Full of Shenanigans...: Bergen

Today was a mellow day...the forcast was for rain today...we also wanted to do a little shopping for items we want to bring home...Nancy, Barb and Auntie June are leaving Saturday afternoon so we want to get our Bergen sightseeing underway too!

The downtown Bergen area is great, the fish market, the wharf area, the shopping plaza and entertainment on the street...very cool vibe here. *Reminder to click on the images for clearer, larger photos.

The area just past the fish market is called Bryggen (Norwegian for wharf), it includes 61 wooden buildings which now house various shops and restaurants and since 1979 is on the UNESCO list for World Cultural Heritage sites. It is a very interesting area and has been there since before 1070!

We found a little lunch spot down an alley where we ate and made plans for the rest of the day and tomorrow. We want to walk down to the Bergenhus Fortress after lunch and also see in King Haakon's Hall...but first up is lunch...fish soup, smoked trout wrap, braised pork wrap, and a ham and cheese salad

I'm not sure if you can get an idea of the crooked streets and buildings here...

I totally snuck a photo of this shop(there were signs saying no photos)...not so good but I had to share it so my daughter Marissa could see that there still are shops in the world that sell furs!

I have my eye on a rabbit scarf...

...this photo is for hubby, Jaime, pretty cool manhole covers huh?

This area is right on the water...there were several lovely boats along the way but this huge Ocean Rescue Ship caught my eye...for obvious reasons...its size!

The Castle grounds were built between 1217-1263 by King Haakon IV Haakonsson...

Just to give you an idea of the narrow stone stairwells we climbed up to get to all the levels of this tower...

and narrow passageways...

Cool view out one of these small tower windows...it was quite hot in there and today was about 17 degrees...tomorrow's forcast is saying 27 degrees...so I can only image how hot this building will be tomorrow!!!

It's really amazing to see how well preserved this building is especially considering the great explosion at the port and fire that nearly leveled these grounds back in 1944.

This room featured stories of Anne Pedersdatter, someone who was accused of witchcraft, as well as the times during the 15th century of Bergen.

Time for a selfie! This was the view from the very top of the castle tower...kinda scary for me but I walked all around it and snapped some photos...

Barb was looking at the huge slate shingles but also staying away from the edges...she wasn't lovin' being way up here in the open...especially with low points along the wall where someone could quite easily fall out and over!

Going to head into the King's Hall now...

Time to find a coffee spot and maybe a piece of cake...when in Norway...

Found some!

We need to walk through the fish market on the way back to the hotel...

Now this isn't just a teaser for us...tomorrow we are coming here for lunch...they have giant grills and you can choose some fish and they will grill and season it to perfection for you to eat down at the wharf...that is on the schedule for tomorrow's lunch, stay tuned!

In the meantime, it's dinnertime! We are eating at the China Garden...we ordered some Won Ton soup all around which was a bit salty...after Nancy consummed the entire thing...she started getting what we think was a MSG reaction...so she suffered through some of dinner but unfortunately left early for the hotel :(