Our third boat transport starts in Ålesund, 8:00 pm late departure. We drag our luggage through the cobblestone streets, (it is very windy tonight) to the small dock and departure hall. The boat blows it’s horns as it approaches the dock, it is an exciting sight. The group in the lounge is small, some families and many people on biking vacations. Norway is all on holiday now and most of the other passengers are local.
We are taking the boat up the coast to our next destination, Lofoton Island, it will take two days to arrive. We are on the Hurtigruten line, it is the original ferry line, sailing this coast for 125 years. We think the boat is not that old, but it was a shock of a difference from the Havila boat. Our assigned room is on the bottom deck two. Walking down the hall Janet said “I feel like we are in steerage on the Titanic, where is Jack?
the hallway to our room
The university and original buiding
Trondheim Norway
The ship docks for 4 hours at the city of Trondheim, shuffling passengers on and off and delivering goods. We decided to take a shore excursion; a hustling 5 km loop. We are lead by a funny viking guide. This place had been on my mind since I ask a guide in Bergen about the university system in Norway. He says, “yes, there are big universities in Oslo and Bergen, the biggest cites, but the grand university is in Trondheim.” ( 3rd largest city). This place is the MIT / Harvard of Norway. There is cutting edge engineering, science, and medicine taught here. This is a college town on one half and then a high-rise corporate park with think tanks on the other half. Nice pedestrian friendly downtown shopping area too. Especially prominent are deep sea drilling and maritime robotics and other technical companies. Lots of major, well known, accounting firms around too. There is a narrow river that seems to divide the city between tech and academia. In the distance you can see the original 2 spire brick university building. The Royal family have the summer palace here, which is lovely but not pretentious. This palace is also the place for coronation ceremony. The King and Queen are 89 years old.
Royal palace
The city houses the largest Lutheran Cathedral with two side towers. The wide frontal façade has been adorned with hundreds of sculptured holy persons. The exterior is very impressive as is the cross shaped interior where at the center of the church stands a massive crucifix.
Time to hoof it back to the ship.
Yummy
Our last day on the ship starts with Frank delivering breakfast to the cabin. They bake all the pastries on the ship and they are still warm. The pastries in Norway and Denmark, so very delicious, you cannot compare them to the US, soft and flaky. We have resisted many days since we would like to return from this trip without a change to the waistline.
In the afternoon we dock again at the town of Bodø. This is a short stop; 2 hours and we opt to get off the ship for lunch and a walk around the town. Bodø is a working town, and it is Sunday. We walked through an empty town, all restaurants and stores closed. We forgot that in Europe, Sundays are for family, at home. The large tourist towns still cater to us, but not Bodo. We find the one coffee shop open and share a “toasty”, very common here, they are grilled meat and cheese, always on excellent bread, we love them.
Back to the ship we have 5 hours before our next stop. Like a hotel we had to exit our room at noon. We find a table with a view and chill out and do some blog work. Next stop Lofoton Island.
Trondheim, such a nice city, we will miss you