Nordic Freeze: Bewitched by Bergen

 

Smalungeren Lake

“Mary set out in those days and traveled to the hill country...” 

- Luke 1:39

Today, like Mary in the Gospel reading, we were on travel mode. We said goodbye to Oslo and took a 6-hour scenic train ride to Bergen from the Oslo Central Station. The Norwegian State Railways (NSB) train had the amenities of a plane. When I heard the welcome spiel over the PA, I felt we would takeoff and fly any minute like the car in Harry Potter.

On the NSB Train

 

We were treated to a glorious panorama of a snowy-white landscape. For most of the way, the only colors that broke through that blanket of white were the green of the trees whose needles struggled to peep from under their snowy burden and the gray of the crags and the flowing rivers. The Christmas card-pretty houses along the way made me feel the ambiance of the season. I felt I was transported to a wintry fairy land and could almost see Olaf the snowman sliding down one of the slopes.

 

Snowy Landscape on the way to Bergen

Bergen is on the southwestern coast surrounded by mountains and fjords.  It is the second largest city in Norway. What a charming place with cobblestone streets!

 

Cobblestone streets of Bergen

Unlike Oslo and the other towns along the route, Bergen had no snow, but it was still freezer cold. Jaffy was ecstatic about the city especially the hotel, the Zander K - a design hotel nominated as one of the world’s most urban hotels that serves organic food. Not only was it right beside the train station, but it also had amenities he gushed about. He kept saying, “This is so cool, Mom. I wish we can stay here longer.” If only I had known how delightful Bergen would be, I would have added more days here. Buddy wanted to come here on his birthday to see the fjords but wasn’t able to. I’m glad that we will experience this awesome place together.

Since we arrived in the early afternoon, we still had time to do a bit of exploring. Jaffy and I went out to look for the Gingerbread City while Buddy rested in the hotel. I’m glad we took an unguided trip for a change because of the things we got to discover along the way.

 

Pepperkakebyen 

The Pepperkakebyen is an annual winter exhibit made by Bergen’s school children and touted to be the world’s biggest gingerbread city. I found the display adorable especially because I love miniatures.

 

Gingerbread City

On the way back we dropped by the Bergen Julemarked (I guess that means Christmas market). Let me just say that I’m so enchanted by Christmas markets especially this one because it was situated beside the Smalungeren Lake. For me, they’re one of the highlights of this trip.

 

Bergen Julemarked

In the Julemarked we bought some souvenirs (miniatures for me, naturally) and our dinner. Yesterday, we had moose burger, today it’s Viking burger served by a guy who looked like Thor.

 

Viking Burger

The next day we went on our fjord trip. I’ll tell you about that amazing experience in my next blog post. Let me just dedicate this blog to bewitching Bergen.

On our third day we had time to spare before our flight, so we headed for Bryggen, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Norway. Lucky us, it was only a 20-minute walk from our hotel.

On the way there, we passed by Market Square where we came upon the statue of Ludvig Holberg, a Bergen-born playwright, writer, historian, and philosopher. He is considered as the father of Danish and Norwegian literature as well as the founder of drama for all of Scandinavia.

 

Ludvig Holberg's statue in Market Square

A few steps away is Vågen Harbor, the central harbor of the city located at its center and is the historical core of Bergen.

 

Vågen Harbor

Bryggen is a historic harbor district in Bergen, one of North Europe’s oldest port cities on the west coast of Norway which was established as a center for trade by the 12th century.

The main attraction of Bryggen is the series of colorful houses/commercial buildings facing the harbor. These are relics of ancient wooden urban structure once common in Northern Europe.

Bryggen

The most lopsided structure in the row which caught our eye is the Knut Skurtveit building. 

It was picture pretty even if the sun had not fully risen at 10:00 am. After the requisite picture taking, it was time to pack up and leave.

We took the light rail to the airport. There was a stop right beside the train station (this is why we love our hotel, the Zander K, because it is so conveniently located). The train ride showed us more of Bergen’s charm and we fell in love with it some more, wishing again that we had stayed longer.

 

Let me end our Bergen sojourn with a prayer: Mama Mary, as we travel like you did to visit Elizabeth, cover us with your blue mantle of protection. You were brave to face the rigors of travelling in your condition prompted by love of family. May that same love reign in our hearts in this trip and for the rest of our days. Amen.