May 14th to 17th.

Waiting to board, we walked to a local pub who invited us to go to the pizzeria next door and bring it back to eat. Very cute local pub and excellent pizza.

We watch the boat leave the harbour and settle in for our first meal at our nice table by the windows.

Chuck and I are very happy with our upgraded suite with lots of room and a beautiful view at the from of the boat.

In the evening, I spot the moon with the sun setting. Lovely!

On day 2 of the cruise we dock in Ålesund. Chuck and I do not have an excursion booked so we decide to climb the 433 steps to Mount Aksla first thing coming off the boat.

It is very crowded so we line up to climb the stairs and have lots of time to glance up and see the beautiful scenery.

There we walk to a few viewpoints to look inland to the fjords and mountains and out at sea to the multiple islands surrounding it. We can spot some of the bridges that make the famous Atlantic road which we will ride when we return south on the boat.

We then walk down a trail to the city centre and meander near the main river to find a cute restaurant / bar set up in a docked boat. We watch huge a sailboat come in and dock seamlessly in a very small spot.

The plank of sardines and olive was succulent.

We spend time in the Art Nouveau museum and I am reminded of my mom as I observed many many small spoons artfully sculpted and painted. Lovely. In previous years, this would have been a place where I would have FaceTimed her to show her around….

The museum is set in an old apothecary that was operational for several generations before being converted into a museum.

We then walk around the beautiful town with all the art nouveau buildings – like every town so far, it experiences major fires and was rebuilt.

We find a lovely pizzerias, operated by an Italian who emigrated here and I am introduced to my first of many Lemoncello spritz. Move over aperol spritz! Yum !

We wrap up our visit with two goat ice cream cones from a local farm. Very yummy!

Off we sail again to our next port tomorrow.

DAY 3 – we arrive at Tromdhein. Dominique chooses a bike tour while chuck and I go on a city walk to be able to enter the beautiful cathedral.

The city like all others is built around a river – river NID here. This was a major port both during the Viking era and after.

Again lovely colourful wooden houses are built on pillory.

We hear about the history of the town and make our way to the large cathedral – Nidaros, which was started by the catholic archbishop that was here in the 15th century as they were rich because of the dime that they collected, until 1531 when the reformation changed the religion from catholic to Lutheran. Norway has been a Protestant Lutheran country ever since. It took 200 years to build this cathedral.

It is beautiful inside, even more for me because it is not adorned with all the gold you see in Catholic Churches.

Lovely and very large organ.

Gorgeous stained glasses and a sanctuary to the Sami.

We then walk pass the kissing bridge which used to open before, over the river Nid.

Tonight we begin the celebration for Dominique’s 60th tomorrow!

We witness a beautiful sunset in the evening as we continue sailing up north.

Day 4 – May 17th – Norway Day and Dominique’s 60th!

We begin the day watching a celebration for Norway Day, flags were raised, parades were done and fanfare were playing. They are proud Norwegian!!

Chuck partook in the ceremony which consisted of being splashed with sold water and ice followed by a shot of aquavit!

They then serve us a traditional cake which resembles my mom’s d’amour « torte »

I am the first to give Dominique her birthday « bisou »

We make our first stop of the day in Bodo. Everywhere we look, we see Norwegian wearing their traditional Bhuda which are beautiful dressed with the Color representing the region that they come from.

Very strange tradition her where high school graduates wear various colors of overall pants representing their speciality of schools, walking around causing havoc.

We find a nice terrace by the water to have an aperol spritz to celebrate Dominique’s BD again.

The evening is our Meet the Viking excursion.

The longhouse stands on the ground where the largest Vikings longhouse was discovered.

The meal was great and accompanied with Mead. We were entertained with old music, songs and legends and danced around the fire to end the night. It was great!

We leave the small city of Svolvaer in Lofoten to a fabulous sunset!

At midnight, the boat sails passed the entrance of the small and narrow Trollfjord, lovely once again.

And we sail along a narrow passage, Dominique and I stay up until 1AM and despite the fact that the sunset was supposed to be at 11:44PM and sunrise at 2:15AM, it is never quite dark.

Off to sleep to prepare for the next day in the arctic circle!