Ålesund, Norway 6_01_2016

Well, I had no idea how fantabulously freakin’ awesome today would be. We had a car rental reserved, and were the first guests off the ship this morning. We walked over to Budget, grabbed our car and went on the most amazing journey we’ve ever had as a travelling family. We drove to Andalsnes, Norway with beautiful fjords and villages along the way. We then headed south to Trollstigen (Troll Path, Norway)…OMG, this was the most majestic place I’ve visited. The mountains, waterfalls, greenery are indescribable. Only heaven might be more beautiful. Carmie and kids were just as impressed.

It was surprisingly easy to drive in Norway (at least everyone drives on the right). Our trip was timed perfectly to coincide with snow thaws and torrential flow in waterfalls, streams and rivers. I could carry on for paragraphs about how spectacular today was; however, it wouldn’t come close to describing the paramount experience we had. Our advice…go to Trollstigen…you won’t be disappointed and you will be inspired!!!

Carmie will beautify and add pictures to the blog when we return home and have good strong internet :-) 

Stavanger, Norway 5_31_2016

We set foot on Norwegian soil for the first time today. A very interesting tidbit was discovered by my family member, Øyvind, in Stavanger today…It was exactly one hundred years ago this month (May of 1916) that my Grandmother’s Father and Aunt set sail for the USA heading for North Dakota. How fortuitous that we are returning exactly a century later.

We got off the ship early and explored the city a bit (a free, strong WiFi signal at Starbucks was hard to resist). We then moved on the the Cathedral (built in 1125…Wow!! I talked to our children about the fact that no building built in the USA stands intact in its entirety for five hundred years after the date of construction of the cathedral). The stone work on the exterior had a pagan feel, but also resembled the architecture of other cathedrals in Europe (Notre Dame, etc.). The interior was preserved in excellent condition. The alter and other epitaphs around the church were carved in the late 1600s…amazing!!! We took a ton of pictures and walked around the city for a while until time to meet my cousin, Øyvind. He took us on a fantabulous walking tour…we very much appreciated his hospitality and enjoyed meeting him so much. We journeyed up to Vaaland tower for some phenomenal views of the city.  Øyvind shared some Norwegian snacks with us. We walked back down toward the sea and stopped at the high school his wife, Tone, teaches at for restroom breaks…haha. She teaches math and physic. We very much enjoyed meeting her, and Haley enjoyed touring a Norwegian high school. When we made our way back down to the ship, we walked through Gamli Stavanger (“Old Stavanger”). It was so cozy and quaint. The streets were all cobblestone and the homes were beautiful, little, picturesque cottages. We have never seen a village so dainty and perfect! We said our goodbyes to Øyvind and boarded the ship for a fantastic dinner (except for Carmie, hers sucked) and a short journey to Ålesund. Many thanks to Øyvind and Tone for their hospitality and kindness. We very much enjoyed meeting them and have re-connected with family that we will forever appreciate!!

Sea Day on the Way to Stavanger 5_30_2016

We had a lazy day today. We have a Northern European Historian (Professor Emeritus from the US) on board. We attended two of his presentations today learning about the history and culture of the ports we’ll be visiting. We had an excellent formal dinner with Captain’s Gala preceding. The show in the theatre, “The Dream Goes On”, was fantastic. Stavanger tomorrow. We have plans to visit the cathedral and the old village in the morning. We are looking forward to meeting up with Oyvind in the afternoon.