Mike's solo Norway adventure!

[little britain]

The bridge on the RP used to change colour. Not sure why it doesn’t any more.

Sky Pad was very good. You should have tried it!

 

 

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[Tree_skier]

Great stuff Mike, keep em coming. This cruise is on my radar for 2020.

[unseemlygamer]

 

Dried cod. Keep the smell on your hands in mind if you touch it.

 

 

OK, that doesn't look creepy at all...

 

 

 

 

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Norwegians had these cupboards to sleep in through the cold nights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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You can't go down these stairs.

 

 

While it was an all-male society, and men weren't even allowed to marry, there was this.

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently the museum closed yesterday (October 1 2018). For the next six years, it's being relocated while this building is undergoing restoration work.

[unseemlygamer]

By now, the tour was overtime. According to the excursion details, we were supposed to go along Bryggen, so I was really confused. Our tour guide figured that we had all done it this morning on our own. That's a downright baffling scenario, now that I think about it.

 

While almost everybody made their own way back to the ship, the guide took the time to walk me and a couple of other people along Bryggen. I felt embarrassed and said, "Sorry to inconvenience you."

 

Smaller ships dock closer to Bryggen, which is a world heritage site. As such, for instance, they had to preserve the building for this McDonald's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We then walked all the way down to take a shuttle back to the ship, passing by places like the fish market, where I was earlier today. I really had to shower up before dinner.

 

Now let's do a review.

 

I got the best first impression of Norway when we were sailing in. However, it rained on and off throughout the day, and Bergen is certainly known for that. This is because it's surrounded by mountains. It rained even at times when the sun was out. Nobody can control the weather, but the clouds didn't take away the beauty from, particularly, the panoramic views of Mt. Fløyen, or from what I saw riding the funicular.

 

Bryggen - My shots were very rushed, but at least I got a taste of this iconic sight and its surroundings.

 

Fish market - Everyone will say not to miss this place. It's very touristy, and you don't actually have to buy anything here if you don't want to, but if you do, I'd say it's worth the price.

 

Funicular - A must.

 

Would I do this walking tour again? No. It was worth seeing what I got to see, but I felt this tour rushed and skipped over quite a bit.

 

Would I visit Bergen again? Absolutely!

 

There's so much to see here that before I started booking excursions, I couldn't decide exactly what to do for a day. I was curious about visiting a museum that was once composer Edvard Grieg's home.

 

Next time, I personally would actually stay here in Bergen for at least two full days. Almost every attraction and sight is within walking distance of each other, but I think it requires time to take it all in. As for the funicular, like I said, you could buy a ticket online in advance, for a time or day when there are little to no ships in port.

[unseemlygamer]

We were sailing away while I was at dinner. Afterwards, I took these pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I still gotta write about dinner and the rest of the night.

[unseemlygamer]

Tonight I ordered Steak Diane. It was supposed to come with a baked potato but what I, and a few others who ordered it, got was fries/chips.

 

 

Headliner show.

 

 

 

This Irish comedian was the highlight.

 

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for following along so far - things really start picking up tomorrow when we get into Geiranger.

[riri13]

I would love to do this cruise. Thanks for posting your pics and taking us along.

[unseemlygamer]

Day 4 - Geiranger

 

 

I got up and had breakfast in the Windjammer soon after it opened, sitting right at a table where I could see the fjord.

 

Down on the promenade deck was where I took this. Cool, fresh air, plus sky like this, and calm, majestic Norwegian fjords, and you've got what's now my ideal morning.

 

 

Up on deck 12.

 

 

Is that Hellesylt all the way over there? Also popular with cruise ships, but from pictures and videos, it seems great.

 

 

 

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Would you believe how blue this water was?

 

 

 

Seven Sisters. Only a few sisters were still dancing at this time of summer. All seven were probably dancing on the cruise back in May. Water that falls into the fjords comes from snow melt.

 

It's so beautiful here that the captain extended all aboard time to 8pm. After sailing away, the ship turned around so everybody could see these streams.

 

 

Right across is The Suitor.

 

 

 

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The ship anchored around 8:30am, but we weren't allowed off until about 10am. At some point, I did a little mini golfing, and the poolside ice cream opened quite early. Yes, I ate one.

 

Eagle Bend. It winds a bit like Trollstigen.

 

 

 

Herdalssetra - Norway's oldest operating mountain farm.

 

 

 

 

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Off the ship. It was getting warmer at this point.

 

 

Don't be intimidated by these trolls.

 

 

This souvenir shop is where I found the perfect T-shirt for my dad's friend. And quite a bit more Scandinavian snacks, such as:

 

- Cheez Doodles (I think those are Swedish, actually)

- Toppris (chocolate with caramel and puffed rice)

- Stratos (kind of like an Aero or Mirage bar)

- Non Stops (dark chocolate M&Ms/Smarties - I love dark chocolate)

- Smash! (chocolate covered Bugles - also in bar form)

 

 

[unseemlygamer]

Urge is worth mentioning. It actually came out a year before Surge did, and both are owned by the Coca-Cola company. The only difference I can think of is that Urge doesn't have all the crap we put in our bodies.

 

 

 

 

I'm gonna call this a day of discovery. Yesterday on the walking tour, I met two New Yorkers, obvious from their accents - Marcia and Rhonda. These two friends look alike, so I can't remember who was who, but they were both very fun to be around. I ran into them again today and we were walking up the waterfall that empties into the fjord.

 

Around here, some people might have been drinking the water. Anybody here who did?

 

Everywhere I tried to, it was hard to cup my hands. Supposedly, the closer to the fjord, the more drinkable the water is.

 

 

 

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Around here, there were rocks to sit on. I came back to sit down here quite a few times throughout the day.

 

 

 

Steps.

 

 

 

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Ooh!

 

 

 

 

 

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Little did I know it would lead to this viewpoint.

 

 

The famous Hotel Union is around here. I swear I had a picture of that.

 

 

 

The further up the stream, some people dipped their feet in the water. It was very chilly, but on a 75 degree day, that's not a problem.

 

 

 

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This isn't the top of the waterfall though.

 

 

Around 1pm it started raining, so I walked all the way back down.

 

 

During the rain, I sat down at a restaurant, but my server didn't even speak Norwegian. That's how touristy this place is, I suppose.

 

When the rain stopped, it was time for Geiranger Sjokolade, which is actually relatively new (June 2010). It's open every day from April through September.

 

 

 

The chocolate is all made in the basement, and served up here. They have unique flavors like olive oil, malt whiskey and blue cheese.

 

It smelled like something was baking in here, so I just had to get a baked good. Best of all, you can make the greatest cup of hot chocolate by mixing all these chocolate chips - white, milk, dark or mix - into a cup of hot milk. You'll never go back to Swiss Miss or Cadbury.

 

I really regret not taking any of this chocolate home. However, if you visit the shop's website, you'll see that they're opening an online store this fall. All it takes to be the first to hear about it is entering your email, and patiently waiting.

 

 

Stay tuned for an excursion I took later in the afternoon - Dalsnibba.

[precious89904600]

Thank you young man . Great pictures and review

[Tee & Chilli]

This is an excellent review

[Virtopia]

Still following along - really enjoying the pictures.

 

 

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[unseemlygamer]

Didn't post yesterday - I've been caught up on homework, and Photobucket doesn't seem to be working today. Let's try again tomorrow. Sorry for any inconvenience.

[unseemlygamer]

OK, now that Photobucket is working, let's get on with the excursion.

 

It left at 4:15pm. I eventually realized that it would interfere with my usual 5:30 dinner time, so at one point, I tried to change it to 11:45, but the system wouldn't let me. After the excursion, I ended up in the Windjammer instead. Either way, it would've been raining at some point.

 

The roads in Norway are quite narrow. You'll especially notice that if you're taking a motorcoach.

 

This was Vinje Camping.

 

 

 

 

 

We drove by Storfossen, the waterfall I was going up earlier. I wonder what the path really was to get up top.