Car or No Car – that is the question?

We did not see the northern lights last night because there were a few clouds in the sky, and we were too lazy to go out at midnight to see if we could see them.  Guess we need to do a northern lights trip someday.

Now it is time to show the rest of you what the best breakfast buffet in the world looks like.  They have just about anything any culture would want for breakfast. 

 

 So much wonderful stuff...

We had planned on renting a car for today and then drive out of the city to see some waterfalls and small villages, but we finally decided not to since we had already seen many waterfalls and villages and since there were some things we wanted to see in town, so the decision was - no car.

After the wonderful breakfast, we headed out to find the light rail station to take us to the Fantoft Stave Church. 

 Light Rail - a great system

We figured out how to purchase a ticket and get onto the train and finally realized that we really didn’t need a ticket, but we felt good contributing $4 total for 2 seniors to the Bergen economy. 

We also felt like locals since we were able to ride the light rail without any issues.  After a short walk from the station, we arrived at the Fantoft Stave Church which we had visited on our previous trip but was worth a second visit. 

 A beautiful walk in the woods to the Fantoft Stave Church

All wood, no nails.

It was nice to have the church to ourselves since the last time we were there we were with a group. 

 

What a ceiling and wooden cross

 May God bless you and keep you and shine his light upon you, Amen.

Read the inscription

We took the light rail back to the center of town and found some delicious sandwiches for lunch near the Gazebo and lake.

 

Gorgeous Gazebo

After lunch, we found our way to the funicular up to Mt. Floyen, which gives us a magnificent panoramic view of the entire city and harbor.  On the way we passed some more beautiful buildings and narrow streets.

 

 

Up we go on the funicular

You can see from the pictures below that we had another clear and beautiful day.

 

Views from above - we had lunch by the lake and Gazebo below. 

Look closely and you'll see our Viking ship below before it departed on another cruise. 

Next on the day’s agenda was another purchase, drop off stuff at the hotel and a walk around to the other side of the harbor to take in the view from that perspective. 

Another old store building

 

View across the inlet from the other side. Our hotel is just behind the first tall building to the right.

 

More of the old buildings/shops along the Bryggen Wharf 

 

 A beautiful sailing ship

 

Some of the streets up the hills remind of us San Francisco's Lombard street.
 

 

Another old church up the hill

 

We ended up walking 5.7 miles today and we really began to feel our age.  We had some nice breaks when we stopped at the chocolate shop and Karen enjoyed a dark chocolate sorbet bar covered in chocolate.

 

 

This is a Vegan bar - OK, Bill had a little of it. 

At the end of our travels, Bill needed his own ice cream, so we went to the store near our hotel before coming back to rest before dinner.  

The real thing - oh yea! psst - Karen had some too.

We leave Norway tomorrow at noon and if all goes per plan, we should arrive at the Orange County Airport at 9:30 pm Thursday night. Therefore, this is the last blog unless something unusual happens like it did when we got trapped in a parking lot in France and had to climb over a gate to get out.

As a closing to the blogs, we have a fun quiz for our faithful readers.  There will be a prize for the one who does the best:

1. How many waterfalls did Karen and Bill see on this trip?

2. What three countries did they visit?

3. Was anyone getting tired of seeing Karen in the white jacket?

4. What color was the church we visited in Seydisfjordur?

5. What was the name of Bill and Karen’s ship?

6. Where was the giant hot tub and what was its name?

7. What was the name of the Italian restaurant on board the ship?

8. What was the name of the town with the train Bill and Karen rode up into the Norwegian mountains?

9. Who won the putting game between Bill and Karen?

10. What animals were seen all over the hills in two of the countries?

  

We've enjoyed having all of you joining us on this adventure and we look forward to seeing you soon.

 

Love, Bill & Karen