The Basic Hotel proved to be comfortable if a little noisy. The receptionist gave us a couple of mini USB continental chargers kindly donated by former guests. These are very neat and will travel on with us. They will now have a much more exciting life than sitting in a drawer in Bergen. We might even take them to South America, lucky little things!
Bergen owes its existence to the fact that it is a West facing deep water sheltered port. It was a busy trading port by the C12 having links with Northern Germany, the rest of the West coast of Europe and Britain. These links were formalised by the creation of the Hanseatic League. Originally cloth traders the League came to dominate Baltic and western European trade for three centuries.
This looks like a city that is worth spending a bit more time in, it is also a base for exploring the west coast and further north. It is the birthplace of Edvard Grieg the well known Scottish composer of Peer Gynt suite etc.
The medieval wooden buildings on the water front are now a UNESCO world heritage site. They are a bit like Trigger's brush in that they have been burnt down many times but always faithfully restored using traditional materials and methods. Have a look around.
So Bergen we will return. It's time to make for the railway station to catch our bus to Voss where we can rejoin the train which is not running this stretch due to engineering on the line. The weather was a lot brighter on the return journey but we were beginning to flag so a little shut eye was called for. Eventually we got back to Oslo and headed off to the Smarthotel and hopefully enjoy an England victory in the world cup.
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