Evening pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/dpmorstad/17thInBergenEveningStroll#
Syttende Mai is Norway's Constitution Day, which marks the signing of their constitution in 1814, which effectively established their independence from Sweden.
We were warned we would be wakened from our sleep at 7:00 a.m. by the firing of nearby cannons, but it was the 4:00 a.m. fire alarm that started our day. We figured it was a holiday prank, but we and all the other hotel guests dutifully went down the stairs to the lobby. We are all up on the 9th floor, except Jared who only had to climb down from the 4th floor. It took about a half hour before the fire department showed up, turned of the alarm, and restarted the elevators.
We saw many parades, or maybe just one big one with a few breaks. Even when the parade was going, every once in awhile there were groups marching in both directions. Some going to the right and some going to the left. Then when we went up a quiet side street looking for an empty sitting bench to get out of the crowd, several times parts of the parade came up the side street while the main parade was still going strong (in both directions).
The highlight was all the traditional folk costumes (called bunads) that many Norwegians were wearing. Each region of Norway has their own, so you can tell where a person is from by the color and style of their bunad.
We have been closely monitoring the volcaninc ash forecasts. If they are accurate, we should be able to fly from Bergen to London on Wednesday morning as planned. We will contact the airlines tomorrow (Tuesday) to see whether they have more up to date information than we can find on the internet. The news reports all say to be flexible and expect delays.
No comments:
Post a Comment