Norway 11 -- Easter in Bergen

Easter is a big deal.  I'm not talking about great religious ceremonies with sunrise services and special breakfast at church, but rather the serious secular celebrations.  This means decorating the house with eggs everywhere, candies in hollow paper mache eggs (your parents fill them), and heading out of town to the cottage in the mountains.  Needless to add, that means that almost everything in town is closed, starting from Good Friday, most of Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Tourists be advised.

We took a transfer on Saturday from the boat to the hotel which is across the street from the train station and very centrally located.  The Zander K is a modern hotel with a number of the bare concrete elements found in North American design 30 to 40 years ago.  Minimalism extends to storage space -- not a single drawer or closet.

We have been getting suppers to have in our room and eating out for lunch.  You may have heard that Norway is expensive -- that is most certainly true.  Burger and fries with a drink will set you back about 45 to 50$CDN.  Finding grocery stores that are open on the holiday -- a challenge, and then you have to stare mostly at empty shelves.

Sunday we stopped in at the Domkirke and listened as the 7 person choir practised before the service.  Sound (including the organ) was great.

Then it was on to the Floyen funicular with a spectacular view of the city.  This is an outdoor recreation area also and many families were coming for the day, skis in tow.

We spent all afternoon in art galleries.  In Bergen these are KODE 1, 2, 3, and 4.  The have everything from old masters, to Norwegian icons such as Munch and Dahl, to a modern installation involving 4 boats and 350 km of red yarn  (not our favourite).  There is a fabulous silver collection and a very impressive room from the Singer mansion.

Monday, I took the light rail to view the Fantoft stave church.  There aren't many of them left.
In the afternoon, we spent a few hours at the Maritime Museum -- a fabulous exhibit.

That brings us to today, Tuesday.  We caught the bus to take us to the train at Voss.  Track repairs.  Then it was onto the train that goes up over the mountains -- up to 1222m.  It was a snowstorm up there.  I can't imagine living in a place that bleak.

And now here we are at the Oslo airport.  Flight home is tomorrow afternoon.

Norway 10 -- end of the boat trip

The pleasure craft became more frequent, the snow more remote on the mountain tops, the houses on the shorelines more numerous and we made our way southward. 

There was a farewell party with champagne, group picture and folk dancing on the outdoor deck at the back of 7.  Last breakfast, last lunch, last salmon.  We chatted again with some Germans we met earlier on the trip and have actually exchanged email addresses.  Last kms around the deck.

Everything comes to an end and usually there are lineups involved.  Also here, but luggage was collected and we were bussed to our hotel in the city centre just across from the train station which we will need on Tuesday morning.

Virtually nothing is open in Bergen (or anywhere else in Norway) this weekend.  Even with google, it took 4 tries to find an open supermarket to get a few groceries for supper.  We have a Bergen Card which will get us into a lot of places free or highly discounted.  We will just need to see what tomorrow brings.

Norway 9 -- Trondheim again

So this time we arrived in Trondheim again early in the morning, but we had a scheduled city tour by bus and then a visit to the Nidaros Cathedral.  We actually drove to the area we had mistakenly walked last week -- there is a fortress there stemming from the time when Norway was defending itself from those warring Swedes.  The city was like a ghost town, it being the Easter holiday and almost everyone goes out of town to their cabin in the mountains.  One might find a cafe open but all the shops and even the grocery stores were all shut up tight.

Then we stopped at the cathedral.  It is an incredibly imposing stone structure in the gothic style constructed of soapstone.  It had spectacular stained glass windows and stone carvings.  These were first done by European masons as Norway had had no history of stone work when the church was started.   (No inside pictures allowed.) But the most important feature of the building is a magnificent Wagner organ, which is actually the first of two organ in the church -- total of 11,000 pipes.  Unfortunately, there was no music during the short time of our visit. That would be something worthy of a trip back to Trondheim.

The scenery has changed remarkably.  The mountains are more rounded, there is no snow at the lower levels and there are now trees again on many of the slopes.  Population density has increased and there are many more farms and flat places along the shore.  There is now an abundance of small watercrafts with marinas in most centres.

On a 'thank goodness' note, the captain spoke last evening and told us that up in the north where we were just a few days ago, storms have continued and snowfall is so great that most of the roads are closed, avalanche threats are everywhere and many of the small ports are closed.  I think I am glad to be on the southward journey.

Norway 8 -- Bronnoysund

Yes, today we have a very informative walk about in the town of Bronnysund which prides itself as being the middle of Norway.  There was a lovely Lutheran Church with 2 pipe organs, the registry office for anything official in all of Norway, and a nice little shop to sample elk, fish chips and chocolate with cloudberries.  So, today I talk about food.

We have eaten fabulously on this cruise.  Hurtigruten prides itself at sourcing the local specialities, right down to the sea salt with birch flavouring.  The fish is brought aboard fresh each day, they bake their own bread and cakes, they do vegetables in so many innovative ways -- hot and cold, their cheeses are superb, they do lovely mousses and have berries in every form.  I have had cod ("in cod we trust") and salmon (baked, poached, grilled, cured, smoked, pate, hot, cold, in salad, etc) and now can truly appreciate good fish.  We have been absolutely delighted by the treatment of beef and ox.  Lamb has been served dried and in a cured sausage.  There is always a vegetarian dish, usually well spiced in Indian, or Indonesian fashion.  They make their own crisp bread which is seeds and grains just barely held together.

At breakfast I have sampled 8 different jams/preserves.  Cloudberry, rhubarb, and raspberry are my favourites.  They have less sugar in their jams than is normal for North America and therefore a better acid balance.

This evening we had the gala 125th anniversary dinner of 5 courses -- cured meats, pea soup, cod, cheese, and  Norwegian Omelette (baked alaska).  Superb!  And for those of you wondering, Ian is feeling much better and was able to enjoy the feast.

And finally, we had, today, after we passed back over the Arctic Circle, the Norwegian product which children all over the world hated every morning -- cod liver oil.  But, there was a cool souvenir spoon!

Norway 7 -- Hammerfest

There seems to be a braggin battle between Hammerfest and Honnigsvag at to which is actually the most northern settlement.  I think it hinges on the term settlement or city or town.  In any case, we have been hanging around as north as it gets.  The scenery is incredibly stark, reminiscent of the Group of Seven paintings -- especially Lawren Harris.  The contrast of light and dark is amazing.

So in Hammerfest, there is a Royal and Ancient (1963) Polar Bear Society.  The object of this group is to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing and maintain the museum to inform future generations.  For a one time fee of 200 NOK (about $37CDN) you can become a member for life and are invited to the annual membership meeting on the 3rd Sunday in January always held in Hammerfest.  It seemed a more worthwhile remembrance than a polar bear stuffie.

We sailed on, trying to catch up on time.  We were slow due to the storm the night before and battling the waves.  Also, the big Easter Holiday weekend is coming up and last evening in one port we were unloading 25 cars and bringing on 12 more as people head to their holiday destinations.  I like that this shipping line is functional for the locals as well as a pleasure for the tourists.

And it is becoming more of a pleasure for Ian again.  Now that we have the western offshore islands to protect us, the water is much calmer which means he no longer needs the motion sickness meds and therefore his tummy is much happier also.

We finished the night (or started the morning) with a midnight stop in Tromso where we boarded buses, drove over the bridge and attended a midnight concert at the Arctic cathedral.  It is an architecturally beautiful building -- very modern and open in its design, et with excellent warm and full acoustics.  The three musicians -- a baritone, a cellist and a organist/pianist -- delighted us with a selection of modern and classical pieces in the venue.  It was certainly worth staying up to attend.

This morning we continue west and south.  We now have the Lofoten islands protecting us on the west.  We just passed through an area where a channel had been dredged in 1922 to permit ships an inside passage through this area.  The natural depth is only 2 - 3 metres, but our ship draws 5.5.  Thankfully the channel, marked by a series of buoys, is maintained at 7 metres.

This space up on deck 7 which is officially Multe -- the bakery, is a wonderful area where one can get a coffee and purchase baked goods.  But it is also the play area.  Kids bring their own toys -- like the kids playing Minecraft lego-- or borrow some of the games, puzzles, or toys available.  There is usually at least one puzzle on the go on the table which conveniently has a small cove molding around the edge.  Anyone is welcome to come and join at any time.  It is also my favourite area to work on the cross stitch.  The light during the day is very good and the backdrop wonderful as I see the mountains and town sail past.  Conveniently located to the viewing area at the back of deck 7, I have gone out to the heated area to wait for a particular point of interest. 

Ah, it is snowing again here.  The weather is very localized and often it is sunny out one window and snowing and dark out the other side.  A very different and interesting landscape.

Norway 6 -- Kirkenes

Kirkenes, the final frontier. 

Not only is it the most eastern portion of Norway, it is the part that snuggles up to Russia and that certainly historically and even to the present, brings a unique situation.

Historically, the Pomorade trade (trade with the Pomors -- Russians from around the White Sea) brought prosperity to the north which was usually isolated from the rest of Norway.  The Russians were willing to take any amount of fish, even in less than perfect condition, and readily trade cheap flour and other essentials which were very expensive and infrequent, from the south.

Today, Kirkenes is still very connected to Russia -- the border is 17 km away.  This is still a major shopping location, now for the Russians to come and get cheap commercial goods and for the Norwegians to go across the border for cheap gas.  Signs in town are often in both languages.  There is a monument to the Russian soldier.  Kirkenes is another one of those northern towns bombed by the Germans in WWII due to its strategic position and an iron mine. 

It is not affected by the Gulf Stream as is the rest of the coast we have travelled.  This means that even now, there is ice in the fjord and we were an ice breaker in order to come into the harbour.  Everywhere there is at least a metre of snow and so little traffic on the roads that everything seem pristine white.

We were also in open sea most of the time. The storm last night had 70 km winds and 8 m swells.  The ship shudders as we drop from crest to trough.  Poor Ian is not a happy seafarer.

The waves also mean that we are now about 2 hr. behind schedule.  We go through snow squalls where you can't even see the water from the windows, and then a few minutes later, there will be bright sunshine on the white mountains.  A very imposing landscape.

Norway 5 -- Nordkapp

What do you expect when you go toward the pole?  Snow storm, of course.  In fact the storm was so bad it caused avalanches and the road to North Cape was closed causing the excursion which was to go there by bus, to be cancelled.  I had not planned on doing this, so it was not such a disappointment.  Instead, our expedition team took us on a walk of the town of Honnigsvag.  It was a small town, all destroyed during WWII except for the church.  It was in that building that the first people to resettle the town stayed while they rebuilt.  The architecture is simple and very efficient without ornamentation.  Ian tells me that this is what our northern towns look like also.

Speaking of Ian.  He is seasick -- not to the point of throwing up over the side (I took along both pills and some patches), but queasy enough to miss meals and just lie in bed.  It is amazing to see how the ship rocks and heaves when the waves don't seem very big at all.  Today we spent a good deal of time in the open sea -- going around the top of the country, so the people with the delicate constitutions found it a difficult day.

Today's lecture was on ship building here in Norway -- past to present and what is coming next.  They are just finishing the first hybrid ship which will run on electric only when it goes into the arctic and the antarctic where they wish to minimize their footprint. 

There is a picture puzzle table upstairs and anyone who wishes, sits down and puzzles a while.  There was a young German girl there today.  Also, whenever I pull out the heirloom, someone shows up to comment.  They love it and admire the dedication.  Nice people with which to interact.  But there are also the people who push in front and don't line up.  Just like anywhere else in the world.