SILVERSEA CRUISE – NORWAY AND DENMARK – 25th July – 4th August, 2019

25th July, 2019

After dashing back to Copenhagen to enjoy a final ‘weinebrød’, we really didn’t have much time before the ship sailed. Awaiting us was a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket and two flutes. We decided to unpack first so that we could really enjoy our lovely home for the next three weeks without clutter.

26th August, 2019 – OSLO, NORWAY

Oslo surprised me. I was expecting it to be much like Copenhagen, it was very, very different. While Denmark, despite the modernity of the National Library, the Copenhagen Opera House, the wonderful new bike bridges and others, still feels very old world to me with copper spires, palaces, Changing of the Guard, Marble Church, Round Tower and Nyhavn. Oslo feels cutting edge and trendy. The Opera House, built to resemble a glacier floating in the waters of the Oslofjord in 2008 at a cost of €500 million is but one example. Oslo was named ‘European Green Capital 2019’ for its dedication to conserving natural areas and reducing pollution. You can catch a subway from Oslo and be in a forest in less than 10 minutes. The harbour water is crystal clear, and in the heatwave that was being endured while we were there, people were leaping in and cooling off everywhere, unafraid of either pollution or sharks!

27th JULY, 2019 – ARENDAL, NORWAY

After sailing overnight from Oslo , the ship was scheduled to berth in Arendal, Norway at 12:30 pm. From well out of sight of land, the presence of sea birds soaring on thermals around the ship, gave a clue of the nearness of land.

As we approached Arendal, rocky little islands dotted the sea. Some of them were mere rocky outcrops, others were lightly treed and green with foliage. Others had small buildings and landings on them. The most impressive were those larger rock outcrops that were home to light houses and their service buildings. It was a sunny day and all this was visually stunning. Added to that (we assumed because cruise ships docking were not a common thing), a flotilla of small boats, small and large, came out to greet and sail alongside us, waving and calling out to us as if we were visiting royalty.

Perhaps because of the myriad of small boats, the impressive, booming fog-horn of the Silver Spirit sounded out, over and over, more than we’d ever heard it before. That only seemed to add to the joy of the people in the small craft as they just waved even more vigorously.

Arendal is a small picturesque town, surrounded by a network of islands dotted with brightly painted buildings, houses, outbuildings, jetties and small marinas. There were boats of all kinds, from elegant sail boats to old, carvel planked, open bartender boats, beautifully varnished, putt-putting along with their single cylinder engines. Along with that, there was every kind and size of power boats powering along, riding the ship’s wake.

When we arrived, it had been our intention to walk around the small town centre, then take a local bus to Grimstad, 20k away, home of playwright, Henrik Ibsen. But that plan was quickly sidelined by the activity of Arendal. We had arrived on the last day of the four day ‘Canal Street’ music festival. The town was simply abuzz with musical activity. A crowd of people surrounded what appeared, from a distance, to be a busker or performer in the centre of the gathered people. As we got closer, we could see that the ‘busker’ was in fact a charismatic, casually dressed ‘conductor’ with a trombone, who directing the ‘crowd’ – his orchestra. The crowd all appeared to be local residents, from 7 to 70 years old (or more!). Almost everyone had a brass instrument of some sort. With the conductor, inside the circle of players, was a percussion group, animatedly playing a range of drums. The bass drum player was particularly adept at twirling his massive piece in a way we’d never seen it done before. The whole experience was absolutely captivating.

Reasoning that, with such a festival in Arendal, most of Grimsted was probably here too. So we decided to simply enjoy the vibrant atmosphere right in front of us. It was only a short port-of-call as the ship was due to sail again at 7:30 pm. So, after a day out in the unseasonably hot weather, we were glad to return to the air conditioned comfort of our cabin.

28th JULY, 2019 – DAY AT SEA

We have had so many experiences in the past few weeks that it almost feels as if we’ve reached sensory overload. So our ‘day at sea’ was a much welcomed day of complete rest and relaxation. That night was ‘formal night’, so we spruced up and had a lovely evening.

30th JULY, 2019 – GEIRANGER, NORWAY

While Flåm was at the innermost end of a 204 km fjord, the Geiranger Fjord was only 64 kms. The town itself is home to some 300 inhabitants. During the summer, with the influx of holiday makers and camper vans, the population swells to about 5000. Today that number swelled even further with the arrival of Silver Spirit’s 600 passengers. However our carbon footprint was negligible compared to what followed us into the fjord – the MSC Meraviglia with 4500 passengers and 1500 crew!

We had booked the early morning tour along the fjord by rib boat (a part inflatable, part planing hull boat, with a powerful motor). That required us to be up and breakfasted for a 9 am departure. In the narrow confines of the fjord, the Silver Spirit had to tether to mooring buoys and prepare to disembark passengers by the ship’s tenders. That was done in groups, depending on which shore excursion was chosen. Most, it seemed, had chosen to be bussed overland to the ship’s next close destination, visiting local farms along the way. The more adventurous (or the more mobile!) chose the rib boat road.

We climbed aboard the tender and rode to the small jetty at the little collection of buildings that constituted the town. As we climbed out of the tender, the huge MSC Meraviglia (one of the five largest cruise ships in the world) was beginning to disgorge its endless stream of passengers. Rather than being tendered in boats, with so many aboard, another approach was needed. As we watched, a long pontoon pier telescoped out to the ship. Once connected, it served as the 200 meter long floating gangway.

We were led to a boathouse on the water’s edge to be outfitted in our ‘protective gear’. As we left the ship, we’d each been handed a towel and were concerned that this was going to be the extent of the promised ‘protection’. The towel was never needed as it turned out. Expecting something akin to a waterproof parka, we were surprised to be offered what looked like a North Sea Survival Suit! It was a one piece, padded, heavy duty, waterproof, full length suit, fastened with a long zipper and Velcro. Perhaps this would be perfect in winter but in this unseasonably hot northern summer, once zipped up, it was a personal sauna. It was also very unflattering! Then, over that, was the obligatory life-jacket.

Trussed up in our gear, we waddled to the pier to board the rib boat, each holding twelve passengers. Our ‘skipper’ was a personable, ruggedly handsome, 30 year old Norwegian man. After a brief safety instruction, the engine rumbled excitedly into life. As we motored out past the two large ships, it was necessary to observe speed restrictions. Once clear, the powerful boat rode up, planing high out of the water, foaming water spraying out from the bow wake. It was exhilarating! Better still, the cool breeze immediately cooled us down inside our ‘Michelin Man’ suits. The boat powered along, bouncing over the bow wakes of other craft, making impressive sharp turns against the fjord walls. It’s manoeuvrability and handling was amazing.

The fjord was the most visually stunning scenery. The height of the sheer rock faces was beyond comprehension of how Ice Age glaciers carved so deep into the earth. Photography alone could never capture the grandeur of the experience. Equally stunning were the precarious, remote farms perched high up on the fjord walls, where accidents of geology allowed for a small area of arable land to exist. The farms, from the last century, are now abandoned as farms, but are undergoing restoration as historical cultural treasures.

It seemed like no time at all and we were returning to the Geiranger township. It was one of the great highlights of our travel so far. We returned to the boathouse to take off the life jacket and sweat suit. We left the boathouse thinking we’d have a look through the village centre. However, the hordes of Meraviglia passengers swarmed everywhere like ants. We decided to take sanctuary bock on board the Silver Spirit.

31st JULY, 2019 – ÅNDALSNES, NORWAY

We took a combined bus and train tour up the Rauma Valley. The Troll Wall was sobering, especially when seeing the list of names of the climbers who have fallen to their deaths while climbing it. Only that weekend, two young men from the Czech Republic had fallen to their deaths and it was only on the day that we visited that their bodies could finally be recovered.

Much more uplifting was the glorious valley, the rivers and the waterfalls. This country certainly has some of the most stunningly beautiful scenery that the world has to offer.

1st AUGUST, 2019 – BERGEN, NORWAY

The crooked, multi-coloured warehouses of Bergen’s World Heritage waterfront that lean together are in the Bryggen district and are symbolic of Bergen. These days they are filled with galleries, craft and souvenir shops. Unlike most other countries, the souvenirs are not tacky, but largely represent Norwegian traditional craft. Knitwear, shoes, hats and gloves made from fur, Christmas decorations and unique toys for children. We briefly contemplated buying a reindeer skin for Joshua so that he could make his own Viking clothing, but quickly discounted the idea as being potentially problematic with the customs authority when we get back to Australia.

The fish market was fascinating. The King crab legs were as big as Astrid’s! I was most attracted to the range of freshly smoked fish – salmon, herring and mackerel. Yet I was repulsed to see black whale meat (I hadn’t known about the colour) for sale. More disgusting was the site of a young American woman posing while sampling it. I felt as if I was watching a cannibal.

We went to see the former castle of King Håkem VII of Norway. Not for the first time, we heard how, when Germany invaded Norway during World War II, brave Norwegians managed to smuggle him, his son and the nation’s reserves of gold bullion out of Norway with the help of a British ship waiting off the coast. I couldn’t help feeling proud to consider that much like British royalty, the Danish Royal Family remained steadfastly in Denmark during the German occupation. King Christian X bolstered national morale by proudly riding through the streets of Copenhagen on horseback, on an almost daily basis despite the German presence.

2nd AUGUST, 2019 – DAY AT SEA

It was such a pleasure to be able to indulge in a totally relaxing day at sea. We needed to reflect on Norway. It was stunningly beautiful in a way no other country could possibly be. Photography can not capture it. It needs to be seen. We started off by having breakfast delivered to our suite and then sat around in our dressing gowns all morning, looking through photographs, reading emails, writing my blog and catching up on French homework. We had decided that we would resist eating lunch on board, other than those few ‘days at sea’, so we indulged in lunch at ‘The Grill’, a pool-side eatery. Then I insisted that we walk the entire ship, deck by deck, using only the stairs, so that I could get some ‘steps’ up.

Another feature of ‘Day at Sea’, is that it is traditionally used as formal night.

3rd AUGUST, 2019 – ÅRHUS & SILKEBORG

When we arrived in Aarhus, we were fortunate to find that we’d arrived at the same time as the Tall Ships Race 2019. Large three masted sailing ships form all over the world were represented. One flag stood out over all others. It was huge enough to have been a mainsail on any of the ships! It fluttered imperiously from the rear mast of an impressive white ship, well manned with meticulously uniformed sailors. We were eager to know what wealthy country it represented. Curiously enough, it proved to be México!

But, being in Aarhus, so close to Silkeborg, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to visit the museum containing the 2,500 Year old, amazingly preserved Tollund Man. The museum wasn’t anything we expected it to be. For such an iconic, world renowned Iron Age man, we expected it to be in a massive, modern, atmospherically controlled environment. The museum was in fact a former farm house from Silkeborg’s earliest days. It was quite small, with only a small throng of people wandering around. We were able to spend uninterrupted time simply looking in awe at the remarkable man. A Viking recreation group occupied the gardens.

We are now sailing towards Copenhagen. Our journey continues. We look forward to St Petersburg and all The adventures that await us.