August 11, 2023
Ferrying from Rosendal, Norway to Bergen, Norway (Aug 11, 2023)
A Beautiful Day
It was a beautiful, sunny day. No cycling was planned for the day and we bemoaned that this couldn’t have been a day we were cycling the fjords. Our plan was to take the two hour fjordboat from Rosendal to Bergen but it didn’t leave until 2:30 so we had time to kill.
We had a very good breakfast at our lame pension, with huge pieces of gravlox salmon.
We opted for a short hike up to the Hattebergfossen (the local waterfall, just another one of the zillions of shockingly beautiful waterfalls in western Norway). On the way back we planned to go by the Barionet Rosendal, the major site in the area. Of course, we got lost on the hike so had to back track but eventually made it up to the waterfall and you can see the pics below.
We then walked by the beautiful gardens of the Barionet Rosendal. The history of the Barionet goes back to the 1650s when Norway was a poor province under the control of Denmark. The king of Denmark sent Ludwig Rosenkranz (an impoverished but wellborn nobleman!) to Norway as his Commissioner of War and there he met the richest Norwegian heiress in the country, Karen Andersdatter Mowatt, whose father owned 550 farms in Norway. In true romantic tradition, Karen and Ludwig fell in love and, despite Karen’s father’s skepticism, they married (and had nine children - so something clicked). For a wedding gift they received Hatteberg farm in the Rosendal area. Ludwig later constructed a major country house and it was subsequently named a barony, the only one in Norway. The gardens were added in the 1850s. It’s now a center for cultural life in Norway with many famous Norwegians visiting there, and various music festivals occurring every year.
After our hike we split a taco salad at a local Rosendal restaurant; it was good but kind of like the taco salads your mother made in the 1980’s: Doritos and hamburger, sour cream and salsa, along with lettuce and cheese.
The fjordboat into Bergen provided great views of the fjords, especially as it was a clear day. We had the only bikes onboard and we needed our bungee cords to tie them down for the first time. This boat moved fast, and did a lot of abrupt maneuvers.
We have enjoyed the ferry “culture” in Norway and definitely feel our horizons have been broadened by using the ferries. There’s a whole world associated with the ferry system and we got to experience it. The ferries on the Hardangerfjord provide a lifeline to these tiny villages on the fjord- the tourist usage is somewhat secondary to use by regular folks. Somewhat like the train line in Flam and Myrdal, the ferry allows these villages to function, even when there aren't adequate road systems.
It’s why I like bike travel so much; we experience stuff we never would have appreciated riding in a car.
Today's ride: 3 km (2 miles)
Total: 1,467 km (911 miles)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 1 |
pretty bang on. And yes, the ferries are a great way to see the fjords, and yes, travelling by bicycle gives one a vision that cannot be replicated when travelling by car. Reading your blog has me wanting to return to
Norway, but I would be hoping for better weather. You guys rock for all the cycling you have done in the rain. Enjoy Bergen!
9 months ago