Kay and Sylvia's Norwegian Adventure 2015: Geiranger Fjord

Wednesday, July 1, 2015 (Day 2)

Just to update you as to our progress electronically, the rumor is that the internet will be working on July 7. I'll believe it when it happens! Today we are near the North Cape, one of the excursions Mother and I are not doing (more info about that later) so I'm in the city of Honningsvaag at the Scandic Hotel. It's the ONLY hotel in the city and no one else is here so guess I'm the only one who needs to do internet. I do know someone who has a data plan for her iPhone, but pays $50 for 20 minutes to read FaceBook or send notes via FB or email. So I will send separate posts for each day. So much happens and even though I take notes, it's hard to remember all the details. The hardest part is to keep all the 'scenic' photos straight; there is diversity, but also many places look the same. I'll do my best!

Breakfest is served from 7:00 to 10:00 am. We usually go around 7:30. There are two large round tables with various meats, cheeses, 'relishes' (tomatoes, cucumber, red/green pepper), salads (like cole slaw and, my favorite, shrimp salad), several kinds of yoghurt, and jams. The back table has breads and the two long side tables have hot foods such as scrambled eggs, bacon or sausages, and some kind of potatoes. Another thing I find in Norwegian breakfast smorgasbords, which I don't understand, is baked beans! There are soft-boiled and hard-boiled eggs, juices, various kind of milks (including Mother's favorite - buttermilk!), a variety of cheeses and rye crisp/crackers, and, of course, coffee & tea. Another small table has fruit - usually wedges of grapefruit, oranges, apples, and bananas.

We stopped briefly in Aalesund, the home of Sigmund Aarseth, the famous resembler known to our family. He painted the large trunk and one of the kubbstuhls Mom & Dad have and the small trunk I got in the 'sharing' in February 2014. He came to Vesterheim demonstrating rosemaling and was the guide for the first tour from Vesterheim in 1970, in which Mom & Dad participated.

Lunch was early today, beginning at 11:30, for those of us taking advantage of the excursion to the Geirangerfjord. For lunch, we had the best salmon I've ever had and a fabulous whipped chocolate pudding that absolutely melted in our mouths.

We left the ship at 1:30 and boarded a bus for this special excursion. The Geiranger fjord is one of Norway's most renowned attractions. It is UNESCO-listed and absolutely spectacular. There are 2600 foot cliffs and impressive waterfalls en route. We also viewed Eidsdalen Lake and took a ferry ride from Eidsdal to Linge. On the way down we traveled the 11 hairpin bends down the winding Trollstigen Pass. You haven't lived until two tour buses meet on the narrow Norwegian roads on such a trip! Initially these 'roads' were pathways. The first road for cars (and then busses) was built in 1936.

The day ended with a dinner at the Alexandria Hotel in Molde. The best part, next to Geiranger and Trollstigen, was meeting Ramiro & Moraima Rodgrigues from Guadalajara, Mexico. They sat next to us at dinner and, thus, our friendship began. We happily returned to the ship and our cabin around 10:30. A long, but remarkable day.

Just a few notes about things we learned:

Geiranger (the city) has had up to seven cruise ships/day with about 10,000 people/day
the first cruise ships began 100 years ago, with many people from Great Britain
we went past the famous Seven Sisters Waterfall; our guide said that there has been so much snow in the mountains this year that there were probably more than seven sisters!
We passed through Gudbrandsdalen - well-known for strawberries and brown cheese
There is a 'welfarefule' that all animals should have six weeks of free time, i.e., be up in the mountains each summer
there are many hydro-electric power plants due to the number of waterfalls
many people come to do salmon fishing; the largest salmon caught here was 25 kg (about 55 lbs); fishing was the 2nd most important industry 100 years ago after timbre;
Trollstigen Pass is on the national tourist scenic routes in Norway (1 of 18; 3 in this county alone)

Day 2 breakfast with Solveig Frafjord and Michael Dean Whitcomb; Solveig is from Norway and was an exchange university student in South Africa where she met Michael; this is his trip to 'meet the parents' in Molde!