Day 20 - Thursday 11th May 2023

Today we'd be staying in Bergen all day - a welcome two-night stay. We'd be hoping for better weather than yesterday and certainly less drama and disruption than yesterday. So far it was off to a good start because, despite being cloudy, it was a comparatively warm 9C.

Also it was a leisurely start today - our group tour of Bergen didn't start until 9am. As usual, we had a local guide. Initially she took us on a short walking tour near the harbour where she showed us the coloured buildings and talked about the fishing industry and local history.

She also showed us inside the buildings and took us up behind them past a church and various other buildings.

At 9:45am, we boarded the bus for a tour through the city streets before stopping for a photo opportunity on the opposite side of the harbour looking back at the coloured houses. She talked about the history of the royal family and the history of the Scandinavian countries. Over the centuries, they weren't always three separate countries.

Back on the bus, we drove past more historic buildings and churches. The architecture of the houses here is white timber. So it's different from some of the other places we've visited on our tour.

She pointed out the concert hall, a fairly recent building, which is shaped like a piano when viewed from the top.

There was another photo stop at 10:30. This time at a large artificial lake with a fountain in the middle. It was surrounded by gardens containing cherry trees (in bloom) and tulips.

We were back at the hotel at abut 11am. Our guide gave us recommendations about where to go for dinner. Unfortunately her top recommendation was fully booked and so we managed to book at her second choice.

One of the most popular tourist attractions in Bergen is the funicular which takes you to the top of the mountain overlooking the city. It was close to our hotel.

When we got there, the 12 noon departure was full but we only had to wait about ten minutes for the next one. This meant we were first in line and got the best seats at the lower end of the train. We got great views and lots of photos.

At the top, there is a large viewing platform where we got more photos before walking further around the top of the hill.

There we noticed some mountain goats. Soon they came closer to us - no doubt looking for food. They were obviously not scared of humans because they let people pat them, They were also pushy. They did not hesitate to put their nose into someone food bag to get what they wanted.

We had lunch at the funicular cafe before heading back down the funicular again to our hotel.

The girls went shopping while I walked to the government liquor store on the other side of the harbour. There I bought two bottles of Australian red wine for about 116 Knona (about $A17) which is the same price that hotels and restaurants charge for just a single glass.

This meant we could have predinner drinks at 6pm with Chris and Janet in their room (which is bigger than ours). Dinner was at 7pm at the Sjoboden Restaurant which is upstairs in one of the coloured buildings. It was a good meal with good service in an elegant setting. It is often referred to as the Unicorn Restaurant because there is a unicorn head outside.

Sunset in this part of the world was just after 10pm and so it was still light when we left the restaurant.