The walk to the harbor was nice - walking along the water we had a great view of the city and of the Bryggen.
It was just a short wait for the little tug that took us across to the other side of the harbor. We certainly could have walked around, but it would probably have been a couple miles and it was quite handy to just take a boat.
As we were walking down to get on the little boat, I noticed a bunch of bright orange jelly fish in the water. I never even knew that jelly fish came in different colors. It's probably just as well that we had to hop on the boat, otherwise I may have stood there just watching the jellies for who knows how long.
It was still about a mile walk to the aquarium from where we got off the boat. I guess it's a sign of just how huge Manchester United is that they even have a fan club office in Bergen!
Most of the walk to the aquarium was boring industrial city scape, but the area right next to the aquarium is quite nice. Rather ironically, most of the pictures I took while we were there were of pigeons and sparrows. I have some sort of weird attraction to common birds.
Having been to several aquariums, I find it interesting how very different they all are from each other. Zoos, in comparison, are pretty similar. Animals, sign, more animals, more signs. But aquariums come in all shapes and sizes. The one at the Mall of America has a bunch of stories about the individual animals, but nothing about the species. The Bergen Aquarium has lots of information about all sorts of aquatic species, some of which they don't even have. And they have a huge collection of alligators and crocodiles, which I found particularly odd. I don't think I ever even knew there were so many different kinds of alligators and crocs.
There was a fun penguin exhibit. It's amazing how entertaining it can be to watch some birds swim around. They can jump surprisingly far out of the water. And when they want to hop back up on land, it seems like they just shoot out of the water.
The walk back into town was an interesting stroll through all types of architecture.
Back in town we had dinner at the fish market. There were a variety of sandwiches and salads to choose from - we ended up with the Love Boat - a hoagie bun with crab, raw salmon, prawns, and shrimp. It was quite tasty! I'm sure living there the novelty would wear off, but it was awesome to be able to walk amongst the stalls and try samples of fresh or smoked or baked salmon.
Since it was our last night in Bergen, we tried to do a bit of shopping. Before we left for Norway, we had planned to each buy a sweater. But when we were actually there trying them on, we weren't able to find one that fit well enough and suited us enough to justify the cost. I did buy a great hat, and a scarf for Todd's mom. We checked out a bunch of the other shops as well. I wanted to buy myself a ring, or other piece of jewelry, so I was keeping an eye out for something nice. It's tough in a touristy area like the Bryggen to find something authentic and affordable. In one very cool Viking shop I found a coil ring based on a 10th Century spear that was found in western Norway. Unfortunately, they didn't actually have the ring in stock, just the bracelet. I was able to find the ring at a different store, but I would have much rather bought it at the Viking shop. The gentleman who was helping us was quite knowledgeable of Viking history and of jewelery.
I don't know if it was something about the proximity to the harbor or what, but all of the buildings in the Bryggen had a very strange affect on me. After about five minutes in any of them, I started feeling almost dizzy, like the floor was moving under my feet or that the pressure in the air was changing. It was very disconcerting!
In the end, we didn't buy much. It's been a long time since I've felt inclined to buy souvenirs just for the sake of bringing something home. Also, having lived and worked in a tourist town, I can easily spot the stuff that is mass-produced to appeal to gullible tourists. We did get a very tasty cone of soft-serve ice cream with Tutti Fruti sprinkles - an interesting melding of American sprinkles and Froot Loops. From there it was back to our room to get packed and ready to head out to Rosendal.
No comments:
Post a Comment