Again tonight, we met Gail
and Jim for dinner, this time dressed in our formal attire. After dinner, we attended the Captain’s
Welcome Aboard Party. Although the
captain had postponed the Champagne Waterfall until later in the cruise due to
the rough seas, but the wait staff still served complimentary champagne. After the captain finished his welcome speech,
we danced a little to the Leal Quintet in the Piazza; then, after saying
goodnight to Gail and Jim, we went up to the Wheelhouse Bar and danced to the
Alphard Duo until they went on break.
Monday, 7 Sep 2015 – Today, we awoke by our alarm at 9:30 AM. When we turned on the TV, Meet the Press was showing on MSNBC, with
Colin Powell being interviewed. We
watched that until 11:00 AM, before going to breakfast.
At noon, we could see from
our balcony that the ship was parking in its assigned place along the Bergen
pier; and by 12:30 we stood in a long line beside the ship in order to board
one of the Princess’ shuttle busses.
Since no one was allowed to walk through the very large cargo area
beside the pier, the busses needed to transport passengers for that distance
and then also through a tunnel to the center of Bergen.
When we had been in Bergen
four days earlier, we had decided to take the hop on – hop off bus. Although we had expected that many people
would want to ride this bus and that we might have to wait for some time in
order to board, that didn’t happen. Plenty of shuttle busses were available for
those who wished to ride; and many people intended to walk around the city, not
ride. In fact, since a bus was sitting there
right then, we bought tickets and boarded.
We chose the “open” upper deck, near the front. For the next hour, we sat on the tour bus,
listening to a narrator describe the sights through an onboard audio
system. Although there were 12 bus stops
on the tour route, we stayed onboard.
Bergen has played a crucial
role in Norwegian history and culture since Olav the Good founded the city in
1070. Perched between the sea and seven
hills, Bergen has witnessed Vikings setting sail on voyages of exploration,
trade, and war. In the Middle Ages, its
old port was a major trading hub for the Hanseatic League, the band of Germanic
merchant whose trading empire encircled the Baltic and North Seas. We rode by the Hanseatic museum and, if we
had felt more ambitious, we would have checked it out. In the 19th century, Bergen was home to such
cultural luminaries as the violinist Ole Bull and the composer Grieg. We passed monuments memorializing these
famous citizens of old. Although now oil
is a big export of Bergen, fish is still very important. We drove by the famous fish market. Although Oslo is now the capital of Norway, Bergen
was the capital and largest city for many years.
One comment about Norwegian
merchandise: we saw coats, stoles, etc.,
of genuine fur for sale in stores.
Considerable wild life can be found in the back country of Norway and
hunting is definitely allowed, though it is regulated.
After returning to our
cabin, we rested before dinner (Sally slept!).
Our friends, Gail and Jim, came back later and were very tired after
walking all over Bergen. We happened to
see them briefly. Since they chose a
quick meal in the Horizon Court, we sat at a table for nine people: a woman,
her husband, and brother from Perth, Australia; a couple from Rockford,
Illinois; and a woman and a very young woman (Nicole) of Washington, D.C. (we
could never ascertain their relationship).
The table was so big and the dining room so noisy that we didn’t try to
find out most people’s names and couldn’t hear much that was said by the people
sitting far from us.
Although we had been
thinking that Tuesday would be an at-sea day, when we saw Gail and Jim briefly,
they had set us straight on that issue.
Indeed, we set our clocks back an hour tonight, but prepared for an
excursion again on Tuesday! (We were
glad that we happened to see them!)
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