Bergen and Social Events#
Bergen with some 255.000 inhabitants is the second largest city in Norway, and from its location it is the most beautiful one, marred a bit by rain on two out of three days (“capital of rainfall”). It received city status already in 1070, but the settlement goes back much longer.
It was the royal residence for a while and became Hansa-city around 1330. German influence was dominant till around 1600.
It houses many museums, a philharmonic orchestra, universities, nice restaurants and bars, and both beautiful old and new buildings. For a tourist as surprise come the many fountains and such, as if there were not already enough water all around!
Seven “house-mountains” frame the city, and the top of two can be reached by a cable car or funiclular. The funicular has its base station only 150 m away from the central market-place Torget and the interesting fish market. With it one reaches the top of the Floyen (320 m altitude) in a few minutes. Of course this offers remarkable panoramic views (and a restaurant provides shelter if a shower is just coming down), but most remarkable is the large number of trails that lead within minutes into beautiful rainforests. Those who want to get up still higher take the cable car up Ulriken to an altitude of 620 m and spectacular views.
Bergen is located on deep bays sheltering it form the wild oceans. The main bay Vagen which dominates the inner part of the city has some of the oldest buildings on its North shore.
Among them is the fortification Rosenkrantztarnet, and close to it the older Hakonen-Hall (built in 1261) with a 36 by 16 m main hall, where the reception took place on Tuesday, Sept.12, with a lavish buffet and lots to drink…in a country where a medium priced bottle of wine in a restaurant is above 50 Euros this was lavish indeed. We were welcomed by speeches, the first by the vice-major, and lovely music.
Wednesday evening a concert was arranged in the former house of Edvard Grieg: both the setting and the music were very enjoyable, yet many sections used that evening for a more or less informal working dinner.
The festive conference dinner on the last day was arranged in the maritime museum, just ay few steps away form the big museum and the student center where all conference events had taken place.
By the way, the student center was indeed a nice venue, with good infrastructure and convenient for the breaks, since the Cafeteria offered quite a sumptuous lunch with a great variety of sandwiches.
There is no doubt that the very nicely arranged lunches and evenings contributed to the success of the conference, providing a pleasant atmosphere to renew old and make new acquaintances. On behalf of all members of Acamedia Europaea and other attendees I want to express our gratitude for generous hospitality.
Hermann Maurer, September 2012
P.S.: Our team in Graz has been unable to find the names of all persons on the photos below. If you can help us, do send us names and a description of the picture they belong too (like: second picture in row 4). We also welcome any further pictures you may have taken for inclusion into this small collection.
Note: You can enlarge most pictures by clicking at them
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