The last three days of our trip flew past. As we sailed south the weather became milder, snow disappeared from all but the highest peaks and we saw more and more picturesque villages along the shoreline.
On Saturday we were up early and on deck to watch the ship cross the Arctic Circle at about 07.50. There is a sculpture marking the point and everyone was jostling for position to capture the moment.
Wow, we are half way through our cruise and we haven’t told you anything about it. Let’s put that right before we turn around and start heading south again.
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.
The train journey to Bergen is promoted as one of the most scenic in Europe, it is also very dramatic, climbing to over 1300m and crossing the highest mountain plateau in Europe. It didn’t disappoint.