Extras: hotels along waterway
Rainbow over Alesund as we were leaving
Monday, June 15, 2009
Monday, June 15--Aalesund
As we were getting ready for bed last night, Ray noticed that our heading was 2.4 degrees. That’s very nearly directly north. Our beds are turned down for us when our rooms are cleaned in the evenings (cleaned twice a day—how nice), and on our pillows is a little piece of mint chocolate and a little card that says good night in 6 languages: Good Night, Buenas Noches, Bonne Nuit, Buona Sera, Boa Noite, and Gute Nacht.
First a bit about Norway. Four million people live in Norway and 99% speak English. In 1905 Norway gained its independence, having been under the rule of Denmark and Sweden before. Today the main industries are fishing and oil. There are many oil platforms just off its shores. Its capital, Oslo, has the highest per capita income in the world. Unfortunately, they also have the most expensive shopping in the world. Vikings are big here, and trolls. Knitwear, pewter, and wood carvings. Crystal and smoked salmon. But I’m not sure we will be purchasing anything as the cruise director said that a cup of coffee here is about 12 pounds!!! Imagine—a $20 cup of coffee. Another thing I won’t be trying—but not because of the cost—Aquavitae. Evidently it is 170 proof, 85% alcohol. The Norwegians make it out of potatoes and there is some process by which they put it on a boat and sail it around awhile before it is ready for drinking? I will have to find out more about this—but not by drinking it!
Haven’t been outside recently, so not sure how cold it is. The Norwegians have a saying. “We don’t have good or bad weather, just LOTS of weather.” So we’ll see.
Our first port of call on this cruise is Aalesund, Norway, voted Norway’s most beautiful town by the Norwegians in 2007. This seaport dates back to 1838 and was originally called Kaupangen Borgund, Norse for marketplace, but eventually the West Norse name for “eel strait” prevailed. Few of its buildings predate the catastrophic 1904 fire that killed one person and left 10,000 residents homeless. Most of the buildings then were made of wood and the fire practically destroyed the entire town with a gale aiding the flames. The people had to leave the town in the middle of the night with only a few minutes’ notice.
After the fire, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany who had vacationed here, sent four ships with materials to build shelters. Eventually the city was rebuilt in the German style called Jugendstil (German for “youth style”) or Art Nouveau, much of it designed by Norwegian architects. It was rebuilt in stone, brick and mortar.
The seaside town spans 7 islands, 2 which are mostly residential and 2 which are basically the town center.
One of the best views of the city is from atop Aksla, which is 418 steps up to the viewpoint. In Town Park, there is a statue of Kaiser Wilhelm and another to honor Viking Gange-Rolf (Rollo) who left here for France in 911 and founded there the Norman dynasty.
Aalesund is adjacent to the Hjorund and Geiranger fjords. It is one of the top fishing harbors in Norway. There is also a large furniture industry here.
Out on deck this morning, the wind across the deck is blowing at about 50 mph, so no leisurely walks—I would be blown off the deck!!! Hopefully once the ship docks, it will be calmer. We had breakfast in the Garden Café and ate it outside on the aft deck, protected from the wind. Then we went up to deck 13 to watch as the silhouette of Norway slides by with its towering peaks that drop straight down into the ocean.
Ray went running and I went shopping in the galleria store, then we got ready to go ashore. Once on ashore, we crossed over the bridge with the icy glacial waters underneath. Then we found the Alesund Church, hoping to see its beautiful stained glass windows, but the church is closed on Mondays. Most of the whole town seemed closed and it was already 12:30. As the afternoon went on, more shops and restaurants opened, but we were just here to walk around anyway. We walked towards Mount Aksla and the Fjellstua viewpoint to see the monuments to Kaiser Wilhelm and to Rollo. Ray insisted on speaking to me like the Muppets Swedish Chef all day--I kept telling him--wrong country.
The buildings here are gorgeous with lovely decorations and paintings. In some parts, it seemed like a fairytale village from a children’s book. We finally found an ATM and exchanged some money and bought a few postcards. Then we went back to the ship for ice cream and to take pictures from the top deck.
We watched Revolutionary Road on TV then went to dinner at the Grand Pacific Dining Room—Ray had prime rib and I had Tilapia and we both had coconut cream pie for dessert. Then we went up to the 13th deck to watch as the Captain guided us out of dock. A beautiful rainbow formed over the islands and another one grew behind it. As the assistant cruise director led a game of Jeopardy, we slowly slipped away and northward.
The show tonight was the magician husband and wife from the preview show. I do believe they are the magicians from the Oprah Show. I suddenly realized it when he began changing her dress in a whoosh through almost a dozen different dresses. They were very good.
***pictures from top: Alesund; gravestones; parking sign—say it like you are the Swedish Chef; all the houses had beautiful decorations as part of the architecture; lighthouse in harbour. (to be posted later)
First a bit about Norway. Four million people live in Norway and 99% speak English. In 1905 Norway gained its independence, having been under the rule of Denmark and Sweden before. Today the main industries are fishing and oil. There are many oil platforms just off its shores. Its capital, Oslo, has the highest per capita income in the world. Unfortunately, they also have the most expensive shopping in the world. Vikings are big here, and trolls. Knitwear, pewter, and wood carvings. Crystal and smoked salmon. But I’m not sure we will be purchasing anything as the cruise director said that a cup of coffee here is about 12 pounds!!! Imagine—a $20 cup of coffee. Another thing I won’t be trying—but not because of the cost—Aquavitae. Evidently it is 170 proof, 85% alcohol. The Norwegians make it out of potatoes and there is some process by which they put it on a boat and sail it around awhile before it is ready for drinking? I will have to find out more about this—but not by drinking it!
Haven’t been outside recently, so not sure how cold it is. The Norwegians have a saying. “We don’t have good or bad weather, just LOTS of weather.” So we’ll see.
Our first port of call on this cruise is Aalesund, Norway, voted Norway’s most beautiful town by the Norwegians in 2007. This seaport dates back to 1838 and was originally called Kaupangen Borgund, Norse for marketplace, but eventually the West Norse name for “eel strait” prevailed. Few of its buildings predate the catastrophic 1904 fire that killed one person and left 10,000 residents homeless. Most of the buildings then were made of wood and the fire practically destroyed the entire town with a gale aiding the flames. The people had to leave the town in the middle of the night with only a few minutes’ notice.
After the fire, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany who had vacationed here, sent four ships with materials to build shelters. Eventually the city was rebuilt in the German style called Jugendstil (German for “youth style”) or Art Nouveau, much of it designed by Norwegian architects. It was rebuilt in stone, brick and mortar.
The seaside town spans 7 islands, 2 which are mostly residential and 2 which are basically the town center.
One of the best views of the city is from atop Aksla, which is 418 steps up to the viewpoint. In Town Park, there is a statue of Kaiser Wilhelm and another to honor Viking Gange-Rolf (Rollo) who left here for France in 911 and founded there the Norman dynasty.
Aalesund is adjacent to the Hjorund and Geiranger fjords. It is one of the top fishing harbors in Norway. There is also a large furniture industry here.
Out on deck this morning, the wind across the deck is blowing at about 50 mph, so no leisurely walks—I would be blown off the deck!!! Hopefully once the ship docks, it will be calmer. We had breakfast in the Garden Café and ate it outside on the aft deck, protected from the wind. Then we went up to deck 13 to watch as the silhouette of Norway slides by with its towering peaks that drop straight down into the ocean.
Ray went running and I went shopping in the galleria store, then we got ready to go ashore. Once on ashore, we crossed over the bridge with the icy glacial waters underneath. Then we found the Alesund Church, hoping to see its beautiful stained glass windows, but the church is closed on Mondays. Most of the whole town seemed closed and it was already 12:30. As the afternoon went on, more shops and restaurants opened, but we were just here to walk around anyway. We walked towards Mount Aksla and the Fjellstua viewpoint to see the monuments to Kaiser Wilhelm and to Rollo. Ray insisted on speaking to me like the Muppets Swedish Chef all day--I kept telling him--wrong country.
The buildings here are gorgeous with lovely decorations and paintings. In some parts, it seemed like a fairytale village from a children’s book. We finally found an ATM and exchanged some money and bought a few postcards. Then we went back to the ship for ice cream and to take pictures from the top deck.
We watched Revolutionary Road on TV then went to dinner at the Grand Pacific Dining Room—Ray had prime rib and I had Tilapia and we both had coconut cream pie for dessert. Then we went up to the 13th deck to watch as the Captain guided us out of dock. A beautiful rainbow formed over the islands and another one grew behind it. As the assistant cruise director led a game of Jeopardy, we slowly slipped away and northward.
The show tonight was the magician husband and wife from the preview show. I do believe they are the magicians from the Oprah Show. I suddenly realized it when he began changing her dress in a whoosh through almost a dozen different dresses. They were very good.
***pictures from top: Alesund; gravestones; parking sign—say it like you are the Swedish Chef; all the houses had beautiful decorations as part of the architecture; lighthouse in harbour. (to be posted later)
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