Fjord Heaven!!!

First of all, a few more things from Alesund that I forgot to add.  See the building at the top of the mountain?  That’s where we were headed to look at the city.  See the bus — that’s the one we met on the VERY narrow road; he had to back up to a wider spot!

Like your view is any different three feet higher — it’s a male thing 🙂

And this couple got out of the bus at the bottom and made it to the top before we left….so they did take a ride back down!  The whole bus clapped for them when they got on….

So onward to the fjords…..

Friday, August 16th:   Okay, this is it – this is why you come to Norway.  Geiranger is the largest (10 miles) of the many fjords and, in most people’s opinion, the most beautiful.  We had gone during the night to Helysilt and, starting at 7:30 a.m., we sailed to the back of the fjord – Geiranger.  Most, or at least many, of those on board were up on the top deck before 8:00 a.m. for us to stop at the Seven Sisters – and across the fjord, the Suitor. What a sight! We did two 360 degree turns so that everyone got a good picture – or about 30 or more in our case!!!

 

The pickleball court

John relaxing on the deck while reading.

The ship did not dock – we took a tender into town for our second exciting RIB trip……this one in this most famous fjord.  I nicknamed the driver of our RIB boat “Cowboy”.  He drove the boat like I drive our motor boat when I’m trying to knock our kids or grandkids off of a tube!!!!  It was hilarious fun…..and so gorgeous…..and also interesting.

 

Our group with Anton and Marianna — our new friends!

The Norwegians love their trolls!

One of the more obscene desserts of the trip — delicious!!!!  That’s some popcorn, among other things.

Our next day took us to Flam and its Railway.  We loved it — even in the light (or not so light) rain.  There was a little funny side story here.  I boarded the train and the employee of the railway sat me down and said he would bring the scooter on board.  Well, after everyone boarded I called out his name to remind him as I looked at my lonely scooter on the platform.  He started toward the door and, just then, the train began moving!!!!!

In the second video below is a woman who was dancing and singing in the pouring rain!

Because of the situation with my scooter AND because we had booked a second excursion only 30 minutes after the first ended, I stayed on the train instead of getting off to go into a hotel for a snack before heading back.  I was afraid it might take a few minutes that we didn’t have to locate the scooter.  So I went back down alone!  The good news is that the scooter was sitting on the platform with an attendant who wiped off the seat for me before I got onto it.

My art shot 😉

 

There was wifi at the hotel — here are our guys…….

It was a good thing I got back early; I was able to have a nice lunch, pull all of our tickets for the next tour — especially because they got back with only five minutes to the next trip —  an excursion to Stalheim….and an absolutely fabulous waterfall!  I can’t say too much about our view at Stalheim Hotel — the fog was intense!

Here is what we were supposed to have seen — love the postcard 🙂

The we ventured on to the waterfall — the power was amazing — it had been raining for the two days prior so it was exceptionally strong!!!

John made a friend at the falls.  It was an amazing stop — and notice, the rain had stopped!

Next we made our way down a gigantic mountain on a road of  13 hairpin turns back and forth — not for the faint of heart.  This is Norway’s steepest road.  The valley below is beautiful — John had taken a photo earlier in the day of a David Hockney print depicting the valley.  I’ll insert it below with the same view.

And another dinner pose:

The next day we arrived in Haugesand.  Tomi and I took a 7-hour excursion while John and Bryan went to a Viking village.

While the driving was very pretty, the day was fairly unexceptional until we got to another really spectacular waterfall!!!  We started with a city tour — they love their pink courthouse.  Our first stop was at a place with the art of rosemaling — it was not to either Tomi’s or my taste…..but we were due for a bathroom stop.  We didn’t know who paid who for the rosemaling stop!!!

And the importance of oil to the country!

Uni Marie’s Rosemaling Shop

And on to our boat trip — interesting, boarding from the nose of the boat!

Cumbersome climb, ya think?

It was cold sitting in the front….but great photo seats.

Up close and personal….

Tomi was really cold on the way back….

And for those who wanted more, we stopped and you could view from the street.  I took this from across the street — no walking down the steps, under the road and back up just for another shot!!!!

Meanwhile, John and Bryan visited an island with a Viking Museum and Village.  Several pictures of the Viking Museum and Village follow.

 

 

We made a one city stop in Sweden — at Gothenburg.

We began with a city tour.  We certainly enjoyed the architecture there.

The crown looks a little like part of a Halloween costume — made of cloth!

We stopped at the Botanical Garden.  It was bright sunshine when we stopped, but turned dark after just a few minutes.  I beat the rain getting back to the bus — but just barely!!!!

There was a stop at the old fish market.  I stayed on the bus — worn out…..but John went inside.  Gothenburg is known for its shrimp sandwiches…..but we didn’t taste.

Back on board, it was our last night on the ship.  The sun came back out; we were escorted out of the harbor by a very close tug.  And, we had a lovely dinner and posed for pictures with our new friends.

We disembarked in the morning in Oslo where we spent the next three days.  That’s the next blog.

See you,

Beth