"I'm Sorry For The Sunshine"
We arrived this morning at our last ports-o-call, Bergen, Norway. It is a beautiful sunny morning which is very unusual for Bergen, especially this year as we have been told several times that this is a very wet summer here.
We even had one tour guide apologize for the sunshine as he knew we were expecting rain.
Good morning Bergen - we're back!
After breakfast, we headed out for a visit to a Norwegian sheep farm. This farm is near the city, so it was a short bus ride to a beautiful setting near a lake with slopes of grass all around.
First, we met two of their horses – a Fjord horse and a Dole horse. They were beautiful and very different.
The Fjord horse has a distinctive line of dark hair through his mane and down his back and into his tail. They cut the mane every two weeks to keep it from getting too long.
The Dole
horse was dark brown and very beautiful with very long hair. This horse is a
celebrity as he is a beautiful example of a Dole horse and has his own
Instagram account with many followers.
The Dole horse loved the fresh grass Karen was giving him. When she stopped, he kicked his hoof against the ground signaling he wanted more.
Next, we walked on to the field where the sheep were grazing. We had a bucket of bread pieces to feed them, and they came running to get it. The farm raises sheep for meat and there are a lot of government regulations regarding the farm.
The sheep were sweet and enjoyed us – especially since we were feeding them.
The farm
also has some chickens but mainly their business was raising sheep and they
also hosted events here (like ours). They only used the chicken eggs for their own use.
We continued to the farmhouse and were invited into a large room that they use for events.
They served us some wonderful pastries (the owner of the farm is a pastry chef) and tea, as you can see from the picture. We also hat hot chocolate which was delicious.
Homemade pastry's
Karen's Plate (Bill's same but no strawberry tart - can't eat seeds)
After answering our questions, they had a surprise for us as two of the girls who work there came into the room in their national costumes, which were very beautiful. They have one costume for summer and another one for winter and the costumes are different for different areas of Norway. They also cost $6000 each! Each girl gets one when she is confirmed at 15 years old. Boys get them later when they stop growing.
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Such wonderful young and beautiful girls
Great smiles.
Jodal Lake as we depart the Ovre Eide farm
We came back to the ship for a bite to eat – we were not very hungry since we had the pasties at the farm. Next, we took a boat ride around the Bergen harbor.
The harbor is quite large, and our guide was very good and had several stories to tell us about Bergen and the harbor, including an interesting one about the first submarine Nautilus (the predecessor to the nuclear powered one) which sunk in the harbor. You could Google the story as it is a little long to put in here or Karen will tell you when we get home.
Bryggen Wharf
This is our last night on the ship, and we hate to leave it, but we do get to have one more lovely dinner at Marfredi’s Italian Restaurant to celebrate the end of the cruise.
It’s been a beautiful sunny day with temps reaching 68° this afternoon. Tomorrow, Tuesday, August 30 we disembark our Viking cruise ship and check into a beautiful hotel here in Bryggen, near historic wooden buildings of the UNESCO-listed wharf. We stayed here 5-years ago with Ric and Vicki Green and are staying here 2-days before flying home on Thursday.
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