Day 11 - Saturday June 21st

The ship rolled and pitched a lot last night and we could hear the elevator counterweights banging in their shafts.   We sailed into the port city of Tromso, the 7^th largest city in Norway and referred to as the Arctic capital of Norway, arriving at the dock about 8:30am.

  

Arrival in Tromso

Today was the first day of summer and the high temperature forecast is 41 F, 5 C.  It is very rainy this morning.   We did not plan any shore excursions, as they were mostly museums and galleries that is not our style.  Instead of getting off the boat, we read, played cribbage, napped and generally did nothing except wait for the mealtime to start.  It stopped raining about lunchtime but was cloudy and cold the rest of the afternoon. 

  

The tour/excursion director, Sonja,  had a presentation about our next port of call in the afternoon, which we attended, to get an idea about the excursion to the North Cape.   We have an early bus departure tomorrow.  She also provided info about, Bamse, a huge 196 pound St. Bernard dog who lived during the 2nd World War.

Bamse was owned by Captain Hafto of the Norwegian Navy, and went to sea with him on a minesweeper during the war. He achieved legendary status due to the many tales of his adventures, courage and kindness he spread. Bamse became the global mascot for the Royal Norwegian Forces and a symbol of freedom and inspiration for Allied troops throughout Europe. More on this in tomorrow's day blog.

Even though we spent most of our day in the library room, Robert and Mike did visit the cruise ship gift shop today and purchase heavy jackets with a liner and hood since our heavy jackets are still in our luggage somewhere in the US.   As we approach the North Cape, the weather forecast is to be cold and rainy.

Day 10 - Friday June 20th – Day at Sea

Today is a day at sea on the way to our next port of Tromso; today is the last day of spring and at breakfast, the temperature was 39 F. 

But before I blog about our day at sea, I have a current update of what is going now in our world before I get back to our cruise.  So today is Tue. 7/20 and this morning we were back to our regular routine walking three mornings a week and doing yogilates three mornings.  And this morning we decided to walk.  Our route is our usual out the driveway and down the dirt road about one mile each way, takes about 40 min. total.   On our way back after turning around to head home, we pass a house with some new folks who have moved in and we had seen a dog, brown bulldog/boxer mix there before.  This morning as we passed, two dogs ran out toward us and the owner is standing in the yard.  As the dogs charge across the yard, he yells they are sweet.  Sweet my ass, the two dogs kept coming hitting our dog and knocking her off the road and wrestling her to the ground.  Robert and I jumped in kicking the dogs and trying to pull them off our dog, Jenny.  The owner ran over also jumping in and the dogs finally got separated.  The owner was very apologetic but we were both furious.  I think I said some bad stuff. 

We checked Jenny out and did not see any major damage.  Robert had blood on one thumb but we did not see any blood from Jenny.  One of the dogs had her by the neck but she was saved by thick fur and her collar.  We walked the rest of the way home, the three of us, stressed and hoping the rest of the day was going to be better.  I gave Jenny an extra pain pill.  (She gets half dose daily for hips and shoulder.)  She calmed down and rested while Robert showered.  After he went to work, I checked her out some more and found that she had a gash on her and part of left ear split and left elbow scratched, both sources of the blood. 

We decided that we would call the sheriff and report the incident.  When Robert got home, he told me he called sheriff but did not want to press charges so the incident was only reported to the health department and he called the owner of the house.  We know her and she was very upset about her new renters.  Robert also called the owner as well and several neighbors to alert them to be careful.  So the drama played out and at least the dogs are now not going to be free and will be in pens.  For a while, we will take a different route for our morning walks.

Now back to the cruise:    Day 10 - Friday June 20^th – Day at Sea

We read mostly and socialized.  While sitting in the enclosed pool area we crossed the Arctic Circle at 10:30 AM.  Now we are in the land of the midnight sun and hoping the weather gets better.

 

For cocktail hour, we went to the Crow’s nest in the bow of the cruise ship where we can watch us travel through the North Sea.  Robert noticed a couple who appeared to be deaf and he had to go over and introduce himself. They were British so the signing communication was hard for all three of them.  British sign language, which has a two handed alphabet, is different than US sign language, which has a one handed alphabet and is based upon French language structure…noun first and then describe.  

Dinner was formal and again were given jackets by the maître d’.  We were hoping there would be lobster tail on the menu since it was formal night, but alas, there was not.  However, we were told there would be lobster tail the last formal night. 

Mike, Robert, Michael, and Chuck

The day had some sunny intervals, but was generally overcast with intermittent rain showers; the temperature rose to a high of 41 F.  It was still a very good day at sea as we sail further into the Arctic Circle!

Day 9 - Thursday June 19th

Today, July 20th, we returned from camping at House Creek Campground which is only about 30 minutes away from home.  It was our annual camp out with Four Corners Regional Campout group.  It was our first outing with our new camper and it worked great.   (We traded our RV for 24' pull behind trailer.)  So the blog was on hiatus for a couple of days.   



Funny story about our camping outing, well not really funny, kind of sad in a way.  I took day off last Thur. and loaded camper and headed to camp site.  Robert came up after work.  On Fri. I went back and met him at the house so we would only have one car at the camp site. We had our dog, Jenny with us and we were going to leave our cats, Shadow and Midnight alone for a couple days.

However, on Sat. we decided to go back to house to shower as we were running low on water in the camper.  This being our first outing, we were figuring out how it was going to work and now we know we need to carry more water for a 3 night outing.  Anyway, we go home Sat. afternoon, take naps, and shower.  While Robert was showering I let our cats out on the deck and put up the gate to the stairs to keep them on the deck.  After Robert got out of the shower, Shadow was ready to come back in but Midnight wanted to chill on the deck.  So I thought, I will put her back in before we leave.  We left the house about 4:30 to make it back to camp for cocktails and BBQ for the group.  When we came back home on Sun. and backed up to our house, I could hear a cat crying and realized I had left Midnight out when we left on Sat.  She had no water or food or cat box.  She was OK but I was distressed that I did not remember to put her back in the house.   

Day 9 - Thur. 6/19/14 - Back to our cruise:
This morning we sailed in through Trondheimsfjord, to our next port (Trondheim, Norway) arriving at the dock about 8am.   Trondheim is Norway's third largest city and at one time was the capital of Norway.  It is the most northerly cruise port in the fjord region.  Unlike the more southerly fjords we had seen, the Trondheim fjord does not have towering cliffs. Rather, it is an area of rolling hills covered in forests.  The city can trace its origins back to 997 when it was founded by Viking King Olav Tryggvason. In 1070, construction of the Nidaros Cathedral began on the site of the grave of Norway's patron saint St. Olaf and it is the world's most northernmost cathedral.

When we got into port, we did not pull up and dock but instead anchored in the harbor.  This meant that if we were going to depart we would be taking the tenders to shore.  The day was overcast and misting rain and lots of churn in harbor water. 

The fjord is an inlet of the Norwegian Sea and 81 mi. long. It is located in the west central part of the country. The main part of Trondheimsfjord is ice free all year.  Several of the best salmon rivers in Norway empty into Trondheimsfjord. 


We had not purchased a shore excursion for this port so since the weather was so yucky,  we decided to just hang out on ship today.  However, later in the morning,  Chuck decided he would be brave and took the tender to shore to shop for gift trinkets.  We read and worked on a puzzle in the library.  Chuck returned in time for lunch and said he did find an interesting old church.  Chuck and Michael played cribbage in the afternoon and Robert and I read some more and visited with other folks who had decided to stay on board today which was a fair number of folks.  

After dinner, we all went to the theater for the evening performance, “Rock Legends" which was the cruise ship dancers and four very good singers, two guys and two girls.   The pairings when they did duo numbers was excellent. 

When we return to our rooms each evening, our room stewards have turned down our beds.  They leave chocolate and towel art.  The elephant was one of the best ones.  

Tomorrow we cross the Arctic Circle when the sun will not set on us for 5 days as we are at peak of summer solstice.  The midnight sun lasts longer for people above the Arctic Circle, May 14 to July 27.  Sunrise today was at 3:13 AM and sunset was at 11:56 PM.

Day 8 - Wednesday June 18th

This morning we sailed into our next port of call, docking about 8am in Alesund, the fishing capital of Norway.  The weather does not look promising today with forecast of rain and it is already overcast.  Even so the fjords are beautiful.

 

As we left the pier, we got on our shore excursion bus for city tour.  It is 48 F so good to be out of the cold and slight mist in the air and overcast.  

 

Our first stop was an old stone church with neat very old headstones. It was originally from the Middle Ages

probably built around 1250. In 1904 the church was set on fire by an assailant who police report is referred to as "deranged".  

The new church was built within the medieval walls and in the old style, with rich wooden carvings.

Adjacent to the church we then walked through a museum of old houses dating from 1550 to 1850 some of which were relocated from other parts of Norway.  The 19th century houses looked like the ones you see in pioneer villages in the States.  Notice the sod growing on the roof's; this is the way the houses were back then also.

One of the most interesting small buildings was a changing room for farmers who rowed along the fjords from their farms to church.  When they got to church, anchored at shore next to the one room changing  houses, they could then don fresh day clothes before entering the church.

The next stop was a viewpoint, Mount Aksia, for a view of the city and our cruise ship in the port.  The rain started to get heavy so we high tailed it back to the bus.  There were some bunkers at the viewpoint built by the Germans in World War II when they invaded Norway.

 

On our return drive back to the ship, we traveled through the center
 of town along the water's edge.  The town was re-built after a fire in 1904.  The buildings were Art Nouveau style with a variety of interesting facades.  The bus tour guide stated that the buildings in the area were one of the very few Art Nouveau towns left in the world.   

After returning to the ship, we had lunch and naps.  We wanted to catch up on email so we went ashore again to the library just across the street from the pier to take advantage of the free Wi-Fi and internet service.  The ship internet is not very reliable and you have to pay for it, therefore, we try to find the free spots when we are in port.  We also saw a multi-level mall next door to the library so we strolled in and Robert bought a small collapsible suitcase for all of our new clothes. 

View from cruise ship deck of Alesund Harbor

After drinks in the Crow’s Nest, we went to dinner.  Chuck and Michael went to hear David Scofield, a young English pianist.  They left after the second number because he played with a recorded background of a full orchestra. The entertainment on the ship is usually good but there is that occasional poor one.

Sunrise was at 3:36 and sunset at 11:30 so we are still getting about 4 hours of “night”.   Overall, it was a good day.  Yesterday was our halfway point on our cruise.  We have "boat bloat" or big bellies from all the good food.  We will definitely gain a few pounds before this is all over.