Excellent Eurodam Norse Legends 8-15 August

[RuthC]

RuthC...

 

I am not the OP , but we visited the Hanseatic Museum in July. It is located in Bryggen , on a corner , about a 15 minute from the ship.

Thanks for the pics and the info, brazilgirl. Makes total sense that it's right in Bryggen. I love museums, and would very much like to see this one. Funny how I've never been there.

 

It's a long walk for me now (done it many times in more mobile times), but sitting to watch the film before going through the museum would be a welcome rest.

[brazilgirl]

Thanks for the pics and the info, brazilgirl. Makes total sense that it's right in Bryggen. I love museums, and would very much like to see this one. Funny how I've never been there.

 

It's a long walk for me now (done it many times in more mobile times), but sitting to watch the film before going through the museum would be a welcome rest.

 

Glad to be of help , we had a lovely day in Bergen . We chose the museum so our kids could learn more about the powerful Hanseatic League and we ended up really enjoying it.

 

Speaking of the Hanseatic League and museums , one of the best museums ever was in the Hanseatic city of Lbeck ... The puppet museum called http://www.theaterfigurenmuseum.de/de/

 

Just a suggestion , off topic , for Northern Europe lovers!

[shrimp56]

That was my thought too RuthC. Until it was moved it was a church in constant use. And I don't remember it being lit at all. The museum is in the part of Bryggen before the fish market. If you do return to Bergen do take a taxi up there. I'm sure they will be kind enough to call you one for the return to the ship. We found Norwegians extremely kind and helpful.

 

Vict0riann -- thanks for the information. That was not included in our tour ;)

 

brazilgirl -- Thanks for adding the pictures and discussion of the museum. Hopefully we will have another chance someday. My sister-in-law is from Lubeck so I have visited several times. It is a beautiful city. I will have to ask her about the puppet museum.

[Vict0riann]

These were the "blue light" toilets at the Fantoft stave church. (I had to takephotos of every sod roof I saw!)

 

[shrimp56]

These were the "blue light" toilets at the Fantoft stave church. (I had to takephotos of every sod roof I saw!)

 

 

Then you'll like my next post:)

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review, thanks for posting it and looking forward to more of it and your beautiful pictures.:)

[shrimp56]

Apparently I was so eager to get to Bergen that I totally forgot to share our sea day dinner at Tamarind. My bad. Tamarind is not to be missed. Right now it is available only on the Signature Class ships, Eurodam and her younger sister ship, Nieuw Amsterdam. It is on Deck 11 and reached via the midships elevators, but since our cabin was on Deck 10 all we had to do was walk outside and then up one floor. Of course if it is cold or rainy it isn't ideal.

 

 

The picture is of my husband returning from our reconnaissance mission. You can see the Deck 11 Retreat Cabanas above him. The Silk Den is a beautiful bar in the same area as Tamarind. It looked like a great quiet place to sit and read during a sea day.

 

Dinner was wonderful. You can order the food as mild or spicy as you wish. We found that their "spicy" was at most medium by our standards. As they say, your mileage may vary.

 

 

We were given a lovely table for two next to the window. Dinner began with shrimp rice chips and some sauces. The green one in the middle was incendiary, but worth the suffering. I had a shrimp tempura appetizer, which, given my main was also shrimp, was a bit redundant. I also had some nigiri sushi, which was quite good.

 

 

My husband had the "trail of spices satay sampler," which he liked very much.

 

 

My husband's main was Vietnamese-style lamb with mint, which he said was delectable. My main was presumably the scallops and prawns with garlic, ginger and chili. It came in a broth and was a bit too mild.

 

 

My husband's dessert was a riff on the well-loved Holland America bread pudding, made with ginger and banana. I stole a bite. It was fragrant with just a whisper of spice.

 

 

My dessert was a trio of sorbets: passion fruit basil, lychee green tea and wasabi. The wasabi in particular was unique. It was the flavor of wasabi minus the heat. Amazing! And we were already happily booked for a second Tamarind dinner. About which more later...

Edited September 1, 2013 by shrimp56

[brazilgirl]

I am really enjoying your review. I had my birthday dinner at the Tamarind and loved it - we went back again . What delicious foid and great service.

 

Your photos are wonderful and you are making me miss my cruise !! :)

[shrimp56]

Back to Bergen!

 

 

After Fantoft we headed for the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg's summer house, Troldhaugen. Again much had changed and memory does play tricks. My strongest memory was of the single-room red composer's hut down by the water with its lace curtain. Back then we were allowed in, but not now. What I had conveniently forgotten was that to get there you had to clamber down a steep hill. I decided to spend the time before the concert there, rather than in the actual house

 

 

The composer's hut

 

 

Grieg's writing table with a view and the lace curtain.

 

 

What was totally new and wonderful was the Troldsalen or concert hall roofed in sod with its view of the composer's hut and the lake.

 

 

The 30 minute concert was given by Signe Bakke, an associate professor at The Grieg Academy at University of Bergen. Dressed in Norwegian costume she talked about the music in English and Norwegian and played the pieces with understanding and affection.

 

 

The tree-lined path from Troldhaugen.

 

After the concert we returned to Bryggen where we left the tour bus and window shopped some more before returning to the ship.

 

The verdict? Sometimes you CAN "go home again" and this time, while different, it was better in several respects. Most of all I enjoyed being alone at the composer's hut, even though I couldn't get inside.

Edited September 1, 2013 by shrimp56

[shrimp56]

Leaving Bergen: I'd come back in a nano-second. Still so much to see and enjoy.

 

 

My salmon "Russian pie" from the MDR. The salmon was bland, but the wild rice was richly flavored so there was a good balance.

 

 

View of the water as we left Bergen

 

We woke up in the morning to experience why we were here. The mystery and majesty of sailing slowly into a Norwegian fjord. Sognefjord is a lovely one for your first fjord and my husband immediately fell in love with Norway.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2013 by shrimp56

[shrimp56]

By the time we left for our ride on the railway from Flam up to a mountain hotel just short of the train's terminus, Myrdal, tomorrow's visit to Eidfjord was still up in the air. The Captain said that if we can't get to Eidfjord he wanted to take us part way up Hardangerfjord. Some people had morning shorex in Haugesund, our group has a full-day Langfoss excursion planned privately. Our Eidfjord shorex had been canceled and refunded, but we could ask to be on the list again should Eidfjord become possible. Since it was out of our hands we just forged ahead with our day.

 

 

Flam where you dock is simply a series of buildings serving the tourists who come to ride the train and take other shorex.

 

 

The train station.

 

The dock was about 1/3 the length of Eurodam, so our bow and stern lines were anchored pretty much in the town itself. It gave me the feeling that if we set sail without casting off we'd take half the town with us. LOL

 

 

 

The next Flambana, much like our train

 

The weather was foggy and a bit of light rain, so it was time to take pleasure in the peek-a-boo landscape. A lot of our roll-call and several of those signed up for the putative shorex to Langfoss the next day were on the 8:30am train.

 

 

The original Flam

 

 

Waterfall in the mists

Edited September 1, 2013 by shrimp56

[shrimp56]

The train stopped in a tunnel about half-way to our destination. Well OUR part of the train was in the tunnel. It was a photo-stop to see the Kjofoss Waterfall. There is sometime a woman who dresses up as a spirit and dances on the rocks. I didn't see her, but several of our companions did.

 

 

Kjofoss

 

 

The train in the tunnel. Most of the train passengers were from our ship.

 

 

Vatnahalsen Hotel: It seems to be a base for hikers as we saw several get off with backpacks from the 2 trains that preceded our return train.

 

 

View from the room where we had the waffles. The fog shifted here and there during our stay.

 

 

The lobby fireplace

 

 

We had a lot of fun chatting, walking and goofing around once we reached the Vatnahalsen Hotel where we had cold, soggy waffles in a lovely location. We reconnected with Liz and her husband, Mark and Clyde, and new friends we had made on the Bergen shorex Jesse and Mark. We made a drink date with Mark and Clyde for the just before our Canaletto dinner.

[RuthC]

 

View from the room where we had the waffles. The fog shifted here and there during our stay.

It was snowing when I was there. It was a late June day.

Gorgeous, isn't it.

[shrimp56]

Yes it is gorgeous. I loved the way the landscape played hide and seek with us. Snow must have been amazing!

 

Were your waffles cold and soggy?

[RuthC]

Were your waffles cold and soggy?

I don't recall; it was so long ago. Probably, though, as they usually are.

I still like to eat them! Every stop we make, no matter the port, they seem to be served. And I always have at least one, and try for more. ;)

[CJcruzer]

Thanks for the pics and the info, brazilgirl. Makes total sense that it's right in Bryggen. I love museums, and would very much like to see this one. Funny how I've never been there.

 

It's a long walk for me now (done it many times in more mobile times), but sitting to watch the film before going through the museum would be a welcome rest.

 

check with the museum, when we visited, you go up very narrow, somewhat steep stairs - I do not know if there is an elevator installed for those with mobility problems regarding stairs.

 

Just a heads up.

[jplewis]

I believe you have surpassed your past reviews. "Fragrant with a whisper of spice" - is there a Travel - Food Review position available.? Next time you can describe my plate as you take a picture of it. So glad no one has replaced us in your heart!!

Patsy

[shrimp56]

I believe you have surpassed your past reviews. "Fragrant with a whisper of spice" - is there a Travel - Food Review position available.? Next time you can describe my plate as you take a picture of it. So glad no one has replaced us in your heart!!

Patsy

 

Thanks Patsy! Tamarind inspires one LOL

 

We did make some new friends, but nothing could ever match the pure lunacy of our Veendam family. Can't wait to sail with you again in Feb.

[RuthC]

check with the museum, when we visited, you go up very narrow, somewhat steep stairs - I do not know if there is an elevator installed for those with mobility problems regarding stairs.

 

Just a heads up.

Oh. :(

Thanks for letting me know. Going up (on hands & knees, like in the Anne Frank house) is bad enough, but coming back down again could be downright dangerous.

[Vict0riann]

Yes it is gorgeous. I loved the way the landscape played hide and seek with us. Snow must have been amazing!

 

Were your waffles cold and soggy?

 

Our waffles were cold and soggy, too. BUT, they are just the vehicle for getting that beautiful clotted cream and homemade(?) jam to your mouth!

[brazilgirl]

Oh. :(

Thanks for letting me know. Going up (on hands & knees, like in the Anne Frank house) is bad enough, but coming back down again could be downright dangerous.

 

There is one flight of stairs ( wooden and a bit steep )..my good friend who travels with us has mobility issues and uses a cane. She managed it without too much problem. The Hanseatic Museum is much less challenging than Anne Frank .

[shrimp56]

Our waffles were cold and soggy, too. BUT, they are just the vehicle for getting that beautiful clotted cream and homemade(?) jam to your mouth!

 

True enough:)

[shrimp56]

We had read that the "souvenir shop" in Flam was the biggest in Norway and it sure was big! It had plenty of trolls and other obvious tourist items, but it also had an excellent selection of sweaters and jewelry that we had seen in Bergen, only all in one place. I didn't pass up a beautiful cast-silver pair of earrings a second time! And the DH found the Norwegian sweater of his dreams. Neither were inexpensive and both were worth it!

 

After our retail therapy we went back to the ship to get ready for dinner before we went to meet Mark and Clyde for a drink. Alas, they didn't show. We hoped nothing was wrong, but mostly I thought something important must have come up. So off we went to Canaletto, anticipating a delicious meal.

 

 

Looking back at Flam

 

 

Looking forward (the ship on the right is Iberocruceros' Grand Mistral)

 

Alas it was not as we remembered from Canaletto on the Veendam.

 

 

My Minestrone soup was very hot and tasty, but everything else was not the same quality.

 

 

Two versions: Veendam on the left/Eurodam on the right. Allowing for difference in chefs, to my eye the dessert on the right looks much sloppier than the other.

 

We might have forgiven that, but the service was also haphazard and slow. The servers seemed unhappy. The maitre d' was distant and disinterested , then next he was explaining the changes that were coming for Canaletto, then at the end just about begging us to "spread the word about Canaletto so more people would come."

 

While we had been onshore the captain had been unable to get the information he wanted about whether our funnels would clear the new bridge, so Eidfjord was out and Plan C was in. We would cruise Hardangerfjord in the morning, arriving back in Haugesund in time for a few shorex to run, albeit later. We needed to leave Flam in a timely manner to have both Hardangerfjord and Haugesund. During dinner we realized that the ship hadn't sailed yet and it was over half an hour past sail-time. We didn't find out why we were delayed until the next morning...

Edited September 3, 2013 by shrimp56

[Vict0riann]

Don't leave us hanging!

[shrimp56]

LOL. I'll try not to, but we leave tomorrow am for almost a week. There are clues in the previous 2 posts...

Edited September 3, 2013 by shrimp56