Cruising Day 3!

06-05: We are in Trondheim today. None of the tours looked interesting so, we took a walk into town. Leiv Eiriksson greeted us in the form of a statue. We hoped we would find the town. We never did find the town! We were in a harbor area and it seemed to be mostly office buildings. After we got back, I talked to a couple other ladies and they walked on and never found town either. The one person who said they did find town didn't find much there, a cathedral and something else that I don't remember. Anyway, it was a nice walk. And we have enjoyed the scenery ever since then. Watching the change of the mountains from high peaks and shale-like places to rounded places like the Dolomites. There are a lot of wind machines, or windmills. We thought we would be out into the open sea by now. However, just when we think we are headed there, there is another set of mountains. We played cards most of the afternoon sitting by a huge window for fantastic views. We had an early dinner. We skipped lunch because we ate a big breakfast. My dinner was delicious, Stuart had the veal and it was not very good. It seems a lot of the food is not hot when served. Some is even room temperature. It must be the Norway style. The fish dishes I have had, have been very good. It was another early night for us. We seem exhausted right after dinner!

Cruising Day 2!

06-04: We got up early enough to have breakfast. Our day was spent mostly up the Geiranger Fjord. It was absolutely beautiful with many lovely sights and waterfalls. There are a lot of remote homes and you just wonder how they survive there. Is there electricity? Is there drinking water? Where do you get groceries? We have a meeting every night around six on deck 8 with information. I think I will try to find out some of the answers there. My favorite site of the day was the Seven Sisters Waterfall. We found a great seat to watch the scenery go by as we played 5 Crowns. Meals were fine. The beef they serve is not tender at all, and all is cooked to medium temperature, which doesn’t help. Food is not served very hot either. Fish soup and the fish were both tasty. It is 57-60F but comfortable with sunshine most of the day. A few clouds and a sprinkles, but not much. We are still tired from the time change – 9 hours ahead of “home” time – so bed early again tonight. 

Boarding Day 1 for Havila

06-03: I really didn’t want to get out of bed today! Stuart was up, showered, and ready before I even got up. We had a nice breakfast and then back to our room to ready our suitcase for the next lap of the journey. We will leave the suitcases at the hotel while we explore the area around the hotel and before we head to the Havila ship for our voyage up north. It is a fantastic view from our hotel room. This area is called Bryggen Historical area right near the harbor. 

We had more than a one hour wait standing in line to get on board, that was brutal. The cabins are not ready yet. We had a glass of wine and waited in the cafe until they were ready. We are very tired still adjusting to the time change. Dinner was nice and we chatted with a couple of sisters from Australia and New Zealand. After dinner, we unpacked only what we needed to go to bed. And I think it was only 8:30p. It was an exhausting day, but I saw a lot of new things. Stuart has been here before.

We had more than a one hour wait standing in line to get on board, that was brutal. The cabins are not ready yet. We had a glass of wine and waited in the cafe until they were ready. We are very tired still adjusting to the time change. Dinner was nice and we chatted with a couple of sisters from Australia and New Zealand. After dinner, we unpacked only what we needed to go to bed. And I think it was only 8:30p. It was an exhausting day, but I saw a lot of new things. Stuart has been here before.

On Our Way! Arrival!

06-01: All set to go! Off to the airport at 7:45a for our 9a flight to Denver. We will fly Fresno-Denver-Frankfurt-Bergen. Frankfurt is my least favorite airport in the world (so far) so I hope that goes well. No direct flights but Stuart splurged and bought us 1^st class seats. We went to the United lounge in Denver for our 2-hour layover there, which turned out to be 5-6 hours! There was a hail storm and they blamed it on that for one, but the original plane we had developed a fuel leak and they had to get another plane. Eventually, we left but of course arrived in Frankfurt too late for our connecting flight. Thankfully, United automatically booked us on a later flight and we didn’t need to do anything but show up. The flight itself was amazing in the Polaris are. So much food and attention. We had blankets, pillows, toiletry bag, and so much room! Thank you Stuart for the amazing seats. Of course, this was our dinner, which neither of us could finish! Dessert cart followed this meal as well. 

06-02: In the past my LEAST favorite airport in the world has been Frankfurt. Normally, when landing there you are bussed from the tarmac to the terminal. This time we had an actual gate in the terminal. Not knowing how far we had to go, I had a wheelchair. They were ready and waiting for us. We zoomed through passport control and then on to the Lufthansa lounge for our wait. It was a very nice lounge, I fell asleep at the table, just like school with my head laying down on the table. Yes, we are tired. Finally, it was time to go and they came to our table to let us know my ride was there waiting! We both rode in a cart this time and then I transferred to a wheelchair. We awaited our turn to board and then it was a short flight to Bergen. We got an Uber to take us to the Magic Kloverhuset Harbour Hotel. We arrived there just before midnight. It was a long 30-hour day since we left home, but it was as enjoyable as it could be considering the delays. It just took seconds to fall asleep! This isn't a great photo but it looked like a Christmas Village down there with all the lights.