Olden, Norway

To be honest, Olden looks very similar to Eidfjord, except Olden is at the end of Nordfjord, and Eidfjord is at the end of, well, Eidfjord.   I think the reason the little towns look so similar is down to our untrained eyes.  We are not used to spotting the differences in the mountains and the "fingers" of the fjord.  It is no reason to be disappointed though, Olden is beautiful.

Our escort duties today were to go visit a glacier. It was one of the things Peter really wanted to see, and the fairy godmothers in the Shore Excursions team worked this one for him.  Thank you ladies.

The bus follows the river Olden through the village.  Due to the amount of rainfall West Norway has had over the last couple of days (the most for the last 200 years apparently), the rivers are overflowing.  The bus stopped for a photo break and so we could see the river close up.

Then it was on to Lake Olden.  Just beautiful, and you can just see the Melkevoll Glacier from here

 

This picture was taken through the window of the bus

The back into the bus for Briksdal Inn.  Here the buses stop and we were transferred to "Troll Cars" (8 seater buggies) to take us a fair amount of the climb towards the Briksdal Glacier.  You could of course walk this part of the tour, and many people did.  But for the less fit or able the Troll Cars are excellent.   There was a problem where part of the Troll Car route had been washed away in the recent downpours, but the intrepid Norwegians had come up with a transfer system to get the tourists past that bit.

Not the washed away bit, A waterfall en route. 

The Troll Cars can't take you all the way though.  There's a walk of about half a mile to get you to a decent viewing point.  And it's not an easy walk.  The path is rocky, cracked and uneven.  And there's a little bit of a climb to it.  But the view at the top is worth it.  Peter loved it and got as close as possible to the glacier.  I decided it could really only look good when you could see it all on one go, so I stayed back.   

We have been so lucky with the weather.  Rain was forecast, but it held off and we even got the odd patch of sunshine.  Awesome.

Unfortunately for a few of the passengers on my tour bus, the path was a little bit too much for them.   They never did quite make it to the top, and we had to hold the buses a little longer for them, so that once they'd got down, they could at least enjoy a coffee  from the Briksdal Inn. 

For anyone thinking of taking this tour by the way, save yourself for the cakes provided with the tea and coffee at the Inn (they're provided free as part of the tour).  They are GORGEOUS, and if you walked up to the Glacier, then you've easily earnt yourself at least three. 

Once we were back at the ship and had eaten lunch, Peter and I had an amble around Olden.  As I said, it's a beautiful little town.

A wooden church.  The Norwegians are mostly Lutherians it seems. 

Inside a wooden church - all wood, and wonderfully simple.

Tomorrow is a sea day. Peter will do his classes, and I will mebbe read a little more. Good innit?

Northern Lights Cruise - Eidfjord, Norway

We left Tilbury two days ago.  Yesterday was a sea day and Peter ran two painting classes.  Today is Wednesday and we were up early this morning, I wanted to see the fjord as we sailed in, and we were on deck just after sunrise (7.45).

And it's just as lovely as expected.  The mountains rise steeply from the water into the clouds.  Actually, these mountains aren't that high in truth, but they look it from the still water of the fjord.  Stunning

Peter and I had agreed to escort a tour to go see the Sysem Dam and the Voringsfoss Waterfall,  basically a bus trip with a couple of stops.  The scenery we drove through was absolutely stunning, and I regret my decision to be a good escort and sit on the inside seat of the bus.

The Dam was a little bit of a let down to be honest, I sort of expected a dramatic concrete structure I suppose, and it wasn't.  It might be 260ft high, but because of the way it's built of natural rocks and gravel, it's quite tame really.

The waterfall is not tame.

The bus took us to the Fossli Hotel just above the waterfall, with its fantastic views.

It's a shame the weather wasn't a little better, but then again, if it hadn't been raining for the last two days, we certainly wouldn't have seen the flow that we did. 

Then it was back to the bus to travel once again through the glorious scenery of Norway.   Sadly it was really raining now, and when we got back to the ship, we decided that despite the fact we had an hour's shore time left, it was far too wet.  So we went back on board for lunch

We did take a few pictures of Eidfjord from the ship though

Unfortunately, as the morning had progressed, I realised that the cold that I've been fighting off for weeks was having another go at getting the better of me.  With Peter still coughing as a leftover from his cold, and me with a drippy nose, we decided it was best to hide out in the cabin this afternoon and not breathe all over everyone else.

Amazingly, just about as quickly as it started, my drippy nose dried up at about 6-7pm, Spooky eh?   This was extremely convenient cos we needed to go upstairs for dinner in the Bistro.  I even felt it was safe enough to watch "Bruce Thompson, The Original One Man Band" from the back of the Marco Polo Lounge.   And I'm glad I did, it was an excellent show, full of fun and laughter.

Tomorrow we're in Olden, escorting again and off to see a glacier. Hopefully there'll be no more hints of colds or drippy noses.

Going home through the Kiel Canal

OK

So the 25th and 26th of October are a couple of sea days before we get back to Tilbury.  Peter will run his classes and I will run around Peter, but generally, it's a relaxing couple of days.

On the first day, outside could be presented as a good example of Peter's "Tonal Study".  It's grey.  A grey sky and a deeper grey sea.  It's not warm either.  Peter has managed to pick up the latest cruise cold. (It seems one goes round every cruise), I've fought it off it seems, with no more than a little bit of a tight chest. Trouble is, by the end of the day, he was knackered and not up to formal night.  We did get out for dinner a little later than usual and then were able to stay up just long enough for the next bit.

On the night of the 25th, we travelled through the Kiel Canal.  It's a shame we went through at night, because obviously we couldn't see much, and not only that, we would all be too busy getting a bit of sleep to even try.  The thing is, it's a canal, and we had to go through a lock, which was a whole new experience for me.

Approaching the Lock at the start of the Kiel Canal.  The red lights on the right hand side are the "out" gates which are closed at the moment.  The Marco Polo has to get into the lock using the left hand lane.

Look how close we are to the walls of the canal!   Actually, it's a bit deceptive, because we had a little more space on the other side.  But the ship has to be tied up when the lock gates shut, which is why we are very close to the side.

Another, much smaller ship pulls in behind us and the lock gate closes. 

The Marco Polo was painstakingly manoeuvred very slowly and carefully into the lock, and then the water level probably only changed a few feet.  Never mind I can now say we have sailed down the Kiel Canal, even if the only bit I actually saw was the start.  Peter's cold got the better of him, and it was time to go downstairs.

Our second sea day was relatively uneventful. I decided to get me hair cut whilst I'm on board, I thought I might as well, seeing as I am always waiting for Peter's class to finish.  Once again the ship's hairdresser has done a brilliant job, for no more than I would pay back home.  I've read a book and a half, these last two days and Peter ran his classes again.

The final night of this cruise ended with the Ship's Show Team putting on a fantastic show called "Scenes from the Cutting Room".  The show team are usually pretty good, but I think they excelled themselves last night.  I was very impressed with the Charlie Chaplin routine at the beginning put on by the dance troupe, and then the Wizard of Oz compilation was awesome.

And finally, for this cruise, I have to mention the cooks and the food.  It seems to have improved since the last time we were on board, but that isn't what I wanted to show.  The following pictures are the food art carved out by the various chefs (or maybe it's always the same chef), they are quite awesome.

Chef working at the back of the bistro, look at the fish carved out of a melon on the left. 

So that was it, our Baltic Cities Cruise.  I think I would like to do it again and see all the things I didn't get a chance to see last time, particularly in St Petersburg.

We'll stay on the ship when we get to Tilbury, and go out again on it's next cruise "Land of the Northern Lights".  We're off to Norway and another load of new experiences.  Just absolutely FANTASTIC!