Gosh, time flies and the blog waits for no one!

We arrived in Bergen just in time to drop our bags and head out to dinner. We were close to the historic Bryggen area, a run of colourful historic wooden wharf buildings on the harbour. The receptionist recommended the Unicorn restaurant in one of those buildings so we set off to find it. The restaurant was on the first floor approached via a very old wooden staircase. At the top was a dark landing and a solid door, we had no idea what to expect. We opened the door and were greeted by a cozy, bustling restaurant furnished with mismatched antique furniture and lamps, like an old family dining room. The waiter led us to a table by the window and we had another great meal, we all had fish cooked to a variety of traditional Norwegian recipes.

As we walked back to the hotel we were bemused to see crews of workmen erecting and decorating Christmas trees in front of the Bryggen buildings!

We only had half a day in Bergen and we were woken in the morning by thunder, lightning and driving rain, our hopes of exploring the town took a dive. Fortunately, while we are breakfast the weather cleared a bit so we set off along the harbour to find the funicular railway running to the top of the mountain behind town.

As we walked by the Bryggen a film crew was setting up and spraying the area with fake snow. We aren’t sure what they were filming, maybe a Christmas advert, but that explained the premature trees and decorations!

The weather improved so much that we were able to sit out on the terrace at the top of the railway and soak in the views of Bergen and the harbour beyond. We also took one of the marked trails and walked through the forest to a big pond replete with ducks and jumping fish.

Back down on the railway and through town to the hotel, it was time to call a taxi and head to the Hurtigruten terminal to board our ship.