Luckydog Adventures: Bergen and Home

A highway bridge, one of many connecting the myriad islands of western Norway.

This is Part Four of our Norway blog.

Part Three, The Turn Around: Kirkenes and the Northern Lights can be found here.

So. We have come almost to the end of our voyage. But still, we have a few more days before docking in Bergen. And we still have magnificent landscapes out the huge windows, plus the general ship activities. We're winding our way through narrow channels, passing villages (and under highway bridges!), encountering other marine traffic (including some brave souls on a private sailing yacht).

Winding our way through narrow channels...

What are these sailors doing in these cold, cold waters!
(Yes, they are all wearing orange survival suits on board.)

Always interested in marine operations, we were keen on knowing more about this vessel, so Paula signed us up for a tour of the bridge. The bridge is the command center, where the captain and mates keep watch and control the ship. It's located on Deck 8, just below the lounge and almost as big. The mates (ship's officers responsible for navigation and the safety of the vessel) had a fantastic working area, huge with massive windows.

The mates, responsible for guiding us through the many passages on our route.
(And what a great view they've got!)

It was sunny and clear durning our visit, but the mates commented that we'd been lucky: the weather is rarely so good! We had passed through some rocky, narrow channels; what was that like for the mate on watch on a dark and stormy night?

We were also offered a tour of the engine room, which we quickly acceptd. The chief engineer, responsible for all mechanical operations of the vessel, was personable and generous with his time. He took five of us into the bowels of the ship to his control room, and the (incredibly noisy!) engine room, explaining what we were seeing and how it all worked.

The personable Chief Engineer (left) and his assistant.
Their view is not so good as the one the mates get!

One of the smaller of the four engines.

This ship was quite new (in it’s first full year of service) and innovative: a hybrid design, powered by LNG (Liquified Natural Gas, considerably less polluting than diesel). Electric motors drive the ship, powered by batteries and generators. The hybrid design allows the LNG-powered engines to operate at their most efficient, and even be shut down completely in sensitive areas, such as narrow fjords.

Batteries for the hybrid drive.

The landscapes slowly changed as the snow gave way to bare rock and bare trees. This would be a very different voyage in the summer, with everything greened out. (And 20 hours of daylight...)

Also different in the midst of winter, very cold with blowing snow and 20 hours of night!

A navigational aid a few hours out from Bergen. No snow, more houses...

And, finally, docked in Bergen!

It was with no small regret that we made our way off the ship and through the streets of Bergen to our hotel, towing our wheelie suitcases. Our trip had come to the end!

Well, almost. We had the rest of the afternoon; the next morning we'd take the early tram to the airport for our flight to Paris. We had thought about finding the doctor who'd seen me two weeks earlier and thanking him. BUT... today was Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday, and in this very Christian nation everything was closed. No hope of getting into the Dr. Dropin clinic! All the pharmacies were closed, as well as... well, everything. Except, thankfully, restaurants!

A lake in the park in central Bergen. It's much prettier in the summer with leaves on the trees!

Near the park with the lake.

The Bryggen Hansa Quarter, historic warehouses of the Hanseatic League.

As we wandered through the town, we thought of our earlier visit some years ago, in August (and yes, that blog is here!). It's more welcoming in the summer, but the downtown is still very cute, even in the grey overcast.

The former market building.
White trim on the façade evokes images of snow-capped peaks... in contrast to the brown hills behind it!

The waterfront in the historic district.

We did find a good pizza restaurant, and, pleasantly full of pizza and beer, we strolled around downtown for a bit as evening came on. We didn't have the time, nor the inclination, to go very far, but we were satisfied to see even just a bit of this cute, pleasant city.