We arrived at our destination port in Bergen, Norway, after a somewhat grueling – and sleepless – set of flights and a 30 minute bus ride from the airport. Our ship was waiting to receive us, and everything improved at that point.

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, behind Oslo (the capital city) with a population of about 300,000. In medieval times Bergen was the home of the Hanseatic League, a powerful group of Scandinavian businessmen who exercised virtually complete control of all North Sea trade for almost 500 years starting in the 13th Century.

Bergen is very proud of its arts history. Where cities and towns in Italy, Austria, and elsewhere in what was the Holy Roman Empire would erect statues and monuments to saints from the area, downtown Bergen features statues of famous Norwegian artists, such as Ibsen and Grieg.