2009 - Scandinavia - Day 2 - Bergen, Norway

Today we got up around 7:00 am. We had breakfast at the hotel, and made a sandwich for lunch later (which we ended up doing most days). We left our hotel at 9:45 and drove to the airport to fly to Bergen, Norway. I was at a window seat, and it was so amazing watching us fly into Bergen. It reminded me a lot of the area off the coast of Washington near Seattle, with all the rocky islands and tall pine trees and birch trees and the coast. Bergen is right on the coast, made up of little islands with maybe a handful of houses on an island, or some with just one or two houses, and bigger islands that are connected by bridges. It was cool to be able to see it all from the sky as we flew in, it was so beautiful. We arrived around 2:00 pm. And then we went on a city bus tour with a local guide for about 3 hours. We drove all around the city and he told us about the buildings and the history. They have several homes and buildings built in the 1700-1800’s that they have kept up and preserved. In fact, our hotel is right behind a row of old 1800’s wooden shops along the coastline. He said that 80% of the homes in Bergen were wood, and they have lost several of the old buildings due to fires. We stopped at a pier to overlook the main part of the city, and we saw several jelly fish in the water. How cool is that! Bergen is a beautiful city. Tomorrow we will see more of it, so I am excited. We got back to our hotel around 5:00 pm. And mom and I spent the evening talking and had our snacks for dinner.