When we arrived in Bergen at 5th May 2013, we welcome by a light rain. Bergen - The City of The Seven Mountains experiences plentiful rainfall, almost everyday is raining. In recent years, precipitation and winds have increased in the city. From the bus we could see the hilly scenery of Bergen, we went directly for lunch to the most expensive hotel in town, called Terminus. While waiting for the lunch, I took some pictures in some beautiful corners of the hotel. The set menu lunch was provided in the continental Brasserie red room with its small gallery. The menu was simply, anyway the taste was quite delicious e.g. crème soup, chicken with rice, plum sorbet with watermelon.
After lunch the local guide brought us to go around the city, explaining each building history. Most of the building was still maintained with the original design. The bus dropped us in front of the Fløibanen funicular station. The train would bring us through the steep railway around 6 minutes to the top of the mount Fløyen. The seat was limited, so most passengers would be standing, the roof was made of glass, so you still could see clearly the sky and the scenery during the trip.
Just went down from the train, you could reach the wonderful viewing platform, known as Fløytrappene (320m above the sea)just with a few steps. It's very crowded, where you could enjoy the magnificent view of Bergen surrounding by mountains and fjord. It's very windy and cold. There was a small outdoor playground for children entertainment, also some souvenir shops where we could warm our body and protect from the wind while also doing the shopping. Two members of our group was left on the top when we returned to the bus, so the local tour leader volunteer to go back and ask the bus driver to bring us to the hotel. He had to wait for the train which would depart every 30 minutes.
We stayed in a beautiful hotel in the downtown, just next to the main tourism place. The tour leader asked us to gather in the lobby just around an hour after check in to walk together to the restaurant. Our restaurant just across the fjord, it's nice to walk in Bergen, the weather was clean and fresh, also the scenery was beautiful. The tour leader kept reminding us to hurry as we often stopped taking picture. He said that there would be a free time after dinner, so everyone could go wherever they preferred.
That's why we asked the restaurant to accelerate the service, as we didn't want to loose our time. We would like to enjoy the scenery before getting dark. A few steps from the restaurant, we approached the edge of the fjord. The picturesque & charming scenery could be captured from the heart of the city between the fjords and Bergen's 7 mountains. Beautiful yachts with houses on the hilly as the background, while the cloud was covering the top of the mountains.
From the same location, we also could see panorama of the old Hanseatic wharf buildings of Bryggen along side of the harbor, which has been on the UNESCO list for World Cultural Heritage sites since 1979. Bergen founded at 1070, has experienced many fires since, traditionally most houses were made from wood. Bryggen has been the nerve centre of the city for hundreds of years and the silhouette of its ancient gables is perhaps the most familiar image in all of Norway.
As our tour guide was busy with himself accompanying his favourite team member, we had to find the way by ourselves. Strolling on Bryggen area, enjoy the views and the peace & quiet environment while gazing down at the city. Narrow streets are a common sight in older parts of Bergen. We stopped by at 711 store as one of the Hanseatic buildings, it's interesting. The spectacular wooden architecture shelter painted white as the 711's interior, all the walls and windows' frame including the roof. It's still preserved and protected. They were not allowed to paint the wall with their own color, so they had to ask permission first from the government to ensure it matches with their neighbours.
Getting dark, we walked back to our hotel, Radisson Blu Royal, Bryggen 5835 Bergen, Norway, phone: 47-55-543000. We loved the room with its huge window to peep the fjord, also the beautiful modern interior of the lobby. It's around 7 degree Celcius at that night, so we had to wear our coat as it's very windy and cold. I loved the scenery in Bergen, it's worthy to stay a few days there, just remember to bring umbrella or rain coat, as rain could fall unexpectedly anytime.
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