Norwaylady

🍦 So far, no ice cream 🤪😜🤭 since we didn’t know what we would be served on todays tour…. We had only something to drink before the tour 🤣

they will come….

Guard change in video IMG_0224.mov IMG_0237.mov IMG_0243.mov IMG_0246.mov IMG_0251.mov IMG_0260.mov

A very good evening from Athens🇬🇷 Did we go out & about today? YES 🙌🏻 The girls started slowly this morning. We went for breakfast at 09.00. It’s very similar breakfast as the 2 other hotels this year in Athens👌🏻🇬🇷 Fruit, bread, cake, yoghurt, olives, assorted cheeses, ham, turkey etc Coffee, tea, juices and milk. After breakfast it was time to go out for a walk! The master plan for today was walk by the library and university, guard change, some churches and a food tour😋🤭 (did we get stuffed? YES) A quick answer for our day😝 For those into details, keep reading 📖 Back to the start…… The sun ☀️ was out, temperature around 25c. We left our hotel, walked up to Omonoia Square. Continued in direction of the library 📚 Charlotte found it very fascinating to see all the details and paintings on the buildings. After a deep study, it was time to move onward. We arrived just in time for a guard change at the Parlament building. Charlotte had a little laugh of the moment… she said it looked like Ostrich’s dance 🪩 practice 🤭😝🤣🤣🤣 We continued on our journey of city walking. We walked to the south slope of Acropolis. Then we took a walk along the narrow streets of Plaka. (Did we shop? NO💰 money saved) We went over to the Metropolis cathedral and church of Virgin Mary. Charlotte loved the paintings and all of the decorations inside and outside. We decided it was time for a little rest. So we ordered some cafe freddo and cold water☕️ After our little break, it was time to visit Panaghia church ⛪️ on the way to meet our guide.

our flight had arrival time 22.45 Greek time. (It’s +1h from Norway time) So I had pre booked a taxi 🚕 by my welcome pickup app. (Same I did for the Queen) because the metro doesn’t run late in the night. I had booked for pick up between 23.30-00.30. We landed 🛬 23.04 ish and our baggage was on the belt at 23.18 (at least one🤭) Charlotte was a bit nervous…. But her pink suitcase arrived 10. Minutes later👍🏻 I texted the driver and at 23.35 we were in the taxi 🚕 It was no traffic and we arrived at our hotel after 35.minutes. The pre booked price of the taxi was 60€. El cheapo me has booked a 3* hotel. We paid 2850NOK for 3.nights including breakfast. Room seems okay 👍🏻

We had a little hour to kill before next flight to Athens🇬🇷 Of course I had to take my cousin to the LH lounge. (It’s the first time she’s flying Biz) So far, so good 👌🏻 It was time for a pretzel 🥨 and a obligatory selfie 🤳 to my uncle and Mr🤭✨ Then it was time to board the next flight ✈️ LH is fully booked on this flight. We are seated comfortably in 3DF, biz. Flight is operated on a A321. Flight time 2h 10.minutes. We left a few minutes late, a ground crew, load crew had a accident and we needed full medical attention 🚨🚨🚨🚨 So captain came on and we had to take a few minutes to clear the situation out. Service started by hot towels, a menu and cashews+ beverage. We both had the vegetarian option for main course. Food tasted good 👍🏻 Then it was time to watch a movie on the iPhone. I had downloaded Dag Hammershöi, if you are interested in history/FN. This is a movie for you🤓 Just as my movie was finished, we were about to land in ATH.

The 12 or 14n? You will have a great trip👌🏻✨

I’m very sad not to see you onboard🥺 I will have a club soda for you🍹

What about Mr Norwaylady? Did I divorce him or what happened🤔 NO, no….. My Darling Mr is home alone🥰 his duty is to go to work, pet the cats 🐈‍⬛ AND clean up the garden (and fingers crossed 🤞🏻 get the roof done ✔️) I feel a bit guilty about going away now🥺 I have had several weekends away due to work the last few weeks and several things late in the afternoon. And this weekend I was also away for work. But I could sleep home 🏡🥰 So that was good 👍🏻 My intuition says me that this will probably happen when I’m away😜 The fridge and freezer is loaded up with food✔️ (And the man himself really made my weekend😅😂) I told Mr on Friday morning to put some kidney beans 🫘 on water so I could boil them later and make some chilli sin carne🌶️ I was not home and told him where to find them in the kitchen….. Yep, do you start to get some pictures of what might happened🫣🤭🤔🤔🤔 Oh yes…. That bag of dried beans 🫘 was 2kg. What happens when you put 2kg of dried beans into water? You get a BIG amount of beans 🫘 like more than 4,5kg😝 Yes sir😅 I had a full programme the entire weekend….. So Sunday morning was the only time it would be time to “kill them all”🤪😂 So 10 onion 🧅, 15 cloves of garlic 🧄, 10 chillies 🌶️, 10 cans of crushed tomatoes 🍅, 15 bell peppers 🫑 a decent amount of different spices and dark chocolate 🍫 later it was a big pot of 14.L of chilli sin carne ready🫡 So this morning I was packing my suitcase 🧳 in one hand and the other hand was packing portion bags to the freezer😂 #dontunderestimatemultitasking

So we are doing this in style….. LH award fare takes us down to Athens. We are flying biz from OSL-MUC-ATH. Today’s flight from Oslo to Munich is operated on a A320. Flight fully booked. We are safe seated at 2AC. Today’s service is a late lunch menu. Chicken Parmesan salad and apple pie. Service was 👌🏻 excellent. Cheers to a great holiday⚓️ (I’m not ready for a glass of wine yet, apple juice😅🤪 need to land my feet 👣 on the ground and get some sleep before I think it’s a good idea🤭) Flight arrived on time in MUC

I just have to go back to last week…. Yes, did you see several pictures of northern lights? YES 🙌🏻 It was a blast in Alaska and Norway✨ We have northern lights in Oslo now and then… But compared to further north and Svalbard…. It’s not that great and often visible. It’s due to the south location and light pollution. But you know…… Sometimes the stars and planets are in the zone🤩 Last week was a party ✨✨✨ Just to sit out on the balcony and just enjoy the playing sky🌟✨🌟Go to bed and watch it from there as I fell asleep 😴…. Not just one or two, but THREE days in a row🤩 That’s a great week👌🏻✨👌🏻 Yes, you know…. This IS a sign, go book that Norwegian 🇳🇴 holiday! This winter will be spectacular for northern lights✨✨

🤣🤣🤣🤣 no, a blue card balcony 😉

Yep, I’m back at the train 🚂 station. A rather wet and cloudy day…. In Oslo The girls are ready to rock Infinity⚓️ Roll out the red carpet and stand by🤩 The new roof is not finished…. It’s 95% finished. Unfortunately we received some parts in black and our roof is terracotta😑🙄 We are waiting for new parts in the correct colour🤭 We could finished 2 weeks ago if it hadn’t happened🥵 Well…. It happens🫣🤥🤔🫢🫡🫥 On the positive side, it looks very good already👌🏻 Time before departure has run off in express mode. I packed my suitcase this morning😅👌🏻🤪 But here we are… at the airport and SAS Lounge

We have sailed in Alaska👌🏻 Really enjoyed it. it’s a great place to visit😎 We really want to go back and see more. As you say, you only see a minimum part of Alaska on a cruise. It feels like home, but you have all the threes🌲🌲🌲🌲😂 Im having a big debate inside myself of a new Alaska adventure…. As a b2b type ish. northbound-land holiday from Seaward/HAL stop… touring around in Denali, Anchorage etc… southbound back to Vancouver😇 (but not the cruise+land deal from the cruise line)

Looking forward to follow😁 The itinerary is a good itinerary in my perspective. (specially if I needed to fly all the way from Oslo;) Will be fun to see what you think about the ship and service onboard. (we have seen some itineraries that are tempting for us.....) Happy packing🥰

The sail in/out of Stockholm is beautiful🤩 Its narrow parts, twist and turns. For those not early risers.... This is sail in to Stockholm from my aft cabin on Voyager of the seas in May 3. 2022. IMG_1597.mov And the departure from Stockholm 4.may 2022 IMG_1632.mov AND then again sail in on 17.may 2022 Voyager IMG_1730.mov Here you can see how narrow some areas are... IMG_1725.mov

Welcome to Oslo, Norway🇳🇴 Im waiving from a gray home office For you port of call in Skagen, Denmark The sign Maskinrummet is a museum. It's Denmarks largest collection of engine. https://www.maskinrummet-skagen.dk Fun for children and engine geeks... Just like Mr Norwaylady😆 The Swedish flag is the Swedish seaman church. We have also the Norwegian Seaman church . The main mission was to establish safe havens for Norwegian seamen around the world. Priests visited harbours and ships, and within few years the organisation established several church-buildings in different countries. Today we continue to meet Norwegians abroad, but our focus has shifted from concentrating mainly on sailors, to all Norwegians living, studying and working around the world. We also have churches in popular tourist destinations and in cities where many Norwegians stay

Happy 50 anniversary! Looks like you will have a great tour before the sailing🤩 Sea you onboard😎

@villauk you are welcome any time in Norway😁 Lets just say that it might be some more Norwegian "sales gig" next year..... Can't wait to walk the gangway om Milli in December in SIN😇

Please, please, please dear X cruising........ Give us some out-of-the-box sailings😇 The countdown is on.......🤩

All ships in the Hurtigruten fleet, exception for the ships made for expeditions tours ( Greenland, Galapagos etc), are built to specifics for the coastal service. And since they sail in the coastal service year round, they need to certified to specific regulations for very heavy weather and waves in the winter season. The ships they are using for the signature sailings is a ship that can be used to coastal service traffic. (I sailed my roundtrip Bergen on that vessel, she is one of the bigger ships in the fleet) Since Havilla is sailing some of the departures, Hurtigruten gets "ships" available to do those special signature sailings.

Its the local ferry😆 So the rooms are not big, but they are functional and designed to make them work well. But you spend most of your time in the viewing lounge front facing forward, out on the deck, in the Jacuzzi outdoor or you are eating some delicious Norwegian food enjoying the view from your table 🤣❤️ So it works out okey👍

My ultimate pick for those wondering...... This is an absolutely stunning itinerary and you will have plenty of pictures to WOW your friends and family.... Svalbardlinjen....

So to make it clear. The Hurtigruten coastal service is a ferry, local transportation, mail boat and a cruise. So the itinerary you see and have posted parts from are correct. They need to be on time..... When the ship has the short calls of ports, it's not possible to do big sightseeing. You are allowed to walk down the gangway and walk back onboard. Unless they are delayed. They stop to drop off passengers, take on new ones and to deliver mail and goods on transport. It can be during daytime or night. Some excursions are fitted to this sailing plan, so they drop you off in one port and pick you up in next port of call a few hours later. It's very safe and the ships excursions from Hurtigruten will be timed to departure. If you pick a signature sailing, the ship is just sailing as a cruise. All guests are boarding at the same port and no new guests are boarding during the cruise. You will have longer stops adjusted to tourist and sightings time AND they call at some ports they dont call on the coastal route sailing. That's why I personally would recommend a signature sailing. The classic 34 port of call on the Hurtigruten coastal service A signature sailing on Nordkapplinjen On the signature sailings, the timing of the ports of call are during daytime and it's some really good stops to explore history and great outdoor experiences. For Ålesund During summer season the coastal service arrive in Ålesund in the morning and leave passengers off if they are checking out of the ship or if they want to visit Ålesunf during the daytime. Then Hurtigruten continues onward on a scenic sailing into Geiranger. Its a scenic cruising day. They will not dock in Geiranger, so they have a tender service for those passengers leaving Hurtigruten in Geiranger or passengers checking in on the ship. Then it sails back to Ålesund to pick up passengers that stayed in town for the day and new passengers checking in to the ship. Hope this clarify how things are working her...... It's a different form of travel compared to a regular cruise. Absolutely lovely, but it's different. As for myself, for a full roundtrip, I would picked the signature sailings. They have perfect timing on ports of calls and you get amazing stops that the coastal service dont call. The options for excursions and fun is even better and have a wide selection of nature, culture and history.

If you want to know my personal opinion for a really good Hurttigruten itinerary… Go for the ones called signature sailings. https://www.hurtigruten.com/en-gb/voyages?categories=The+North+Cape+Express%2CThe+Svalbard+Express