Norway Part 2 - 2018

If you've just started reading my Norway notes, you might want to browse Part 1, as well.

Honningsvag, Norway
This port was the northernmost stop on our Norway cruise. Honningsvag is home to about 3,200 residents. Arctic fishing, King Crab adventures and camping are favorite activities of this area.  Once again, we opted to avoid a ship organized excursion and, instead, walked through the downtown area on our own. This was one of our few Norway port stops that the sun decided to shine.


A short walk from the cruise terminal, there is a small but informative North Cape Maritime Museum ($6 USD per person). This museum includes several exhibits describing the importance of the fishing industry to the North Cape region.

Next to the museum is the Arctico Ice Bar ($16USD per person). Each spring, thick ice from Lapland lakes is cut and brought to Honningsvag to create what is essentially a large ice room (23F). Before entering the Ice Bar, we donned a heavily insulated cape. Inside the Ice Bar there are carved ice chairs and counters. Non-alcoholic drinks, included with the entry fee, are served in the Ice Bar.

If you find yourself in Honningsvag, it is worthwhile to stop to view Eva Schmutter's art work. Her artwork can be seen at her downtown West of the Sun gallery or her East of the Sun Gallery which is located in Kamoyvaer, a small fishing village (transportation from Honningsvag required). Her art pieces (originals and prints of originals) are colorful, bright and visually playful.  We ended up purchasing an original collage depicting a landscape scene of Honningsvag.

One is a Troll

Longyearbyen, Norway

Hiking Guides, Green Dog Sled Company

This was a return visit for us. Longyearbyen is a small town of 2,000 residents in the Svalbard archipelago. Actually, Longyearbyen is the largest settlement within the nine islands that make up Svalbard. Coal mining, whaling, fishing and support of polar exploration were previous activities in Longyearbyen. Now, tourism, research/education and construction are the three largest industries in Longyearbyen.

Once again, the weather was cloudy with periods of rain and drizzle. We had a late start to our Longyearbyen visit as high winds caused the ship's captain to abandon a pier docking in favor of using tenders.

Port activities in Longyearbyen are somewhat limited when you only have about seven hours available, the weather is uncooperative and if you've been in this rugged and remote area three times previously. On this visit, we took a ship organized excursion providing a moderate length tundra hike and a visit to Green Dog Sled Company.  This sledding company runs winter adventures, so this summer season stop was only an opportunity to view the dog kennels.

Upon return to the town area by bus, we stopped at Rabalder, our favorite Longyearbyen cafe for a lunch of soup and sandwiches. Free WIFI is available in the cafe which makes it attractive to locals and tourists.

Sled Dog Kennel

Green Dog Sled Company Operations

Rabalder Cafe, Longyearbyen

Tromso, Norway

Arctic Cathedral

Once again, we woke up to a rainy day. We created our own walking tour of Tromso, combining periodic taxi and bus travel to keep us relatively dry.

We took a taxi from the cruise terminal to the Arctic Cathedral. This modern church, built in 1965 from concrete and metal, has 11 tall triangular braces running through the nave. At one end of the cathedral is a pipe organ and the other end has the largest stained glass in Norway. This stained glass was constructed by Victor Sparre and installed in 1972. The Arctic Cathedral has seating for 600.

Leaving the cathedral, we walked about a half mile to Fjellheisen cable car. This cable car runs from Solliveien up to Storsteinen, about 1,400 feet in elevation, in four minutes.  Once at the top, you can enjoy a terrific overview of the Tromso area and take one of several hikes. Unfortunately, the rain was falling hard enough to turn the trails into a muddy trek. Instead, we rode the cable car back to the lower station and caught a local bus back to the downtown area.

We returned to the Pacific Princess for lunch. After lunch, I visited the Polar Museum (about $7 USD) by myself. This museum contains exhibits that describe the life of seafaring explorers, fur trappers and animals local to the area. I found the equipment displays of early explorers particularly interesting - no Goretex or other high-technology fabrics. The exhibits describing Roald Admundson and Fedrick Nanson's final and heroic expeditions were fascinating, if not mournful.

Fisherman Statue in Stortorget Plaza

Hellesylt, Norway

This port is a convenient entry to the Geiranger UNESCO world heritage area. We disembarked the Pacific Princess in Hellesylt for an all-day excursion hosted by a ship arranged excursion. At the end of the day trip, we boarded the Pacific Princess at the port of Geiranger.

Taking an organized bus tour for this port made the most sense to us as there were many sights to see and we wanted to avoid any chance of being delayed during the trip. Cruise ships don't wait for delayed excursion travelers unless you participate in one of the ship arranged excursions. Moreover, I'm not sure there are one-way rental cars in Hellesylt.

Where did we go during our eight hour excursion? Leaving Hellesylt, we stopped in:

• Horindalsvatnet, for a short viewing opportunity, Horindalsvatnet is Norway's and Europes' deepest lake (1,700 feet).
• Stryn, for coffee, snacks and views of the picturesque houses along the Stryneelva River. Farming, forestry, fruit orchards, animal breeding, small industry and tourism provide the main occupation for this area.
• Josteldalsbreen National Park, for lunch at the Hjelle Hotel. We didn't stop at the glacier in the park but instead had a delicious baked salmon lunch at the historic Hjelle Hotel, built in 1896.
• Dalsnibba, Europe's highest fjord view from a road, at almost 5,000 feet in elevation. There is a viewing "skywalk" platform at Dalsnibba that opened in 2016 that provides a breathtaking look down 1,600 feet. 
• Ornesvingen (Eagle Road), for a panoramic overview of Geiranger.

Along our drive, we drove on Geirangervegen, the old unimproved gravel road originally constructed in 1889, and passed views of Longvalet (Long Lake) and Djupvalet, a large brilliant blue lake, amidst snow covered jagged mountains. Our guide was terrific and periodically had the bus stop so that we could step out to enjoy a particularly scenic view.

Entering Hellesylt

Stryn

Along the Stryneelva River, Stryn

View from Dalsnibba

View from Ornesvingen

Bergen, Norway

Bergen was our final port stop on this cruise. We decided that we could tour the city on our own, starting with a disembarkation at 8:30am. We couldn't find a taxi so we walked over to the Floibanen funicular (about $12 USD per person) to Floyen. Floyen sits at about 1,000 feet in elevation and provides a beautiful panoramic view of Bergen. If we had more time, we would have like to take advantage of the hiking trails, mountain biking, zip lines and dining in Floyen. If you're traveling with children, there is a playground and many animals to see.

With an eye on our time, we descended on the funicular and walked to the Fish Market. The market offered fresh seafood to purchase as well as several seafood restaurants. We sampled some smoked white fish that was quite tasty.

Continuing on our city walk, we headed over to the Bergen Museum. We had purchased online tickets for a historical walking tour from the museum. The two hour tour included stops at St Mary's Church, Schols Museum that highlighted a maritime merchant village and a final stop at the Hanseatic Museum. At this museum, we could observe the living quarters for a maritime merchant and his apprentices. The young boy apprentices had a rough living environment, locked into crowded bunk areas at night and working in a communal situation. 

We returned to the Bergen Museum for a cafe lunch. With time a concern, we decided to make our last walking tour stop at the Rosenkrantz Tower and Hakkon Castle. The Tower tour wound its way through narrow stairway, leading to empty rooms with descriptions posted on the walls. With the winding stairs, at times, it was difficult to determine where each of the rooms - location and floor - were located. On the other hand, Hakkon Castle was primarily a building used for current conferences and receptions. The castle was very modern and did not offer a lot of historical relevance.

No Witches Permitted in Floyen

View from Floyen

Fish Market

Walking Museum Tour

Notice that Buildings Have Settled 

A Sunny Day Brought the Tourists Out 

Returning to Dover

Our Norway cruise ended where it started - the port of Dover. From Dover, we made a return visit to Dover Castle to see the Secret Wartime Underground Tunnels and learn more about the role of the tunnels in Operation Dynamo. This WWII operation led to the rescue of stranded 338,000 soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk. Leaving Dover, we drove to Canterbury for three nights.

On our drive to Gatwick Airport from Dover, we stopped to tour the house of Charles Darwin and Chartwell, Winston Churchill's country home.  

Norway, Part 1 - 2018

I planned to share information and photos from our summer Norway cruise (June 2018). Five months later, after allowing household activities and our Wyoming trip to distract me, I'm back at the keyboard. 

I soon realized that there was too much content to share in one blog post. So, this "part one" entry will focus on four port stops, Stravanger, Flaam, Aalesund and Trondheim. The remaining port visits will be shared in a "Norway - Part Two" entry.

Stravanger, Norway

Leaving Dover, we cruised north, through the North Sea, to our first Norway port stop. Stravanger. As would become common during our visit to Norway, we stepped off the Pacific Princess under cloudy skies that would turn to moderate rain.

Reviewing the ship excursions, we realized that we could easily arrange our own activities while in Stravanger. After a brief city walk, we boarded a Rodne Company 200 passenger catamaran to travel through Lysebotn, Forsand to Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock ($55 USD per person). The boat returned to Stravanger after visiting Pulpit Rock. This imposing flat topped rock structure soars almost 2,000 feet about the Lyse Fjord. The catamaran also stops at Hangjane Falls, where water is collected from the falls and shared with passengers. The glacier fed water is naturally clean and requires no treatment. Pulpit Rock might look familiar as you might have seen it in a scene from Mission Impossible: Fallout. While we looked up at Pulpit Rock, there was a ship excursion for hiking to the top of Pulpit Rock and looking down the fjord - perhaps seeing the boats.

We returned for lunch aboard the Pacific Princess. We planned to head out to explore Stravanger after lunch, but it was raining heavily and we decided to spend time making backup plans for day in Flaam. In Flaam, we were scheduled to ride an excursion train up the mountain to Mrydal, the starting point for an 11 mile bike ride down the mountain.  The weather for our mountain bike trip the next day was forecast for rain. With inclement weather on the horizon, we decided to make an alternate reservation for a rail ride back down the mountain if the rain was pouring. This was a challenge as Internet service on the Pacific Princess was slow and expensive. I finally connected with the Norwegian rail office via Skype. Apparently, we purchased the last two seats on the return rail trip.

Stravanger Harbor

Flaam. Norway

Once off the Pacific Princess, we walked over to the rail station to pick-up our recently purchased tickets for a return rail trip from Myrdal to Flaam. Interestingly, this trip wasn't sold out as we were informed the day before on the phone. Thus, if you find yourself in need of some last minute rail tickets in Flaam, it appears the station holds back a few for last minute purchases.

Queen Mary Docked in Flaam

Once again, we arranged our own excursion activities As we waited for the train to from Flaam to Myrdal, it was overcast. As it wasn't raining hard, we went back to our original plan to bike down the mountain from Myrdal to Flaam - rather than use the return rail tickets we purchased the day before. 

The train ride took about an hour, with spectacular views of green hills, waterfalls and steep mountains. If you get a chance to visit Flaam, I recommend this activity.  In Myrdal, the rail station has a small cafe and bike rental counter. We purchased takeaway sandwiches from the cafe with the plan to stop for lunch during our 11 mile ride. 

There are various sizes of bikes and all bike rentals come with a helmet. This helmet is a necessity given the steep terrain at the beginning of the ride down the mountain.

Our bike ride down the mountain immediately started with 21 hairpin turns down a steep, rocky and narrow gravel path. We routinely ride bicycles, but this terrain was unlike any terrain we typically ride on. The bike rental staff suggested walking down the trail - at least the start - if we were apprehensive. Apparently, the day before a bike rider lost control down this steep trail section and needed medical evacuation.

With growing courage and after walking the first few turns, we soon were riding down the bike trail - albeit rather slowly. Once we cleared the 21 hairpin turns, the bike path became more like an unimproved dirt road and was very easy to ride. Along the downhill ride, you view roaring creeks, waterfalls and even a goat dairy. The rain sprinkled periodically on us during our ride, but the sun came out as we found a picnic table for lunch.

If you're in Flaam and have 4-6 hours, I recommend that you consider this combination rail and bike trip. It's not too difficult and the scenery is beautiful.

Flamsbana Rail

Railcar Interior

Bike Trail Down 22 Switchback Corners.
The Steep Waterfalls Indicate Elevation Drop

The bike path goes through a goat dairy

Aalesund, Norway
With a full day in port, we took a taxi ($12 USD) from the port to the Avis counter. At the Avis counter, we rented a small stick shift vehicle for the day. The rental car, with automatic transmission, insurance and unlimited mileage, was about $100 USD. Our plan was to drive over to Trollstigen. Trollstigen is part of the Geirangerfjord UNESCO world heritage site. At the top of the drive, at 2,300 feet in elevation, there is a visitors center and viewing platforms offering spectacular views of the fjord and Stigfossen Waterfall.

Our drive to Trollstigen took about two hours, via highways 136, 650 and 36, through Sjoholt, Stordal, Linge and Validal. Rather than backtrack our drive, drove in a loop, rejoining 136 at Andalsnes and drove though Vikebuht to Aalsund.

Cafeteria in Visitors Center

This high mountain area can be reached via a narrow, steep serpentine road that has 11 hairpin turns. About 2,500 vehicles drive over this road each day, from May to October, before the road is closed for the winter. Buses on this road are restricted to those that are less than 41 feet in length.

We stopped for lunch at the visitor center before venturing out in the heavy mist and drizzle to view the fjord and waterfall. The low clouds obscured our views but we could still experience the broad vistas and deep alpine valley.

On our drive back to Aalesund, we traveled through a 4.5 mile tunnel. Given the mountainous rock formations in Norway,  vehicle tunnels commonly provide safe all-season passage and reduce the time that was previously required to drive winding and, sometimes, meandering roads around mountains and rock formations.

Returning our rental car, we opted to walk back to the cruise terminal through the downtown area. If you have time, this walk is well worth it. The walk revealed many art nouveau styled buildings and city waterways. If you like to shop, there are many stores to draw your attention and your kroner.

We Drove Back to Aalesund on this Road - 11 Hairpin Turns

View Platform at Trollstigen

View of Visitor Center

Trondheim, Norway
Rather than take a ship organized tour, we opted to join friends traveling with us for a walking tour of Trondheim. We planed our route from reviewing several tour books and Internet searches prior to our trip. Once again, we experienced moderate to heavy rain throughout the day, which made our walk a bit damp. We were able to find brief stops along our walk that served as respites from the rain. After lunch, we opted to take a taxi to avoid a two-mile rainy walk

Nidaros Cathedral and Cathedral Cemetery
Thomas Angels House
Trondheim Old Bridge
Trampe Bicycle Lift
Museum of Natural History
Sverreborg Open Air Museum

From the Sverreborg Open Air Museum, it was an easy downhill one-mile walk down to the cruise terminal. The rain had stopped and we enjoyed our walk through a residential area down to the pier.

Monument to Trondheim, Bjorn Norgaard
Kunstmuseum, Trondheim

Colorful Houses Along Nidelva River

Old Town Bridge, Originally Constructed in 1685

Sverreborg Open Air Museum

View From Ruins of King Sverre's Castle
Sverreborg Open Air Museum

The site of King Sverre's Castle is on a hilltop.
There are no rails on this hill.