Oslo

The train ride between Bergen and Oslo lived up to its reputation of being especially beautiful, but unfortunately it wasn’t highly photographable. The train tracks along the fjords gave stunning views but if you blinked you might miss them as the train went through tunnels or into wooden snow-protection “shelters”. By the time M had […]

Southbound

The weather wasn’t as good on our southbound trip from Kirkenes back to Bergen. But it was definitely what we now call “Norway weather” – changing every couple of minutes. Both of our southbound excursions were cancelled, one due to high winds, one due to needing to refuel unexpectedly (presumably also due to high winds […]

Ships Everywhere

This post is for my naval architect friends! I suppose I should have realized that there would be a lot of boats and ships along the coast of Norway, but I never expected as many interesting ones as we’ve seen, from LNG tankers to very short and tall fishing boats. We’re sailing on the Havila […]

Far North

The scenery continues to be spectacular as we go north. We’re past the time of the midnight sun, but the sky is still light at 11 pm: We did an e-bike tour in Tromsø, the “Paris of the North.” According to the book “Exploring the Norwegian Coast,” that’s “not because the people are arrogant, or […]

Mostly Asea

We boarded the Havila Castor a week ago in Bergen. She looks just like her sister ship, Havila Capella, which we passed a few days later: The Havila ships are mail boats, delivering mail and packages all along the coast. We’ve booked a 12-day roundtrip, but some people use it to travel shorter distances. They […]

66°33′44″ N

We’re above the Arctic Circle! I’m behind on the blog – it’s tough to tear myself away from the scenery to work on it, and the internet is quite slow on the ship. I’ll go back to catch up, but right now I’m super excited to be in the Arctic with fabulous scenery. Pictures never […]

Bergen

On Saturday, we set foot in Norway for the first time. We were in the southwestern town of Bergen, in preparation for heading out on a cruise north along the coast. So, apparently, were lots of other people – I never expected so many other tourists! The old town Bryggen area along the harbor was […]