Touring Bergen and our Final Days in Strandvik

On Wednesday, our host Charly drove us to Bergen, the 2nd largest city in Norway.  It is about 50 km away and across the fjord.  He wanted us to have a "tourist day".  It rained on us all day, but we made the best of it and saw many sights.

Bergen's Harbour

This was a shopping and artist gallery district.  The historic harbour known for its colorful wooden-clad boat houses

We found a Norwegian Troll!  Did you know if you can make a troll laugh, he will explode?

A farmer's and fish market in the city center

 We got to try some whale meat.  It was very much like beef jerky only tender.  We loved it but it costs about $75 a kg.

 The city square

 Bergen's Opera House

St Mary's Church

 This was the residence of Norway's first Prime Minister

This is called "Fantoft Stave Church" built in 1150.  It was burned to the ground in 1992 by a heavy metal band, but rebuilt to its orginal condition and completed in 1997.

 We visited the museum of Edvard Grieg, a Norwegian classical composer from the 1800's

 Edvard Grieg's house

 A 12th century monastery ruins

 Not sure who was buried here at one time???

 Just one of the tiny narrow roads we drove

 Back across the fjord and in Strandvik

We didn't get to post about this house on our first day because our phone (camera) died.  This was the first project we worked on after arriving.  This house was built in the 1800's and is owned by a friend of our hosts.  We just worked on replacing some rotten wood at the front of the house.

On Thursday, we took the bikes out and came across these hairy sheep

 We rode to this nearby beach area.  We're told it's a good place to swim but at 62 degrees it's just a little too chilly for us!

On our way back we stopped at our favorite cafe in town to get an afternoon cappuccino.  We placed our order with Patricia and she brings us out this plate of food.  She said she wanted us to try a typical Norwegian dish.  This is called "Komler" and is typically eaten on Thursdays all over Norway.  It's potato dumplings served on rutabaga puree with salted lamb and Norwegian sausages.  Wonderful!

 On the days that Kirsten works, Linda cooks dinner for us all.  She gathered these vegetables in the greenhouse and garden and fixed a wonderful meal.

 Stuffed bell peppers, baked beetroot and tomato and feta salad

Charly has grapes growing in his greenhouse so on Friday morning he picked some and made us fresh squeezed grape juice

Friday was a rainy day so David set up his workshop in the greenhouse.  He was able to repair a  hammerdrill and 2 chainsaws.

 These koi are big pets and come to the surface wanting food everytime someone walks by

Saturday morning David got out a welder Charly has and was able to weld some holes in the exhaust system of their car

 Our last day in Strandvik and Charly wanted to take us on one of his favorite hikes.  It's near his house and around a bird sanctuary.  Very nice views of the fjord!

 Proof that you can workout anywhere

 A slippery spot on the trail but there was a rope to help us down

 Emil goes everywhere with us and he loves to get in the photos!

We have a new "favorite"!  This is Norwegian "brown cheese".  Our host introduced us to this and we will be looking for it or ordering it when we are in the U.S.  They gave us this block to take home with us, but we're sure it will be gone before we get back home!

 Saying goodbye to Charly and Kirten and to Strandvik.  We're sitting on what they call their "King's Chair."  They found this piece of stone in the forest and had it brought to their house.

We spent the day and night in Bergen before flying to Iceland

Bergen City Center

 Music Pavillion in downtown Bergen

Our next stop is Reykjavik, Iceland.  We will be staying at a Cafe/Guesthouse near the Grabok volcano and the Gianni Waterfall.  Should be fun!

In And Around Strandvik Norway

One week is over and the views are only getting better.  We are working and helping others; hiking the world one country and one step at a time.  Here are just a few examples.

These lillies bloomed just after we arrived.  This is just one of several koi ponds Charly and Kirsten have on their property.  Notice the wild strawberries!

 Working on a foundation getting ready to add a room onto the house

Ahhh, at last!  We found coffee!  There is one small cafe in

town, 2 kilometers away that has "illy" coffee and wonderful apple cake.  

Patricia from Uruguay owns the cafe.  She is only open on Thursday through Sunday from 2p.m - 8p.m.  When we told her we wished she was open in the morning for coffee, she told us to let her know when we would like to come and she would open the cafe for us.  We took her up on her offer.  Such a sweet lady!  Charly told us a local Norwegian man went to Uruguay on vacation where he met and married Patricia.  They moved back to Norway and had 2 sons.

Wonderful views from the cafe also!

We took a 10 mile hike Sunday afternoon and ended up back at the cafe for lunch.

We had califlower soup and rosemary flatbread

Here are some pictures from our hike to the end of the fjord

We stopped for a break at a park bench to take in the views

 Not one of these sites we experienced happened by chance.  God lives and we are experiencing His creation, and the knowledge he gave people to create beautiful things.

 Quite a hike!  We started from Charly and Kirsten's house and walked to the end of the fjord and back (10 miles).

On Monday, we drove Kirsten to work and then Charly took us on a drive around the fjords.  Incredible views all around.

This was an inland lake we drove around

Beautiful reflections in the water

 We went to the gardens of one of the first Prime Ministers of Norway.  Below is the 2nd largest Monkey Tree in Norway

We came across these ladies working in the garden and they needed help digging up a rock in the flower bed.  Local ladies from the village volunteer to work in the garden to keep it looking nice.  These ladies were 80+ years old.

 We stopped at a boat museum where they still hand make these small wooden boats

We just missed the ferry to go back across the fjord so we took a little walk around the marina

 On the ferry crossing the fjord

 David doing what he does best!  There are many things needing work on Charly and Kirsten's car so David fixed what he could.

On Tuesday, David and Charly worked on the house project so Linda went for a walk and found some blackberries to pick

This is a sign at the end of the fjord, pretty much at a farm that says "Sentrum" (meaning City Center).  We like these kind of cities!

 Tuesday evening Charly took us out to look for blueberries and came upon an old barn in the fields.

 We found some blueberries!  We also found these small red berries they call "lingonberries".  We googled them and I guess we have them in the U.S. called partridgeberries.  They are in the family of cranberries.

Still having a great time.  We only have 4 days left here and then head to Iceland for one month.  We'll post one more time before we go.