Thursday 23 August 2012

Seven

He must have waited a long time!
I visited one of the seven hills of Rome Bergen today. But not to start off with. First I took advantage of the discount on a tour through the town. I saw places that were as beautiful as Bryggen and with a lot less tourists running about. I listened to the Norwegian commentary where a man was rattling off a lot of things. At first it took a bit of time to get used to his way of speaking, but in the end I managed to get quite a bit of information. 

After the tour I decided to go up the Floibanen. It's a fenicular (is that it?) train that goes up one of the seven hills: Floi. The view from the top was beautiful and it was certainly helped by the fact that the sun tried to come through and actually made it several times! It was now possible for me to see how big this town actually is. Huge! After all, there are about 250,000 people living there, but unlike many other towns with that number of inhabitants, it is quite spread out due to the large amount of water. 

One of the many many stairs
When I had made my way back down, I decided to go and visit two of the attractions I saw from the outside yesterday. I had wanted to see them yesterday, but they close at four. This time however I did manage it. The first was the Rosenkranz tower and if you're talking about towers: this was one! Not good for people with a bit more weight on the hips (there were a few doors I had to squeeze through) or with disabilities: the amount of stairs I had to climb...

Hakon's Hall was a bit of disappointment on the other side. It had originally been built by King Hakon I back in the 13th century and was used for the marriage and the coronation of his son (amongst many other things). I had expected a lot of decoration and pomp and over the topness. Perhaps it is not the Norwegian way, but it looked a bit barren. Mind you, it was mostly destroyed during WWII due to a German ship exploding almost next to it. But, it still looked great and grand, despite the lack of pomp!

Not suitable for cars. Or wheelchairs for that matter!
I then found the shops where I found a book I really wanted (a Norwegian dictionary), a cd I really wanted (Odd Nordstoga and it was on sale) and a thing to keep me warm I really wanted (a red, pink and white scarf). I didn't get to talk to any of the busdrivers, because by the time I had finished sight-seeing, it was rush hour. I did however take the tram and saw where I have to go tomorrow and what stop I need. 

So, that was my day between the seven hills of Rome Bergen!

4 comments:

  1. That was an interesting day you had. Barry went up that
    funicular while I was still in bed recovering from jet lag!

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  2. P.S.I had to look up the spelling of funicular!

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  3. It's great to travel with you.

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  4. I just love the things you are seeing. The little town of shops looks so darn cute. I must say that I thought the hall was very beautiful and simple. I love the stonework. I know I would have trouble with the stairs!!

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