Norway

In her quest for unusual trips that might also be bargains, Adele found a Norwegian cruise called the “hurtigruten.”  Technically, it is not a cruise, but a fleet of coastal ferries that go from Bergen in the south to Kirkenes in the north.  The ferries make 53 stops in the 13-day round trip out of Bergen.  For lots of good reasons, we thought this would be a good trip for us, and it was.

We arrived in Bergen on May 10th and found our way to the Admiral Hotel.  Although not luxurious, our room was spacious and comfortable with a million-dollar view of the harbor.  We spent the next two days wandering around Bergen and sampling the local food and sights.  The real shock was how expensive Norway is.  A cup of cocoa ran about five dollars and a coke was about $3.50.  Those of you who know Adele will understand how we spent a lot of time looking for economical eats.  Those of you who know her really well will realize that we were successful and got some nice meals at high, but not astronomical prices.

After the two days, we boarded the MV Polarlys (Northern Lights to those of you who do not speak Norwegian).  Our first moments were not so great.  In a fit of economy, we had booked an interior cabin.  As soon as we walked in, we knew that it was not for us!  Although spacious, it was dark and claustrophobic.  We immediately went to the front desk and told them of our problem.  The very nice lady who talked to us was very, very nice and moved us to an outside cabin at no extra charge.  The new cabin was delightful and made all the difference in our trip.  (Added note – the one drawback of the generous treatment we received is the fact that Adele is now firmly convinced that we will somewhere, somehow, again receive equally generous treatment.  It hasn’t happened, but she still keeps trying!)  With that settled, we relaxed as the ship left for the north.

The Polarlys is one of a fleet of ships designed to service the many small villages along the Norwegian coast.  Although a good-size ship (390 feet long by 62 feet wide) it is highly maneuverable.  It carries everything from cars to mail and groceries.  Although Norway’s new highways have somewhat replaced it, it is still a very popular way to get from one location to another along the coast.  One thing that really impressed me was how the ship could dock (by itself), load & unload freight and passengers, and be heading back to sea within 30 minutes!  Of course, the downside of that was that we did not get to go ashore at some towns.

There were few Americans on the boat, a number of Brits, and lots of Norwegians.  It turned out that May 17th is Norway’s Independence Day.  Many people were sailing to visit relatives in other towns.  One of the trip highlights occurred on the 17th.  The town where we docked was holding a parade and scheduled it around our arrival.  We marched through the town waving little Norwegian flags.

Of course, no trip to Norway is complete without fjords!  Many villages are situated at the head of a fjord, so we often sailed into and out of them.  The fjords are extremely narrow – we often felt we could almost touch the sides!  At the head of one of them, the captain spun his ship around and around in its own length!  He said it was so we could take pictures, but I think he has just showing off!

The northernmost point of our voyage was Nordkapp – the northernmost point of Europe.  It was definitely winter when we got there – lots of snow and very cold.  However, I did get to see the midnight sun and have pictures to prove it.

The ship returned us to Bergen after the 13-day trip.  This time we had plenty of opportunity to tour and see the sights.  Bergen is quite old and has many historic features that we enjoyed.  Since our hotel was in the heart of Bryggen (the old name for Bergen) we did a lot of walking around, but took a couple of tours, also.