DocAndersen
As I mentioned yesterday, the big draw in Bergen was going up the Vertical Train. A vertical train. You can see the tracks in a couple of pictures. You can also see all of us, walking through the rain. I suspect we walked a little less than 3 miles to get from the ship to the train and back to the ship. It only rained while we were waiting for the train, and then when we were on top of the mountain (that was more a hill than a mountain). We were on the very first train of the day. As we wandered up to the train tracks via train, I have to say it was impressive. If it had been a clear day, we could have seen more of Bergen. As it was, we got to see a lot of the city as we rose into the air.
On top, there was a café (that wasn’t open yet) and an open gift shop. There was an observation area. I wandered out to that area and took a few pictures. The rain started to fall a lot harder and faster while we were on top of the mountain, so we got the field test our new umbrellas. We did consider going into the café, but it was as I said, not open yet. When we first got to the top of the hill, the gift shop wasn’t either. We waited a bit, wandered the gift shop, and they walked out to see what else there was to see. There was a kids area, but we didn’t have any kids with us anymore. They, the children, were all adults. There were also sheep and other animals wandering around.
The trip back down the mountain was just as fun as going up. It is a train that rises about 78 degrees. Not straight-up vertical but close. By the time we got back to the ground, the rain had stopped. We had purchased lunch at the fish market, so we were going to head there next. Although, as became our tradition, we did stop at the bakery that was just ½ a block from the train station. The bakery was just on the crest of the section of the hill where they built the train. That means we got our treats and walked the rest of the way down the hill to the inner harbor. Like most US harbors, the inner harbor was devoted to pleasure craft and smaller boats. It was also where the fish market was located!
