Scandivania Trip Part 7 - Bergen Day 2

On the last day of our tour and of Bergen, we went on our optional city tour which includes Troldhaugen, the home of the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. We also walked the narrow lanes of Bryggen and learned about stock fish. The tour guide pointed out that many houses near the wharf have sunk and therefore are leaning to one side. We also learned that due to the influx of many immigrants, including the Vietnamese, there have been more Catholic churches here in the past few decades. We visited the 750-year-old Haakon’s Hall which was built by the last king of Norway, Hakon Hakonsson. We learned that as a baby, he was rescued by the Birkebeiner loyalists when the Baglers that had taken power in Eastern Norway wanted to eliminate him as the only heir of King Haakon Sverresson. He later united the East and the West and became a great king. I remarked to Kathy that the story could be made into a movie. Little did I know that a movie was already made. Kathy and I watched it during the flight home. Later I googled The Last King and learned it was premiered in Norway in 2015 and released in the US in 2016.

We walked back to the fish market for lunch. This time we had fish and chips at the place Kopi suggested. Afterwards we explored the city and ran into “It’s Personal” which is an art project that brings together eight artists from Thailand and Norway to collaborate with and around themes related to the personal and identity with the use of performance art as a platform. We walked up the hills of Bergen, “the city between the seven mountains”, and wandered around to Skansedammen Park where we sat down on a bench and enjoyed the view below and where Ngoan left us to go back to the hotel. Kathy and I continued our exploration of the city on foot and went back to Bryggen where we took pictures of the Statsraad Lehmkuhl which is a sail training vessel built in 1914, now contracted out for various purposes. 

We had our farewell dinner at Bryggeloftet og Stuene, a local restaurant on the wharf. We had a choice of lamb or halibut. All three of us opted for halibut. Kopi handed out kvikk lunsj as a farewell gift to each of us. We’d see him again at 3:30 in the morning when we were picked up for the airport.