Day 30. Monday 10 June.

Still drizzling but D says the forecast is only ‘cloudy’, so being the optimist, he ventures out well rugged up but without a rain coat; T has chosen waterproof pants over leggings + coat + beanie…both are satisfied, but D has a few anxious moments as very light drizzle fell a few times during the day, and rain always threatened.

When you are in foreign territory it’s not easy to navigate the bus routes: where are they going? what number do I need? which direction are they going? how does a schedule match with a map? The websites aren’t much help, seemingly requiring some background knowledge of destinations and routes – and only available in Norwegian (that’s probably reasonable). At the bus stops (one on each side of the road) some helpful locals confirmed the correct bus and correct side of the road and we were away.

Decision was to head for Bryggen, the old wharf district and just meander. All worked well; we walked and climbed and looked down over the jumbled roofs, admiring the timber houses as they clung to the slope. For a short while we were able to get away from our fellow tourists.

A gem of a café, away from the cruise crowd delivered an excellent coffee and a serious chocolate treat.

Meandering took us back down to the wharf, past the cruise ships and to the Museum showcasing the Hanseatic merchants of the Middle Ages. A very helpful attendant gave us an intro, advised that we consider taking the tour (tomorrow at 1000 or midday – we chose the latter) and suggested we finish the afternoon at the Fisheries Museum, taking the free shuttle bus. And so we did. The Fisheries Museum is appropriately housed in a warehouse, smelling appropriately and standing in water, and presents an excellent narrative of the Norwegian industry, and includes a challenging short video in which 3 generations of fishermen tell of their careers/would be career, their passion for the sea and leave no doubt about their feelings regarding the imposed fishing quota system.

Walking our little legs off, forgetting to have lunch, ducking the drizzle, dreaming of an evening sit down with a wine…7pm arrived, a bus back to the apartment and T persuaded D to go for one more possible retailer…off he set at a clip….returned with the news…that shop was run by Muslim merchants. So, we will visit the Vinmonopolet shop (the name says it all) tomorrow and research has been done for our Wednesday travel that includes a screenshot of the location of the Vinmonopolet shops at Bodo to stock up before catching the ferry to the Lofoten Islands.

It’s a lovely evening, blue sky, cold and a cup of tea calls. Aargh! And from our balcony, who would know whether it’s 10 PM or 10 AM?