Bergen

The last stop of this cruise: Bergen. The rain capital of the Western World, we were told. 300 days a year, at least. Well, today was one of the 66! Brilliant sun so far.

We started by going up the cable-car to Ulriken Mountain. Trouble is, everyone else had the same idea. On a sunny Bergen Sunday, it is clearly a popular family spot for an outing. The car claims to be able to shift 250 people per hour, and there did not seem to be more than about 50 or 60 ahead of us. But we spent nearly an hour and a half standing on a narrow concrete stairway up to the car. Not even a handrail to hold onto, and I was in agony before very long. We certainly would not have waited in the queue if we had known how long it would take - but we had bought our tickets, so we persevered, as you do. And it was worth it.

The views were stunning and the weather was perfect for seeing into the far distance. In the cafe, a quartet of musicians (from Norway, Poland and the Ukraine) played as we had our lunch. Afterwards, coming down was perfectly straightforward without any queues, and we went to the fish market.

Here, I was sorry that we had had lunch up the mountain. The lobsters, salmon, shrimps and king-crabs all shouted out "Buy Me!!" But they will have to wait till next time.