Kay and Sylvia's Norwegian Adventure 2015: Leaving the Arctic Circle!

Thursday, July 9, 2015 (Day 10)

Today was a day of freedom - no excursions. I washed two loads of clothes - for the last time before we leave Norway. There is ONE laundry room with three washers/dryers for the entire ship! So, you have to go early in the morning to claim a washer. I knew we could do laundry at the hotel in Bergen, but I'd already figured out how to work the machines here so went ahead. It costs 30 NOK (close to $4.00 to pay for using the washer and the dryer). I brought two baggies with laundry soap, but these machines are 'all inclusive' so I didn't need my soap. That's one of the things I can leave in Bergen if necessary!

We crossed the Arctic Circle around 9:15 am. There is a special globe, similar to the globe at the North Cape, on one of the small islands. This was another big photo op for everyone on the ship. When people start scurrying around, we know something is happening. Actually, major events like this, are announced (now in five languages: Norwegian, English, German, French, and Mandarin!) over the intercom so we have a warning. We saw the midnight sun one evening going north but that's been it so far. People say we can no longer see the real "midnight sun" if we leave the Arctic area.

We stopped in Nesna and Sandnessjoen for 15 minutes each. After Sandnessjoen we passed the 'Seven Sisters' mountain range. The visibility was not very good today so we couldn't really see all the peaks as we could on the way north. Interestingly enough, the best days with sun were in Bergen and on the trip to Geiranger and Trollstigen - the latter being the most important day for sun. It has been overcast and cloudy the rest of the trip. Another photo op was Torghatten. There is a hole through the Torghatten mountain, which was created during the Ice Age. The opening is 165 meters long, 35 meters high and 15 meters wide. I took pictures of people taking pictures. We have some serious photographers on the ship with fancy cameras, tripods, and BIG and LONG lenses. No iPhones for them!

After hearing about the Atlantic Road excursion from Gisela and Hans yesterday we decided to join the tour since we would see one of the 29 remaining stave churches in addition to experiencing the landscape and the fantastic road along the Atlantic Ocean. All excursions need to be booked 24 hours in advance.

Tonight was our Farewell Dinner as many people will be leaving the ship from Trondheim tomorrow morning. We were served a glass of wine as we entered the dining room and toasted the voyage celebrating with our new friends: Marit & Ludmilla (leaving tomorrow), Louise & Gunilla (our dinner partners) and Borg & Lila (two ladies we met from Bergen).

This was a good day to begin the process of packing so I packed our suitcases leaving out the things we would need for Friday, our last full day, and Saturday, the final day on the ship and the return to the Augustin Hotel. This was definitely a "quiet day in Lake Wobegon." It was so nice to sit in the chairs on the Panorama Deck and enjoy the beautiful landscape.