Strandkaien

The famous view of Bergen, the Hanseatic Quay. The 11 houses on the right hand side were rebuilt after the city fire of 1702. In the centuries before that, when Bergen was a member of the Hanseatic League, the whole harbour area was surrounded by these kind of buildings. They were the warehouses and offices of the hanseatics, and were not for living in. Today these houses are part of Unesco world Heritage. The houses on the left are much newer, but built in similar style and behind that the matching roof top of the Radisson Hotel. The hanseatic area is now an area with restaurants and shops, and antique shops along the narrow alleys between the buildings.

A well known view of Bergen, looking accross the harbour to the famous 'Bryggen' area. The block of 11 houses to the right date back to 1702 and are on UNESCO'S World Heritage List. It is a perhaps Bergen's most picturesque view, but one that will be difficult to photograph the coming years. There is a major restoration project going on and houses are being covered in scaffolding during the process. Sinking ground water levels are affecting the foundations of the houses and need to be repaired. This will all be done with hand tools, as dictated by UNESCO. Hence it will be a multi year project. When I shot this, the small red and yellow houses (3 and 4 from the left), were already covered. I chose to leave a little of the cloth visible, but used an older photo for the top part. I am glad I had the photographic material to do that.

A short while ago I posted the 'famous' view of Bergen, the Hanseatic Quay. This was taken from the same spot, but looking a little further to the right. Here we look towards the fish market and the funicular up to Mount Fløyen.

I took this shot a little later than the previous one, see: www.flickr.com/photos/adelheids-pictures/36181566352, and it amazed me how simiar the lighting really was on the golden hour and the blue hour version. But Bergen is always beautiful, even if it does have a reputation for eternal rain. Two years ago they broke all their own rain records during an extremely wet Summer, and this Summer broke many heat and sun records.

Bergen has a reputation for rain, lots of rain, and last year it even broke 4 of its own records regarding the amount of rain. I am frequently in Bergen, about 8-10 times a year and I must say, Bergen weather has been kind to me. Of course, I have seen water come down, bucket loads of it, but somehow the majority of times I am there I see sun and that always inspires me to photograph. This was a very vibrant Sunset in May. And after the sun set I stayed around for some photographs of the lights coming on. Interestingly the 2 photos are very similar. The other one will follow at some time. For several weeks now I will be abroad (4 more times in Bergen) and then I will get back to posting more.

The daytime view from this spot two years earlier: www.flickr.com/photos/adelheids-pictures/26383399464