Norway - Sights and Sounds of Bergen

Back-pedalling in Bergen in August 2013

Harbour View in Bergen from Mt. Floyen

I recently found out that TW had wanted to go to Norway ever since she was seven and saw "Song of Norway" at the pictures with her friend. YouTube clips reveal that it was an excruciatingly corny film about Edvard Grieg starring, amongst others, Harry Secombe. It is a big birthday year so it seemed like a good place to go to mark the occasion. So, with visions of cartoon trolls appearing from behind mountains we set forth on a six day trip to Norway. First stop was Bergen which is clearly a prime destination for cruise ships. On our short stay there we were joined by the Oriana, The Black Watch, The Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. I was hoping someone would ask us if we were also on a cruise ship as I had my reply ready - naah, Easy Jet from Gatwick luv! Alas, nobody asked. We probably needed to carry an SLR camera, a shopping bag and to look vaguely prosperous.

Ladegardsgarten - the Street where we lived

Mary-Annes Guesthouse Ladegardsgaten 39E 5033 Bergen Norway

TW in Mary-Annes kitchen

Quite happy not to be on board a ship as we had three nights booked at Mary-Annes Guesthouse in Sandviken, an old but fairly central area of town. Imagine a row of Terraced wooden houses on a cobbled street lined with cherry trees and picnic tables. Young children played in the street during the day. As it was warm they were trying to sell home-made soda. We didn't buy any despite that fact they were angelic little blonde girls. TW will not buy anything that is not in a sealed container and within its 'use by' date.

TW meets the locals

We had the run of the ground and middle floor of the house. Mary-Anne told us the top floor was private. She was a blonde yoga-fit looking Lady of a certain age. We found out later that she teaches psychosomatic physiotherapy and had been a practising Psychiatrist. Bit of a worry, if I meet a dentist I keep my mouth shut and on meeting a shrink I let TW to do the talking. We had full use of her kitchen and she left the sharp knives and matches out so I think we passed a rudimentary sanity test. Have to update the CV. Our little wooden house was not only beautiful, it was also convenient. Only ten minutes from the Fish Market and our first destination, the Funicular Railway up Mount Floyen.

Two trolls

Polar Bear ate my hat

Smoking permitted

Stand on the Bandstand

Tourists on the edge - Bergen

Sky High - Panoramic View from Mount Floyen

An aerial view of the City from Mt. Floyen was a good start to our trip. Bit of a queue for the ride up on a funicular. It is a park in the sky with various trails, a canoe boating lake and enormous Trolls. We had a wander around and took in the views before walking down to our 'home' for lunch. On the way we spotted a bicycle hire shop  - so that was the afternoon sorted. Mind you, the bikes were a challenge. My boy's bike was OK its only limitation was a kiddy seat on the back. Very tricky getting your leg over! Both bikes only had a front drum brake and a rear back-pedal brake. We could have coped with these stopping arrangements but sadly TW's velocipede had a faulty front brake and a barely working rear. We also had to descend down a steep cobbled road. Yep, you guessed it, we had to exchange bikes, I was now on TW's non-stopping lady version. My biggest worry was that some camera toting cruise shipper would step out in front of me and get flattened. I would then get sued for every Kroner I had.  Anyway can report that nobody died and we had a good tour of the City and its Parks and Gardens. Lots of students were wandering about in fancy dress. Apparently new students are inducted by putting on costumes, drinking alcohol and touring the town - very strange. They seemed cheerful though. Have to say it was a relief to get back to the shop in one piece and hand back the beastly brake-less bicycle.

Bryggen - the old Hanseatic Wharf

Grieg's man shed where he wrote his music

Next stop, the local Supermarket to buy our dinner. We were prepared for high prices and we were not disappointed. Fresh fish seemed to be best value and we chose two big Sea Trout steaks to fry up in Mary-Annes kitchen. She was out dancing the Tango so we did not have to fight for access to the high speed inductive hob. A very enjoyable meal rounded off a good day in Bergen.

Griegs House

In the composers garden

Bergen Day Two and we headed out to Grieg's House. Normally you have to ride a tram and then take a 20 minute walk to reach Troldhaugen. Luckily, we spotted that we could join a guided tour for just a few extra Kroner. So with a guide to follow, and listen to, we took our seats on a comfy tour bus.

My mate Eddie, actual size - Edvard was about 5 foot tall

Actually, it was rather interesting. Did you know that Grieg's Great Grandfather was Alexander Greig, a Scottish fishmonger, who emigrated from Aberdeen? He swapped the vowels over to make his name more Norwegian so Greig became Grieg and the rest is history.  Alexander made a fortune in the fish business and Eddie was able to benefit from a proper musical education. Have to say Edvald Grieg has a bit more gravitas than Eddie Greig, particularly when you are trying develop a Norwegian musical tradition based upon folk music. Unfortunately whilst in school in Leipzig he developed TB and had to live with one lung for the rest of his life. As he was only 15, or so, he was still growing so one side of his chest did not expand and he had to pad out his chest for the remainder of his life. Luckily his thing was the piano and not a wind instrument otherwise we would not be enjoying his music today.
So, thanks to our guide, we now know that our musical hero was a five foot tall, part Scottish chap with one side of his body collapsed.. Not sure how he would fare in today's celebrity culture? Certainly a genius to our ears though.

His house by the Fjord was lovely and our guide was brilliant. I complimented her on her English which was perfect. "It should be", she said, "I am from the Midlands"! She had been in Norway for two years studying Norwegian. Ho-Hum! Eddie had a wonderful composing 'Man Shed' by the shore which would be great for the bikes. Think I could move in.

Ready to play - Concert Hall next to Griegs House

Our tour included a piano concert by an elderly Lady pianist. She bashed the keys pretty hard, did not play any of TW's favourites and I nearly dozed off. No complaints though, I was well rested for the jog back to the Coach Park. We nearly missed our bus back to town because I dropped my shades near the water edge and had to go back for them. Wait for us!

Peer Gynt - Solviegs Song - a favourite

Back in the City it turned into Grieg day as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra were putting on Peer Gynt in one of the main streets. We enjoyed the music but standing up for another 1hr 30 minutes was tough after a heavy day of touristing. Even though we loved the music the performance included quite a bit of dialogue in Norwegian. The hero Peer Gynt had a lot of woman and Troll trouble, from my view of it anyway. He got a bit emotional I'm afraid.  "Pull yourself together man!"