Days 14 - 16 - Baltic Jewels & the Midnight Sun: Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway - Friday, July 8 - Sunday, July 20, 2022

Wikipedia tells me that Bergen is a city on the west coast of Norway. It is the second-largest city in Norway with a population of about 286,000. The city centre and northern neighborhoods are on Byfjorden, 'the city fjord.' Bergen is known as the "city of seven mountains."

The city was founded in 1070 by King Olav Kyrre and was named Bjørgvin, 'the green meadow among the mountains.' It served as Norway's capital in the 13th century, and from the end of the 13th century became a bureau city of the Hanseatic League. The Hanseatic League was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in central and northern Europe. What remains of the quays, Bryggen (which is where our ship is docked), is a World Heritage Site. We may go and hear a lecture about the Hanseatic League on Saturday night.

The city is an international center for aquaculture, shipping, the offshore petroleum industry and subsea technology, and a national centre for higher education, media, tourism and finance. Bergen Port is Norway's busiest in terms of both freight and passengers, with over 300 cruise ship calls a year bringing nearly a half a million tourists to Bergen. Almost half of the passengers are German or British.

Bergen has a mild winter climate, though with a lot of precipitation (which we can definitely attest to). The Gulf Stream keeps the sea relatively warm, considering the latitude, and the mountains protect the city from cold winds from the north, north-east, and east.

Friday, July 8

We arrived in port at about 8 a.m. this morning for the first of three days we will spend here. We had planned to do another "panoramic tour" beginning at 9 a.m., but postponed that to Sunday because Jeff wasn't feeling tip-top - nothing serious, but he didn't want to be on a bus for two hours. So, he slept while I worked on getting the blog caught up, curating a lot of photographs and choosing which ones to add and which ones to "trash."

Tonight we had a lovely chat with our steward, Wi, who is a charming young man from Indonesia. We spend very little time in our room, so we have only said hello and goodnight in the hallway as we passed.

Saturday, July 9

Today we had a "choose your own adventure" experience that was just so much fun. We had asked guest services for a map of Bergen, and they printed off a poor quality map with a bunch of circles and numbers on it that was really pretty useless. I remembered that I had been "playing" with an app called GPSmycity back at home, so I picked it up and played with it a bit more. It had a wonderful map of Bergen and identified 15 possible sites to go and visit. It "knew" exactly where we were, and I could click on any given site and then click to get step by step (voice guided) directions. I could click on the name of the site and get a brief overview of what we were seeing.

We set off from the ship after breakfast, trusty app in hand, and braved a windy, threatening to rain day for a walk about Bergen! First stop was Bergenhus Fortress and Rosenkrantz Tower. The guide says that the tower and Fortress "must be thought of as one establishment." The Fortress has been a royal seat and residence, Episcopal see, and a military power base. Within the walls of the island fortress are Holmen, Koengen, and Sverresborg. It was built in the early 1500s and was considered complete in 1700. It has been a military facility without interruption since 1628, and there are currently 220 military and civilian personnel stationed at the fort.

Jeff climbed the Rosenkrantz Tower, the dominant building of the fort complex. No Shakespearean reference here - it was named for governor Erik Rosenkrantz who ruled from 1559 to 1568. There is an older part of the tower dating back to medieval times. It's called the "keep by the sea," and it was build by King Magnus the Lawmaker in 1270.

While Jeff was in the tower, I wandered over to the courtyard behind King Håkon´s Hall, which was built about 1270 by King Håkon Håkonsson as a royal residence and banqueting hall. When his son Magnus Håkonsson Lagabøte married the Danish princess Ingeborg in 1261, 2000 guests were invited. At that time Bergen was Norway’s largest and most important town, and Håkon’s Hall was the site of major national events, such as the drawing up of Norway’s first complete set of laws.

We had many more stops on our tour, so we moved on to visit St. Mary's Church, a "long" style church made of grey stone, build around 1135. The "long church" is the most common type of church in Norway. Typically it consists of a single rectangular (elongated) room known as the nave (Norwegian for ship), which is where the congregation would sit. The choir (or kor in Norwegian) is a somewhat narrower room with a lower ceiling and attached to the main body. The long church usually includes a narthex/vestibule in a separate section, often in a somewhat lower and narrower room attached to the main body and traditionally in the eastern end of the building. The bell tower is often integrated with or rests on the vestibule, but may also rest on the roof of the main body. The porch or vestibule is often referred to as a "våpenhus" (meaning "weapon house" or armory). Visitors stored weapons there because of a prohibition against carrying weapons into the sanctuary, or into houses in general. (And yes, I looked all of that up because I was curious about what a "long church" was after hearing it from several guides.)

Doors to St. Mary's Church

Photo Credit: Brian Anderson

Photo Credits: Brian Anderson

The church is still used today and seats about 240 people. It is considered the oldest building in the city of Bergen. St. Mary's is the only survivor of the twelve churches and three monasteries that were build during the reign of Olv Kyrre (1066 to 1093). It was probably build by craftsmen from Scania (Denmark) since the style is reminiscent of Lund Cathedral in Scania.

A trip to Bergen would not be complete without photographs of the iconic Bryggen (Wharf) area. Originally all of the buildings between the sea and the Ovregaten road (the oldest street in Bergen) were considered part of the Bryggen. Several of the buildings have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bryggen

Photo Credit: Brian Anderson

Bryggen Rooftops

Oldest Building in Bryggen

Hanseatic Museum

Old Wooden Building

The earliest pier dates to about 1100 AD, with the city of Bergen dating from before 1070. However, the existing buildings of Bryggen date back to no earlier than 1702. Why? In a word: fire. All of the buildings in this wharf area are wooden and have experienced many fires over the centuries. The area was a key part of the operation of the Hanseatic League, which established itself in Bergen in 1350. They traded mostly cereal grains for the stockfish that Norway was so well known for. Today this area is home to restaurants, shops, and galleries where artisans sell their wares. Local artists want us to think of Bryggen not as some kind of museum, but as a living, thriving space for art. The area truly helped us gain more understanding of the Hanseatic influence on the city.

The Bryggen

From there we made our way to the Fløibanen funicular, one of Bergen's most popular attractions. The 100-year-old cable cars took us from Bergen center to the top of Mt. Fløyen (a bit less than 1000 feet above sea level). We had spectacular first car seats on the way down, which made for some wonderful photographs.

While we were on the funicular, the skies darkened, the wind picked up, and the rains began. And so ... we decided to head back to the ship. Wind blown, but not too wet, we made it back - perhaps a 20 minute walk or so. Just truly a great walk!

After a bit of a nap, we headed to the Star Theater to hear a talk by the resident historian on The Hanseatic League, which I had read about before we left and we had been hearing about since we arrived in Norway. As it turned out, the historian had gotten "stuck ashore" (I think he was doing a tour for a small group). But ... he had done a similar (if not identical) talk earlier in the trip (which we forgot about). The talk had been recorded so that people could watch it later, and they queued up the tape and we watched that instead. He started by talked about the Bubonic Plague and the weakening of the Roman Empire and subsequent absence of power in the middle ages. It was a medieval commercial and defensive confedera-tion of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German towns in the late 12th century, the League ultimately encompassed nearly 200 settlements across seven modern-day countries. At its height, between the 13th and 15th centuries, it stretched from the Netherlands in the west to Russia in the east, and from Estonia in the north to Kraków, Poland in the south.

The League originated from various loose associations of German traders and towns formed to advance mutual commercial interests, such as protection against piracy and banditry. These arrangements gradually coalesced into the Hanseatic League, whose traders enjoyed duty-free treatment, protection, and diplomatic privileges in affiliated communities and their trade routes. Hanseatic Cities gradually developed a common legal system governing their merchants and goods, even operating their own armies for mutual defense and aid. Reduced barriers to trade resulted in mutual prosperity, which fostered economic interdependence, kinship ties between merchant families, and deeper political integration; these factors solidified the League into a cohesive political organization by the end of the 13th century.

During the peak of its power, the Hanseatic League had a virtual monopoly over maritime trade in the North and Baltic seas. Its commercial reach extended as far as the Kingdom of Portugal to the west, the Kingdom of England to the north, the Republic of Novgorod to the east, and the Republic of Venice to the south, with trading posts, factories, and mercantile "branches" established in numerous towns and cities across Europe. Hanseatic merchants were widely renowned for their access to a variety of commodities and manufactured goods, subsequently gaining privileges and protections abroad, including extraterritorial districts in foreign realms that operated almost exclusively under Hanseatic law. This collective economic influence made the League a powerful force, capable of imposing blockades and even waging war against kingdoms and principalities.

Even at its zenith, the Hanseatic League was never more than a loosely aligned confederation of city-states. It lacked a permanent administrative body, treasury, and standing military force; only a very small number of members enjoyed autonomy and liberties comparable to those of neighboring free imperial cities. By the mid-16th century, these tenuous connections left the Hanseatic League vulnerable to rising competitors such as England, the Netherlands, and Russia. External pressures steadily eroded the confederation's unity, while rising local parochialism and political disputes from within frustrated the League's foundational principles of common purpose and mutuality. The League gradually unraveled as members departed or became consolidated into other realms, ultimately disintegrating in 1669.

Despite its inherent structural weaknesses, the Hanseatic League managed to endure and thrive for centuries under a quasi-legislative diet that operated on deliberation and consensus. Members united on the basis of mutual interest and comity, working together to pool resources, raise levies, and amicably resolve disputes to further common goals. The League's long-lived success and unity during a period of political upheaval and fragmentation has led to it being described as the most successful trade alliance in history

It was an interesting - although rambling at times - talk, and when it ended we were ready to head down to dinner. Lily, who greets us each evening, knows our room number and always welcomes us by name. Tonight she gave us a wonderful table by a window at the back of the ship - great view of the harbor. It was also very quiet - which we like a lot. I ordered the starter from the vegetarian menu, which was mixed greens with finely shaved slices of zucchini, beet, and radish, along with pepitas, and shaved Parmigianno Regianno and lightly dressed with whispers of lemon juice and olive oil. Jeff enjoyed the Caesar's Salad (although he was a bit skeptical about the anchovies).

I love these wooden bread bowls!

For my main course, I ordered Gambas al Ajillo, luscious and tender jumbo shrimp swimming in tasty olive oil and garlic sauce with white wine and chili flakes. It is bright, garlicky, spicy and rich in the best way possible.

After dinner we made our way to the Explorer's Lounge for a nightcap and to listen to our favorite, Paolo. Jeff must have take twenty photos of a beautiful sunset in what looks to be a clearing, yet very dramatic sky.

Good night from Bergen

Sunday, July 10

At last! A day with sunshine! We were all pleasantly surprised late morning to see first small patches of sunlight up on the hillsides, and then to see blue skies, puffy white clouds and wispy clouds in the sun-filled sky. A treat for certain.

After breakfast, we headed down to Guest Services to pick up tickets for Panoramic Bergen - the tour we postponed on Friday. They quickly printed them off and sent us on our way. At the appointed time we headed off the ship and found our bus - Bus 7 - and our guide, a Hungarian born young man named Kristoff. He was the least personable of all of our guides, but the tour was interesting, beautiful, and well orchestrated. We passed many of the sights Jeff and I had done in greater depth on our own yesterday, but also got to a few places that we didn't get to see. I won't repeat the commentary, but will share a photo collage with captions.