THE CRUISE - Oslo to Brugge...

Day Fourteen - 1st July

For most of the night and for much of Friday, there were strong winds and a fair swell. Not a problem, unless you are inclined to sea-sickness, but you do get woken occasionally by the rolling, and so sleep is interrupted somewhat.

Another full day at sea, and a "straight jacket" night. 

By the evening on Friday the weather had settled down a little, but it was still too windy to be on deck. Hence the inside areas were pretty crowded, and we spent some time in the Glass house doing our Crosswords, etc.

The seas were much calmer later on, and we were able to go out on our balcony and watch the passing parade. There were a lot of ships going the same way as us, and few the other. All around, you could see oil rigs and windmills, and at one point we counted 23 or so oil rigs.

 

THE CRUISE - Oslo

Day Thirteen - Thursday, 30th June

We both woke early to catch some of the sights coming in to Oslo. It is a long stretch up to the city, although not as dramatic as going to Alesund or Olden. Nevertheless it is quite beautiful, with little townships dotted along the peninsular.

The ship docked starboard side and we could look directly across to a castle/fort, which is quite stunning, and can be accesses from the roadway along the pier. There seemed to be a 'changing of the watch' and these very elegant soldiers emerged along the pathway in their uniforms, and with grand feathers topping their helmets.

The dock is quite close to the city, and flat, and it seems to be set up for cruise ships as there are no trucks or containers around. P & O again weren't advertising anything else other than their own organised tours, but we did see a pamphlet of those Hop on Hop Off buses, which happened to be lining up along the dockside. We decided we'd do that, just to give ourselves a look at the layout of the city, which looks quite stunning, and it would also get us to several of the things we thought we'd like to see.

One of these was the Maritime Museum, which happens to be a t the farthest end of the bus's run, so we went all the way through the city, and past the palace and the parks, and finally got off at the end. It was a very sparkly day, and there was a lot of activity both on land with us tourists, and on the harbour. The Maritime Museum is very interesting, but as we entered there was an almost overpowering smell of fish! Turned out to be a huge pallet of dried herring, sitting on the floor in one of the display areas. Not sure if it was meant to stay there, and for how long, but it must have put some people off!

Wonderful models of boats, and some actual sized ones, and a display of how the harbour had been formed, together with an account of what they found in the mud when they decided to build on reclaimed land near the city.

Another wonderful area was a gallery of beautiful paintings depicting life at and on the sea, and we amazed just how clever people are to be able to capture the look of sun on water.

Some of the examples of ships were a dugout canoe, 2400 years old and a section of a cruise ship from the 1920's, showing cabins, bathroom and eating quarters, etc., and a bit of an eye-opener as to how things have changed over time. We were in there about an hour, which wasn't hard to do, as there is so much to see.

Later, we went across to the Fram Museum which is built around a huge ice-breaker ship used by Norwegian Arctic/Antarctic explorers. There are three levels and you can go aboard and see what it was like.

We then got the bus back as far as the Viking Museum, which is so interesting and there are actual preserved long ships, and we think this museum was also built specifically to house them. Beautiful artifacts and treasure, and funeral sleds which were carried on board to hold the body of a king when he died.

Next we thought we'd like to visit the Norwegian Folk Museum, but it turned out to be a vast area of houses, churches and other buildings, which had been brought from all parts of Norway. It would have taken hours to do it justice, so we didn't go in. One of those things that might really have been interesting, but with only one day in port, it was impossible to do everything we wanted.

We got off the bus in the heart of the city, near the city hall. Not a very imposing building from the outside, but inside was a huge hall with all the walls decorated with murals depicting Norway's history. Just stunning. We think it is the venue for the Nobel Prize. (The other good thing was that they have public loo's downstairs).

Had a look in some souvenir shops and finally got Jeremy a decent T-shirt. The knitwear and clothes are just great, but so expensive, as are most things in Norway.

Quite an easy flat walk back to the ship, and had lunch on board. Depending on where you dock, it is probably just as easy to have lunch back on the ship and go out again, if you feel you need to.
 As we were docked on the starboard side, we were able to watch all the comings and goings from our balcony, and the thousands of people who seemed to have appeared from all points. The On/Off buses did a roaring trade all day, and then much later the tour buses made their way back to the ship. I have to admit that some of these "older" people are to be admired for doing the whole bit and being out all day.
There had been some rain during the afternoon and we went aft, to the Terrace Bar, which is on the same level as the Trattoria, and the buffets. By the time we'd watched all we could of the sail away from Oslo, and down into the fjord to the sea, we were too late for the fixed dinner in the restaurant, and so made do with some very nice snacks from the buffet, which was themed Indian again tonight.

The following are some more shots of both Oslo itself and things to be seen on the way out/in.

(Just a note to say that we were here 3 weeks before that dreadful massacre, and had probably been in some of the streets where the city bombing happened, but the shootings were on an island quite a distance from Oslo. We can really understand how the Norwegians are affected, as those we came across and talked to, were all very peaceful and lovely people)

This is actually now a cafe. What a spot for coffee!!!

This ski jump ramp is up in the hills, shot taken in telephoto mode.

No explanation required!

City Hall

An idea of the size of the ship. The smaller one is "The World" which we saw in Falmouth over a month before.

THE CRUISE - Bergen to Oslo...at sea

Day Twelve - Wednesday, 29th June

Today is another at sea day, and also another Black Tie night, so we are not sure where we will dine tonight. Can't go to the formal dining at 6.30, and other areas are also "restricted". The meal arrangements and the dress codes are too rigid in the areas they are applied to, and if you don't conform, then that only leaves you places like the Buffet, which can be limited in choice, depending on the theme for the night, or the Trattoria, but that has become very popular.

As we've said before, the cruise companies (at least P & O), are trying to replicate or recapture the eras in the early 20th C , when cruising was in its heyday, at least for the rich, and everyone dressed for dinner.

We saw quite a few couples who should not have bothered, and some seemed to be trying too hard, and fit in to evening clothes they perhaps wore a few years ago, (when they were slimmer!)

The other problem with the early dinner session, is that you have to go to the restaurant when you really want to be outside somewhere watching the scenery as you leave. 

Then again, the 8.30 sitting means that you don't get to finish eating until 10.00pm, and that's not good for anyone, (unless of course you are going to be up for hours). The thing that bugged me (G), is that we are excluded from the places they designate as "adhering to the ambience of the evening", (e.g. Formal clothes), yet those people who do dress up are allowed to wander around wherever they like.
Why would you get all togged up and still go to the buffet????

Thankfully the ship's doctor said Gordon could still have a drink, (wasn't he nice), and so having watched as much as we could sailing away from Bergen, we decided to try the food in the Glass House.
It was very pleasant and I had nice meal of steak with green pepper sauce, and Lee had Lamb and Rosemary sausage. 

Not much else to do except catch up with some email and this blog, and have an early night.
Tomorrow we get to Oslo.

THE CRUISE - Bergen

Day Eleven - Tuesday, 28th June

There were some quite spectacular bridges coming up the fjord into Bergen, and one of them we "missed" by only a few metres. The Captain had said that it all depends on the tides of course, and the height of the vessel, and so we just scraped through.

Bergen is quite large compared to Alesund, and a one time was the capital of Norway. It is built on a peninsular on what was probably moraine from glaciers, with bridges connecting the various suburbs.

Some of it dates back to the medieval period, and the Cathedral to around the 12th C. It was one of the ports of the Hanseatic League in the 1500/1600's, and the lovely old buildings in the oldest part of the town are where the merchants were based. The buildings attract lots of tourists and are special, in that they are so old and represent days gone by. However some have been rebuilt exactly as they were, after disastrous fires. There are many small alleyways, remeniscent of Diagon Alley (Harry Potter), and most of the buildings are now shops.

We came into Bergen on the shuttle bus, which used some tunnels which seem to be for the sole use of buses, as we saw no other vehicles in them, and it gets you right into the heart of the city in quick time. The rain had set in and so we found some Norwegian style rain hats, (like fishermen's hats), and they were much better than the hoods on our rain jackets.

Found a shopping mall for coffee and they do good coffee in Norway. They don't seem to do Flat White and so we've been asking for Cappuccino's, but they don't do chocolate on the top, so it ends up more like what we want anyway!

Again the tourist shops are geared up for lots of tacky stuff, but Lee found some nice X-stitch with Norwegian themes, and we got a small souvenir of the old wooden buildings.

Gordon had developed what was becoming an abscessed tooth, and was on antibiotics, and painkillers, and so having had enough, we headed back to the ship for lunch.

Tonight is another "Straight jacket night" and the theme in the buffet is Best of British, and we've had more than enough of that in the weeks we've been away! So, we opted for dinner in our room, and had some very nice Spaghetti bolognese, which was a good choice from a limited menu.

We watched the scenery from our room as we sailed away, but the fog came down and there wasn't much to see until a lot later

THE CRUISE - Olden

Day Ten - Monday, 27th June

Today we will be in Olden, which is another town in a fjord, but this fjord is nearly sixty miles long. We think we werte supposed to enter the fjord about 3.00am, and of course were asleep. The pilot had boarded at Alesund and will stay with us for a couple of days, and so obviously is needed to get in and out of these places.

Lee was up at about 6.30am and said it was just beautiful, with snow-capped mountains and streaks of snow and ice. Also some waterfalls coming down the mountains and settlements down near the water level, and later, patchwork of cultivated fields.

The morning was overcast coming into Olden, but very still, and it is an absolutely beautiful place. The cruise line wasn't running any shuttles as we were within walking distance to the town centre, which itself wasn't very big, but quite flat at this level. Everything else, (as you can see), is UP!. 

We did notice some of those little sight-seeing trains standing near the wharf, and after breakfast we went ashore and talked to the man standing near one of them. He said his tour would go through the town and around a small lake and back to the town, where we could hop off and have a look around. It took a little while to fill all the seats, because there was no information supplied by the ship and we all had to work out for ourselves that these tours were local and available. After all the seats were filled, we set off, and they did a very helpful commentary in English, that gave us some of the history of the area.  

Tales of the farmer's wife who had to trek up into the hills and tend the herd, and milk the cattle, and so there were little houses dotted all up the slopes.

We also saw a 400 year old  stone bridge, which was the only connection between the two sides of the river. It has since been replaced but is still standing. The torrent of water through here was tremendous, and so strong and loud, and this was Spring, so you could imagine what it might be like in heavy rain periods! 

We stopped by the lake and there were trout (?) jumping, and then on to another spot by the raging river, where we all took photos, and then Lee and I got off in town near the lovely white wooden church. Really quite interesting if for no other reason in that on only one side of the church, some of the pews had what looked like antlers sticking up from them. I think they might have been used as hat/coat racks, but can't be sure.

Stopped in town for coffee and a browse through some tourist shops and actually found some nice things, but so much other stuff seems to be centered on Trolls and Elks/Moose and is a bit tacky. We got a really nice runner for the coffee table in a Scandinavian design. 

Then a walk across to another side of the fjord, where you can look back on the town and the ship. There were many passengers walking back, and all those we spoke to or heard from, said the local tour was just wonderful, and how much they had enjoyed it. 
Take note P & O!!!!

Having had a very pleasant day in Olden, it had started to rain as we left the town, but we found a spot on the Planet Deck (?), and had a good view of the different side of the fjord as we left.
Later we found a spot on the Terrace Bar, which is across from the Trattoria, and had equally lovely outlook as we progressed down and out of the fjord.

As you leave, and depending on the tide, the ship has to pass under several sets of power cables crossing the fjord, and these are marked at their lowest point with coloured (orange) balls shaped things, and even tho the captain knows what he is doing, (aided by the pilot), it seems quite scary as you pass under them! The captain had said that about five years ago, another ship's captain had actually hit them and blacked out half of Norway, and was hit with a hefty fine.

One of Gordon's favourite photos.

 
We will leave you with more photos of this beautiful area of Norway...

Nearing the End...

Just a short post to say we have been delayed in the postings due to re-arranging our office set-up here at home.

Now that we are back and not anticipating any big holidays for some time, we have started doing the things we promised we'd do when we got back! That is, all the things that have been put off for the last two years, for various reasons.

So, for those of you who might read this, stay tuned, we are nearing the end!!!

THE CRUISE - Alesund

Day Nine - Sunday, 26th June

Alesund is beautiful! We have the whole day here, and we saw the pilot come on board around 7.45am. The scenery from our balcony was superb, with the fjords and the backdrop of the mountains, with patches of snow, and what seemed to be glaciers.

Even before entering the fjord, the water was calm, but once inside it was like a mirror. There are islands near the entrance, and across to the south we could see a couple of long bridges, but they were a long way from Alesund.

(I wanted to try and put in a lot of photos from here on, and maybe do a link to them, rather than have them all here. However I haven't been able to work out how to do it yet, so the few that appear here will hopefully suffice and show just how pretty and different these Norwegian towns are.)

 It took a while to dock, but all was in place and we could go ashore about 9.00am. Trouble was, it was Sunday, and they don't seem to do much on Sunday, at least until after lunchtime, and we were hard pressed to even get a cup of coffee. 

Most of the buildings date from around 1904-06, and were built after a disastrous fire in 1904 which destroyed 500 houses. The rebuilding was done relatively quickly, with support from other parts fof Norway and even Germany and other areas. The style is mostly Art Nouveau, and we went to the Art Nouveau Museum and they had a coffee bar!! The building itself was originally an apothecary (pharmacy), and they had kept all the fittings from the shop  like the counters and the drawers which had held the compounds etc.
There was also a "Time machine" which is actually a presentation showing the fire and the devastation of the town. It was so well done, and fascinating to see how people coped after such an horrific event. Other exhibits upstairs were a vast collection of early postcards, along with some beautiful examples of glass and ceramics. In another section were the architectural drawings and plans, and examples of the crafts used to rebuild the city.

The city is built around a couple of waterways, and many flats and units look out over the water. It is fairly high-density, but so well done and so attractive. The photo below shows just how big the ship was, in comparison to the buildings

The ship is in the centre background!!

When I went back into town later, to get a poster we'd seen of Alesund Doors, there did appear to be some restaurants open, so I suppose they come alive after lunch. I also checked out a gallery whose windows we looked into, with the most beautiful paintings, but it was still closed. I would have bought something there, if there was a way to get it back home safely!

The sailaway was a singalong (!), and so we watched the ship leaving from the promenade deck, and then to our allocated restaurant, to make an appearance. They must have thought we were never coming back to the table, but this organised style of eating is OK, the meals are nice and the servings are of a good size, but not our style of things. I guess we are "loners" in that sense, and prefer to do our own thing most times. After dinner we went back up to one of the top decks and watched some more scenery as we left Alesund.