We got to sleep in a bit today. We had breakfast in the apartment and headed out around 10:15 to sign up for the 11:00 Bryggen Walking Tour. The tour was highly recommended in the guide book and it said that sometimes the 11:00 tour sells out so we wanted to sign up early. We didn't need to get there as early as we did, but better to be early than late.
We signed up and got little stickers to indicate we were on the tour. We had about 30 minutes before the tour started so we wandered around the nearby buildings. We found a bakery and decided to have a snack before the tour. I took the opportunity to try a skillingsbolle. A skillingsbolle is like a cinnamon roll but not quite as gooey. I really enjoyed the treat especially since I'd skipped breakfast!
 |
| Skillingsbolle |
The tour started promptly at 11:00 am. There are two Engligh tours a day, one at 11:00 and one at 12:00, it is a 90 minute guided tour of two musuems and historic Bryggen. The tour is approximately $20 for adults and the kids are free, it includes admission to the Bryggen Museum and the Hanseatic Museum. The tour was excellent! It was well worth what we paid, our guide was excellent and we learned far more than we would have without his explanations.
The tour started at the Bryggen museum where we learned about the early years of Bergen. They have uncovered remains of some of the earliest buildings along the wharf. We also learned that the wharf has had many fires during the last 900 years and has been rebuilt many times.
We walked through the old buildings in Bryggen and our guide told us about some of the buildings. We learned about the history of the area. The buildings mostly house shops and art galleries but the buildings are still very interesting!
We had a little "surprise" on the tour, we were able to see the remains of the first city hall in Bergen. It is inside a parking garage! The remains were found and the parking garage was built around them. The tour we were on is the only tour allowed to visit them and they just started allowing visitors last month.
 |
| Ruins from the original Bergen city hall |
Our final stop was the Hanseatic Museum. This building has original interiors from the 18th and 19th centuries. The Hanseatic League was a group of German merchants who basically controlled the wharf in Bergen from 1360 to 1754. The Hanseatics were all men and they had to be single. The Hanseatic museum is an example of what one of the trade houses would have looked like.
 |
| Hanseatic Merchant Office |
After the tour we headed back up the hill to the apartment and had lunch. My parents headed out to do a little shopping and my family just stayed at the apartment. Dan and I napped and the kids spent some time reading. Later Dan, Ali, and I went out to do a bit of shopping. Ali had seen a few things she wanted to get from the souvenir shops.
We had dinner at the apartment and had a quite night. I started packing up stuff in anticipation of heading home soon. Tomorrow will be our last full day. We are hoping for good weather!
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment