Today is scenery day: fjords by ship, bus and ferry plus a bus ride through what is said to be one of the most impressive mountain regions in Norway.
After breakfast we stopped for 45 minutes in Alesund, a nice, good sized town that serves as the county seat, a fishing center and of course a tourist destination with lots of very nice shops on a handsome main street. Judy and I bought stocking caps for about $15 in one store. Two caps on board the Nordkapp run $75 so we felt pretty good. Vietnamese polyester versus hand knit Norwegian wool, I’m sure, but hey, ours are warm enough.
From Alesund we sailed up the Geiranger fjord to the resort town of Geiranger, arriving about 1:30. The Nordkapp is to big for the dock facilities so we transferred to shore via tender. A bunch of folks I took to be weekend vacationers got on to take our place, headed home probably to Molde, the destination of our bus tour. We made it to Molde a good two hours before the Nordkapp with lots of stops. They must have gone for the scenery, not for speed.
The day started coolish (mid 50s) with low-hanging clouds that obscured the mountains on either side of the fjord. The scenery was still quite impressive with frequent waterfalls that drain the snow pack further up the mountains into the fjord. Shortly after the start of the bus trip the sun broke through; we had a bright sunny day with temps in the 70s. Later on when we reached alpine altitudes we went into the clouds. It remained cloudy after our descent to Bode. The tree line in this part of Norway is about 2,500 feet due to the cold winters.
I’m not going to describe the route but parts of it, according to our guide, follow the King’s Path, first followed by King Olaf, later St. Olaf, in the 11th century. St. Olaf is credited with giving Norway its national identity, bringing Christianity to Norway and performing miracles – healing animals and people. The historical evidence on the Christianity part is not strong; most of the heavy lifting was done by others. King Olaf was in it for the wealth that came his way by converting the heathens. Olaf was not a gentle man; those not accepting baptism were beheaded, according to our guide. But here he is today, the patron saint of Norway.
Our guide, a gal from France with an incredible hairdo, spoke in both German and heavily accented English. We ate dinner with a German couple who said she had an equally strong French accent when speaking German. But this is a truly multi-lingual group so it’s a challenge for Hurtigruten.
This area oddly, given its high altitude and very short growing season, supports apple orchards and strawberry fields. They claim their strawberries are the sweetest in the world. They say that the berries grow in a cold climate but that they get 20+ hours of sunlight and plenty of rain.
We had dinner at a Quality Inn in Molde while we waited for the Nordkapp to pull into town. A “white fish” layered on top of mashed potatoes. Not bad for a Quality Inn!
More cruising tonight, arriving at Trondheim at 8:30 AM and staying until Noon. We aren’t taking a guided tour. Rather we’re going to wander on our own. Objective: the Cathedral. Hope we don’t get lost and miss the boat!
