Brussel Spouting

Our cruise started in Bergen. We traveled for 7 days. A few days in, we passed the Arctic Circle and experienced almost 24 hours of daylight from then on. There is a statue of a globe that marks this point, but I never saw it as we passed by at 7am one morning. As I mentioned in the previous post, we made a lot of short stops to small towns along the way. I've decided not to post pictures of every place we saw and just stick to the more signifcant sights.

We were hit with amazing scenery from the start. Our first stop was Geirangerfjord, a World UNESCO Heritage Site. The fjord is famous for the Seven Sister's Waterfall, a series of 7 waterfalls flowing next to each other (see 4th picture). The other special feature of this fjord is the blue/green water.

The ship docked for 3 hours in Bodø one afternoon. That gave us enough time to see the Saltstraumen Maelstrom, which happens to be the world's largest at 3km long and 150m wide. This is an interesting natural phenomenon in which tides cause one fjord to drain into another, creating whirlpools. Over 400 million cu meters of water shift one way, and then another, every six hours. It's difficult to capture the movement in a photograph, but we tried.

The Lofoton Islands are separated by the mainland by a fjord. There are 4 main islands, each with several small picturesque villages. We only stopped at one village on Lofoton and just long enough to walk around for about 20-30 minutes and take pictures. I could have spent days exploring these islands as they are all supposed to be beautiful and offer a lot of outdoor activity. Oh well!

At about 10 or 11pm one evening, we reached Trollsfjord. We bundled up and went out on the top deck to enjoy the view. In celebration of the event, the crew served up some "troll soup". It was basically a creamy seafood soup, which I thought was very yummy. Trollsfjord has tall, sheer cliffs and is much narrower than Geirangerfjord. It was fun watching our huge vessel navigate through it.

One of our longer stops (4 hours) was in Tromso, the largest town in Northern Norway. Tromso has two nicknames: The Gateway to the Arctic and Paris of the North. It is a really "hip" university town that has a lot going on. It claims to have more pubs per capita than any other Norwegian town. It even has a small brewery. Aside from the "party scene" and numerous cultural options, the amazing, snow-capped mountains surrounding the town are great for hiking and skiing.

We finally had some time on our own and what a place for it! We took a cable car to the top of one of the mountians for a spectacular view! We also took a short hike around the mountain. We would have liked to hike longer, but were still thankful to have some freedom. After our hike, we had a little time left to see the Arctic Cathedral (more impressive from the outside) and to drink a beer at the Mack Brewery. Over all, one of our best days so far.

At 71 degrees N. latitude, Honningsvag was the most northern point on our trip. This area is actually habitalbe, unlike most places at far northern latitudes. The terrain changed after leaving Tromso. The tall, snow-capped mountians gave way to flatter, more barren land.

We went on a safari to an offshore bird colony on the Gjesvaerstappan Islands, where there are an estimated 3 million nesting birds. The excursion was really good. I don't think I've ever seen so many birds at one time! We saw puffins, skuas, razorbills, kittiwakes, gannets and white-tailed eagles. The puffins were so cute, but it was difficult to take pictures of them because they move pretty fast. As an added bonus, we saw several reindeer from the tour bus going to and from the safari. A group of them actually walked right in front of our bus!

And finally...here are some pictures of us just hanging out on the ship.

Stay tuned for part 3 - Land Of The Midnight Sun: After The Cruise...

What can I say about Norway? Well, in a nutshell, it’s one of the most beautiful and cleanest countries I’ve ever visited. It is a paradise for lovers of nature and the outdoors (like myself) as there are mountains and bodies of water everywhere. I stopped counting the waterfalls at one point. There were so many. In addition, the air is clean and fresh. I could actually tell a difference! The spectacular scenery comes at a high price, however. Norway is a very expensive country to visit.

When Rick’s parents approached us with the idea of taking a Norwegian cruise, we decided to go for it. We figured it would be a good opportunity to travel with them and that the “all inclusive” option would make it affordable. Plus, the ship was advertised as “the world’s most beautiful voyage”. While we’ve taken several cruises with Rick’s parents in the past, we are not really big fans. We have several reasons for this, with the main one being that cruising only allows you to get a glimpse of each place. We prefer to explore places in greater depth. We also enjoy the adventure of figuring things out on our own. Unfortunately, this cruise was probably the worst example of that problem that we have ever experienced! What a shame considering how much there was to see and do.

Let me explain. We booked a 7-day trip on the Hurtigruten Coastal Voyage, which went from Bergen to Kirkenes (close to the Russian border). This is basically the entire Norwegian coast. At one point, we crossed the Arctic Circle (very cool). The trip was organized through a travel agent in Florida. The travel agent failed to inform us, however, that this so called “cruise ship” was really an express ferry that links coastal towns and villages. In fact, we found out later from our Norwegian friends that the word “hurtigruten” actually means “fast” in Norwegian! The bottom line is that the Hurtigruten is more useful as a means of getting from one town to the next than it is for sightseeing at towns along the route as the ferry only stops in ports for 15 to 60 minutes. With the exception of a couple of days where we stopped for 3-4 hours so we got to get off the boat and see a little bit. The ferry really serves locals more than tourists. About 11 ships a day go back and forth between Bergen and Kirkenes, with the entire journey taking 12 days. I’m so glad we opted for the one-way voyage! The ship offers excursions for passengers who want to explore places in greater depth. We ended up only taking one because they were very expensive. The ship was really nice and it had all the amenities of a normal cruise ship, minus the cheesy entertainment. Nevertheless, it was not a cruise as advertised to us. Whenever we would stop at a port, even for a short time, all of the "cruise" passengers would rush the door like convicts escaping from prison. It was pretty amusing!

The first day we were in ignorant bliss, but eventually we felt as though we were missing out on some secret that everyone else knew. These were the locals who hopped on and off the ferry, staying only a day or 2, in route to other places. We slowly learned the “real deal” and met some other tourists who were in the “same boat” as us…literally! So, we spent a lot of time on “the worlds most beautiful voyage” reading, playing cards, soaking in the Jacuzzi and salivating over the spectacular scenery. This definitely didn't suck. The views from the ship were spectacular! It just wasn’t the trip we envisioned.

Because Rick and I consider ourselves to be savvy travelers, we thought we could work around the system. We spent some time investigating alternatives that would give us more time off the ship and on our own. We found out that we could skip some ports and meet the ship back at the last port of the day as long as we notified someone beforehand and so long as we could get back to the ship on time. As it turned out, local transport was sparse in the areas we were visiting. Moreover, most of it all linked up with the Hurtigruten as part of a coastal transportation network. In other words, we were screwed!

All complaints aside, we had a great trip. We met some nice people on the ship and had fun with the in-laws. In addition, we spent a few days in Oslo, where we had a personal tour guide. Our friend, Christina, who used to live in Brussels, took us around and invited us to her home. We also spent a couple of magnificent days in and around Flam (the fjord region) on our own. In conclusion, I would highly recommend Norway to anyone. I would also recommend using the Hurtigruten as a method of traveling along the coast. Just don’t take it as a cruise! And, unless you are a big fan of snow and winter sports, go during the summer so you can see the midnight sun!

Our trip started and ended in Oslo. Although I enjoyed the nature in Norway more, I thought that Oslo was a really nice city. It was clean and the people were friendly. It was especially nice because we got to spend time with our friends, Christina and Stig. Christina was a great host. She spent a lot of time showing us around Oslo. She was also a good resource on restaurants, public transport and the like. We all appreciated her time and effort in making our trip more enjoyable. Plus, it was just fun to hang out.

One of the best things we did in Oslo was to take a walk through Vigeland Park. This beautiful, yet funky, park contains 212 sculptures by Gustav vigeland, some of them pretty risqué.

After Vigeland Park, we went to Bygdoy Peninsula, where w e had lunch at a cute restaurant called Lil Herbron, Then, we visited theViking Ship Museum. The museum houses three huge ships, built in the 9th century, that were pulled ashore and later used as tombs for nobility.

The restaurant was on a small island so we had to take a ferry across. The wait for the ferry could be up to 20 minutes. However, it only took 2 minutes to get across. If we had our bathing on, we could have swum faster!

We took a 6-hour train ride from Oslo to Bergen, where we spent a day before boarding the ship. The route took us through some amazing scenery. Here are some pictures we took from the train.

Bergen is a charming port city surrounded by hills.

One of the highlights of Bergen is the daily fish market "Fisketorget", which is right on the harbor. They sell all types of fresh seafood as well as already prepared foods for lunch and dinner. They even have some benches where you can sit and eat. I enjoyed a lunch of shrimp, crab, and smoked salmon salad. It was yummy!

The town is also known for Bryggen (wharf), a series of buildings that house souvenir shops, gift shops, restaurants, pubs, and museums, but was once a major commercial center for trade in Northern Europe. It consists of a series of wooden houses that are brightly painted. Bryggen has experienced several fires throughout history and most of the current buildings date from after the 1702 fire The entire complex is a World UNESCO Heritage Site.

One of the museums that we went to in Bryggen was the Hanseatic Museum. This interesting, little museum provides a glimpse into the lives of Hanseatc traders. The museum has 3 floors and is set up like a merchant's house complete with furniture, artwork, tools and weapons.