And the batch from the first two days is here: Bergen

Hope you enjoy them!

Bergen was neat - cool and cloudy with intermittent rain, but the clouds stayed above the surrounding mountains and the streets and walkways were pleasant.

A bus took us out to the home of Edward Grieg, beside a small fjord and surrounded by a smallish forest. Then back to the city for a buffet lunch and a visit to an annual "food festival" with stalls selling all kinds of local specialties (and occasionally offering samples as well)

On Monday morning the local fish market opened up, and provided an intriguing panorama of everything from touristy souvenirs to several dozen varieties of fresh and smoked fish.

The lecturer Elderhostel had lined up to talk about contrasts and similarities between Norway and the US stood us up, so our leader Jens did his best to lead us in a discussion.

Norway is not a member of the EEU, but does participate in several cooperative European agreements. For the most part, there is free movement between countries on the continent and in Scandinavia. Most of the discussion began to center around economic issues of compensation, immigration, social welfare benefits, and education. I'm not sure we got everything straight in our heads, but I for one did learn quite a bit.