June 21, 2017

   We are docked at Ålesund, Norway, on this first day of summer.  The sky is overcast and a bit of drizzle is falling.  The temperature is 8 C with a faint wind.  The forecast is predicting a high of 12 C.

   The Crown Princess was the other ship in port today.  It is about the same size as the Koningsdam.

  After breakfast we went to the World Stage Theatre to collect our tour sticker for a three hour bus tour going to the Sunnmøre Open Air Folk Museum, the viewpoint at Mount Aksla and driving through the city center with its Art Nouveau style of buildings.  We were on our way by 8:15 a.m. giving us lots of free time in the afternoon to explore the city center and find some Wi-Fi to post to our blog.

   We are back in southern Norway, at the entrance to Geirangerfjord, which we visited last week.  Ålesund is located on the North Sea coast and is one of Norway’s largest harbours. It was founded in 1848 and has a strong fishing history, but archaeological evidence has found that people have inhabited the area for nearly 9,000 years. During the Viking era in the early AD 1000s, the market town of Borgund was established nearby and was protected by the Giske clan on a neighbouring island. It was a religious center between Bergen and Nidaros, having four marble clad churches. The Plague and Bergen’s Hanseatic League trade overtook the area’s trade and Borgund lost its influence as a trading center. After a disastrous 16 hour fire on January 23, 1904, which left thousands of people homeless, having destroyed 850 wooden buildings, only 230 houses were left standing.  There are plaques in the shape of a flame that show the starting point, in a margarine factory, and the place where the fire stopped.  Ålesund was rebuilt within four years.  Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany had spent parts of his summers in the Ålesund area. He sent emergency assistance to them within three days after the fire. Annually on the 23rd January, at quarter past two in the morning, town fire enthusiasts gather to follow the fire’s footsteps through the town.  The rebuilding created many needed jobs for Norwegian craftsmen and architects. The architecture of that time was Art Nouveau.  Ålesund is a member of a European network of Art Nouveau cities, including among others Glasgow, Barcelona and Vienna. 

  Our first stop was Sunnmøre Open Air Folk Museum where we walked through the paths of the collection of 17th to 19th century buildings with grass roofs.  The roof was covered with birch bark and then the sod was laid over it.  The stone hearths did not have chimneys, but there was a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape.  There was only one small window in the main room.  There were separate out buildings. The collection includes farmhouses, fishermen’s houses and boats.  An early 19th century two storey building was a residential school for 12 students who lived, with the teacher and housekeeper, and learned for three months before returning back to their farms.  At the museum building, we learned more about the infamous local Viking – Gange-Rolf better known as Rollo, from the island of Giske. He plundered England and France and was the founder Duchy of Normandy (France) in the early 900s. William the Conqueror, who defeated England in 1066, was one of his descendants.

   Our next stop was the viewpoint at the top of Mount Aksla. It can be reached from the city center, from the Park designed in 1885, by a pathway with 418 steps zigzagging up the hillside. Bruce and Veronica made the climb up and down the pathway. In the parking lot, we saw one of the tiny cars that are smaller than Smartcars, but can squeeze two adults inside it.  The drizzle stayed at bay for our 20 minute photo stop.  The bus negotiated the narrow road, just barely wide enough for two busses to pass, back to the city center. The busses need to give way to the little blue and white three coach tourist train that threads through the city center and cannot travel in reverse.  We drove through some of the hundred year old Art Nouveau streets with the turreted and gabled features in stone, so the fire risk was not as great. Some of the details include carvings on the second and third storeys that are painted bright colours.

   We passed the start of the pathway at the Ålesund town park which has several statues – one of German Kaiser Wilhelm II, and one of the Viking Gange-Rolf, also known as Rollo.  For the 1911 millennium celebration of Rollo‘s Normandy conquest, the city of Rouen sent the city of Ålesund the 2.65 metre tall bronze statue of Rollo. Today there are three large statues of Rollo in the world, the others can be found in Rouen, France, and Fargo, North Dakota.

   Steps 6.403.

   Once we arrived back at the ship, we climbed the 188 stairs from Deck 1 to Deck 12 for a quick cappuccino and yogurt, since the Lido Market buffet did not open until noon and we wanted to go back to the city center to find an Internet connection.

  We were off the ship before noon and walked the four blocks to the Information Center.  We were passed by the Hop On Hop Off bus and the little three coach tourist train.  There were only a few people at the center and loading five days of text and photos took less than 30 minutes.  After checking emails, we walked along the cobbled streets and looked at the lovely Art Nouveau buildings. 

   We caught up with Bruce and Veronica as they returned from their exploration of Ålesund to the ship. We were back at the ship in plenty of time for the 4 p.m. sail away.  Out in the harbour, a fire tugboat was creating two fountains of water as the Konningsdam left the harbour into the North Sea.

   We had made a reservation for four in the dining room two nights ago to be sure that we would have dinner with Bruce and Veronica.  We started with a glass of prosecco.  For starters we chose Cheddar Cheese Soup or Shrimp & Mango Aioli.  The main course was either Shrimp Chorizo Paella or Veal Cordon Bleu with roasted potato, green beans and red pepper.  Desserts were Tres Leches Crème Caramel, a custard, or vanilla ice cream with Chocolate & Caramel sauces.

   We enjoyed the performance of classical guitarist, Michael Christian Durrant, after dinner.

He played Greensleeves and Claire de la Lune as well as a piece from Bergen Norway Composer Edvard Greig’s Pier Gent Suite amongst others.

    Tonight was a smoke free night in the casino.

Steps 14,073