Friday and Saturday, July 8 and 9; Fjords, Trains and
Bergen
On Friday morning and continuing on Saturday morning we
had a great two lectures from David Silverberg on the economy and social
structure of Norway, outlining the constructs of Democratic Socialism. If you are a native (or a legal resident),
you benefit from the social contract which is broad and deep. Education through university is free. Health care is almost free (inpatient care is
free but there are small copays for outpatient care). The pension which everyone gets at age 67 is
something people can really live on (it sounds like more than our lowest level
of social security). Taxes are enormous,
both personal income taxes which top out at 47%, but also the VAT on
everything. 15% on food, 25% on
everything else. Property taxes are
relatively low, but there is an annual wealth tax on all your assets, both
property and monetary. Mothers and
fathers get a combined one year of maternity/paternity leave at 100% of
wages. And on and on. The wealth gap between rich and poor is much
smaller than in our country. There are
negatives beyond the high taxes: waiting times for elective medical procedures
are long and you can be denied very expensive care when you are old. Etc.
But the well-being of the country, measured with issues such as infant
mortality, life expectancy, happiness quotients, etc. is very, very high. Very instructive.
After the Friday lecture we boarded the Sognefjord ferry for
a gorgeous ride on a beautiful day, up the narrow Aurlandsfjord to the town of
Flam.
In Flam we boarded the Flam Railway (“named by National Geographic Traveler as one of
the top ten train journeys in Europe”).
The train ascends 2837 feet in an hour, going through 20 tunnels. It really is amazing. There is a bike path along the tracks, and a
system by which you can take the train to the top, rent a bike, bike down the
path, and turn in the bike to be taken back to the top. We didn’t
do that.
There is a stop where you can get out to experience a
stunning waterfall which makes a heavy mist so that you get a little wet:
We changed trains at the top of the mountain and rode to
Bergen where we checked into our hotel at about 8 PM.
Herring report for Saturday morning: today's choices included a version we hadn’t
seen before, herring with onions in some pink liquid, as well as the usual
mustard herring, tomato herring, cream herring, etc. I didn’t try it.
It was a lovely walk despite the rain (yes, it’s raining
but at least it’s in the 60’s). Bergen,
we’re told, is the rainiest city in Europe.
We visited the Hanseatic Museum where we learned about
the union which was so important to Norway, trading fish for grains, spices and
other European goods. The museum houses
renovated quarters from the days of the Hanseatic Union, and the life is hard
to imagine. The city burned down enough
times that ultimately no fires were allowed in the buildings, so all winter
people went without light or heat. It
must have been awful.
We walked through the fish market, and at the time we
were there (close to noon) the fresh fish was pretty much sold out, but the
fish restaurant business was starting to boom:
After lunch we drove out to Edvard Grieg’s summer home:
It is maintained as a museum, and has a number of his
belongings. Grieg was short—very short. Here’s his Steinway piano with short legs
(and correspondingly short pedals). The
wide, low bench was used by Grieg and his wife to play duets:
At the adjacent recital hall we heard some of Grieg’s
piano music:
Final dinner tonight, and tomorrow about half of us
continue on for the Iceland part of the trip.
More then.
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