Bergen

We went up to the theatre to watch Bruno's DVD of the cruise. We both thought it was a very good record of the trip and it had an excellent sound track.

By the time the screening finished, we were approaching the coast of Norway in beautiful sunshine. We sailed into the fjord, going under several graceful suspension bridges. Four large bridges connect Bergen to its suburbs.

During the time the ship took to moor and clear customs, we had lunch on the aft deck with Barry and Michelle. We drank Champagne to celebrate a very enjoyable and successful cruise.

As we disembarked to take a coach tour of Bergen, one of several tankers was already refuelling the ship.

Our tour guide was Jan-Bernhard, a German/Norwegian. We started the tour at the Bryggen, home to the Hanseatic League from the 13th Century. The members of the League were tradesmen from Germany and were housed in men-only quarters. The street behind was where the ladies of ill-repute were to be found. This old wharf area is now a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

We walked through the wooden buildings of the Bryggen to the Hanseatic Museum, which was quite interesting, but very hot inside. I decided to leave the visit early, but Wendy stayed on and nearly expired from the heat! She listened to Jan-Bernhard's talk about the stockfish industry, then the whole group made their way up 2 narrow, quite dark staircases to the rooms above. There were too many people in each room and, by the second floor, Wendy needed to go back downstairs for some much-needed fresh air!

We met outside and discovered our rather dilapidated bus had been swapped for a more modern one. This was good, until we realised the drivers had transferred all our belongings we had left on the old bus, but they had failed to notice Tim's camera case! Luckily, it was traced and sent over to us by taxi later on. We boarded the buses and drove out of the city passing the Royal Family's summer palace. The royal flag was flying from the palace mast, indicating they were in residence.

Our destination was Fantoft, where we saw the Stavkirke or Stave Church, a 12th century wooden church that was moved from its original location in Sognefjord in 1883. It was burned down by a deranged man in 1992, but then rebuilt exactly as it had stood in the Middle Ages. It is an impressive-looking church in a lovely woodland setting. It is called a stave church, because of the wooden staves or long planks used in its construction in 1150 in Fortun, Sognefjord. There is a small window at the side, through which lepers and pregnant women used to take part in the service!

We spent about an hour at the Stavkirke, then drove back to the ship, returning at around 6pm. It didn't give us much time to pack, as we were having 'Hot Rocks' on the aft deck. We had tried several times to make a reservation, but a combination of bad weather and not booking early enough meant we had been unsuccessful. We were very pleased when Declan and Anne invited us to join them! We had a lovely dinner in a wonderful setting, as the sun set and tall ships sailed past us. What a way to end the cruise!