Halling Holidays: QM2 Bergen and Trondheim

Bergen has the unenviable claim of being the wettest city in Europe. Fortunately although we had some showers much of the day was dry. Our first frolic was at the Peer Gynt statue near the town centre, the stepping stones made this a living sculpture.

We quickly found our way to the waterfront where the market stalls were mouth-watering albeit we had only just finished a cooked breakfast. The King Crab legs and lobster were standouts. We all (apart from chicken Jo) had a taste of whale meat which was pleasant – a salty version of kangaroo!!

There were some stalls selling a range of skins – these reindeer skins were very appealing and good value at $100 but probably could not be taken into Australia.

The waterfront is adorned with some old timber warehouses which although they have burnt down on numerous occasions are still UNESCO World Heritage listed as one of the most important monuments to Europe’s medieval history. They have been faithfully rebuilt to reflect their quirky structure with not a vertical or horizontal line to be found anywhere.

The stone building at the end was plumb and is a fortified residence built in 1560 by Erik Rosenkrantz (imaginatively called the Rosenkrantz tower).

One jewellers shop attracted the girl’s attention and the proprietor happily adjusted rings for Jo and Helen.

During a break in the weather we headed up the funicular and got a great view of the city. QM2 looked great in the sun. Note the dry dock behind her which is raised.

We slowly made our way back for a 15:30 departure. The central lake area where the shuttle bus awaited gives an insight to how attractive the city is.

As we reversed from the quayside the dry dock had been submerged

and awaited this vessel which appeared to have a new superstructure that needed finishing. Unfortunately we went round a corner before being able to see how the two tugs manoeuvred her into the dock while countering quite a strong cross wind.

As we left we travelled under the Askoybrua bridge. Not a lot of leeway here (between 1 and 2 metres). I suspect the man on the bridge got a bit of a warm up from the funnel exhaust.

A day later saw us in Trondheim. We berthed at a jetty and lines had to be taken ashore using small tenders. Quite a job lifting the weight of the lines as well as avoiding them with the propeller.

Safety harnesses were not always a feature.

The first building that stood out was the Clarion Hotel which appears to be something from star wars. The windows look like the walls have been spray painted and are awaiting the removal of the masking tape. I guess some architect somewhere is pleased with the result.

In stark comparison is the Nidaros cathedral. We spent quite a bit of time in here as there was a presentation in English followed but a recital on a Baroque organ. The main organ in the West end is huge and has some 9000 pipes. Not all can be accommodated in the West wing and some are housed in the Northern wing which is 50 metres or so away. As the air takes 1.5 seconds to travel to these pipes the player has to accommodate this timeline – as if playing an organ was not hard enough anyway.

The original bridge across the river has a lift section and on either side are colourful warehouses not dissimilar to those in Bergen. These buildings, despite being founded on some quite worn timber piles, do at least have more vertical and horizontal lines to them. Many are now used as units.

Safely back on board we had a leisurely dinner and then proceeded to partake in some Drambuie on Pam and Robin’s balcony. Although it is 23:30 it is still very bright (the daylight).