New Beginnings to Bergen

Day 2 : Sea Day

I woke up and nearly fell over. My sea legs weren't so good, but they'll get better . It was especially difficult to maintain balance as the crew cabins are right at the bow of the ship. After putting a single item of clothing on, it was time to sit down and regain some balance. The ship was in some rough north seas now, heading towards Bergen.

Rough seas

 At lunchtime I was pretty darn hungry so I headed to the crew mess for the first time. The crew mess has a limited selection of mainly southeast asian slop food. It is southeast asian food because that's where he majority of the crew are from, India and the Philippines. The food is filling but a tad bland. After the first 2 days though, we're allowed to eat in the passenger buffet where all the westerner crew eat. The restriction on crew not being allowed in the passenger buffet for the first 2 days, is because of the norovirus, a vomiting bug that has been an issue on previous P&O cruises.

Later on in the afternoon I was introduced to the Photo Gallery shop and how to use the till. It's pretty straight forward as there is no cash or debit card used. After another session taking pictures in the restaurant it was time for the joiners party. I had only been to the crew recreation area once before so all I remembered was a few seats and a pool table. At night though, it was busy disco with lights and music blaring. I thought to myself, i'm only on this cruise for one week so i'll get my camera and take some snaps for the memories.

Indians in the Disco

Day 3 : Bergen

A few of us had got up early (barely) as there were supposed to be fantastic views as we sailed into Bergen. It was a little dull and cold in the morning to be honest, but It was my first ever view of the fjords. 

View in the morning

Around midday I was allowed to leave the ship to go explore the City of Bergen. By now the skies were perfectly clear and it was looking like a fantastic day. The bus from the docks to the city dropped us off near a lake with a fountain in the middle. The lake itself was fantastic, but the green mountains and grass around it made it picturesque. There was so much beauty around Bergen I didn't know where to point my camera first! 

Lake in Bergen

A few of us crew headed towards the Edvard Grieg statue which seemed to be a tourist hotspot. The statue has a fountain at the bottom and has as many tourists as it did tulips surrounding it. 

Grieg and Tulips

A chinese couple approached me by the statue. I remembered

them from the ship. I had fixed a problem with the gentlemen’s fancy Nikon 1 camera where he had put the ISO settings on 3200. This means that the sensor is too sensitive for such a sunny day as it was today and all his pictures, would be overexposed. He told me that the camera had the same problem again so I tweaked the settings again and sent him on his way with a happy ISO auto of 100-400.

After taking more stock photos I lost the gang I was with, so for the rest of the day I wondered around the city on my own to see the sights. I headed to the city centre up a wide street with colourful side buildings. There was an interesting bird bath in the centre of the square and it being a hot day, a bird came down for a bath.

Bird in the Bath

Further up the square I could see some speakers and preparation for a show being made.

I made a note to come back this way so I could see what was going on. I headed down to another docks but before I could go any further, the road was blocked. About a hundred teen drummers were marching right towards me making one hell of a noise. They were dressed in full uniform and I now know they are called the Bergen Buekorps. The drummers synchronization was fantastic, and being a musician I was impressed by the rhythms.

Bergen Buekorps

The show was over and the music faded away down another street. I now wondered around the dock area, heading in the general direction of colourful buildings. There were tourist stalls layed with plenty of souvenirs on sale. Unfortunately I did not have an Krone (the currency of norway) on me, so I wondered around in wonder at the scenery, buildings and fashion sense of the Norwegian people.

Norwegian flag and hills

 

I came back just in time for the show. At the fountain in the square was a woman dressed in triangular mirrors. She moved around to ambient music in a contemporary dance fashion. She then stepped into the pool by a military statue and continued to do her thing. It was quite a spectacle and there were many photographers and videographers attending her performance.

The mirrored dancer

I headed back towards the shuttle bus but still had bags of time to spare. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it so i took photographs of birds in a feeding frenzy by the lake. 

Hungry hungry gulls

I finally thought i've seen enough it's time to go back to the bus. But I wondered, what's behind the bus? What's over there, the opposite way to where I set off? I turned out to be a wonderful old building and a modern one opposite. Completely opposite in design but still managed to look great together. I fiddled around trying to get a reflection shot and the results was pretty interesting.

Old and New

Back on the cruise I felt exhausted but happy. After a long day in a beautiful city I was looking forward to the next port and I thought to myself 'Can it get any more beautiful than this?'...