Bergen. (Photo courtesy of Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho at Flickr, CC License.)
When it doesn’t rain, Bergen is probably Norway’s most vakker (beautiful) city. I recently had a chance to revisit Bergen. Having studied there, I have to smile when the city’s hjemmeside [yem-] (homepage) writes: Byen hadde 235 regndager i 2014 – og innbyggerne er stolte av det. (The city had 235 days of rain in 2014 – and the inhabitants are proud of it.) 🙂
Kari has already written a nice post about de syv fjell (the seven mountains) and the history of Bergen. So I thought maybe you’d like to read something else about Norway’s second largest city…
Most turister visit Bergen during summer, where there may be several weeks where all you can say is: Været er nydelig! (The weather is gorgeous!) If you stay some time, however, you’ll understand why Bergen is one of world’s few places which has its own paraplyreparatør (umbrella service mechanic)…
Bergensere are known to be a bit more … boisterous than your typical Norwegian, and their dialect is quite catchy because of the strong skarre-r. Most Norwegian courses teach the Oslo rulle-r, which is an r made by the tip of your tongue, as in Spanish. To practise your bergensk, however, you’d better do some French-style gargling! 🙂
Iconic Bergen singer Sissel Kyrkjebø (photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, CC License)
Maybe due to the international trade during middelalderen (the Middle Ages) – when German traders known as hanseatene settled there – the city has many special traditions. Only in Bergen you’ll find young people that put on uniforms to peacefully march in the so-called buekorps brigades. As far as I know, the Bergen Hansa beer has a more ”continental” taste than other Norwegian beers. 🙂
The birthplace of world-famous composer Edvard Grieg, Bergen is a city of musikk. Every summer the big Festspillene festival attracts both classical and modern musicians. A very famous singer from Bergen is Sissel Kyrkjebø. There are also a lot of bands from Bergen, for example Røyksopp.
If you’ve read the crime stories of Bergen writer Gunnar Staalesen, you’ll know that Bergen isn’t always a safe place to be… 🙂 Nonetheless, a whole bunch of people can’t imagine ever living elsewhere, including Norway’s most famous cartoon character, the bergenser Pondus!
