Monday, Oct 21

Our goal for the morning was to explore Brygge, the old warehouses and related buildings built by the Hanseatic League in medieval times.  The league controlled all trade in the region, especially the cod trade, which made Bergen prosperous. But, we sort of meandered our way over there.  I wanted to stop at a Fretex bin and donate a pair of gloves and some socks that we didn’t need anymore. Fretex is like the Norwegain version of Goodwill or the Salvation Army; they take donations and sell them in second-hand shops.  There are bins stationed all around the country to make donating easier and there were some to the north of our house. We headed over there first, Along the way we spotted some more street art. That’s always fun to stumble upon. Then we figured we should check out the train station to make sure we have the right one for Wednesday when we take an early morning train to Oslo.  None of us want to be schlepping our luggage all around the city looking for the train station in the dark.  

With our two errands completed, we continued meandering toward the waterfront and Brygge.  Along the way we stopped to take some photos of the Leprosy hospital which sits on the oldest foundations in Bergen.  While there, we watched a hooded crow on the roof pick at some moss, throw sections of it down off the roof, then eat something enticing it found underneath.

When we finally reached Brygge, Rob decided he’d had enough walking around, so he headed back to the house while Ginger and I continued on to check out the shops and old wooden buildings.  Most of the shops were the same touristy stuff we’ve seen in other places. We also explored back between the buildings, that was more interesting. Since they are so old, and sitting so near to water, the buildings have tilted and settled quite a bit over the centuries.  Many of the front doors to shops were slanted to one side. We were allowed to walk along the upper stories of a couple of them and it felt like walking in a fun house at carnival.