NORWAY
A NEW ADVENTURE
Part Two
MONDAY 30 AUGUST
We woke up about 8.30, pulled the curtains back and found that we had docked at Bergen. There is hardly a cloud in the sky. We had breakfast in the cabin and a little after 10.00 joined the queue for the coaches and shuttle buses, one of the latter of which took us into the town centre, at Ole Bull Plass.
We found Bergen to be a very attractive city, with the centre almost entirely pedestrianised. Where we had been dropped off was near a sculpture of
blue stone, which seemed to act as a magnet for people to meet and sit, read, whatever. Close by there was a slope that was made up of a central wide avenue of grass bordered by some magnificent flowerbeds. In front of this 
was a statue known as the Lying Poet. After taking some photos, we wandered up the main street, in which there was a water feature known as the
Sailor’s Monument. This comprises a large wide plinth, with a black surface along which water constantly flows. On the plinth there was a monument to the maritime history of Bergen, from the Vikings to the modern day. It was a very elegant piece of craftsmanship. Maggie and I could not help thinking that such a water feature would incur the utmost displeasure of our own Health & Safety fascists.
Walking on we arrived at the Fish Market, which was by a sailing harbour. This was really interesting. There were all manner of sea creatures there – principally crab, of which there were countless varieties, but also lobster, various white fish and of course the wonderful wild salmon. And it was all fresh that morning. There were several areas where one could sit and enjoy a seafood salad, but we did not have one ourselves – it was too soon after breakfast. Our main aim was to find the funicular that would take us up to the top of Mt Fløien.
The queue at the funicular (the Fløienbahnen) was quite long but was moving forward all the time, so it was not long before were on our way up. We emerged to views that took our breath away. I don’t think I had seen such beauty in twenty years and I hope the photographs have done it 
justice. The sheer, stunning beauty of the Norwegian coastline was encapsulated in what we were looking at. And, thanks to the sun, the waters were sparkling, the sea so blue, and because the air was so clean, fresh, so pure, everything was pin sharp. I could easily have spent the entire day there. As far as I was concerned, just this one morning high above Norway’s old capital city was worth the cost of the cruise.
Naturally we had lunch there. It was an example of how expensive things are in Norway, and perhaps why it has a better standard of living and quality of life, far better than we have here in the UK, not in a small way because of our accursed membership of the bastard European Union. Our lunch of two pretty large salmon and egg rolls, one coffee and one lemon green tea, cost 172 krone, which by my reckoning was about £18 sterling.
Eventually we had to leave and made our way back to the pick-up point in Ole Bull Plass, wandering again through the Fish Market. Whilst waiting for the shuttle bus we had a look at the water feature that includes a small statue of Ole Bull, who was a 
violinist, and walked across to a lake where there was a very attractive spray fountain. There was 
also a bandstand, which looked resplendent in its floral surrounds and also a sculpture – the Sculpture of Four Arcs – which was built in memory of a Harald Seaverud, who apparently was a Norwegian composer.
We did not have to wait long back at the Ole Bull Plass before the shuttle bus arrived to return us to the Ventura. At the evening meal it became evident that we were not alone in being totally in awe of what we had seen at the top of Mt Fløien. I believe scenes like that have a profound effect on many of us.
TUESDAY 31 AUGUST
Clouds had begun to gather as yesterday afternoon progressed and this morning when we arrived at our second port of call the tiny village of Flåm (pronounced Flom), it was very dismal. Unfortunately, Flåm can only have one cruise ship berthed alongside the village and there was already one there, the Costa Deliziosa. This meant that the Ventura had to drop anchor in the fjord (Sognefjord) and people were taken to the village by tender boat. In turn this meant that disabled people could not visit the village or take part in any excursions. This would have been a real pain if the weather had been nice, like yesterday morning but, with the rain and the general dankness, it was no bad thing.
Maggie had seen that Avatar was showing in the cinema so we went and watched it in the morning. It is a very impressive film even in 2D, so goodness knows what it looks like in 3D. The film seems to work on various levels and certainly it portrayed very well man’s inability to deal rationally with anything he does not understand. I cannot remember the last time Maggie had seen a film in a proper cinema. I know that the last one I went to see was Ray, and I still marvel at Jamie Foxx’s portrayal of Ray Charles; I remember the goose bumps I felt at the time wondering how someone can get right inside another person’s skin so brilliantly.
We also visited the onboard excursion desk to see if we could organise a private tour. This was to take the place of an excursion that Maggie had pre-booked but which was subsequently cancelled because of a lack of numbers.
Other than that it was a quiet day.
