Day 11 – Bergen, Norway

Our last port of call is Bergen, Norway. It rains so much here that it is said that Bergen’s babies are born with umbrellas! However, today broke sunny and clear and Marina and I set off to explore the town.
Bergen, Norway’s second largest city is a charming city with its picturesque Bryggen Wharf area of attractive wooden buildings reflective of the Middle Ages. Rebuilt in 1702 after a fire, the Bryggen has one of the best open-air fish markets in the world! It is very walkable city and after we left the fish market, we walked to the Domkirke (Church of the Dome). It is a 12th Century church of the Church of Norway (Lutheran, in case you’d like to know!) that is an imposing stone structure. The interior is plain but beautiful with an incredible organ that looks like a church in itself. A cannonball is still lodged in the front wall that dates back to the battle on the Bay of Bergen in 1665 between the British and Dutch Navies.
Tomorrow is a day at sea as we head back to Harwich, where this all began. It will be a day of packing and preparing to leave the ship on Saturday, when we will wing our way back across the Atlantic to home! We are all ready for home, but as we reflect on this past two weeks, we have an incredible gift of experiences and memories to bring with us.
This will be our last post until we get home and can reflect on the trip a bit. Until then, we hope you have enjoyed keeping up with us. We look forward to seeing many of you soon!
David, Marina and Jessika

Days 9 and 10 – Flam and Alesund, Norway

I’ve combined these two days as they had much in common. Flam is located at the end of Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord and a favorite of the Vikings. Here the sheer mountain walls climb twice as high as the 1,500 feet width of this, the narrowest of all fjords, creating an almost permanent shade. A train runs from Flan up into the mountains, rising 3,000 feet through incredible scenic overlooks and long tunnels. Marina left the train in Vatnahalsen where she joined a group that hiked down the mountain to Berekvan, a distance of almost 6 miles! Jessika and I continued on to Voss, where we were served a traditional Norwegian luncheon buffet (aka Smorgasbord). Voss is the birthplace of America’s great football coach Knute Rockne. We left Voss aboard a bus and traveled the Stalheims-Kleivene, a daring hairpin transverse of Mt. Stalheim, Europe’s steepest road (averaging 18 percent incline!). Bus drivers in Norway (and in Ireland and Scotland for that matter) are heroes who handle buses like they were Volkswagen Beetles!
By Wednesday morning we were in Alesund, situated at the mouth of the Stor Fjord, located halfway along the Norwegian Coast between Trondheim and Bergen. With a population of almost 40,000 people, the city is built on three islands connected by a network of bridges. Overlooking the city is Mount Alska offering magnificent views of the harbor, city and surrounding fjords. It was our first stop on a bus trip that took Marina and David through the land of the Trolls and the Norwegian countryside. Passing along several fjords and climbing up into impressive mountain heights, this trip also included a traditional Norwegian lunch. For some reason these Smorgasbords turn into feeding frenzies when tourists are involved, and this one was no exception! A viewing platform overlooked the “Trolls’ Ladder”, or Trollstigen, one of Norway’s most popular attractions. The Trollstigen rises from the valley floor to the top of the mountain, winding its way through eleven hairpin turns that zigzag across the face of the mountain. And everywhere the Waterfalls!!
Jessika spent today at the Atlantic Sea Park, one of the largest aquariums in Europe and the largest in Scandinavia. The Sea Park is unique in that it is built into the coastal landscape and adapted to modern exhibition principles. She had a great time getting up close and personal with a wide variety of Atlantic creatures! At the end of these two days we have experienced Norway in a Nutshell, and I have gained a new appreciation for my Norwegian roots. I’m coming home with a new determination to find the Norsk history of the Halmers (or Helmer or Hjelmerson) family.
One of the blessings of this cruise has been our table partners at dinner on most nights. Malcolm and Sandra Peers are from the North of England, and have been delightful conversation partners over dinner. Tomorrow night is the final Formal Night of the cruise and we’ll gat a photo of them to share with you all. See you tomorrow in Bergen!