Finnegården is a name on the old wharf in Bergen, one of the properties in the long, gabled row of Bryggen, and it is worth stopping simply to understand what a property meant here. Each block was a tight cluster of wooden buildings running back from the quay, with storehouses, counting rooms and living quarters packed together, and each was owned and used by merchants from the Hanseatic League, the trading network of north German towns that dominated this coast.
The story of the timber is a story of fire. Bergen has burned many times, most dramatically in 1702, when most of the town was lost, and the houses were rebuilt on the same medieval pattern after each disaster. In 1955 another fire destroyed a section of the wharf. During the excavations that followed, archaeologists found hundreds of inscribed runic sticks, short messages that ranged from business notes to love declarations, and these are now displayed in the nearby museum. It is a lovely detail that ordinary merchants wrote ordinary things, and some of them survived eight hundred years in the mud.
Walk through the narrow passages between the buildings, and you will notice the floors slope and the walls lean. The ground beneath is soft and the wood is old, and conservation is a constant job. Workshops with craftspeople occupy some of the buildings, and the creaking, tarry smell of old timber stays with you.
Riding to Bergen is a matter of careful planning rather than speed. The city has a congestion charge and toll rings, and the centre is a tangle of one-way streets, tram lines and steep hills. It is best to park in a designated area and walk to the wharf. In wet weather the cobbles and painted road markings become slippery, so take your time. Bergen is one of the rainiest cities in Europe, so assume you will get wet at some point.
Fuel is available around the edges of the city, and the centre has plenty of cafes and fish restaurants. A fish soup or a cinnamon bun by the harbour is the traditional treat. Early morning is the quietest time at the wharf, before the cruise passengers arrive.