Holidays are vibrant in this lively Norwegian port
By Eileen Ogintz with Andy Yemma
There are castles and farms, train stations, cable cars, ships and churches, soccer fields, houses of all sizes, animals, and people.
You could say this is a miniature Bergen Norway, except there is an Eiffel Tower and the London Tower Bridge in the middle.
Did I mention that all of these creations—some 2000 in all—are made of gingerbread by local adults and children, some with their schools and some with their families. Profits are donated to organizations that work with children. There is no contest. There is room for every creation,
Welcome to Pepperkakebyen, the world’s largest gingerbread town. It has been a popular holiday destination here for more than 30 years. It is just this year, however, that Gingerbread Town has found a permanent home in Kong Oscars gate in the city center. The exhibit will be open until Jan. 5.
There is the Church of the Cross, that recently reopened; City Hall; the famous Wharf Houses dating back to the 1700s that are now a UNESCO Heritage Site; the Stave Church; a ferry that travels to Denmark; a pirate ship; the popular Christmas Market, the cable car station that takes you to the top of Mount Ulriken, the highest of Bergen’s seven mountains; and the station for the Floibanen Funicular which takes you to the top of Mount Floyen, where there’s a restaurant, forest where you will find trolls (not real ones!) a playground, historic restaurant and more. (For a good work out, hike up and back down!)
At the wharf downtown, there is an extensive fish market (and in a summer an outdoors farmers and fish market) that features virtually every variety of fish in the region, including lobsters and giant snow crabs. You can even pick up a jar of delicious “cloud berry” jam made from the little yellow berries that grow in the mountain wilds of Northern Norway.
Like families in many places, those in Norway often make gingerbread houses. But in this quaint, historic city of 280,000 that is Norway’s second largest city and considered the heart of the Fjords, sharing these creations adds to the fun. “They were so happy about what they made,” said Ingvild Paulsen, whose son Aksel, 5, contributed a gingerbread animal mask that he and others in his class made. Every child came to see the exhibit, she said.
The creations by the kindergartners are especially charming because of the excessive use of decorations! You can picture the stick fingers that went into the art.
Bergen, like other cities in northern Europe, is enjoying a spike in tourism (four million tourists this past year) as travelers seek cooler climes and places that aren’t over-touristed.
We are staying at Hotel Charmante, a boutique hotel not far from Gingerbread Town on the tiny cobblestoned Skostredet. The owner, Frank Ditlaroche, also has opened the nearby Villani Osteria and Trattoria (great pasta and pizza!), Taperias (Tapas), and Brasserie Cherie in the 41-room eclectic hotel where every room is different. This is a place for a romantic getaway or to enjoy with grown or nearly grown kids who will enjoy the kitsch (and comfy beds!).
The Charmante, built in 14 wooden houses, is on target to expand in 2025, said manager Renate Morild, explaining that the motif is early 20th Century Paris when “people were enjoying themselves.” There are fringed lamps, flowered wallpaper, and decorative touches sourced locally from antique and vintage stores—everything from old books to photos, even a mannequin in our room, complete with pearls. The effort is to be authentic, she said, with the chefs and waiters for example, in Villani from Italy and those at the Brasserie from France. “We go all in,” she said.
The effort now is to encourage visitors to see all that Bergen—and Norway have to offer in the winter—skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing, history dating back to before the Vikings and including the heroic tales of the Norwegian WW2 resistance, the Northern Lights.
We braved subzero temperatures the previous two weeks on a Hurtigruten cruise that took us above the Arctic Circle, where we not only saw the amazing light show in the sky, but went dog sledding, snow shoeing in the moonlight, visited an Igloo Hotel made of snow and ice, and experienced the Arctic Winter where the sun never goes above the horizon.
Bergen is much milder, of course. (With the Bergen Card, we could travel free on the Bergen Light Rail and buses and get free or discounted admission to many museums and attractions, sightseeing tours and more. The Norway in a Nutshell popular tour takes you on the famous Flam Railroad, a fjord cruise, the Bergen Railway and a bus tide through the Naeroy Valley—all in one day from Oslo or Bergen. (For more info, visit www.fjordtours.com.)
We enjoyed a traditional holiday lunch at the historic Bryggestuen-Bryggeloftet that dates back to 1910 with wharf views that has always been run by the same family is popular with locals as well as tourists. They come on Thursdays for the Raspeballer, potato balls boiled in lamb stock and served with traditional Salt meat, said Preben Spilluti, one of the longtime chefs here.
He noted that reindeer filets are the most popular meat dish—over 7,000 sold in the year.
Then there is Lutefisk, a dried whitefish — usually cod — that is typically made with dried and salted cod and then rehydrated for several days and served warm with bacon, peas, bread, and mustard. Traditionally, friends would gather for a Lutefisk dinner and the restaurant steams 13 tons during the season, between the end of September to the end of March, Spilluti said.
There is also Pinnekjott, lamb ribs or Svineribbe, a pork belly dish often served with red cabbage. All are popular Christmas eve dishes, depending on where you live in Norway, explained Bergen spokesperson Linn Kjos Falkenberg. Those in east Norway go for the pork; those in the west eat the lamb. And Lutefisk is served when it is in season.
Fun Fact: Bryggen, the old wharf in Bergen famous for its colorful wooden houses and emblematic of the city’s trading empire starting in the 14th century, was the inspiration for the kingdom of Arendelle, the setting of the Disney megahit animated film Frozen that follows Anna, the princess, who sets off to find her sister Elsa after she accidentally traps their kingdom in eternal winter with her ice powers. Anna is accompanied by the iceman Kristoff, his reindeer Sven, and the loveable snowman Olaf. More than a decade later, the award-winning film continues to thrill children. Frozen 2 was released in 2019 and Frozen 3 in 2027.
But Bergen doesn’t especially promote the connection any longer. They are more interested in the city’s real attractions.