Rhododendrons etc.

Whew - the past few days it has been warmer here than in southern Europe, with temps hitting 22 degrees here in Bergen (30 degrees on our balcony, which gets the sun for much of the day). Today, however, a stiff breeze has kept temps down around 16 degrees, though the sun is still out. Looking ahead no rain is forecast for the next week - are we on the verge of a drought? It is certainly unusual not to have any rain whatsoever!

This afternoon we walked along Fjellveien, which is a road/wide path running behind Bergen about a third of the way up the mountains that ring the city. Built in 1897, it is a lovely  place to stroll along - and relatively flat too!  All the rhododendrons are out now, which looks lovely in the sun and with the harbour as a backdrop you realise just how picturesque Bergen is!

The tourist train runs along here too. A strange looking thing, which picks tourists up from the centre of town and takes them for a ride up the road past where we live, along Fjellveien and then back into town.  Looks like something left over from the 60's!

Yesterday we drove over to Sotra, which is an island west of Bergen, that acts as a barrier to the worst storms from the Atlantic - that is why the harbour here was so important in earlier times. Sheltered and deep, it provided good anchorage for the Hanseatic (German) traders who traded here from the 1300's to the middle of the 19th century. It was cooler out on the Atlantic coast and surprisingly misty - guess that is due to the differences in air/water temperatures? 

Looking back towards Bergen you could see a band of darker 'cloud', which looked surprisingly like pollution.  Bergen does get problems with pollution, particularly in the winter.  If the weather is dry and there is no wind, a combination of the cold air and the surrouinding mountains cause dust from the roads to lie in a thick layer above the city, which is terrible for asthma sufferers.  Why dust from the roads you may ask? Many of the cars have spiked tyres in the winter and they just churn up the road surface. Maybe dust is being blown up from the Sahara? It happens in Denmark so why not here too!