Norway Day 8: Going Deep in Bryggen

​Today was our last day in Bergen, and the last day of the Tour, so we had a lot to get done.

We started out the day with our trip debrief with the group.  Our tour leader Bob put together a video, using AI to create appropriate music.  It was a cool summary of the whole trip.

Afterwards we had a surprise performance by a professional Norwegian Hardanger fiddle player.  The fiddle looks like an elaborately decorated violin, but actually has an extra set of strings below the frets that resonate when you play.  It creates a kind of droning harmonic sound reminiscent of bagpipes.  It was soooooo cool.  It was especially interesting because we read about the story of the Fossegrim yesterday (a waterfall troll who plays this fiddle and will help people learn if he brings them meat).

When the group dispersed, we did a bit of shopping, and then proceeded to Hakon (or Rosenkranz) Tower.  The tower was a wonderful 12th century stone tower that had been renovated and restored several times over the centuries - especially after a huge explosion in 1944.  We loved climbing up the narrow and winding stairways, looking out from the 7th floor roof, and learning more about the last person to be executed for witchcraft in Norway (a wealthy widow who didn’t suffer fools gladly and paid for it).

We also visited Hakon’s feast hall, which was interesting, especially for the textiles.

We stopped for lunch to eat some famous cinnamon rolls, as well as a waffle with Norwegian brown cheese with sour cream and strawberry jam. It was jammed with people because it was touted as the thing to do in old town Bryggen.   It was yummy and very local.

We had fun chatting with the jeweler next door, who based all of her works on items found in antiquity.  Mom got a little Valkyrie statue - which didn’t look at all like the Wagner-ized version.

Our second priority destination today was the Bryggen museum.  In the 1950s, people of Bergen wanted to be rid of all things German, including the Bryggen area.  When a fire stated in the neighborhood, many were happy to let it burn.  Archaeologists were allowed in for 6 months to see if there was anything worth saving.  They found that the history of the area that was burned went back hundreds of years before the Germans arrived.  This created a renewed interest in the Norwegian history of the area, starting around 1070.  The excavations continued for 14 years, and eventually the UNESCO site was created to preserve the area.  Even the shops in the area have to sell items that are authentically Norwegian.

The museum preserves some (mostly foundations ) of the original buildings dating back to the 12th century.  There are thousands of artifacts from every layer of history from 1170 to the 1500s in the museum, including shoes, tools, pottery, jewelry, runic messages and much much more.

Upstairs in the museum was an exhibit of the work of Ragna Breivik, a woman who spent her life weaving tapestries of Norwegian folktales.  She was famous for using only natural dyes, and when she spent some time at a work shop in New Jersey, she developed 6,112 shades of color.  This delicate shading is evident in her tapestries.

Since she wove stories based on illustrations of other people, for many years she was not acknowledged as an artist in her own right.  Only after her death was her exceptional ability recognized.

On the way back to the hotel, we made one final shopping stop to get the Sami earrings we saw early in our visit to Sweden.  We were so happy to find the iconic protection symbol.

We had a restful afternoon, and headed for our group farewell dinner at 6.  On the way there, we passed a memorial statue where people had been leaving flowers for the king who recently passed away.  It was quite moving.

We had a lovely farewell dinner.  On the walk back to the hotel, the rain that has been falling all day stopped, the sun came out and we had a beautiful sunset.  😀