Our focus in Bergen after 5 weeks of travels hither and yon was to enjoy several days of respite. Whew! Arriving late afternoon our first day, we scooted out to pick up some groceries and vino and settled in for the evening.

Feeling it necessary to set aside the tourist push to visit museums, churches and fortresses, we opted for strolling, relaxing, enjoying a boat trip or two, sampling some local pastries, dining on light home cooked meals and soaking in the ambience of the place with its natural beauty and interesting history - all good stuff.

Our first outing was on a rainy morning when we hopped on the funicular to get a view of the city. Our AirBnB was practically at the doorstep of the funicular ticket office - easy peasy. Given the weather, we didn’t spend too much time up top but certainly got a good view of the city and harbor. You can see the funicular tracks to the right in the image below.

**Rainy day view of Bergen center/harbor from the funicular**

**Happy flowers outside the funicular shop**

We strolled over to Bryggen, the popular Unesco World Heritage site (and jewel in Bergen’s crown) consisting of a community of commercial wooden buildings connected by wooden passageways. Currently you’ll find them housing shops, museums and restaurants but there’s a lot of history that goes back centuries. You can read more about it here.

Of course, after our Flåm experience, we had to give boller another try from a well thought of bakery right on our street. How handy is that! Two different fillings this time - the almond version (mandelbolle) had a nutty almond filling layered in the dough in addition to the pastry cream in the center; the fyltbolle contained a mix of pastry cream and blackberry jam. Interestingly fyltbolle translates simply as filled bun. My brief search tells me that the jam/cream combo is common, buuuuut . . . . I suppose you could fill ‘em with whatever tasty filling your heart desires.

We found the dough too soft and not as good as those in Flåm. The almond bun needed a bit longer baking time methinks, being on the pale side for our tastes. Plus, I prefer my pastries on the smaller side - not too big, not too little. That’s it - no more boller for us.

*Mandelbolle* and *fyltbolle* from a nearby Bergen bakery

A couple of our mornings/early afternoons were taken up by cruises - one a short cruise of the Bergen harbor and the other a longer cruise through the Osterfjorden to Modalen, said to be the second smallest municipality in Norway. It was established in 1910 and wasn’t accessible by road from Bergen until 1976.

**Stunning waterfall on the *Osterfjorden* (photo courtesy of Steve Soper)**

**View of *Modalen* (photo courtesy of Steve Soper)**

Otherwise our city strolling led us to discover various interesting sculptures as well as lovely spring flowers.

It has certainly been tulip time in Scandinavia!

On a bit of a whim Steve, the choux paste lover, picked up a pistachio èclair from a Parisian style shop (Sebastien Bruno) in the center shopping district. We also snagged a croissant and a pain au chocolat from a bakery in Bryggen to enjoy with our morning coffee (by now you should know that we invariably include pastry sampling in our itinerary.)

We agreed on a so-so rating for all. Steve deemed the choux OK but without enough pistachio flavor, too sweet overall and très cher.

We gently heated the viennoiserie in the oven the following morning and upon first bite found the taste to be sort of metallic and not pleasant. We couldn’t put our finger on it, but I suspected it was some aura from the oven that did it. After a few minutes and another bite, the off flavor seemed to have dissipated. In general they were otherwise light, crispy and very well laminated so the flavor issue was odd. Who knows.

Time to say goodbye to Bergen. Gouda here we come. Let’s hear it for cheese!

We had planned our visit to Flåm for the purpose of seeing the fjords from both land and water but were also anticipating catching our breath with the peace and quiet of the mountains. We had plenty of time upon our arrival in this small ville to visit the TI office, check into fjord cruises/local eateries and generally get a lay of the land.

After a leisurely breakfast on the first of our two mornings in Flåm, we picked up our fjord cruise tickets and then headed for the Flåm Bakeri which we had heard about through the local vibe. We would enjoy our treats later.

Note the yellow and red paint colors above - we saw many buildings of similar colors dotted throughout the countryside.

While Steve worked on some photos and blog notes, I went for a brisk walk in and around town - something I’ve been missing during our days of city sightseeing. Gurgling streams, picturesque homes, gorgeous mountains - lovely.

**Just around the bend from town - our hotel is the brown building complex (center of photo)**

**Looking across the water from our room**

Time for pastries! We had chosen two different boller/bun versions from Flåm Bakeri. First is Solbolle, literally translated as sun ball or sun bun - a cinnamon (not always) swirled yeasted dough topped with pastry cream and baked. It’s reportedly one way Norwegians (particularly above the arctic circle) celebrate the return of the sun in late January after the sunless dark days of winter.

Second is Skulebolle/skolebolle or school bun - sweet yeasted bun (not unlike the solbolle) filled with pastry cream, iced and coated with shredded coconut. I hear it’s a favorite to celebrate the last day of school. Oh - by the way - boller is the plural of bolle.

We shared these goodies a little before we headed out for our fjord cruise and pronounced them both delicious! Nicely textured bun (not too soft, not too chewy), smooth vanilla scented cream and great flavor all around. Steve especially liked the skule/skolebolle for its coconut-ness.

Quick note - after doing a search about Norwegian buns there are many variations out there folks. Later in our travels we came across another place that sold fyltboller which basically translates as filled bun - talk about a blank canvas! At any rate any type of bolle/bun rules in Norway!

Let’s hit the fjord!

The day was pretty perfect - breezy, 60s, sunny with scattered clouds - time to cruise. Though once we got out onto the water it was more chilly, especially on the shaded sides of the boat, and we had to jockey for just the right position to have a good view as well as stay protected and warm. Here a few scenic images for you.

*Laegdafossen* - the most stunning waterfall along the route (*foss* is Norwegian for waterfall)

The boat landed in Gudvangen where we hopped on a bus back to Flåm. A good trip indeed.

Next up - Bergen! I’ll be back.

Baking with the French Tarte

Baking with the French Tarte

What's new in the French Tarte's kitchen

Baking with the French Tarte

Bergen, Bryggen, funicular, (more) pastries and (more) fjords

Flåm, boller and fjords

Baking with the French Tarte