June 8 & 9: Cruising through Geiranger on the Hurtigruten & Trondheim
While the thought of doing 12 days of
planned out cruising didn’t particularly appeal to us, doing a short stint on a
fancy and convenient boat did. The
Hurtigruten started off as a practical fleet of ships, going from port to port
to deliver passengers and goods. Over
time, roads were developed and it became less necessary, but now offers luxury
cruises up the Norwegian coast.
We woke up very early so that we could do
an early morning dash up Ålesund’s Steps to Fjellstua, the small mountain that
overlooks the town. 418 steps lead you
up to the pinnacle, where they’ll try to charge you 10NOK to get a picture from
the iconic viewing platform. We arrived
before the café and information center had opened, and took advantage if this
by jumping the fence.
Mist rising off the mountains in the distance
The steps to Fjellstua
The MS Trollfjord was waiting for us when
we arrived at the port. The huge red,
white and black cruise ship was bustling with people when we checked in. We were given a pair of printed plastic cards
to access facilities onboard and made our way to our tiny cabin. Quickly, I set off to explore the magical
boat. There were panoramic views from
the front of the boat, with long windows stretching from floor to ceiling. Paintings and photographs depicting the
Northern Lights adorned the walls. After
sleeping in the woods for a week, it was a welcome change.
It was the best weather day we’d had in
Norway so far, and made for a perfect day viewing the Geirangerfjord. One of a handful of UNESCO-listed fjords,
Geirangerfjord is often touted as Norway’s most exquisite and most visited
fjord. Riding the iconic Hurtigruten
past flowing waterfalls and between tight stretches of impossibly tall
mountains felt like a dream.
The Seven Sisters - the folktale of this seven-streamed waterfall tells of seven sisters who rejected the advances of a man who now perpetually drinks his sorrows while they dance down the mountain.
The bottle of the lonely man
We alternated between sitting in a cosy,
warmly lit room with large windows, and braving the wind on the top deck. As night approached and the crowds begun
retiring to bed or to the restaurant for late-night snacks, I took advantage of
the empty deck and climbed into one of the Jacuzzis. A pair of the bubbly pools sat outside on the
top deck and the steaming water was a nice contrast to the frosty air
outside.
I stayed in the Jacuzzi for almost three
hours (until I was kicked out because they were cleaned and covered at
midnight) after assuring numerous other tourists that I wasn’t cold in the
slightest. It was definitely surreal to
be cruising past snow-capped mountains on tiny islands in complete warmth. We were northerly enough that the sun refused
to set and I basked in perpetual sunlight.
The next morning we had arrived at Norway’s
old Viking capital, Trondheim. Despite
the cold and the wet, we ventured out into the old town for a few hours to
explore the streets and visit the famous cathedral, which is covered in ornate
Gothic carvings on one face.
I stumbled upon another Lush (typical),
spotted several Scottish pubs that made me miss Scotland, and plenty of
wonderfully old, decrepit buildings.
When we were planning our trip in Oslo, our AirBnB host advised us that
Trondheim was quite a busy little city, but that stopping off in Ålesund or
Bodø would be better. We had to agree.
Ålesund had some extra charm and a couple
of mountains rising up from the city, while Trondheim appeared to emphasise
plenty of delicious cafes. We were
extremely tempted to stop off at one of the cute eateries, but knew that – in
typical Norwegian fashion – they would be well out of our budget.
Several of the small islands we past had
equally small lighthouses perched atop them, which gave them a distinctly
submarine-like appearance. The first
couple that I spotted, I exclaimed that they were submarines, and Nicholas
grabbed the camera. It was only later,
as we passed them in abundance, we realised they were submarine-sized islands.
Despite the howling winds and cold rain, I
made another beeline for the Jacuzzi shortly after 9pm. This time Nicholas joined me, and we talked
of plans to move abroad, I complained about missing my cat, and we head inside
to rinse off just before 11pm, lightheaded from the warmth.
At midnight we were due to pass by an
iconic Norwegian mountain with a huge hole through its peak, formed by the last
ice age. Due to the thick rain and fog,
we could hardly see in front of us more than a few meters in any direction, so
we hurried back indoors. To celebrate passing this mountain (which I
assume is usually quite an affair), they served us up a local Toddy and sour
cream porridge, which didn’t taste much like porridge at all.
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