Our time in Alta
unfortunately ended rather poorly as our last excursion, a guided tour to see
the Northern Lights, was canceled due to in-climate weather. The weather was so
bad in fact that it delayed our departure out of the port by a few hours. The
captain did however make up some time during the night and we arrived in Tromso
late in the morning.
Obviously the weather
hadn’t gotten much better so we tried to find as many indoor activities as we
possibly could. This proved much harder than we originally anticipated as the
only place that was open was a small glass blowing shop just off the main
street. It's a good things Amanda loves a decent glass blowing demonstration.
After nearly an hour
soaking in the warmth being generated from the furnaces and with the rain starting
to come down in buckets we beat feet back to ship stopping just long enough
to take a photo of the local Catholic Church.
Our afternoon in
Tromso was uneventful. We stayed on board drinking hot chocolate and perhaps
a few glasses of wine while we watched the storms batter the poor dock workers
who were constantly securing and releasing the mooring lines of the various
regional ferries that came in and out of port throughout the day. After dinner
however the weather cleared up just long enough to get some photos of the city all
lit up.
Shortly after these
pictures were taken there was a clearing in the sky and the Northern
Lights shown through very briefly. However, due to the incredibly poor lighting
conditions and the persistent cloud cover this is the best of the shots I
managed to get.
But hey, we can now
say we’ve officially seen the Aurora Borealis!
Almost immediately
after seeing the Northern Lights the skies opened up yet again and an even
stronger storm blew into town. So strong in fact that the Captain decided to
delay our departure out of Tromso until the following morning. Meaning our
next scheduled stop, Sortland, would have to be skipped and instead we would
get another full day at sea. A sea that was easily the roughest Amanda and I
have ever encountered with 8 to 12 meter swells (26 to 40 ft in American)! We
didn’t even bother leaving the cabin.
When we finally
arrived in Andalsnes we actually ran off the boat. The weather in Andalsnes was
much nicer than Tromso and we took advantage of the scenic walking paths that
surround the city.
Amanda even found some
playground equipment.
 |
| Best photo of Amanda...EVER! |
Once done with
playtime it was time to eat and what better way to make up for a day of missed
meals than with a giant pizza.
We left Andalsnes
completely sated and ready to tackle what we anticipated would be yet another
rough night at sea, and we were not disappointed. If anyone ever wants to take
you on a cruise up the Norwegian coast in the winter make sure it’s on a REALLY
big boat because the small ones get tossed all over the North Atlantic.
We arrived in Bergen
no worse for wear despite the formidable seas, however the constant rain rather
encouraged us to return to the ship sooner than we had hoped. Bergen appears to
be a lovely city and I would very much like to return again when the weather is
a bit more appealing, but even so we did manage to see the old market buildings
which run along the docks and meander through the wonky back alleyways.
Now all that's left is the long boat ride back to London.
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