More Fishing Tails

More Bergen for Beginners

We couldn’t resist the small putt-putt boat that transported us across the harbour to the Fisheries Museum (Norges Fiskerimuseum).  Here we met with Silja, the herring (yeah, yeah! It was fun) and were led on a discovery into the lives of fishermen over the years and the development of fish farming, amongst many other interesting fishy facts.  Yes indeed, even more dried cod! 

The museum is housed in old warehouses, two of which have been positioned over water as this area had once been known as the “Venice of the North”.  (We understand this was to reduce the labour intensive activity of rowing stockfish into shore-side warehouses.  One can't help but wonder how aromatic the port area was...)

The Navy Band was in town - we're not sure why...

The Fisheries Museum didn’t have any real life sea-life and we had a hankering to see a real cod, in its undried, swimming state.  So, off to the Aquarium (Akvariet), just in time for penguin feeding, to seeing sea-lions making merry at show time and meeting a shy leopard seal.  Don’t tell Silja – her herring relatives were part of their diet!  So we did the rounds, finding a few friends from home (snakes, lizards etc) before discovering the major tanks which hold a wide variety of local fish.  This came in handy as we walked the dock searching for the Fisketorget (Fish Market).   

This too is quite the spectacular show of all things fishy AND edible…  Finally we made a decision and settled for a huge mixed plate of Alaskan crab, Stone crab, cold water lobster, mussels and scampi (prawns).  Am I missing anything?  The Stone crab bit back however, giving Cap’n Claw yet another scar in the line of duty. 

 

We also managed to find Pingvinen, a restaurant showcasing local flavours, though skipped the Plukkfisk and wondered how to cook dried cod in lye.  Apparently this is a local delicacy and the prerogative of grandmothers to force on their grandkids!  We happily chose smoked pork (Lapskaus) and Cured Lamb served with buttered crisp bread. 

So there you have it – it’s really all about the FISH! 

Hey, that's not your catch of the day!