British Isles Explorer Ocean Cruise
Day 18: Friday, April 24, 2026 - Bergen, Norway
The day's statistics:
⛅ Weather: overcast, drizzly, upper 40s
👟 Steps: Linda 5,084; Steve 9,333
The last port. And the last country. But we aren't leaving the ship just yet.
It was early enough that the morning mist hadn't cleared just yet.
We boarded the bus and began our excursion called "Panoramic Bergen". Our guide was Maria, and our driver was Myron.
After departing the port, we essentially drove around the the port inlet to the other side.
When we arrived at the other side, we debussed and walked to the water's edge for a close-up view of the port and inlet.
This three-masted ship is an expedition ship, and when it returns to port, the sailors climb the masts and sing (not pictured)
as the ship arrives into port.
One last shot of our cruise transportation for this trip, the Viking Neptune.
Our first stop, across the street from where we stopped, was at Nykirken, a Lutheran Church built in 1620, that now shares the
church with Catholics. The Lutheran service is Thursdays while the Catholic Mass is on Saturday.
The foundation of the church was originally the Archbishop's Manor.<
It is now called the New Church, as it was rebuilt - a few times - after fires in the city.
We entered through the door on the lower level at the back (visible in the first photo), passed through a hallway, then entered
the basement / storage-like area.
In the lowest level of the church - which was more like a basement - there were some rooms. Also stored in the lower level were
some steel plaques. Back in the early days, a priest was living - hiding out - down here.
This sign was in a room off the main. It translates to "Faith Hope Love".
The group was led to the main level, and we gathered in the nave.
The altar was unique for a couple reasons, including that it was awash in pink / magenta lighting, and rather than being flanked
by Mary (on the left) and Joseph, it was flanked by Moses (on the left) and John The Baptist (on the right).
The angel suspended from the ceiling is on a long steel rod. It can be lowered as needed, and it is for baptisms wherein a basin
that holds holy water is placed in the halo, and has been being lowered since 1797. The church representative lowered it for us.
This is the church that composer Edward Greig
(Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16,
and the music of Peer Gint) was baptized.
The church is also considered "The Children's Church", as evidenced by the mobiles and stained glass windows.
After the church, we crossed the street and got back onboard of the bus, and continued on.
We were told about a ship - during WWII - that was laden with gun powder. It needed to emergency port. It should
have moored at an island offshore some, but it was granted entrance to the port. Workers went aboard to work and found
that the there was smoldering. They escaped and ran away. Then the ship blew up, and took a large number of residents
with it. Coincidentally, the Nazis were staying in the city at this time. It was reported as being an accident, but
there were questions raised about what really happened.
The city experienced a number of fires over time. After each, the city was rebuilt, expanding on the remains and the
refuse of the previous iterations. These white houses with terra cotta roofs were some of the only homes to survive
the last big fire.
Continuing on.
The bus dropped us off again. Some folks chose to stay on the bus rather than do a lot of walking.
We had a short walk to the National Theater. There is a rule where ONLY Norwegian can be spoken within the theater.
We walked down the pedestrian street perpendicular to the front of the theater.
As we passed a wide-looking street, we found out that it was purposely wide to help try to prevent fire
spread if another fire were to break out in the future.
Across the street at the end was a small park with a gazebo, a statue, and a sculpture.
Maria had asked if anyone knew who the statue was, having just taken a picture of it I said "Edward Grieg". She said,
"Right. Good thing no one said Einstein." (The statue does look quite a bit like Einstein).
Across the street again was a retaining pond. This pond actually marks where the old harbor used to reach.
A lot has been added since then. There is a pipe from the harbor connected to this pond too.
On the other side of the pond - the retaining pond, not the ocean - was the Kode Museum. This museum is a series
of museum buildings, essentially in a row, starting with the big white one on the left, and the next four or five
buildings in a row, ending with the large opera house looking building behind the sculpture in the park above.
At this point, the bus was parked on the block to the left. So we headed over, passing in front of a small café
and a statue of the Christain Michelsen, the first Prime Minister of independent Norway, on a pillar.
We continued to tour the city on the bus.
Do these four ladies look Norwegian or what?
The ride took us up into the hills, and down the other side behind the museums, then around the harbor and back to the port.
One of the buildings - in the 4th pic - is supposed to look like a grand piano when looked at from above.
Even though it was raining, there were a number of schools with kids out and about, either playing in the playground or out
walking on a field trip. Maria told us that the Norwegian montra is "There is no 'bad weather', only bad clothes."
The last sight was this tiny ferry.
Upon arriving back at the port terminal, we were required to pass through Passport Control (aka Customs).
The line. Was long. It took about an hour to get to the agent. Linda was first. He had a few questions for her
about her travels, but she didn't have the exact dates in mind like I do, so I was called over to assist. Then I
stepped back, and Linda lined up to get her picture taken - turning to the side a little and taking a half-step
away. The agent asked her to put her hair behind her ear as that is how it was on the passport. Her picture was
taken, compared, and she went on.
I was up next. A couple questions about our trip, whether we were in another country since Spain, and then I had
to get my picture taken too. When I stepped back to the agent, I gestured and asked "Was I supposed to put my hair
behind my ears too?" He laughed, and said "Have a nice day." while handing me my passport.
There was a little time to kill before we went to lunch in the World Café - the last such lunch on the ship for this
trip. The carving board had Roast Suckling Pig.
After returning to the cabin and packing a little more, we took our bottle of champagne to the Explorer's Lounge
as we asked Marty and Sally, and Laurie and Anthony, to join us to help celebrate our anniversary. We discussed
the fun we had on the trip, and potential upcoming travel. It was probably an hour in all.
Jako, a frequent coffee server of ours, is talking to a couple guests probably about their drink order. I took
this picture and happen to capture the exact moment a plate struck this woman in the head. Maybe it was a frisbee.
Or maybe, just maybe, the platter was attached...
And just like that, it was dinner time.
We reviewed our last dinner menu in The Restaurant for this trip.
Linda had Timballo al Gorgonzola, Charred Octopus Tentacles, and Mango Sorbet.
I had the Double-order Tiger Prawns, Charred Octopus Tentacles, and Mississippi Mud Pie and Crème Brûlé.
A last couple even songs from Sergey before returning to the cabin.
Our cabin stewards, Sam and Putu, were in the hallway when we got back to our cabin, and asked to take a selfie with them.
As the luggage had to be out by 8:00, we finished up everything we needed.
My intent was to pack so that only the carry-on needed to be accessed for the four days after tomorrow. We'll see
how successful that works our for us...
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