mac_tlc

Truly magnificent at every stop ! Sky lift at Loen tomorrow. mac_tlc

Here are some of the Kjosfossen Waterfall. Unbelievable. The train stops for five minutes or so in each direction for pictures and there is a short “show”. More later from the port area.

The sites along the railway are pretty spectacular but here are a couple of tips for deciding where to sit: 1) We felt the sites along the right side ( as you are going up) were better. To see all the great views, sit on a different side when you go up and down. 2) Sit is a seat where the window opens. You can get better pictures with no glare. 3) Seat facing the forward direction of the train. Here are some pictures, but I probably have a hundred to choose from:

I think I am going to have to find an online thesaurus because I am running out of adjectives to describe these sites. We have been extremely fortunate weather wise - todays high in Flam was around. 72F / 23C. With almost no clouds. For a place with 220 days a year of snow or rain, it is truly special. We took the Flam railway up to Vatnahalsen Hotel, where we had some coffee and waffles. Then my son and DIL and I took a 15 walk or so to the lake. Some pix:

From the Vatnahalsen Hotel at the top of the Flam railway:

Welcome to Flam. The majestic beauty and serenity continue to amaze! Should you get an aft cabin for your Norway journey? You be the judge!

I took this picture of the church door for @Jim_Iain ! I hope my pictures are half as good as his!!!

Our last stop was at the church at Giske. It has a very important place in Norwegian/Viking history. It was built on 1150 and is made entirely of granite, with a plaster coat on the outside for protection from the weather. Worth looking up. What a beautiful island with very nice small homes. The island is flat ( rare in Norway) as it was made of the silt and sediment of the glaciers. Just beautiful.

Our third stop was at the Alnes lighthouse, which is quite a ways from the Ålesund city center. The route takes you through two tunnels under the sea and one through the mountains. Very picturesque and serene . In this picture you can see the city center of Ålesund in the distance:

Our next stop was the Sunnmore Museum which is an outdoor museum that showcases many homes dating back to the 1800s. The houses and storage buildings were transported here from the surrounding area. There are also replicas of Viking longships. Very cool! This is where our bus refused to start and another arrived to save the day!

Just back from our tour of Alesund. We booked a Norway Excursions tour through aviator. Overall a great experience, even though we had an extra 30 minutes at one of the stops because the bus wouldn’t start. No biggie, worse places to be stuck, another bus arrived and we were on our way! What a beautiful city and surrounding islands. Wow!! Some shots from Aksla mountain: I’ll break the tour up into several posts since I probably have over a hundred pictures. mac_tlc

Sailing into Alesund!

Sounds like we are doing a similar tour, goes to a spot with great views. mac_tlc

So true! Yesterday was awesome. Tomorrow is forecasted to be sunny and upper 50s in Alesund. mac_tlc

Now, this is more like it!!! Rockin and Rollin!! Seas maybe up to 3m. Cloudy, chilly, windy —— a perfect Norwegian Sea kind of day!! mac_tlc

Good morning, well it is here! Sea day today and the seas are a bit more impactful. And it’s chilly, around 51F or 10C. With some wind. Yesterday was decidedly “un-Arctic”. 72F / 23C. We strolled around town and as we were waiting on the sidewalk, Monika and her two children were walking by—- she recognized us first because of the wheelchair. Stopped and had a good conversation — they were on their way to the market. I guess locals do that kind of thing! Made our first showing in the theater last night, David Knight, a hypnotist. It was really fun and the theater was full. Today is Captains Corner at 11, my favorite. Then we will try the new brunch menu after that! I plan on doing one single post later on that will cover the current CC raging topics. One post, my observations, maybe a slight opinion or two, and then back to the majesty of Norway! mac_tlc

Goodbye Honningsvag! We had a great birthday in Norway! It is my birthday and my wife’s birthday— she is the older woman by 365 days! mac_tlc

I did bring about 3000 NOK — about $275USD. Cards are taken everywhere, a few places take USD. I have used the krone for tips and small purchases. mac_tlc

Like this 😳😂😂? Actually looks like it’s pointing down…

So as we were strolling through the town of Honningsvag, we found a nice cafe with wifi: Some pix of the port area:

You won’t be disappointed!!!

Reindeer are a plenty at this time of the year. The Sami families bring their herds here for the summer. We stopped at a small Sami families home where they have some items for sale and you can get some pictures up close. Note that it is molting season too.

North Cape tour, part two: After leaving the king crabs behind, we journeyed up to the North Cape. It’s about a 12 km ride on the North Cape road. Wonderful views, very barren and desolate. And not a tree to be found. Once there we went into the visitor center first. on level -3, there is a good short movie about the four seasons on the North Cape. We are Disney fans and the first thing that ran through my mind as we walked into the theater is the movie about Norway that was in the Norway pavilion at Epcot before Anna and Elsa invaded it . Then it was out to the globe, Again, stunning views and such a feeling of serenity. Some pix: And a quick compass reading of latitude and longitude: couldn’t resist a fresh waffle with brown cheese and strawberry jam !

@Lady Hudson, Tables in casino: Blackjack - one $25 min, one $15 min, one single deck $10 min Roulette - two Craps - one Hold’em poker - two plus one tournament table. Craps table is on the no smoking side, others evenly split. mac_tlc

We have been to the casino a few times 😜. It was never really busy, but we have not been there late. Here are the casino hours for our 12 days. I will wander through this morning and inventory the tables. mac_tlc