Museums & Funicular

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Geo: 60.3945, 5.32041

We decided to go to the museum this morning to take a walking tour of parts of the old city. The tour began at the Bryggens Museum, the main historical museum in the city. The town has existed since the 1100's and had Viking origins. It was a trade center and for some time was the capital of Norway which included Iceland, Greenland, the Faero Islands, Shetland and the Orkneys. The Black Plague killed about 60-70% of the inhabitants. Soon after the Germans took over the trade in Bergen and maintained their position for about 300 years after which the city returned to being a Norwegian trade center.

The city of Bergen is a registered UNESCO Heritage Sight.

The second museum on the tour was the Hanseatiske Museum which demonstrated aspects of the trade during the German period. Young men from Germany would come to Bergen to learn a trade and eventually once they had completed their training they worked until they could buy a house and then returned to Germany to find a wife. they did not marry Norwegian women.

Fish were a major export. The fish were caught further north and dried on racks. Because of the stronger winds in the North and the cooler temperatures no further preservation was required. It seems there was also a trade in furs. Imports included grains, cloth and wine.

Beer was the predominant beverage and at one point there was a proclamation indicating that children could also drink beer as long as it was no more than 4 litres per day. However, the beer was likely 1.5 - 2 %. Beer was safer to drink than the water.

Pottery came from a small town in England called Grimston. This continued for many years until international competition put the pottery out of business.

Later we took the Funicular up the mountain. It is a cable system, great for tourists as well as the many residents who live on the slopes.

We stopped at a Starbucks which serves the same blends as in North America, however, the price is more than double. We also saw a Macdonald's without the Golden Arches on prominent display.

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Comments

[Carla]

That's quite the McDonalds. Hopefully, the rain will pass.