Tag Archives: bergen

Dec 15 2015

Norway – Bergen’s forest of Christmas

funnicular train

Getting to the forest is just a short ride on a funicular railway, ie: a wonky diagonal shaped train designed to go up steep inclines that no other vehicle could climb.
At the top (theres 2 stops in the middle) there is a cafe and a place to look out over the city.

top of railway

forest2

Strolling around this forest just above the city takes you away from the bustle of Bergen.   A lot of the forest floor is covered in this very attractive thick moss.

forest lake s

DSCF8737Theres quite a few nice lakes here.   As I had to later catch a plane home I didn’t hike here very long.

As the Scandanavians have a reputation of being great authors and story tellers, there was a lot of sign posts with quips on them.   I think they are part of a game or quiz people sign up for.

This is seems like a good place for the more serious hiker to visit, it was a tiny but drizzly as you can tell from grey looking skies.

DSCF8709

Another Norway is famous for!   The Christmas tree!

DSCF8757

I really wanted to learn about how Norway was occupied by the Nazis, and how there was a underground resistance, I think the main museum on this is in Oslo which is some distance away.   It turns out that the Christmas tree installed every year at Trafalgar Square is a gift from Norway to the UK for helping them in the war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafalgar_Square_Christmas_tree 

I was in Trafalgar Square this week (mid December)  with the Christmas tree on display with London’s Jewish community crowded around a stage and a large menorah (although with electric lights)   as there was a concert for the Jewish holiday of Hannukah which is just before Christmas, this was nice to see two symbols of the holidays together.

Norway – The city of Bergen – Days of the week – Norway and Judeo/Christian influence – Bergen’s fish market – Electric automotive Utopia – Bergen’s forest of Christmas

Dec 9 2015

Norway – The city of Bergen

In October 2015, I felt like another break, wanting a long weekend trip ideally somewhere hot with lots of history to explore.   I looked at Turkey and Greece, but couldn’t find any flights with in my budget, also with both 4-5 hours away, this could leave most of the day just trying to make connections.

My parents have just come back from a cruise which one of the places with Bergen.   After checking some flight comparison sites, flights are very reasonable and its only 2 hours away from Gatwick.

I actually remembered I have a friend from my old church in Jerusalem, who is Norwegian.   After finding him on Facebook it turns out he lives in the city of Stavanger which is another 4 hours away.   So I spent most of time just checking out Bergen itself.bergen landscape - Copy This is the view from my youth hostel.   Its up on a hill in a leafy street overlooking the main city with some fantastic views over the rolling hills and harbour.    The back end of the youth hostel is mostly where the smokers hang out, but theres also a place for barbeque which no one was using.   Mind you it was late October.   Actually I found Bergen to be no colder than London at the moment.

Norway – The city of Bergen – Days of the week – Norway and Judeo/Christian influence – Bergen’s fish market – Electric automotive Utopia – Bergen’s forest of Christmas