It was a rainy morning when I left for airport to catch my flight to Bergen. The friendly bus driver mentioned that he would love to visit Singapore in the near future. And the casual conversation made the short bus ride to Bodo airport a very pleasant one. The plane was the smallish Bombardier Dash 8 again and a pain to stuff my Deuter backpack underneath the seat. But not that bad since it is a mere 2 hours’ flight between the two cities. The Wideroe plane landed at Bergen Airport and I was greeted coldly by Mr. Rain. I made my way to Bergen Centre where my hotel is located via the Airport Express Bus.

The Fish Market (Fisketorget) is hard to miss given its central location and right across from Scandic Strand Hotel where I am staying. All the stalls have a nice and enticing display of fresh seafood with great variety. It’s probably rather pricey to buy from here since it is after all a main tourist attraction. However, he freshly caught seafood here is undeniable fresh though hence still worth a try!

Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf

The waterfront city is Norway’s second largest city and known to be the Gateway to magnificent Fjords. It is also one of the stops in the popular Norway in a Nutshell trip to take in the beautiful western fjords by train, boat and bus. And the most iconic landmark of Bergen is none other than Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf. The brightly painted and slightly crooked wooden buildings against the mountains as backdrop are beautiful.

The Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf with its colourful and wooden buildings is listed as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. All these are actually reconstructed due to a fire which destroyed almost everything. Gone are the German merchants and in their places are souvenir stores, shops, restaurants and museums. It’s funny that most people are only interested about the waterfront buildings and leaving out the nice narrow alleyways. Whereas I find these other wooden buildings and little shops to be equally interesting.

The Bryggen wharf area is equally charming in the night.

Bergenhus Fortress

I did a quick visit to Bergenhus Fortress which is near to Bryggen. The defensive fortification is now mostly being used for public events.

STAY: Scandic Strand Hotel review

Scandic Strand Hotel is right across to the Fish Market and overlooking the beautiful Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf. And being right at the central area means short walking distance to many attraction sites. The hotel staffs whom I met were friendly and helpful. The small basic room’s comfort level was passable at best but the condition was quite bad and in need of a makeover. It’s hard to justify the high room price if not for the location. I would not mind staying here again but I do hope the room will get refurbished by then.