A Sea Voyage along the Norwegian Coast - Part 3

Monday, August 29th

Had a great night rocking on the waves from the "storm"; I love waves! But the morning broke with bright sunshine and cloudless skies, as we glided into the Tronheim harbor at 6:30 am. Audun and Annina stood on the quay to meet us, and we got them visitors badges and invited them in for breakfast. So nice to see them! After breakfast they had to go to work /university so we explored the harbor area of Trondheim as the ship was anchored there for 3 1/2 hours.

It's been a sunny morning, gradually clouding over a little as we head south along the coasts of Sør-Trøndelag and Møre. There weren't as many stops today, and we spent most of the day, basking in the sun on deck. The two ports of call looked like very interesting places, but we were there way too short for it to be worthwhile even to go ashore.

Kristiansund straddles 3 islands, giving it a feel reminicent of Venice, and there looked to be at least 2 churches worthy of exploring.

Kristiansund

Molde had the prettiest harbor area. In fact Molde looked like a beautiful town, with some very cool modern architecture. The American woman with whom we had dinner the other day, said that having understood Norway to be a rich country she had been wondering where all the rich people were. They are in Molde! I hadn't realized this before, but Kjell Inge Røkke, Norway's richest man is from Molde. We've finally been getting some decent waves this evening, with the result that the dining room was soon half empty, as passengers turned green and evacuated the premises. Too bad too, cause the dinner was the best so far, with cured reindeer with rowanberry jelly for the appetizer, salmon and halibut with basil sauce, strips of root vegetables, and baby potatoes boiled and sauteed in butter for the main dish, and a berry sauce with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Molde

Tuesday, August 30

The weather has been varying between fog and low cloud cover all day. Too wet to hang out on deck. Spent all morning in the panorama lounge, which was crowded, running down a deck to take pictures if it wasn't raining, or taking them through rainspattered windows. Hmf.

We disembarked in Bergen at 3 pm. It was raining - no big surprise, as Bergen is famous for it's rain.

Approaching Bergen Harbor

One of the ancient harbor buildings still standing in Bergen

The Bergen College of Nursing which we passed on our way to the aquarium

Since the forecast is for sun tomorrow, we decided to visit the aquarium today. It was a very nice exibit, and gives a home to a number of animals impounded after attempts to import them illegally: a family of monkeys, some crocodiles, a number of snakes and spiders. We watched 3 harbor seals that do tricks for their dinner. It is amazing to watch these short stubby seals do all the same tricks that you normally see the lithe and slender sea lions perform. We also had fun watching a large colony of penguins; some speeding around in the water and doing flips; one quietly stealing stones from her neighbor's nests to put in their own. When she got caught, a penguin argument would ensue. It was hilarious!

We got back to the hotel soaked, especially my left and husband's right shoulder, as my newly aquireed umbrella didn't quite cover us.We are staying at the Scandic hotel. It is strange not to feel the floor sway underfoot. Nice to have a large room and fast internet...



Wednesday, August 30th

Woke to continued rain, even though theforecast had been, and still was for sun. Scandic has the best breakfast buffet ever: with lots of organic and vegan options, plenty of fruit, home made butter croissants, hot milk to put in the coffee... After hanging around in our room we finally got out the umbrella and went to explore the city.

Bryggene across the harbor

The fish market

Bryggene Unesco World Heritage Site

Enjoying morning coffee at Bryggene

After breakfast we made our way out into the famous Bergen rain to do some sight-seeing.First we wandered through the fish market and on to "bryggene" the restored warves of old Bergen, a Unesco Heritage site. From there we went to Bergenshus Festning, the medieval fortifications. After that we sought refuge from the rain in a museum about the Norwegian Occupation during WW II. Further we visited several churches: the Korskirke was the only one that was open. I lit a candle there for my Mother-in-law, who was hospitalised today.

Bergenshus Festning

Pigeon bath at city park

Bergen City Park

The Domkirke and Johanneskirke we had to admire from the outside only. Finally we walked through the city park (it had stopped raining by then), and into the area taken up mostly by the University of Bergen, where we found the botanical gardens, an oasis of peace, and respite from the roar of traffic. It was afternoon by then, time to get our bags and take the bus to the airport for our flight home. Unfortunatly this last day has been shadowed by worry about mother-in-law. Husband will be making the long drive to see here first thing in the morning.

Botanical Garden

Bergen University from the botanical garden