Accommodations: Thon Hotel Bristol Bergen 
Last night I woke up about 1:30 am and since we are now below the Arctic Circle, it was actually fairly dark outside. I did fall back to sleep which was fortuitous.

This morning after breakfast, we met with our local guide for a walk around Bergen. The town is beautiful with interesting architecture and narrow alleyways to explore. We toured the wharf area (Bryggen), which boasts many historical buildings and because of that, UNESCO declared the city a World Heritage Site. There are beautiful wooden buildings that stand side-by-side to each other, that were built after the great fire of 1702. The houses stretch along the harbor and they served as the headquarters for the Hanseatic League. The buildings have been involved in many fires, the last in 1955. The fires kept recurring mainly because after each fire, the houses were built back exactly the same way – wooden and side-by-side – making them conducive to burn whenever a small fire started. Today, 62 buildings remain of the former townscape.

We passed the infamous hotdog stand where footlong hot dogs are sold, as well as the chocolate shop that apparently sells decadent candies and hot cocoa.

We thanked our guide after the walk and then a few of us went to hear a piano concert at the Edvard Grieg home and what a concert it was! The pianist, Mariana Kan Selvik, was amazing and she did a fabulous job playing some of the most beautiful pieces written by Grieg. The concert was only a half hour, but the selections she played were moving, exciting, poignant, and brought tears to my eyes a few times because of their beauty and the way she played. It was glorious.

Afterwards we toured Grieg’s home with original furniture, etc. and we also saw his small studio by the water, where he secluded himself to compose his music. The piano he used is still there.

After the concert, while we waited for the taxi to arrive, we had a cinnamon bun and a coffee and Allan and I chatted for quite some time with Morgan, Heidi’s nephew, and he told us about his interests and what he hopes to become someday. He is a talented artist, among many other things, and he is hoping to become an architect.

We returned to the hotel and Allan and I went in search of the footlong hotdog. Allan had the reindeer footlong and I had a regular pork one. They served them with grilled onions like in Iceland, but I have to say, the Icelandic hotdog is waaaay better!!! The Icelandic one has a delicious sauce on it, among other condiments, that is so delicious.

We went out to dinner with three of our friends and had a fun time. Lots of laughs.
Busy day tomorrow!

Bergen. Beautiful city

Interesting architecture

Just love that bike

The buildings are beautiful

The hotdog stand

The concert piano. Look at the view!

Edvard’s home. Everything is original.

This is where he composed his music. What a beautiful site for inspiration

The foot long reindeer hotdog!

I had a regular old dog.

Heidi took this of me yesterday standing by my lonesome, while everyone else was at the glass wall looking down to the city below.

The selections the concert pianist played. I highly suggest you download the selections and listen to them. You will be wowed!