Burgers in Bergen

This morning we had to leave our home away from home.  Fortunately for us, we didn’t have to get up and out too early like some people did (3:00 AM!!).  Anyway, we woke to another sunny day in Bergen (WOW – 2 in a row), and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the dining room before leaving the ship.  Bill had arranged a taxi to get us to our hotel, which was close but walking with our luggage would have been a challenge.  The Thon Hotel Rosenkrantz was ready for us, and we were able to get into our room by 9:30 AM.

Vicki – Karen was able to peek into the breakfast room and it was as wonderful as it was when we were here.  For the rest of you, there will be pictures tomorrow.

We took advantage of the beautiful day and went shopping along the Bryggen wharf looking at the old wooden structures.

Wooden walkways and lots of stores to investigate.

We visited several lovely shops including the 3-floor Christmas store. 

Who would have Gnome there were so many?

After looking around in other stores, we stopped for a Danish as shopping uses a lot of calories.

 

I see a pastry shop - let's stop.

After returning to the hotel to drop off all the loot and relax for a while, it was time to get out again.

Bill researched places for lunch, and he found a great place really close to the hotel which had the best burgers in Bergen – including a beyond burger for Karen.

Bill's first Norwegian beer - actually his first beer on this trip!

The restaurant dates to 1910 and is called Bryggeloftet & Stuene – boy, the Norwegian language would be a challenge to learn.

After lunch we decided to take a longer walk around town and we strolled through some lovely old neighborhoods with beautiful wood buildings and other larger old and new buildings. 

 

 

We know, this should be censored.

We decided to walk uphill, then up 80 steps to St. John’s Church as it towered over the city and looked interesting.  It is a neo-Gothic choir church built in 1894.  The tower is the tallest tower in Bergen and the church has the largest church room in the city, holding 1250 people.

Pedestrian zone 1/2 way down from the Church

As we walked back to the hotel, we decided to take a different route so we went right at the bottom of the steps and found a beautiful area with a gazebo.

According to the locals, they've had 3-days of summer so far with temps between 60-70°

We walked back though the famous fish market and got back to our room for an afternoon rest.

Really neat Manhole covers.

One interesting tidbit – our taxi driver said that the northern lights have been seen for the last two nights at about midnight.  Another person said you needed to be away from the city to see it.  We will try and see if we can see it tonight.

As it turns out, not only do we get breakfast at the Hotel Rosenkrantz, we also get a light dinner.

After eating several large meals onboard with 3-4 course dinners, a lite dinner was just right (ice cream store and bakery are just around the corner should we need desert).