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!

Arctic Circle Cruise Days 7-9: Molde & Geiranger

View over Molde

Day 7 was an another "at-sea day and we arrived in the town of Molde, known as the "city of roses" early in the morning of Day 8. Unfortunately, the norovirus hit me on night 6 of the cruise so I was down for the count for this part of the trip. Luckily, Mark took over camera duties! We didn't have any excursions planned for this town, so Mark and his dad Jeff decided to head off for a hike, and Anne and Sue went for a walk in town.

Beautiful Geiranger fjord

Seven Sisters Waterfall

Beautiful waterfall rainbow

Kayaking around the fjord!

Day 9 brought us to the town of Geiranger which sits in one of Norway's most famous fjords. Its beautiful waterfalls are a sight to be seen! The Seven Sisters waterfall spills hundreds of thousands of gallons of water from 5,000 feet. Mark and Jeff went on a morning excursion to check out the waterfalls in an RIB and again in the afternoon in a double kayak! In the evening, our whole party gathered up on the top deck of the ship to view the waterfalls up close as we departed the fjord.

Arctic Circle Cruise Days 4-6: Cruisin' through the Arctic Circle, Tromso & Honningsvag

Cruisin' through the Arctic Circle!

Norway's western coast

The Arctic Circle's famous landmark

Land of the mid-night sun!

Day 4 was another day at sea, as we cruised through the Arctic Circle! The captain opened the heli-pad in the front of the ship in order to allow us to view the the famous globe that marks the invisible line of the Arctic Circle. North of this line is where the summer sun stays above the horizon all day and night, and the sun in the winter disappears!

Views of Tromso

Back on board!

Dinner at the San Marco restaurant

On Day 5, we arrived in Tromso, known as the "Gateway to the Arctic." A few facts about Tromso!: Fishing in Tromso still plays a big part in the local economy. However, it is also an important city for education and is home to one of the country's biggest hospitals. We spent the morning walking around the town and admiring the Arctic Cathedral from across the bridge.

Honningsvag, Norway's northernmost village

Making a new friend! Norway's trolls are everywhere!

Getting prepped for our King Crab Safari excursion

Catchin' some crab!

King Crab!!

Inspecting the crab we caught!

Cooking the crab

Our restaurant for the afternoon, a traditional Sami hut

Ready to eat!

Enjoying our catch!

Crab legs cracked and ready to eat

North Cape

Day 6 brought us into the small fishing town of Honningsvag, known for being the world's northernmost village. From Honnigsvag, the North Cape, known for being the Northernmost point in Europe, lies about 22 miles.

Mark and I had a fun excursion planned in the afternoon, the King Crab Safari! We met our guide on the deck and then headed over to their headquarters around the corner where we donned dry suits for the trip. After putting our suits on, we hopped in to the RIB (rigid, inflatable boat) for a short ride out to the crab pots! We watched as our guides pulled it up from the sea, and were lucky enough to have caught four crabs in this run. After getting them out of the net, we headed over to shore to feast on some crab! We met the rest of our hosts on the pier and took pictures with the live crab! Once the photo ops were over, we headed over to our eating venue for the afternoon, an authentic Sami tent. The Samis are Norway's indigenous people who use these tents as their shelter from the harsh winter weather. Inside the tent was a bar with drinks and a large fire. The crab meat was put into a big pot over the fire to boil in sea water. Once it was boiling, the pot was removed from the fire and left to sit for about half and hour. Then the good eats arrived...two huge plates of cooked crab meat! It doesn't get much fresher than shellfish straight from the sea to your plate in about 45 minutes! After enjoying our meal, we headed back to the mainland in our RIB. It was a fun and memorable afternoon!

In the evening, after departing from Honnigsvag's port, we passed by the North Cape for a view of Europe's northernmost point and another globe that commemorates its position.

Stay tuned for more updates to come from Week 2 of our cruise!...