steps in the direction of the rose garden but then took a descending path to the funicular station, which would take us back to the top again. Why? Because we wanted to ride it, that's pretty much it.
Back at the top of the park we threaded our way past more views of the city and yet more farmsteads in search of the Nordic animals.
great grey owl
some animals were not to be seen
others were really quite obvious
a number of authentic 17th century milestones were on display through the park as well
Built in 1730 Hallestead belfry is Sweden's largest belfry
Leaving the park we made our way to the tram which took us the short way back to where we would catch the ferry.
We had a short wait for the no. 80 ferry (direction Ropsten) that would take us on a short tour around several of the nearby islands. Once we boarded we enjoyed new scenery as we road the waves of the Baltic Sea for the next hour or so.
v
Once we reached Ropsten, our final destination, it was off underneath the overpass past a Shell filling station to the metro stop. We got on the no. 13 line that would coincidentally take us right to the Slussen stop near our hotel.
But before going to the hotel we stopped at the Casa di Cava for an aperitif. Since it was happy hour we had a round of cava and shared a delicious platter of tasty treats.
That evening the four us gathered for dinner in the hotel restaurant: Eken. Susie had roasted cauliflower with potatoes while three of us had burgers with fries. Delicious all 'round!
Tomorrow we head off to explore a different part of central Stockholm!
