Alesund, Norway

Alesund is a beautiful little town.  There is a lookout point high up on the hill which can be reached by walking up 416 steps.  Sadly, we didn't do it.  

Alesund, Norway

Two trolls enjoying a small joke

This adorable little girl was in a beauty shop waiting for her mother and played Peek-a-Boo with me for a minute or two.  I hope you can see the beauty of this child.  Hopefully, I didn't scare her by taking her picture.

Flaam continued, or, just a word about trolls...

Just a quick story about the trolls.  Our guide in Flaam pointed out the likelihood of avalanches in the area and how efforts are constantly underway to shore up the mountainside in vulnerable areas to protect the locals (and presumably the tourists) from falling victim.  But still, avalanches are pretty common and evidence of huge boulders along the road confirmed it.  She said that there are two theories about what causes the avalanches and both have to do with trolls.  

It is well known here in Norway that trolls only come out at night because if they encounter the daylight they will turn to stone.  So the first theory says that sometimes in fits of anger trolls will throw huge rocks down the mountainside to prove their power and might.  The other theory says that in their anger they often stumble into the daylight, and since that turns them into stone, it is the trolls themselves who tumble down the mountainside.  There may be a more scientific explanation for the avalanches, but I prefer either of these.

This lovely waterfall was along the Flaam railroad route.  I've forgotten the name of it but the guide told us that the legend is that nymphs from the forest sing and dance high up in the mountains along these waterfalls and lure young men into the forest to marry them.  Then, of course, the young men are never seen nor heard from again.   We should listen for the singing and watch for their dance, but watch out for our menfolk.  I missed it on the picture but there actually were young ladies dancing high up on the right hand side of the picture.  One or two of them would appear over the crest of the hill and then disappear again in an instant. They are not actually nymphs, but students from a local dancing school who earn money bewitching the tourists.

A little factual clean-up...

For all of you geographical sticklers out there (and I know who you are), clearly we are not cruising just the Baltic Sea.  We started in Stockholm, Sweden (on the Baltic), then to Tallinn, Estonia and St. Petersburg, Russia (both on the Gulf of Finland which are arms of the Baltic), then to Helsinki, Finland (which is the north side of the Gulf of Finland from Tallinn),  then to Copenhagen, Denmark also on the Baltic where we disembarked the first week's travelers and took on the present group which are accompanying us on the trip up the coast of Norway (the Norwegian Sea which flows into the Atlantic) to the Arctic Circle (but not to the North Pole), and back again to Copenhagen stopping at different ports along the way.

Sorry.  How boring is that and I know you don't care.  But it makes me a little crazy knowing there are just a few of you out there who are raising eyebrows and saying something like "she doesn't know what she's talking about, etc. etc."  The truth is I am so overwhelmed with information that we are being bombarded with from every direction that I can only communicate zero percent of it and can just give impressions as we experience them.  So please forgive.

Here is another lovely factoid which doesn't fit into the normal sightseeing information.  Literally within fifteen minutes we will be crossing the Arctic Circle at 66 degrees latitude (not sure what that means but Tom is so impressed).  For the next four days the sun will not set and we are in the Land of the Midnight Sun, 24 hours of daylight.  Frankly, we haven't seen nighttime since we arrived because it has stayed light until 10 or 11 at night and then we are asleep.  When I wake in the middle of the night it is already daytime again (I get up and check).  Last night we stayed up until just after midnight and it still wasn't dark and starting tonight there will be no need to check because it will be daylight for 24 hours--for four days.  For the locals it is much much longer.  I'm fascinated by this but would hate to live with it for reasons hinted at earlier.  Of course in the winter it is the opposite--no sunlight for god-knows-how-long.  Awful, but as they say, we can get used to anything.

The other miracle is that we are in the middle of nowhere and there is INTERNET RECEPTION! Imagine.

Flaam, Norway

Our first stop in Norway was the tiny village of Flaam, population 350.  The word "Flaam" means "flat piece of land between steep mountains and they were definitely steep.  Flaam is situated on the Sognefjord, the longest fjord in Norway.  "Fjord" is a Norse word used by many other nations, but Norway's fjords are the best known and the most beautiful.  Ships can sail up to 100 miles up some Norwegian fjords.   The word itself means a waterway flanked by precipitous cliffs, carved over millions of years by the melting of the glaciers.  

The previous day on the ship was a Sea Day and the whole day was cold and windy with a little rain.  I was sure we were going to get more of the same on our excursion, but the weather was lovely. A little cool, but we were dressed for it and were never uncomfortable. After arriving in the little town of Flaam on the ship's tender, we boarded buses and made our way through the mountains which are indeed steep and precipitous.  There are numerous tunnels cut through the mountains which expedites the journey considerably from what it had been like for many centuries and soon we were stopping at a lovely hotel overlooking heavenly scenery as you can see below.  The guide had told us that the very old mountains were "round and polished" and they did seem so. There were villages along the way, lots of sheep, goats and cattle and a waterfall around every bend.  The road we took is one of the steepest in Europe.  After coffee and a pastry at the hotel we went on the bus down another REALLY steep road with harrowing hairpin curves (see picture below) with even more waterfalls.  It's a tribute to our driver that we made it and the guide said at the end that he deserved a round of applause--which we enthusiastically gave him--and then she said he had done a great job especially since he had just gotten his driver's license yesterday. (ha ha ha).

To be continued...

Tom with replica of Viking boat

Looking down from the Hotel Stallheim where we had coffee and the most fab pastry.  

Yours truly with mountains

This was a harrowing 1.6 km road (thankfully one-way: down).  The bus driver drove VERY slowly around each of the hairpin curves and I had the illusion that we were about to tip over, but we never did. These waterfalls are everywhere.

This is an especially beautiful waterfall called Tvindefassen (love that word, love to say it) which means Twin Falls.

The guide told us a very interesting story: the first paint color used by the Viking settlements was made from sheep's blood and was red.  Later, they learned how to make yellow paint from cod liver oil which was some improvement on the sheep's blood.  Both colors smelled very bad for obvious reasons.  Later, they learned how to make white paint using various chemicals that didn't have that terrible smell and so white became more prestigious.  It was a status symbol to have a white house.  The custom in the area is still to paint the main farmhouse white, the midlevel buildings yellow and the barns red.  You would never for example have a white barn and a red house--why allow the animals to enjoy all that status?  Practically every farm was composed of that color combination.

Tom has identified with the trolls

Some new friends from the cruise...

Andrea and Bruce from Fort Lauderdale

Liz and Chuck from Philadelphia

And some old friends!

Patrick and Sheila Rheaume from the Downs of Hillcrest, Dallas!  Patrick and Sheila are neighbors of ours in Dallas and through sheer coincidence they were signed on for the same cruise as we were.  We discovered this by accident at A Downs meeting a couple of months ago and were highly anticipating their arrival in Copenhagen.  We've been having great fun getting better acquainted and sharing stories about the Downs (don't worry, all good stuff), as all four of us have lived there for more than twenty years.  Just another entry in the Small World Department.

Helsinki

I completely skipped Helsinki in the sequence of events.  We went there after St. Petersburg and before Copenhagen.  We took a short morning tour with a guide in which the pictures below were taken, and afterwards, we walked back to the Cathedral square where a wonderful flea market was in full swing (they were just setting up when we were with the guide), with live music by the oddly named rock group The Napkins.  We picked up lunch at a food truck and ate it at one of the many picnic tables which were set up around the square.  Lunch for Tom was smoked herring with salad and mine was marinated fish, kind of like ceviche.  Very good and local.  Then we perused the market, and listened to the music, while speculating on why the group decided to call themselves The Napkins. Yes, in English!  We walked back to the ship along a beautiful wide boulevard lined with shops and restaurants.  Along the docks was another outdoor market selling souvenirs and beautiful fruits and vegetables.  Helsinki is a lovely walkable city with elegant buildings and friendly people.  Maybe to dispel the stereotype of Finns as dour and unapproachable, the guide told us a joke about how to tell an introverted Finn from an extroverted one.  The introvert looks at his own shoes when he speaks to you.  The extrovert looks at your shoes.  We actually found them to be very pleasant.

The Cathedral of Helsinki--this cathedral was inspired by St. Isaacs in St. Petersburg which we visited.  Just for fun I looked back at the pictures of St. Isaacs, one of which is below.  One can see the inspiration, but the Helsinki Cathedral is far simpler and less grand than the Russian one with its golden dome and intricate bas relief.  And on the inside there is no comparison.  Maybe it's because the Helsinki Cathedral is Lutheran and thus typically understated compared with the ornate Russian orthodox. 

See what I mean?

The monument to Helsinki's own native son, the composer Jean Sebelius

The Sebelius monument sits in a lovely, sprawling park next to the water.  This charming little structure is a coffee house.

An open air market

The boulevard perfect for strolling and people watching.  Note the seagull perched on the monumental head, apparently also enjoying the fine day and watching the people.

Copenhagen, briefly

My birthday was Saturday and that was the day we arrived in Copenhagen.  It was switchover day on the ship and about 100 people disembarked and were replaced by newbies.  We hadn't signed up for a tour so we just got off the ship at our leisure and took a taxi into the city.  We went directly to Nyhavn, the pictures below that show the famous scene of the pastel colored row houses along the picturesque old harbor.  We knew we had to catch the last shuttle back to the boat from the Radisson Blu at 2:00, so we didn't have much time.  We got directions and walked toward Tivoli Gardens--which is a vast amusement park with roller coasters and stomach lurching rides and not regular gardens that you can just walk through--toward the hotel intending to find a cafe for lunch.  The walk gave us a feel for the energy of the city, "the coolest kid on the Nordic block" according to the ship's introduction, taking us through a pedestrians only shopping street with all the best shops like Hermes and Michael Kors, and several huge squares flanked with enormous government and religious buildings.  We passed an interesting and vast flea market on one of the squares with covered stalls selling everything from amber jewelry to fake antiques.  I used to love such markets, but have lost my enthusiasm for them and so we didn't linger.  Alas, we should have eaten near the harbor because the closer we got to Tivoli, the more the restaurants became utilitarian hamburger joints for business folk with very few charming little cafes.  We ended up having a dried out hamburger and a beer at a pub which advertised authentic Tex-mex.  We didn't see that sign until we had already committed or I would have run in the opposite direction.  Oh well...chalk it up to the ups and downs of travel.  

A shopping street in Copenhagen loaded with tourists and locals enjoying a beautiful summer day in Copenhagen.

The famous Nyhavn harbor in Copenhagen

A kind lady offered to take our picture.  Note the locks attached to the bridge.   This is a custom which we first noticed on some of the bridges of Paris.  Apparently, it is a custom that goes on in major cities all over the world.  Lovers attach a lock engraved with their names to a bridge railing or post and throw the key into the river below.  This symbolizes their undying love.  Unfortunately, many bridges are suffering structural damage because of the weight of all the locks and are in danger of collapse.  This has prompted the authorities in Paris to launch a "Love Without Locks" campaign urging young lovers to take a selfie instead of attaching a lock to the bridge.  Look at some of these pictures to see the unintended consequences of what began as a harmless little romantic gesture to some of the great bridges of the world.  

Another view of the harbor

Street band playing Stand By Me,  There were lots of people listening, all singing along.

We made it to the last shuttle, thus arriving "home" in time for the mandatory safety drill at 3:00 and the beginning of our second week on the Seabourn Quest.