Trondheim and Bad Weather!

On Monday we arrived in Trondheim where there are some wonderful old buildings. Like poor old Alesund, the city was destroyed by fire, this time in 1781. (To lose one city to fire is unfortunate but to lose two is shear carelessness!)

None of these buildings date back to the city’s origins when King Olav I founded it in 997 but some are very old and all are superbly preserved.

The Cathedral is one of the country’s largest and most important buildings. It’s here where the new King is crowned.

Next to the cathedral is the Bishop’s Palace – Scandinavia’s oldest secular building dating back to 1160.

Not far from the Cathedral is the Gamle Bybru (Old Town Bridge) crossing the River Nidelva.

Lining the River Nidelva are beautifully preserved warehouse buildings, some dating back as far as 18th century.

On the far side of the river are some of the old buildings from the 1780’s. There’s a vibrant “pavement cafe” feel about the place – which is surprising, considering that we’re reliably informed that the sun hardly ever shines in Trondheim.

We walked back to the centre of the city (all of it very walk able) as we hadn’t seen the Stiftsgaarden (Royal Palace) where the King of Norway stays when he’s visiting the city. It’s the largest surviving wooden building (1778) in the country.

Not all the city is covered with lovely old wooden buildings – some are 60’s and 70’s and should stand in shame with some of Britain’s structures of that period. The newest buildings, however, are much more interesting – some merge seamlessly with the sky and some, like this one, are covered in murals.

They like their electric cars in Trondheim. Drivers just pull up, plug in and walk away.

We’re not sure whether they have to pay?

As we set sail from Trondheim the cloud lifted and we were treated to a beautiful sunset right on the strike of midnight. This photo was taken just as the sun went below the horizon – still almost perfect daylight!

Just as the sun goes down- it’s a wonderful moment.

After the sun goes down the insane come out to play! Only joking! This is Peter, one of the Entertainment Officers in his “Robin” outfit.

Today (Tuesday) we have a sea day. At mid day we crossed the Arctic Circle (James tried to look for it but must have missed it!) It’s definitely been a sea day – we’ve had lots of sea. It’s been trying to climb up the side of the ship! The seas are “heavy” with strong winds and the weather is likely to delay our arrival in the next port by a few hours. Our cabin this cruise is low down and right at the bow and our window often looks like a washing machine as the waves beat around the hull.

Norwegian Fjords - Flam and Alesund

On Saturday morning we awoke to the glorious scenery surrounding Flam.  Little did we know of the astonishing beauty of the Fjord we’d just travelled through to get there but that treat was to come later.

The cold spring in Norway meant the snow melt had been delayed (until we arrived!) There were waterfalls everywhere – two visible in this pic.

Flam is very small, offering a few pleasant walks. The main highlight is to board the train which climbs up through the awesome Flam valley to the snow line. The very fast flowing river being fed by all the melt water.

The train stopped at the one of the most powerful waterfalls we’ve ever seen. The wind generated by the falling water, and the a mount of spray, made it difficult to stand still long enough to take a photo. In less than a minute you’d get soaked to the skin! Very exciting!

Water, water everywhere!

A view down the dramatic Flam valley and the huge amount of water flowing at the bottom.

The sun was so bright it was sometimes hard to get a quality photo.

Such a great train ride (and quite steep in places!).

At 5 o’ clock we left little Flam after another terrifically hot day. The square white patch, centre right, is the river flowing out into the Fjord. It was to take us six and a half hours to travel back down the Fjord.

We took a lot of photos of the stunning scenery during the long journey back to the open sea.

 

Our day in Flam was wonderful – temperatures in the upper 20’s, waterfalls to die for and spectacular scenery.

Today (Sunday) we woke up in Alesund. The town was completed destroyed by fire in 1904, which reduced 850 wooden houses to ash. In four years the present Art Nouveau style town had been constructed with the help of a very generous contribution from Kaiser Wilhelm II. We climbed the 418 steps to the top of Mount Aksla for a great view of the town below.

The town covers seven tiny islands connected by bridges and a sub-sea tunnel.

James’ new hip stood up to the climb to the top without a murmur but, instead of retracing the steps back down, we decided to take the longer route back to the town through the lovely shaded woods which adorn the huge rocky outcrop. 

Alesund is very different from most historic Norwegian towns (due to the 1904 disaster) but the architectural style is very well cared for and quite fascinating. 

The town is Norway’s leading fishing port and it, with the surrounding islands and snow capped mountains are a delight. We had another lovely warm and sunny day. As this is being written, as “Aurora” sails on towards our next port of call Trondheim tomorrow, the sun has just dipped below the horizon at 11:45 and risen again at 01: 45. As we move towards the Arctic Circle we could well see a full midnight sun!

Very surreal – 11:30 at night and wide awake!

Such a special moment.

Aurora Cruise to Norway

 

Within minutes of us arriving at the sail away party from Southampton on Wednesday we met up with our friend Dolreich.

Our cabin is at the very front of the ship and, rather than being pinched in at the bow, we have the most superb wide corridors.

Today we arrived in Stavanger, the first port of call of the cruise. The oldest part of the city is a conservation area full of …….

……. lovely old wooden houses, cobbled streets and hills.

The very pretty old part is dominated by “Aurora” wherever you look.

We were amused to read this sign outside a cafe!

For a mid sized cruise liner “Aurora” seemed very big moored up in Stavanger.

The sun shone brightly and temperatures reached well in to the 20’s. Time for an expensive beer! Over £7 and not even a pint! Never mind its Norway and that’s the deal!

The cathedral looks very English – that because it was built by the Bishop of Winchester (in England!) and is dedicated to St Swithen.

A very high-tech selfie. Doug’s operating the camera via his phone. Well done Blue tooth.

The crystal clear waters of the harbour were full of beautiful jellyfish.

From the ship we could look down on the wooden houses in the old part of the city as if they were a model village.

We left Stavanger at 5 o’ clock this evening – powering out of the harbour in the very deep waters.