Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Arctic Circle Cruise Days 10-12: Olden, Bergen & back to Amsterdam!


On our way to the glacier



More beautiful waterfalls



The glacier!


Caught in the act of taking a video!




On Day 10 we arrived in the town of Olden, and I was finally feeling back to my old self! After lunch, Mark, Jeff and I headed to shore for our afternoon excursion to hike to the Briksdalen Glacier. A bus drove us for about half an hour to the start of the hike. From there, it was a self-guided walk up the mountain to the national park which is home to the glacier. It was my first experience to see a glacier and it was spectacular! There was some heavy cloud cover at the top of it, but we could see the lower portion and we saw it calf once, which is when a piece of ice breaks loose. It makes a huge thundering noise and is an awesome sight!


Pulling into Bergen's port


Beautiful day on the pier



Yes, that's whale! Norway allows the legal hunting of whales


Crazy seafood sandwiches


Great fish market!


A ride up the funicular provided some awesome views of Bergen



A "birds-eye" view!

Day 11 brought us into the town of Bergen. I had a great time in this port! Mark's mom Anne, his Aunt Sue and I spent the morning checking out the beautiful harbor area, popping in and out of the shops and wandering through the amazing fish market. It was fun to see all of the sea food, fresh from the sea, stuffed into the sandwiches! We made our way to the funicular and rode our way up the hill to take in the fantastic views over the city. We bumped into Mark and his dad Jeff at the top, who had just finished their morning hike excursion. The five of us then headed back to the ship for lunch and some downtime. Later in the day, I enjoyed a fabulous spa afternoon on the ship and then had a fantastic dinner with the rest of the family at the Italian restaurant on board the ship.


Entertaining ourselves in the arcade


Hangin' out at the gelato bar


Our last sunset

Day 12, our final day on the cruise was spent on board the ship sailing back to Amsterdam. Mark and I had a very entertaining afternoon playing in the arcade and eating ice cream at the gelato bar! It was a bittersweet dinner, knowing that we were departing the next morning and had to say good-bye to Mark's family. The night was topped off by a spectacular sunset (one of the few we saw during the cruise!). We were lucky enough to experience this beautiful country and will look back on our time in Norway with fond memories!

Where we'll head to next, we don't yet know! Stay tuned to find out!

2 comments:

  1. Maybe I could do without the Whale meat! But that picture of the sunset is gorgeous!!! And the one of you and Mark on the Glacier (first pic in post) should be framed!!

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  2. Now I have to ask, did you try any whale meat? I am definitely remembering to pull out my menu translator in France just to be sure nothing "fishy" gets by me. :)

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