Afternoon FUN-icular
It was about 11:00 when we finally dragged ourselves off of the boat. It was a beautiful, hot and sunny day. We made the short walk from the port towards the city centre, Isabella was in charge of the map so there was no danger of us getting lost…
Jo's new sunglasses weren't a success...
Ah, that's better
Which way is the city centre?
Our ultimate destination was Fløibanen, the funicular which runs up Fløyen, one of the city mountains, and one of its most popular tourist attractions. To get there we walked through Bryggen, the old city wharf, former centre of the Hanseatic League and UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was very picturesque and reminded us of the exit area of Maelstrom (RIP) in the Norway Pavilion at Epcot.
Bryggen
Checking we're going in the right direction
Best buds
Continuing our leisurely theme, we took our time and strolled through the city admiring the sights and enjoying the weather, it really was a beautiful day and a beautiful city. It took about 45 minutes to walk from the boat to the funicular station and once there, we joined the short queue, bought our tickets and were on board and heading up the mountain in no time.
Yes, it is a McDonald's!
Fløibanen funicular station
Keeping us on track
Mind the gap
Excited
We alighted at Fløyen station at the top of the mountain – Fløyfjellet – 320 metres above sea level. We headed out onto Fløytrappene – the viewing platform – to take in the breathtaking views over Bergen. We could see the entire city laid out before us, including the cruise port and the Disney Magic.
View from the funicular
View from the top of another mountain
Mountaintop selfie
Fløyfjellet is more than just a viewing platform so we went for a wander to explore. We found the Fløien Folkerestaurant where we bought a Cornetto style ice cream each and a couple of bottles of water and sat down to relax for a few minutes.
We’d also noticed there was a troll-themed kids playground just beyond the restaurant so we headed there to let Isabella have a play for 20 minutes or so, before we made our way back to the boat - Cabanas’ lunch buffet was calling. We made our way back down the mountain via the funicular then made the walk back to the Magic, a little less leisurely this time - we were hungry!
Outside the Fløien Folkerestaurant
Fun in the troll themed park
Isabella led us back to the boat
On the way back through Bryggen Isabella stopped off at a shop to spend the last of her Krone on a Norway wristband, no prizes for guessing the colour…. yep, it was pink!
Once back on board we headed up to Cabanas for another delicious buffet lunch. Two hours walking in the sunshine and going up mountains really builds up an appetite
After lunch we all got changed into our swimming gear and went to spend some time by the pool, or in Isabella’s case in the pool. We stayed poolside for about an hour or so, enough time for the following to occur: cocktails, ripped shorts, cocktails, fun, cocktails, tired 4 year old… yes, despite a lie in and a fairly easy morning Isabella was tired. This resulted in the following episode when it was time to leave:
As we got ready to leave the pool area we realised Isabella didn’t have her sunglasses. We sent her back to the pool to get them where a little girl gave them to her. She then came back but didn’t have them again. Jo took her back to help her find them. She found them again, but instead of bringing them back she dropped them into the pool. After we’d made her get them again and started to dry her off she began making her fuss. We threatened that she wouldn’t be allowed to come back to the pool ever again, and this calmed her down.
Poolside cocktails
It was obvious she was in need of a nap so we headed back to the room asap; this didn’t bode well for tonight’s after dinner activities – the Cinderella Twice Charmed show and the Frozen deck party.
Back at the room, Jo put Isabella down for her nap and then had a shower while I went back out to get coffee. I wrote up my notes, had a shower and then Isabella was awake and it was time to get ready for the evening’s activities.