Sailing to see Santa (almost) —- Jewel of the Seas Arctic Circle voyage - June 17, 2023

[mac_tlc]

6 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

but you had great weather when it counted in town yesterday.  I have heard it is 50/50 chance of this

So true! Yesterday was awesome. Tomorrow is forecasted to be sunny and upper 50s in Alesund.

 

mac_tlc

[Oceansaway17]

6 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

So true! Yesterday was awesome. Tomorrow is forecasted to be sunny and upper 50s in Alesund.

 

mac_tlc

I love Alesund.  The town art deco is great.  I took a tour that went up to some overlook over the city.  

[mac_tlc]

8 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I love Alesund.  The town art deco is great.  I took a tour that went up to some overlook over the city.  

Sounds like we are doing a similar tour, goes to a spot with great views.  
 

mac_tlc

[Oceansaway17]

8 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Sounds like we are doing a similar tour, goes to a spot with great views.  
 

mac_tlc

yes and here is one and then in town lots of pretty bldgs.  went to Sunmore village too with houses brought in from around Norway.  I was on the Serenade in 2018

 

 

[Another_Critic]

3 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Now, this is more like it!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rockin and Rollin!! 
 

Seas maybe up to 3m. Cloudy, chilly, windy —— a perfect Norwegian Sea kind of day!!

 

mac_tlc

3m?  Are you sailing in a bathtub?  😄

 

12m+ seas on the Oct 2015 Anthem TA.

[mac_tlc]

Sailing into Alesund!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Just back from our tour of Alesund. We booked a Norway Excursions tour through aviator. Overall a great experience, even though we had an extra 30 minutes at one of the stops because the bus wouldn’t start. No biggie, worse places to be stuck, another bus arrived and we were on our way! 
 

What a beautiful city and surrounding islands. Wow!! Some shots from Aksla mountain:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll break the tour up into several posts since I probably have over a hundred pictures. 

mac_tlc

Edited June 24, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Our next stop was the Sunnmore Museum which is an outdoor museum that showcases many homes dating back to the 1800s. The houses and storage buildings were transported here from the surrounding area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are also replicas of Viking longships. Very cool!

 

 

 

 

 

This is where our bus refused to start and another arrived to save the day! 
 

Edited June 24, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Our third stop was at the Alnes lighthouse, which is quite a ways from the Ålesund city center. The route takes you through two tunnels under the sea and one through the mountains. Very picturesque and serene . 
 

 

 

 

 

In this picture you can see the city center of Ålesund in the distance:

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Our last stop was at the church at Giske. 
 

 

 

It has a very important place in Norwegian/Viking history. It was built on 1150 and is made entirely of granite, with a plaster coat on the outside for protection from the weather.  Worth looking up. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a beautiful island with very nice small homes. The island is flat ( rare in Norway) as it was made of the silt and sediment of the glaciers. Just beautiful. 
 

 

Edited June 24, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

I took this picture of the church door for @Jim_Iain ! I hope my pictures are half as good as his!!!

 

 

[mac_tlc]

Welcome to Flam. The majestic beauty and serenity continue to amaze!

 

 

 

 

 

Should you get an aft cabin for your Norway journey? You be the judge!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

From the Vatnahalsen Hotel at the top of the Flam railway:

 

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

I think I am going to have to find an online thesaurus because I am running out of adjectives to describe these sites. We have been extremely fortunate weather wise - todays high in Flam was around. 72F / 23C. With almost no clouds. For a place with 220 days a year of snow or rain, it is truly special. 
 

We took the Flam railway up to Vatnahalsen Hotel, where we had some coffee and waffles. Then my son and DIL and I took a 15 walk or so to the lake. 
 

Some pix:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

The sites along the railway are pretty spectacular but here are a couple of tips for deciding where to sit:

1) We felt the sites along the right side ( as you are going up) were better. To see all the great views, sit on a different side when you go up and down.

2) Sit is a seat where the window opens. You can get better pictures with no glare.

3) Seat facing the forward direction of the train. 
 

Here are some pictures, but I probably have a hundred to choose from:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Here are some of the Kjosfossen Waterfall. Unbelievable. The train stops for five minutes or so in each direction for pictures and there is a short “show”. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More later from the port area. 

Edited June 25, 2023 by mac_tlc

[Norwaylady]

SO happy for you @mac_tlc😁

The weather is really on your side😎

 

Looks like you're having a blast! 

 

[mac_tlc]

4 minutes ago, Norwaylady said:

SO happy for you @mac_tlc😁

The weather is really on your side😎

 

Looks like you're having a blast! 

 

Truly magnificent at every stop ! 
 

Sky lift at Loen tomorrow.
 

mac_tlc

[Norwaylady]

Loen Skylift is 🤩👍🏻 

 

 

we took the back way up last visit😅 el-cheapo me didn’t want to pay for the round trip gondola🤣🤣🤣

Let’s just say, it’s not a great idea to be afraid of heights😜

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But if you like adventure, The Via Ferrata Loen is a perfect thing to climb🤩😎😁

I’m in😎😁

[mac_tlc]

So as we were sitting at the table for dinner, the captain made an announcement that was very difficult to hear because people wouldn’t stop chit chatting, but it appears we have an itinerary change.

 

For some reason I could not hear, we need to get back to Amsterdam a day early and therefore will have to skip Molde 😞.

 

Looks like an overnight in Amsterdam.  Which isn’t horrible. 
 

More later when I get more info.

mac_tlc

[Norwaylady]

😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, Norwaylady said:

Loen Skylift is 🤩👍🏻 

 

 

we took the back way up last visit😅 el-cheapo me didn’t want to pay for the round trip gondola🤣🤣🤣

Let’s just say, it’s not a great idea to be afraid of heights😜

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But if you like adventure, The Via Ferrata Loen is a perfect thing to climb🤩😎😁

I’m in😎😁

Glad I have the skylift round trip!!😜😜.

 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

So here is the revised itinerary:

 

 

 

Molde was originally Tuesday with a sea day Wednesday.

 

Supposedly due to lock schedules and other water related issues.

 

So, a little more time at sea and overnight in Amsterdam. We can get off in Amsterdam at 4pm on Wednesday if you want to spend some time in the city. 
 

mac_tlc

Edited June 25, 2023 by mac_tlc

[travelling8]

3 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

Loen Skylift is 🤩👍🏻 

 

 

we took the back way up last visit😅 el-cheapo me didn’t want to pay for the round trip gondola🤣🤣🤣

Let’s just say, it’s not a great idea to be afraid of heights😜

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But if you like adventure, The Via Ferrata Loen is a perfect thing to climb🤩😎😁

I’m in😎😁

Wow! How long did that take?

[mac_tlc]

We spent a little while exploring the town after our train ride. It’s a small area, but we did have lunch at the restaurant.

 

 

 

After lunch we puttered around the show and found the beer garden!

 

 

 

On a day like we had it was great to just grab a table outside in the shade and enjoy a beer flight or two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just look at that temperature!

 

 

Edited June 26, 2023 by mac_tlc