History in the Snow

A magic day when everything went right.
I got up quite late as I had found the Rozenkrants tower , where the guided walk was to start, the evening before. I made sure I was going to have warm legs! With woollen leggings and furry trousers. Just as well as the day proved cold with an icy breeze from the east.
At first the  fortress courtyard was deserted, then two people arrived, from Oz. A tall Norwegian was next – our guide Dane, as it turned out. Then a couple with their student son from Texas. The party of 8 that were supposed to be there never showed up. Dane was a knowledgeable story teller with a caustic wit and made the whole walk fascinating, despite the cold. Starting in the courtyard he gave a potted history of  Norway from Viking times, emphasising the fact that it was both a young nation and an old one. The fortress dated from Harald Finehair, the first King of a United Norway and his Hall and seat of his Throne still stands. Bergen was his capital. Dane regaled us with anecdotes of how Bergen people see themselves as different to the rest of Norway and their resentment of being second city to Oslo. He himself comes from Oslo.
Then it started snowing as we walked through behind Bryggen and the old wharf houses. Since the Middle ages when Bergen first developed as a major port the closely packed wooden houses and ware houses have burnt down 14 times!  Dane delivered a first class walk and talk and ended up in a coffee shop that provided unlimited re-fills.
After lunch, I visited Hanseatic museum just over the road. The Hansa were German merchants who dominated Bergen trade for a number of centuries, exchanging grain and luxury goods for dried cod. The museum was created in 1938 as an experiential attraction with debate still focussed on whether a mix of original moved buildings, modern re-constructions, was conservation or historically valid.  I thought the process of constant renovation of the wooden buildings was like 'grandmother’s broom' – 3 heads and 2 handles since she died, but still her broom. I enjoyed seeing the sort of place the Hansa used as communal living whilst conducting their business– a bit like seaman’s missions today.
In the evening I caught the bus to a friend who lives just outside the town and we had traditional fish and  buttered potato supper. Great end to a great day.