We arrived in this nice little port 90 minutes late due to headwinds and engine problems.  That was just as well, because the stores wouldn't have been open at the originally scheduled time anyway, and you-know-who would not have appreciated that.
It was a lovely day in Alesund.  We were sharing the port with the Queen Mary 2, so we expected to find everything overrun with Brits.  However, that was not a problem at all.  The town was nicely uncrowded and we walked around checking out the sights.  The town was compact and clean but (as we have found so far) somewhat lacking in character.  The buildings were mostly stone and stucco with few distinguishing architectural characteristics.
The shopping was good, though.  There were lots of souvenir stores, shoe stores, etc. to amuse Mrs. Brown.  The only thing we were unable to find was a grocery store.  It was probably just as well, because Norwegian prices are unbelievably high.  In fact we did not buy a single thing all day.

Alesund Photos