Monday 3rd July 2023
I had a bumpy night and I'm not sure if it was because the boat movements could be felt more than the previous day or what, but I woke up feeling tired. It looked rather miserable weather wise but we had a bus ticket for the second day so we headed out after breakfast.
First things first, post my blog on the bus wifi, haha. It's been strange to realise that the answers to all my questions rely on the internet. Does my phone plan cover Norway? Oops, can't Google it. But strangely enough I'm still getting South Africa's power cut schedule coming through, and that with my phone on airplane mode and the ship's wifi.
There was another big cruise ship in the dock and it had a British flag on it. The tour busses were full but we managed to get a seat on the top floor to sit out the full tour on the first lap. Alesund was the port of call today and it felt very different to Bergen. I wish I could Google first some history as I can't remember the details from the tour bus commentary.
My first impression felt like it was a bit scruffy but that was misguided, as it was only next to the harbour where they're doing some road maintenance. The town is pristine, even with the odd dustbin that looked like it had been looted. The greens of the forest and cemetery were glowing.
The bus took us all the way to the top of a park like hill. It is about 280m high but I can't remember the name. Oops. There is a lookout and a restaurant at the top and there's a stair race that happens from the town to the top. So we walked down them instead. The views are stunning and it's fascinating to see the very different landscape. There's also some Second World War bunkers and fortress things that are so deep into the rock that they will be staying there indefinitely. The woods on the hill are very popular for walkers and runners and in the winter, off piste skiing and other chilly sports. The weather in the town is rather gloomy with over 250 days of rainfall. Today was one of them. Fortunately when we walked around after the bus, the drizzle had stopped.
There was a devastating fire which resulted in most of the buildings being destroyed in 1904. Great care was taken in trying to recreate the look of some of the historical buildings but used bricks instead of timber. There's still a law that the center buildings must be built with brick and stone and not timber.
The Norwegian economy is based on oil and gas. It's the world's fifth largest supplier of oil and the third of gas, (but subject to correction from internet checks, lol) The people in Alesund were also all incredibly polite with great English speaking and they all look like the models. Tall, blonde and tanned. I'm not sure if it's windburn or sunburn because there's a lack of the old sun, at the moment. We saw very healthy looking runners shining their way on the paths despite the cool drizzle.
We were both very tired today so we headed back to the ship early and had lunch on board. I watched the ship prepare to leave the dock and froze in the wind. On the other side the view changed completely and was windstill. I also ended up chatting with the British couple from the hot tub, again although this time we were all fully clothed, haha.
Angie climbed into bed early and I'm watching the ship camera on the TV. It looks a lot calmer than it feels. But I'm hoping to sleep better tonight.
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