The Norwegian Fjords and Bergen, Norway July 13-23,2024

At 3:45 we boarded Le Champlain, our Ponant cruise ship.  We had been on an identical Ponant ship when we did the Kimberlies in Western Australia so we were very familiar with the layout of the ship. We have a very comfortable, commodious stateroom with a walk-in closet (Betsey very happy) and large balcony. Boarding this time around was a snap. Everything was very efficiently handled. When we took our first Ponant cruise after Covid, it took hours to clear health, etc before we boarded.

An interesting aspect of this cruise—there are 162 passengers of whom 72 are on a Tauck tour, which explains why we and the Feinsod’s got the last two cabins available when we booked. We went through the orientation presentation, the abandon ship drill, and then had a very enjoyable dinner. The French wines are excellent and the food was good too. The crew is Indonesian and Philippine and very accommodating. A good start.

We woke to clouds and cooler weather as we moved through the North Sea to of all places Goteborg, Sweden, the very train stop where shortly after our train from Stockholm to Oslo broke down. It’s our first landing and tour. After breakfast we listened (well, ok I napped a bit) to a lecture on the fjords. So what exactly is a fjord? It is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a receding glacier. The bottom is U shaped and very deep. The water is a mix of fresh and sea water—ergo brackish.

From the train Goteborg looked like a nothing burg. It’s actually the second largest Swedish city at 600,000 population and it is the largest shipping seaport in Scandinavia. Home of Volvo and a former major ship-building site until Asia took over shipbuilding (and China took over Volvo). We toured on a bus (not our favorite type of tour) but there were only ten of us English-speaking tourers and our guide was more than adequate. The city was founded in 1621 and originally was surrounded by walls and a moat. The moat is now a canal, and we took an open-boat tour on the canal that also went out into the river which forms the harbor. The huge cranes that were used at the old shipyards still sit prominently in the river. The city wanted to take them down after the yards closed, but the citizens insisted they remain as a memorial to the yards.

The city was built by Dutch and German construction workers and has that kind of architectural feeling. Our bus made a few stops along the way including the most famous building in the city—called the Fish Church because it is a fish market but was designed by a church architect and looks more like a church than a market. Today was the Crown Prince’s birthday so the city was awash in Swedish flags. It was also awash in Palestine flags as we passed a large parade of Palestinian and Norwegian demonstrators marching along the main street, chanting and singing. Ugh.

It also happens to be Bastille Day and we are on a French liner. You can imagine. It was also the Captain’s gala where we gathered in the theater for French songs, Can Can dancers, and champagne. Then to the dining room for a six-course dinner that included lobster, foie gras, and loin of veal. All beautifully presented and tasty. Stuffed and tired, we skipped the post-dinner show of more singing and dancing.

We awoke in Arendal, considered the Norwegian riviera as it is at the southern tip of the country and the warmest (a relative term). Settled in the early 1500’s, we only viewed the city from the ship as we were headed inland by bus to an iron museum. A what? Well the Arendal area is very rich in iron ore so we signed up to go to an iron museum. We drove through pine and birch forests. However, this was once an area rich in oak forests, but the forests were cut down to supply the region with building materials, from sailing masts to the foundations upon which Amsterdam houses were built. We walked through the village of Tvedestrand on the sea shore. All the houses were white wood, including the narrowest one in Norway. It used to be that the color of your house marked your financial status. Red houses were occupied by the poorest because red paint was cheapest. Next came ochre, and then white. As paint got cheaper and color prices less disparate, everyone wanted to paint their house white to claim status. The village also had a fish store selling whale meat.

The iron museum is on the site of a blast furnace that was active for more than 500 years. To make iron then you needed iron ore (from Arendal), charcoal (from the surrounding forests) and water to power the large bellows that infuses air into the furnace to accelerate the heat. The original furnaces were there, made from incredibly thick stone and brick walls and very deep. We learned the whole process which was very interesting as told by our guide, who is a blacksmith, born in Norway but who grew up in New Mexico and spoke perfectly unaccented English. Turns out she studied art history but is now a blacksmith and museum guide. In 1959 the dam that created the waterfall that powered the water wheel that powered the furnace, burst in a flood, destroying all the buildings. At that point the whole foundry was closed. It was later rebuilt as a museum around the original furnaces.

We returned to our ship and were entertained by local school children who put on a dance presentation from “Frozen” performing on the rocky paths opposite the ship.And so to lunch. I think we all crashed after lunch since we were up bright and early. I took an hour nap, quite unusual for me to nap at all, and then went to a lecture on Norwegian history. Some interesting facts. Way back when ( and probably still today) only 3% of the country was cultivatable land. The oldest son inherited the land so the rest of the sons (I guess the daughters were married off) took to the sea as Vikings to find land and to develop trade routes to provide for themselves. The Norwegian Vikings went west to Greenland, Iceland, and eventually North America. The Swedes went east towards Ukraine and what became Russia. The Danes went south to England and France. The King of France gave Normandy to Vikings (land of the people of the north) in return for taxes and peace.

The point was made that Norway was considered one of the poorest countries of Europe, if not the poorest, until oil was discovered under the sea in 1969 and transformed the Norwegian economy.

After dinner we partook of the evening’s entertainment—two Italian singers “crooning” Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin classics. An interlude.

We arrived early the next morning in Stavanger, after rounding the tip of Norway and heading up the west coast. For centuries this was a sleepy fishing village until oil was discovered off the coast. But its history goes way, way back because we visited the site of a large farm that dates to 350AD during the Iron Age. It’s been restored on the original foundations and was quite interesting. Apparently this was a wealthy farm because there was a very long, narrow (about 10 feet) structure that had a room for living with three fire pits, another room for celebrations and ceremonies, a room for the women to use a loom, and a room for animals. The house was built stone on the outside and vertical wood planks inside. The roof had a Wooden poles on the inside, then layers of birch bark for waterproofing and finally dirt and lawn on top. This farm was active until 540AD when apparently some calamity struck the area and people disappeared.

Next stop the site of the battle of Hafrsfjord which is marked by three large swords imbedded in stone to commemorate the fact that the king defeated the invading fleet and united Norway under his leadership. A short ride away we reached a viewing height where we got a good look at the surrounding fjords.

Our final stop was in the old town. The city is quite sprawling now, having had a big growth spurt during a 60-year period when there was a huge influx of herring spawning every year. Lots of people moved here to take advantage of the catch. After that died out the city became a major canning place for sardines. Fortunately, the oil brought the latest growth spurt. There is a cathedral dating to 1125 which is a too long story how a town of a couple of hundred got a cathedral. Finally we walked in the old town where the fishermen’s houses had small roof extensions with block and tackle to haul the fish catch up to the top floors where the fish could be salted and packed in barrels for export. In the 1950’s the old main street houses were saved from destruction (they had become slums) and restored to their present attractive state.

We boarded the ship and headed out of the harbor while we were having lunch. Then the fun began. We entered the first renowned fjord- Lysefjorden— the fjord of light. Because our ship is a small cruise liner, we are the only (according to the captain) cruise ship that can go under the bridge and actually enter the fjord. Very impressive—sheer cliffs of about 3,000 feet in height down to the river created by the receding glacier. We passed a lookout point at the top which is a famous outcropping called Pulpit Rock. People actually climb up from the back to the top. One young woman on the boat had done it yesterday and said it was so difficult. They had a “Sherpa” guide leading them who would make a step from his hands to help her up the cliff.

. We went in as far as we could and then made a Uturn. We did hear good news. Apparently the captain had been waiting for confirmation that we would have pilots for other fjords, and we do which means we will be able to progress north for the next few days entirely on fjords rather than along the perimeter. By the way, Norway has 239,000 islands along it’s coasts. It’s one of the features that makes the fjords and coastline so interesting. They range from barely a rock sticking out of the water to smallish islands with little villages creeping up the hills, to large, well populated locales accessible by bridges. And one of the advantages of sunlight well into the night is that you can enjoy the coastline while you have dinner.

Speaking of dinner, tonight the ship outdid itself. Starting with escargot but ground up and in a small pastry shell in a green garlic sauce, to salmon en croute, to a special cheese event with about a dozen different cheeses, to poached pear in thin pastry crust. All delicious and all going right to my rapidly expanding gut. Ismail, our server, is Indonesian with three children. He works on the ship for four months and then has two months off.

Next morning we were still cruising north. We are on the inside passage, using connecting fjords to go north because we have two pilots (doing four-hour shifts) guiding us along. This Norwegian mountain range that encircle the fjords are as extensive as the alps, but not as high—about 8,000 feet- and without the sharp peaks that see in the Alps or the Rockies. There is very little population. Indeed Norway is 83% urban with only 3% arable land. Occasionally you’ll see one house or at most a cluster. Perhaps they are involved in fishing as we see an occasional Salmon farm in the river, nestled up against the river bank.

We are on the ship until the afternoon, so after breakfast I did a rare thing and went to the tiny gym. Certainly not the rigor of Peloton but something. Betsey did exercises in our cabin. We went to a lecture afterwards given by two amusing Tauck speakers on life in the Nordic countries (which besides Sweden, Denmark, and Norway includes Finland). These people are generally considered the happiest in the world, survey after survey. Why? They are capitalists but have welfare states. Lots of stuff like paid leave, pensions, health care and education for which they pay high taxes. But everyone feels they are “in it” together. There is a lot of consensus about life and a general sense of not needing or wanting to stand out or get more than others. In Norway taxes are kept high despite the oil wealth because the government wants everyone to feel they are a part of society. The Sovereign Wealth Fund from oil is over a trillion dollars, but is not being spent down now because the Norwegians feel the oil won’t be there forever, and in the meantime the people should all participate in the costs of the state.

We are at anchor in Nordfjordeid which is in the North Fjords. It is an important village in this area with a population of 3500. We did a 2 1/2 hour walking tour which was pretty remarkable considering the village has one main street that is largely populated with hair dressers, having been decimated by the construction of a small shopping mall in town. The first Norwegian army base was established here in the 1600’s when the Danish King decided Norway should have an army. This brings up the complicated history of this country. For 400 years Norway was controlled by first Denmark and then Sweden. It didn’t gain full independence until 1905. But I digress. The army campground is now a park —basically a naked lawn—and once a year there is a rock concert that draws 30,000 from all over Norway. Most camp out in tents since there is only one small hotel.

After devouring a tasty cinnamon bun and stopping in the one church where our very nice young tour guide sang a traditional church melody, we got to the meat of our visit. There is an important Viking burial ground here. Essentially they are large mounds of earth. But in 1874 they excavated part of one mound and discovered that it was the burial site of who they think was the regional chieftain or Viking King. The story goes that in 860 or so this king got into a battle with Harald the Fair, the Viking King who unified the country under his rule. Our regional king lost the battle and was killed in combat. As a result he was put into his Viking boat with his valuables, his horses and other animals, and maybe even his wife and the entire boat and contents were burned so that the King would get up to Valhalla, heaven. It is the largest Viking boat ever found in Norway. Known as the Myklebust ship, it is 100 feet long and and had two shifts of 30 oarsmen, each shift rowing four hours at a stretch.All of this is brought to life in, of course, a museum with a full size replica of the Viking boat.By the way, including among the items found was a brass Roman chalice, demonstrating how far these Vikings roamed. Impressive.

After dinner we had a disco show. Two mediocre young women and a singing man. Lame. Off to bed.

We woke up early to the sight of the “Seven Sisters” waterfalls outside our stateroom balcony. We saw a few of them. There are scores of waterfalls in these mountains. They are not the dramatic gushers over cliffs but rather long relatively thin constant streams down to the fjords. Sometimes they disappear into the mountain and then reappear farther down the slope.

Today was a long day of sightseeing from the bus once we arrived in Geiranger, considered one of the best fjords and a UNESCO World Heritage site.  I must say the bus driver was impressive navigating literally dozens and dozens of switchbacks on a pretty narrow one and half lane road. The original road was built in the late 19th century and was quite an engineering feat since they carved it out of the mountains without power tools. There are also long tunnels through some of the mountains. We stopped many times for photo ops. Most of those on the bus were French and had their own French-speaking guide. Pretty unfriendly I would say. There were six of us English speakers, always relegated to the back of the bus, but we have our own English-speaking guide who was quite good, although she never stopped talking. All of the land guides that Ponant arranged for have been excellent.

We drove to the top of one of the mountains—5,000 feet above sea level and were enshrouded in fog and clouds. It was still impressive, and we got to see a lot of little piles of rocks that visitors leave which is supposed to result in a return to that mountain one day. We did not make a pile. On the way down we stopped to admire some glacial lakes which are a deep dark turquoise color. Very pretty with the steep granite mountains literally descending into the lakes. These mountains were formed through 40 Ice Ages, the most in Europe.

Throughout the day we pass through isolated farms and small villages and clusters of “holiday houses.” Apparently most Norwegians have a summer holiday house, quite small, but high into the mountains, and the older cabins have grass and weeds roof coverings which insulate during the summer heat and winter cold. Norwegians are big outdoors people. Certainly Nordic skiers—either Alpine or cross country—but also major hikers and bikers. We saw a couple of elderly women bikers (no electrics) at one stop, and the only way they could have gotten there was biking up a lot of steep hills. Impressive. The residents out here are either farmers, fishermen, or hunters, and more likely all three. There are few shops to be shopkeepers.

We stopped for lunch at a very nice 100-year old restaurant and had a traditional lunch of local salmon, potatoes, and marinated cucumbers. The lakes here have herring, cod, and salmon because the lakes connect to the rivers which connect to the fjords and so the fish migrate along the way. After lunch we stopped for a photo op at Horningdal Lake, the deepest lake up here. Apparently if the Empire State Building were at the bottom of the lake, it would be covered. No one has ever tried this, however.

We were getting pretty photo oped out plus the guide was still going on adinfinitum, so I was glad to see our ship had repositioned from this morning and was waiting for us in Hellesylt, another fjord village about 12 miles up the river from Geiranger. We had dinner tonight with two Australian ladies and compared notes on the US and Australia and how US politics reverberate around the world. Unfortunately, our satellite TV is down so we can’t get upset watching the Republican convention. After dinner the ship had a “Bohemian Rhapsody “ show with covers of Queen. Better than the disco last night but not Queen.

We woke up in Alesund, a large city of 60,000 and the second busiest port in Norway, thanks in large part to the oil discovery. It used to be that homes were all built of wood, and Alesund was no exception until January, 1904. On that day a big storm blew in and started a fire that destroyed 900 of the 1000 homes. Overnight, the city was homeless in the dead of winter. This drew world attention, and Kaiser Wilhelm immediately sent several ships with relief supplies (many of the streets, bars, and wharves are named after the Kaiser. As it happened there was a national recession in construction at the time, and so workers rushed to Alesund and the whole city was rebuilt in three years. From then on it was decreed that in city centers all houses had to be built in brick or concrete. Since the whole town was rebuilt at once, the style was the fashion of the times—Art Nouveau with its own Norwegian expression.

It’s a very picturesque place with a canal running up the middle of the center, with boats docked along the way, and with seven nearby islands that are connected by tunnel or bridge. On one of them, Rollon, the legendary Viking king was born. He went on the become the Duke of Normandy when the French king bought him off by giving him what is today Normandy, France. He was also William the Conquerer’s ancestor.

Our very excellent guide gave us many factoids. It seems the days of the week are all derived from Norwegian words. Yet the Norwegians have two languages. One is a version of Danish from the time when Denmark ruled Norway. The other was created in resentment of the Danes when the country became independent. Two thirds of the people speak the newer language, but both are taught in the schools and must be learned. Norway derives 90% of its electricity from hydro sources and the balance from wind and solar. Electricity is so cheap here that most Norwegians leave their lights on all the time, even when they leave the house.  They have the highest level of recycling in the world and 85% of new cars sold are electric. Maybe it’s because there is a law here requiring domestic farm animals to have six weeks “off” during the year. I’m not sure what they do or where they go on vacation but it’s a real law.

We returned to the ship for lunch, instructions about disembarking tomorrow and packing. It was a leisurely day on the North Sea as we headed back down south to Bergen, our last destination. We had a Champagne event in the theater where the entire crew was introduced and thanked by the passengers, with a standing ovation by the younger crowd when the bar staff was introduced. At dinner we did “Bests & Worsts” of the cruise and then to final packing and sleep.

Bergen awaited us early the next morning, our last stop in Norway. We pulled right into the dock in the heart of the city as two giant superliners arrived at about the same time. Nevertheless, we had an orderly departure and our cab took us to Opus XVI, our hotel nearby which is named for a work by composer Edvard Grieg who’s a big deal in this town.  The hotel is a former bank and the lobby is elaborate marble although our room is small and there is no air conditioning. Ordinarily this would not be a problem in Bergen, given the climate, but today is a perfect sunny day with temperature in the high 70’s. Quite amazing when you consider it rains in Bergen 300 days a year! So we will suck it up and recognize that life is a compromise.

Our rooms weren’t ready so we walked through the old town. Along the dock there are open air fish markets where there were fine looking lobsters and shrimp as well as whale meat and other specialties. Along the quay is the famous row of wood houses dating to the late 1700’s, a world heritage site. Painted different colors, the houses face the quay but behind them and perpendicular to them are narrow rows of what were then called tenements but are today gift and souvenir shops. We kept walking through the older areas, did a little shopping damage, and headed back to our hotel for refreshments.

Jay and Esta’s granddaughter, Miranda, who is studying in Glasgow, flew in to meet us while we are here. We all got together for lunch at a nice Italian restaurant called Villani where we ate outside. The place was filled with locals and tourists all enjoying the rare treat of a beautiful day. A little more walking to digest lunch and then back to our room which is very hot. I wondered if I would ever be able to sleep here tonight and laid down for a rest and was immediately out for an hour.

We all met for dinner at Bjerck, an upstairs restaurant overlooking the harbor. The place is as hopping as Oslo was with a combination of local, Norwegian tourists, and foreigners all out and enjoying this miraculous weather. We had a good walk along the far side of the harbor with great views of the famous wood houses and boats on the harbor. At 10pm I sit in our hot room with the windows wide open and sunshine still streaming in. I haven’t mentioned the surprise of the day. It turns out Bruce Springsteen is in town and will be giving a concert tomorrow night outdoors on a pier. And guess who’s going? We were able to get tickets, so very exciting especially since the Feinsod’s have never been to a Springsteen concert.

We awoke to sunshine and another warm day which ultimately turned cloudy with a drizzle or two. Tommy, our tour guide picked us up after breakfast for a tour mostly outside the downtown area and up into the hills.  We stopped for some scenic overlooks which gave us good views of the two arms of the harbor which has swelled with tourism and North Sea oil. It is said that the west (Bergen) makes the money and the east (Oslo, the capital) spends it. At one stop in a park was a large totem pole, a gift of the city of Seattle.

We paid a visit to a unique church. Stavkirk harks back to the time when the Vikings were converting to Catholicism. They turned a Viking pagan temple into a church so it has a Viking exterior with roof peaks resembling Viking ship prows and inside it looks like a small church. Nearby is a cross cut from rock, said to be the oldest cross in Norway, dating to the beginnings of Christianity here.

We enjoyed a visit to Edvard Grieg’s house, Designed by him and built on a high property overlooking the bay, it has a unique style of German Victorian and Norwegian country of the late 19th century. The interior features a Steinway grand piano that was snuck into the house while the Grieg’s were asleep as a 60th birthday present from his friends. Can’t imagine how they did this without the Grieg’s waking up.

From there we stopped at the Bergen royal palace, a former prime minister’s residence that the royals use when they visit Bergen several times a year. Modest by palace standards but elegant in a 1905 German Victorian way, the prime minister was the guy who went to Denmark in 1905 after securing Norwegian independence from the Swedes and arranged for the Danish king’s brother to become the modern era king of Norway. He wanted to cement friendship between Denmark and Norway. The brother agreed on condition that the people choose him, so he was the only European monarch elected by the people. He got 90% of the vote, and peace has been in place ever since.

We bid our guide farewell and had lunch at a cafe near our hotel followed by an ice cream at a stop purported to be the best ice cream in Bergen. It was quite good. Then after a walk around the old town, we headed back to our hotel to rest before the big night.

We have been in Norway for sixteen days and, in the country famous for its rain frequency, we have had no rain…until this afternoon when we had our Bruce Springsteen concert tonight. The rain started as drizzle, but by the time we walked to our restaurant (Bryggeloftet and Stuene which was very good), it was pouring. We had raincoats and ponchos so were prepared but they did little good. We took a (free) bus ride near the venue which was a pier out in the open, and by the time we got in, we were soaked. We thought we had seats “in the front” but there were no seats so we stood with thousands of others—45,000 in all—and enjoyed the show. Bruce was his usual great self. The Feinsod’s enjoyed their first Bruce concert despite the rain. In the midst of the concert we got the news text that Biden had dropped out of the race. Almost two hours in, when the temperature dipped into the 50’s, we called it a night and luckily found a cab. Betsey and I grabbed an after dinner drink to warm us up and hit the hot showers.  It was quite a night.

It carried over into the next morning, our final day in Bergen, when we had a very long delay in getting breakfast. It turns out our hotel was full plus the E Street Band stayed here overnight (Bruce had flown on to London) and it sent the kitchen into a tailspin. Jay and Esta watched the band heading out to the airport with a crowd out the front door. I should add that all day during our walks around Bergen there were people proudly wearing their Springsteen tee shirts. Unfortunately, only our women got tee shirts as they were out of men’s larger sizes with Bergen on them. I guess I’ll have to pull out one of my old Springsteen originals.

Anyway, we had a leisurely last day. We headed along the harbor to the Bergenhus Fortress and visited the Rosenkrantz tower which dates to the 13th century. We climbed up its narrow winding stairs, stopping to visit significant rooms along the way. It had a good view of the harbor which is why fortresses are built in these locations. We strolled back along the harbor which was filled with cruise-going excursion people and had lunch near our hotel at Cherie, a French bistro. In the sun it was quite warm, but we made the mistake of sitting outdoors in the shade and it was pretty chilly. Betsey and Esta donned blankets.

We parted ways after lunch as Betsey and I wanted to go the art museum to see more Munchs. We walked through a park along a lake with swans only to find the museum closed on Mondays. So we kept walking, did a little damage and went back to the hotel to pack.

Thinking about Bergen versus Oslo, Bergen is more historic, being almost 1,000 years old to much newer Oslo. What Bergen has in charm Oslo has in modernity and pep. I did notice that Bergen is not as clean as Oslo which was pristine, and I saw a fair amount of graffiti here which we didn’t see in Oslo.

For our grand finale in Bergen we took the funicular up the mountain for a pretty spectacular view and had a very nice dinner at the restaurant there which was recently remodeled and had a good menu. We did whole trip “Bests & Worsts” and then headed back down to get an early bedtime. We have an early flight tomorrow.