Day 11 – Bergen, Norway

Our last port of call is Bergen, Norway. It rains so much here that it is said that Bergen’s babies are born with umbrellas! However, today broke sunny and clear and Marina and I set off to explore the town.
Bergen, Norway’s second largest city is a charming city with its picturesque Bryggen Wharf area of attractive wooden buildings reflective of the Middle Ages. Rebuilt in 1702 after a fire, the Bryggen has one of the best open-air fish markets in the world! It is very walkable city and after we left the fish market, we walked to the Domkirke (Church of the Dome). It is a 12th Century church of the Church of Norway (Lutheran, in case you’d like to know!) that is an imposing stone structure. The interior is plain but beautiful with an incredible organ that looks like a church in itself. A cannonball is still lodged in the front wall that dates back to the battle on the Bay of Bergen in 1665 between the British and Dutch Navies.
Tomorrow is a day at sea as we head back to Harwich, where this all began. It will be a day of packing and preparing to leave the ship on Saturday, when we will wing our way back across the Atlantic to home! We are all ready for home, but as we reflect on this past two weeks, we have an incredible gift of experiences and memories to bring with us.
This will be our last post until we get home and can reflect on the trip a bit. Until then, we hope you have enjoyed keeping up with us. We look forward to seeing many of you soon!
David, Marina and Jessika