Of all the places in the world, I end up in Bergen, Norway...
An oft photographed view: Bergen's bay Vaagen, as seen from Fjellveien (Mountain Road). (Photographer: me, 2003-05-28)
No, this is not a complaint. It's a wonder. My mother's stepfather comes from north of Bergen. He immigrated to the US after World War II, where he met my widowed grandmother. When my parents got divorced, my retired grandparents took me with them to Norway on what we thought would be a summer vacation. We all ended up living here.
Bergen, as seen from the sea in autumn (photographer Robin Strand). Our highest mountain, Ulriken, in the background.
Seven years of my childhood were spent about 12 miles north of the city, near where my grandfather was from, among cows and sheep, forests, mountains, and fjords, with fields of bluebell and daisy and clover, moss-covered rocks, old wooden houses, and narrow roads winding between it all, hoping for white Christmases, getting mainly rain, and falling in love with it all over again the moment the sun shone. That still happens, for all of us who live here. The transformation is amazing when the sun peaks through; all of Bergen dances.
Fyllingsdalen, northern end. I live to the lower left, off-picture (photographer Robin Strand)
When I was 15, I went back to California, and after 5 years, I returned to Norway, again for a vacation. But again, Fate or whoever's in charge had other plans. This time I became a city girl, living in a municipality, Fyllingsdalen, 10 minutes from the heart of Bergen itself. Now I had a chance to get to know the city itself. Of all the places on this planet to end up, I feel rather lucky that it was Bergen, Norway. Such a beautiful place! And relative to a lot of other places (including my beloved home town of Los Angeles, CA), quite peaceful, too.
Bergen is nevertheless a metropolis and an old one. It was, until the mid-1800's, Scandinavia's largest city and it is also Norway's first capitol. I take classes in local history, which are conducted by walking around with a local historian or someone else knowledgable. Bergen is a medieval city and its streets and history reflect that. I never tire of the beauty and interest of centuries of varying architecture and usage or the charming (but rough on feet) cobble stones.
A street in the part of town known as Sandviken, known for its charm and jumble of houses (photographer Robin Strand)
More pictures of Bergen by photographer Robin Strand can be seen at www.norphoto.com/r/.