Trip Day 13

Sunday August 20

I am behind with the blogs. Suddenly no more WiFi on the ship. I do have a lot of photos though. The big sorting out. Deciding, sigh.

Of course it started with breakfast buffet. So many interesting things to try. On the left: Fishcakes.

Hard-boiled left and soft-boiled right. And the soft-boiled are always perfect. How can they keep them soft and still hot seems a miracle to me. 

Big event on deck 7 of the ship at 10 am. The Arctic Circle celebration. Some in our group had already done (or seen it) when they had done a Hurtigruten trip in January, but they didn't say anything. The two chairs look suspicious. Turns out the one in front is for a ship photographer. The one at the bar for the volunteers.

Shot glasses are still being filled.

One of the ship's officers welcomes a "special guest".

The King of the water world. I forgot what they called him. We would call him Neptune. 

Well, I didn't have a good place to take any photos. Betty will share hers with me when we have a chance. But I can tell you what happened. And since I hate cold water I was not a volunteer. 

One volunteer at a time sat in that one chair and with a large soup ladle ice water with ice pieces was poured over the head and into your clothing behind your neck. I guess some like it cold. 

Afterwards there was a photo opportunity with the king of the water world.

I saw the prongs of that hay fork come too close to my face.

There was still time till lunch so James and I played a game with a view.

There was one of those quick stops in Finnsnes were nobody has enough time to go on land and come back. Shortly after is this bridge between Silsand and Finnsnes which looks impressive.

For 14:15 we are scheduled to stop in Tromsø for about 4 hours. Stephen takes us on a tour.

A lot to see. We pass a statue of Roald Amundsen, a polar explorer. 

We pass the Troll Museum which we could visit if we wanted. The sea gulls deffinately like it there.

Lots of harbors have floating saunas. Here is one too and teenage girls in bicinis jumped from the upper platform into the water. Having a Sunday party?

Another statue. Norway is the only country which still allowes whaling but only one kind. A shop had some looking like salami for sale and we could even try it and also same (salami) looking reindeer and moose.

Looked cute from the other side of the street. That little kiosk said "Bar" in large letters in front.

Tromsø Cathedral. It was Sunday and it was open. Perfect. It was built in 1861. As always: pictures don't do it justice.

We had an appointment for 3:30 pm at the Magic Ice Bar. James and I had been in something like this before. It is special for the Scandanavian countries but you can't stay in very long.

We were dressed up with a winter poncho and gloves. There signature drink was "Arcitc Crowberry". It is served in a glass made from ice ... or an ice cube formed like a glass. 

Afterwards we had some free time to do what we liked. Stephen said that he was going to Ølhallen, a pub with 72 taps belonging to the Mack Brewery. 

It was fun but ... decision, decision. James had 10 = Polar Pale Ale. I chose 9 = Ludwig Sour (with rhubarb but unfortunately also strawberry but I still liked it very much).

There was still a little time and I mentioned that I needed to buy a specific t-shirt for William since I now already had something for his cousins. Marc was excited to volunteer to lead us to shops. the shops had plenty of stuffed real animals like this moose, bears and other creatures but not what I needed. And I got nervous to be back on board in time.

Buffet again for dinner. Bummer. We like a la cart so much better. But the food was good.

This cheese was labeled: Himmeltind !

Stephen had a lecture again. He really does these well. Always very interesting. He pointed out the differences of the 4 Scandinavian countries, characteristics, attitudes, etc.

Another stop scheduled at 22:10 in Skjervøy (for 15 minutes) and almost on time. Always nice to get some fresh air on deck 5 before going to bed.

Night, night.

 

Trip Day 11 - Ship stops in Trondheim

Friday August 18

Today the ship stops in Trondheim. We have plenty of time to have a leisurely breakfast and I can do some knitting.

The schedule says to meet at 9:45 am on the pier, always with our whispers which are great. Each one of us has one hanging around the neck and we can hear the tour guide (ours or local) but at the same time look around and take photos.

Well, schedules are not on the minute. It depends on the ship. We have about 3 hours until the ship leaves again. A bus was waiting for us and brought us into the city. We went along main streets and through residential areas and saw very nice houses. Stephen explained. 

Our main destination is the Nidaros Cathedral. And there we can see the towers. 

Two of those many statues on the front faćade had wreaths around them. The one is St. Olav, the patron saint of Norway. He is supposed to be burried here and that is also a reason why an important pilgrimage culminates here.

Maya was our cathedral guide and she was very good with lots of information which was not the regular "dry" type, which made it even more interesting.

Online I found some more:    The cathedral secrets

Maya told us that the cathedral has 3 organs. She elaborated but I can't really recall the details. The next picture is the first one (oldest) and has about 3000 pipes. At a renovation it got moved to this new place.

Obviously the baptism fond.

The newer organ with (I think) double the number of pipes. I remember she mentioned all three together have about 12,000 pipes. They can now be connected together that they can be played from one place. And they are played at services or concerts. James and I wished we could have heard them played.

There was a story about the beautiful rose window.

And she pointed out that all the beautiful glass windows were the people's bible because the people used to be basicly illiterate at the time the cathedral was built but the windows told the bible's stories.

There was the story about how St. Olav's silver casket disappeared and what happend to his bones. They think the secret was recently solved. This is the walkway behind the high altar.

This little chapel is behind it and the bones are supposed to be underneath.

Outside again I asked who was honored with the second wreath? St Jacob / St James the Saint for all Pilgrims = the Camino!

Maya had told us also a nice story about the last brick of the cathedral. Legend had been that if the Cathedral was ever finished it would be a catastrophe for the city. Everything would be distroyed and fall into the river. The whole town. So the stonemason made sure the last brick was never put in. We found the photo on the internet.

We had a quick look in the gift shop (but no nativities) and then continued with a walk. Right in front of the gift shop Stephen was stopped by 3 ladies who just came to the end of their pilgrimage. The asked Stephen whether he knew where the office was for them to get their last stamp.

We had a very lively discussion with them. They (or at least one) had been on the camino also and I wanted to know whether this one was similar or different. I thought I knew the answer and yes, I was right.

They had caught up with us at the post and they wanted our group photo and happily let us take theirs. Of course we congratulated them profusely. 

While they went to the office for their stamp we went to the famous bridge. Stephen said that the most photographs were taken here.

Well, ok then.

On the other side was a place called "Den Gode Nabo Puben". What a lovely name. "The Good Neighbor Pub".

On the other side of the bridge was an intersection and from there a street went straight up. Quite steep. But there was a 'bike lift'. Stephen complained that he had never seen it work. It was free. No fees. We kept hanging around and finally two sporty looking bicyclers came by and we stopped them and asked whether they would show us how it worked. One was reluctant. He could go uphill without help but the other agreed to show us. He was not so successful but we got the idea. But then an older gentleman came who looked like he had been shopping and said he was using it all the time. It was fun. 

We had to return to the bus and quickly back to the ship. It doesn't wait. Only for their own excursions.

Nice view again from the front lounge on the 7th deck. A lighthouse. 

James got a better photo from outside.

Finally had to take a look at the huge yarn/knitting basket. It had a pattern in page savers laying there how to crochet granny squares but no hooks, only knitting needles. There were a few blankets 'floating' around in the lounges.

For 5:30 pm we were invited by OAT to the 'Sir Edmund Hillary Club' for the frequent travelers. It was the 29th trip for Diane and Tom. They received a lovely gift.

Because the ship was fully booked with passengers and its lay-out our little party was at our designated dinner tables. So we could stay right there for the 6 pm dinner. It was again a three course served meal with one drink included. It was very nice again.

Later we had another lecture from Stephen. This time about the Vikings and it was very interesting and very well done. I was surprised because I had not been that interested. 

He recommended this book.

In Rørvik a lighthouse with a lovely sundown. I was too lazy to find an outdoor photo spot for this (taken at 9:20 pm).

This photo says it was taken at 10:51 pm in Gjerdinga. It stays light here a long time, even when the sun has gone down.

Another lovely day ended. Time to get some sleep. Night, night.