Cruise to Bergen

Today was a bit lazy as we cruised to Bergen without any stops. After a sunny day yesterday, we faced a light rain when we got off the ship. Remember my complaints about email, well the past two days we couldn't even access the internet. Today trying to depart the ship, we were held up for sometime because they couldn't get their electronic card reading system to work to check us off the boat. Must say outside of these issues, the boat was more than we expected. 

Bergen appears so far to be interesting. We are located in a Radisson right in the heart of central city with lots of sights within walking distance. A short bus tour showed us several sights including a farmer's market, whose last day just happened to be today. We walked through some of the old area where again wood structures are prominent. Some pics below show the area, which at one time had been a German market area. 

After our tour, we went to a house/restaurant for a light snack of homemade mushroom soup and chocolate cake. The place pictured below in white was awarded the 3rd liquor license by a king in the 1700's. The original structure dated to the 1400's. Tomorrow we are to have a bigger tour of the outskirts of Bergen, then we can see the downtown on our own in the afternoon. There is a funicular climbing a mountain from the city center plus museums and of course shopping. So pleased that there has been so little of the latter on this trip. In the city center, there also is a fish market, where you can buy fish dinners or to take home. 

So glad to be back where we have a fridge in the room. As an aside on prices again, buddy and I paid over $12 after tax for a draft beer on the boat. In Bergen, I got a "deal" on Sprite for Nan at $3 plus a bottle. Haven't checked price of beer at store as I'm still drinking Finnish beer I bought in Ivalo before we got on ship. 

A pic below is of an all electric mail truck. Also, because of government incentives, Norway has more Teslas than Germany. I can' t believe what I was told, but the claim was that they cost less than $50,000. I'm sure they are $80 in the US. We did see one in one of the small towns we stopped on the way south. 

So nice to have email access again and solid internet. 

For those mentioning commenting on the blog, I had it blocked inadvertently. I fixed that. 

The wooden "fish" is King Cod. Norway noted for their Cod and of course Salmon, though I've also tried mackerel, dogfish, herring in many sauces the best being mustard, peppered salmon, lox, and I'm. Sure I've missed some. Also Trolls are big here, so pic is of several in a store window. Legen has it if they are out when the sun comes out, they turn to stone😜.