Bergen - Norway - page 284

from around 1761, the copper-capped
baroque spire, and its location over-
looking the entrance to Bergen's harbor.
From here, walk steeply uphill for a block
along the Nykirkeallmenningen, and turn left
onto the narrow confines of the cobble-cov-
ered Ytre Markeveien, noting the antique
wood-sided houses on either side. Walk 4
short blocks to the Kippersmauet, and then
turn left, walking down a steep, cobble-cov-
ered alleyway where, at nos. 23 and 24 there
was a disastrous fire in 2001. (A pair of 14-
year-old boys is credited with detecting the
fire, and pounding on the doors of neighbor-
ing houses, an act that saved the entire
wood-built neighborhood from burning to
the ground.)

houses”—ones where cement, stucco,
or ornamental masonry facades have
been added to an otherwise mostly
wooden building.
Continue descending the cobble-covered,
steeply sloping length of the Knøsesmauet,
bypassing brightly painted wooden houses,
prefaced, in some cases, with tiny gardens.
Cross over the Skottogaten, and continue
walking downhill. Turn left onto the St.
Hansestredet. (Sankt Hanse is the patron
saint of the summer solstice, often invoked
in midsummer with bouquets of midsummer
flowers such as the ones that adorn the
sides of the houses along this street.)
St. Hansestredet, within 2 short blocks,
merges with the busy traffic of the
Jonsvollsgaten, a wide commercial boule-
vard. Walk east for about 3 minutes, cross
over the Teatergaten, and continue walking
east along Engen, the eastward extension
of the Jonsvollsgaten. On your left rises the
stately looking, Art Nouveau bulk of the:
5 National Theater
This arts complex is rich with memo-
ries. It was established by violinist Ole
Bull, who envisioned it as a showcase
for Norwegian-language drama and
music. Today performances of such
Broadway-style musicals as Kiss Me,
Kate alternate with more serious,
mostly Norwegian works. Details to
look for inside and out include life-size
portrait statues of Bjørnson, author of
Norway's national anthem, and Ibsen,
who served as the theater's director for
5 years. (The stern and magisterial-
looking granite sculpture of Ibsen,
completed in 1982, and set into the
lawns of the theater's eastern side, was
considered so ugly that it remained in
storage for many years.) On the the-
ater's tree-shaded western side, just
outside the entrance to its lobby, is a
flattering likeness, in bronze, of Nor-
dahl Grieg, often referred to as the
Norwegian version of Winston
Churchill because he warned of the
Nazi menace before many of his col-
leagues in the Norwegian Parliament.
If it's open, walk into the theater's
lobby, a survivor of a disastrous fire
in 1916, and of a Nazi bomb that
fell directly into its lobby in 1944.

TAKE A BREAK
Café Retro, Klosteret 16
( & 55-31-16-16 ), is loaded
with the kitsch and artful
debris of the age of Sputnik, with
shelves filled with 1950s-era toasters,
fans, and ashtrays (all of which are for
sale as art objects in their own right). It
sells sandwiches made from “ecologi-
cal” (organic) breads, priced at 25NOK
to 40NOK ($3.55-$5.70) each, coffee,
tea, soda, and pastries. It's open Mon-
day to Friday from 10am to 6pm.

Now, retrace your steps uphill back to the
Ytre Markeveien, and then turn right onto
the big square (Holbergsallmenningen), orig-
inally conceived as a firebreak. Cross the
wide boulevard (Klosteret), and walk east
for 1 short block, turning right (sharply
downhill) on the impossibly narrow cobble-
covered alleyway identified within a few
steps as the:
4 Knøsesmauet
You'll immediately find yourself
hemmed in, somewhat claustrophobi-
cally, by the antique wooden houses of
a district known as the Klosteret. It's
composed of compact and, in most
cases, impeccably well maintained
wooden houses immediately adjacent
to one another. Even today, the risk of
fire among the brightly painted his-
toric buildings is a much-feared issue.
Especially vulnerable are what local
firefighters refer to as “chimney