Mr. Bichler: June 2 ~Bergen and the Funicular to Mt. Floyen~

Last night we stayed at the Raddison Blu Royal Hotel near the Bryggen Wharf. We took a taxi from the train station because it was cold, raining and a pretty good hike and it was close to 9 o'clock (21:00 hours) already. We noticed a large crowd congregating around the outside and in the lobby of our hotel. When we checked in we learned that there was a 60's Concert this evening and according to the young man that checked us in, "every old person in Norway" was here in attendance tonight! We have learned that the Scandinavian countries are very green in their efforts to conserve energy and are actually ahead of the US in some of their technology. When we entered the elevator, we could not figure out how to get it to work. Someone, a very drunk, older person, showed us how to put our key card into the slot to make the floor buttons light up so that we could select our floor. We had already encountered the room light energy saver in other hotels but this was new to us. In order to get your room lights to turn on you must put your key card into a slot near the door. When the key is in your lights will work as usual. When you leave and take your key, the lights will go out along with the TV.
We could only find one place open at this late hour and it was a very nice, pricey restaurant, but at this point we really didn't care. I had the Monk fish dinner, others had the chicken club and we all tried some dessert at the end. It was after midnight before we got back to the hotel.
We only had the morning to explore the city and unfortunately for Peg, it was Sunday and many of the shops were closed. Ed, Trish, Sharon, Luke and I walked to the Mt. Floyen tram station to ride to the top of the 2nd tallest mountain overlooking the city of Bergen. It was raining and we soon found out that the top of the mountain was blanketed in fog. The views from the tram were very nice before we entered the cloud of fog. On top there was a café, a gift shop and trails. There was also a geocache hidden here so Luke and I headed off to see if we could find it. I really wanted to get this one since he was a little disappointed when we couldn't locate the one at the falls in Flam. After a short walk on the trail and a little digging around at the base of a tree we found a geocache box that held a Swedish ribbon of some sort, 2 futbol cards and several smaller items like hair clips and used tram tickets. At first Luke was going to take the soccer cards but then he changed his mind and took the ribbon explaining that he wanted something special from his visit. We left a key chain from the Columbus Zoo and headed back to the tram station. Luke quickly spotted a play area that had at least 15 carved trolls in the woods. All too soon we had to catch the tram back down to the city so that we could make the airport shuttle bus. The airport in Bergen is about 22 miles outside the city limits. Bergen is a very historic town with many museums and sights to see. This is another place I would like to come back too and spend more time.

This is where we ate, we were going to eat at the Unicorn but the menu was limited and a little too adventurous for our group

Trolls were everywhere, and they seemed to draw Luke in each and every time

When we were kayaking, Wilhelm told a story about a Troll, Nokken, that would hide behind waterfalls playing his viola and when young children would come close he would reach through the falls and grab them. (my research shows a waterfall troll named Fossegrimen who played the violin, and Nokken was the Lake and Well Troll)
Never the less, Scandinavian folklore is rich in stories of giants, dwarves, elves and assorted folk faeries, but the most popular tales are of the rascals called the Trolls.