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Bergen Hanseatic Wharf

Springsteen and Me in Bergen, Norway

You are here: Home / Europe / Norway / Springsteen and Me in Bergen, Norway

//  by Lisa 11 Comments

[updated 2025]

Table of Contents

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  • Visit Bergen, Norway
  • Bergen – the First Norwegian Capitol
  • Something Fishy Going on
  • Bergen is Norway’s Wettest City

Visit Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway

“Born in the U.S.A.” blares out of the speakers of the local Egon Restaurant right on Bergen’s Harbor.  Tonight Bruce Springsteen (of my home state of New Jersey) is playing a big outdoor concert here and the city is abuzz with not only summer tourist masses, but Norwegian “Boss” fans as well.  The sounds wafting through the city kind of give me a neat ‘at-home’ feeling and a deeper, albeit fleeting, connection with the country.

Bruce Springsteen in Bergen Bruce Fans

Bergen – the First Norwegian Capitol

“Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, yet it has retained its charm and character. I feel privileged to live here,” says Sue Lindelid, my tour guide and a British transplant who’s lived in Bergen most of her adult life.

The city of just more than 250,000 people was the first Norwegian capital in the early Middle Ages when this was a popular trading port.

Bergen Hanseatic Wharf

Bergen’s first buildings were erected along the old Hanseatic wharf, Bryggen, which has been a very important part of the city through the centuries. This UNESCO World Heritage site is made up of the restored colorful, old, wooden harbor buildings and is one of the best-known medieval city settlements in Norway. I instantly liked it here and highly recommend a vacation in Bergen.

Bergen

For a time, I am told this was a male only society, as “women were expensive, they cost too much, and complained too much.” Sounds a bit how I feel about kids today.

Much of Bergen has been built and rebuilt due to dozens of fires that broke out here from the 1200s all the way up to 1955.

Something Fishy Going on

Bergen's Fish Market

We take a walk through the new indoor fish market.  “These fish are rock hard,” Sue says about the popular dried codfish. “You could beat a man to death with it.”  A very peaceful country, I am guessing this is probably just a figure of speech. Maybe Sue keeps a dried codfish under her bed for protection. I’d think the smell would be prohibitive though.

Bergen Salmon

I enjoy some wonderfully fresh and exorbitantly expensive salmon at the more lively outdoor fish market full of mongers selling tasty morsels of smoked mackerel, herring, salmon, caviar, and the ever-popular reindeer sausage.

Rainy Bergen

Bergen is Norway’s Wettest City

I spend the first few days traipsing around town toting my umbrella and donning my rain jacket. Not surprising for Norway’s wettest city – one with about 235 days of rainfall each year.  On my third day, the sun finally spills its rays onto Bergen’s Harbor and seven mountains. While the sun peaks out, so do the people – not only all the tourists from the big cruise ships – about 260 ships dock here each year – but also the locals who relish a sunny day since they are few and far between.

 

Bergen Flowers

No Witches in Bergen!

I ride the popular funicular up the mountainside and am rewarded with a spectacular view of the harbor lined with wood-clad houses, hills, and islands all around.  The smell of pine needles from the forest fills my nostrils and of course, to cap it all off, Springsteen’s sound check is well under way for his second concert here – reverberating off the hillsides with rock anthem sounds making me feel once again, like home.

Just outside of Bergen there are lots of trails including the Vidden Trail from Mount Ulriken to Mount Floyen.

Springsteen Soundcheck 

 

Disclosure:  I was a guest of Visit Norway and Bergen, but as always my writing and views are my own.

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About Lisa

Lisa Lubin is an established travel/food writer and photographer, three-time Emmy® award-winning TV producer, video consultant, and travel industry expert. After more than a decade in broadcast television she took a sabbatical, which turned into three years traveling around the world. She created this blog in 2006. Lisa also owns LLmedia, a media & video consulting business. Her writing and photography has been published by American Way, Hemispheres, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, West Jet Magazine, Scandinavian Traveler, Orbitz, and Luxury Las Vegas. Her book, The Ultimate Travel Tips: Essential Advice for Your Adventures, is available on Amazon.

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Bergen Hanseatic Wharf

Springsteen and Me in Bergen, Norway

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andi

    June 26, 2013 at 10:21 am

    What a colorful town!

    Reply
    • Lisa

      August 2, 2013 at 10:00 am

      Bergen is very charming Andi!

      Reply
  2. Frank @ The Wondernuts

    June 26, 2013 at 8:20 pm

    I hope I make it to Norway and the Scandinavia Area next year some when!!

    Reply
    • Lisa

      August 2, 2013 at 10:00 am

      Thanks for reading Frank! Norway is a great country to visit. Just know it’s expensive! One of the priciest! But really beautiful!

      Reply
  3. Dan

    June 26, 2013 at 9:23 pm

    Now all I can think of is Salmon 🙂

    Reply
    • Lisa

      August 2, 2013 at 10:01 am

      Jade, I love salmon! Especially smoked…and in my mouth! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Laura @Travelocafe

    June 30, 2013 at 5:54 am

    I really enjoyed my time in Bergen. Such a great town. I love the witch sign.

    Reply
    • Lisa

      August 2, 2013 at 10:05 am

      Thanks Laura! That witch sign is great, isn’t it?! it’s just nailed to a tree on a hike down from the top of the funicular. So cool.

      Reply
  5. Nancy D. Brown

    July 3, 2013 at 11:55 am

    I loved Norway. Bergen, Norway will always hold a special place in my heart, as that is where I rode a lovely Fjord horse. What a trip!

    Reply
  6. Kristy

    July 9, 2013 at 9:25 pm

    I find the witch sign funny! Yeah, the old Hanseatic wharf, Bryggen which is a UNESCO heritage is super cool. Seeing the picture took me back to old days as from what I read on historical books.

    Reply
    • Lisa

      August 2, 2013 at 10:30 pm

      Hi Kristy! The witch sign made me chuckle all by myself. The Bryggen area does sort of look like an old fairytale, doesn’t it?

      Reply

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Lisa LubinI chucked it all – the TV job, the guy, the “normal” life – to travel around the world. I've been to 60+ countries & live a life based more on experiences. I want to inspire you to travel slowly & eat locally! MORE...

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