Hurtigruten Day 3 continued

Hurtigruten Day 3 - late evening

Just when you thought the day was over there is more!

At 8.45pm we had a 30 minute stop at Rorvik.  Eagerly we were ready to get straight off and go exploring.  Talk about a hillbilly town!  There was a fair in town with lots of rides... a bit like a small version of the Newcastle Show.  To add to that there was a rock concert happening behind a fenced off area.  There were lots of drunks on the street, people yahooing out of windows and not much else.

When walking through the back streets we came across the band who must have been on a break.  I recognised them from the photo on the side of their semi trailer.  A security guy told us that the band DDE was the most famous and most popular band in Norway.  I have never heard of them but you could say a brush with fame!

After leaving Rorvik and late in the evening we were summoned by the Captain to come out on to the deck to wave to the little village of Sandviksberget as we cruised by.  Apparently the whole town comes out twice a day (every day!!) to wave to the Hurtigruten ships.... the ship going North and the one heading South.  It was freezing out on the deck so it was a quick wave from me!!  

Approaching Sandviksberget... it's summer here and they are in T-shirts!

The Captain overseeing our cruise by and tooting the horn numerous times... I miss the Live Boat tune on the Regal!

Sailing away

Rorvik

DDE... the most famous band in Norway.... I recognised the guy on the left as he had his coat on and also the one in the middle at the front.

A statue in the Main Street

Cruising out of Rorvik... not much wind!

Day 3

Hurtigruten - Day 3

Today our "long" stop is in Trondheim.  We are scheduled to arrive at 8.30am and leave at 12md.  You have to remember that the time the ship displays when getting off is the time the ship leaves NOT what time to be back on board.  There is no checking of bags when you embark or any other time.  A lot different to what we are used to.  As someone commented it's a ferry not a cruise ship.

We were off the ship when we docked along with everyone else and with a local map and a walking route already mapped out by me in the early hours of the morning we were on our way. 

Time slips away very quickly on this cruise because it is still light at midnight!! Also the chef will be serving hot prawn soup or pancakes or something else out on deck to keep you from going to bed.  The soups have been delicious as I think they are made of a lot of cream! They are so yummy.... and the bread is devine...

Our walking route took us along the waterfront and into the city which was still sleeping.  We walked to the Royal Residence which is the largest wooden mansion in Scandinavia and was built as a private residence in 1774-78.  Then onto the Cathedral... the world's northern most gothic cathedral.  Built from 1070 onwards over the tomb of St Olav, the Viking king who brought Christianity to Norway.  

Our walk then took us through the gardens to the riverbank where we came to Gamle Bybru... the Old Town bridge built in the 1700s.

Over the bridge and up the hill to the Fort where you can get a good view over the city. Kristiansten Fortress was built after the great fire of 1681.

Time was ticking fast now so we decided to head back to the ship as it was a good 30 to 40 minute walk from the Fort.  We walked via the old brightly coloured warehouses lining the river and are now mainly shops and restaurants.  The oldest of the wharves and storehouses were built in the 1700s and appear today much as they did then.

The sun was out and it was now quite hot.... hotter than I thought for this part of the world even in summer!

We had a leisurely stroll back to the ship and even managed to find an optometrist to tighten Peter's glasses on the way.

We have only one more stop today which is at 9pm and not long enough to worry about getting off the ship.

More time to catch up on this blog and soak up the scenery!

Walking into town along the waterfront 

Crossing the river near Central Station

The garden at the Royal Residence

The Royal Residence... we could see the beautiful chandeliers lit up inside.... I wonder what they were doing????

The Cathedral

The river and the old bridge

A bike lift.... bike riders just rest their foot on a pad, press a button and it pushes you and the bike up the hill.... no need to peddle!  And it's free!!!

The Fort 

The view from the Fort

The old warehouses on the river

The Old Town Bridge

More warehouses from the street

Relaxing taking in the view

King Crab tasting

The old Red Sailor lighthouse no longer in use.

Hot steamed mussels!

Cruising around

Day 2

Hurtigruten- Day 2

Our first night's sleep was surprisingly very comfortable with no real outside noise.  The ship calls into various ports throughout the night loading and off loading cargo, people, vehicles etc with 2 big ramps that electronically get lowered at every port.

We had a scheduled stop into Alesund from 8.45 to 9.30am which allowed us enough time to get off the ship and have a quick walk around the town.  Quick it was as nothing was open at that time of morning... 10am seems to be the usual opening time in this part of the world!  We did find a supermarket open and we managed to top up our Coke supplies.  It was drizzling rain which didn't help!

At 9.30am we had a talk by the "Expedition" team on the various excursions on offer up to Kirkenes which is the halfway mark and turning point.   We have already ear marked some tours that we think we might like to do.

We had an early lunch as our meeting time is 1.30pm to go on our excursion to Geiranger and the Trollstigen Road.

This tour required us to transfer to another boat to be taken into land at Geiranger where we transferred to a bus to experience the world famous views of the Geirangerfjord and the eleven hairpin bends of the Trollstigen mountain pass.  We then drove onwards to the town of Molde where we had dinner before reboarding the ship.

This was a long day as we didn't get back to the ship until after 9.30pm.

Thankfully we were nearing the end of the outdoor activities when the rain came but it didn't help for taking photos from the bus!  They will have to stay in my memory....

Day 3 should be a rest day as no external excursions are booked so we can take our time.

Arriving into wet Alesund

The waterfront area

Lots of fishing boats

The harbour

The very quiet and wet main street 

I found a troll! and the obligatory souvenir shop....

Our ship and one of the ramps

Cruising toward Geiranger from the Expedition lounge at the front of the ship

Pancakes served at the back on deck 7

Beautiful peaceful scenery cruising through the fjord 

Lunch... buffet and open seating.  The food on this ship is AMAZING!!!!

We found other ships in Geiranger.... waiting for our bus which had been delayed due to another tourist bus getting stuck on one of the hairpin corners!

A view point of the Geirangerfjord

A very cold waterfall that the guy with the towel stripped off and had a compete shower!

A raging river

The ramp to the viewing area

Walking to the viewpoint for the Trollstigen Pass

A view of the Trollstigen Pass and hairpin bends

The counter levered viewing platform.... it was about here that it started to rain! Made going down the Pass a bit interesting but not so good for any more pics and a wet walk back to the bus!

People seem to build these statures everywhere these days!

More trolls and still raining!

Our scheduled stop at 8pm for a "snack" before our dinner stop!  Snack consisted of cheese and salami on French bread and a waffle with jam and cream!