The Hurtigruten experience

We disembarked in Bergen today. What a wonderful, beautiful trip we had going south from Kirkenes to Bergen! We saw glaciers, waterfalls, incredibly narrow fjords, quaint villages, and modern cities. We met new friends from Nuremburg, Grenoble, various cities in Norway and other European countries. I even tried out my fledgling French on a lovely woman named Claudette! (And she at least pretended to understand me!) The Polarys is a lovely vessel and very comfortable. Our room faced the bow and so we could watch our progress from our own room. Of course we could also go to the observation area on deck 7 with it's wall to wall windows and comfortable seating! This was our first cruise but we had heard about the food on cruise ships. This was not the normal type of ship, as it is a working postal and freight vessel, but we had wonderful breakfast and lunch buffets, and dinner was seated and served to us by a very efficient wait staff. It was 3 courses and was presented beautifully and tasted gourmet! We saw Laurie and Gary Axling in Trondheim! We had an excited reunion and they sat with us while we had breakfast aboard our ship. We talked and shared experiences for about half an hour and then we set sail and they headed off to explore the city. It was so much fun to meet good friends away from home like that. They are just beginning a month long adventure - if you see them after they are home, be sure to hear about it!

Bergen is a large and interesting city. It was Norway's first capital and has been in existence for about a thousand years! There are many lovely old buildings and on our city bus tour this afternoon we saw many of them. Our guide Craig also took us on a walking tour around our hotel which is perfectly situated next door to the Hanseatic League area (a commercial trading group that thrived hundreds of years ago) and the fish market, which is really an open air public market. We also went on the funicular to a high point and got a wonderful view of the city, the fjord and the islands. Tomorrow morning we go on a half day tour to the outer island area of Bergen and then have the afternoon to do more exploring on our own. There is so much to see and do!

Meanwhile back at home, we found out that Jessica had to have her gall bladder out very unexpectedly! She is okay now, less than 24 hours after the surgery. It is agonizing to be here when she really could use my help! All of you parents know what I mean. I am really glad that we will be home in a couple of weeks and I can see for myself that she is okay.

On Sunday we are off to Oslo via "Norway in a nutshell". We go cross country from Bergen to Oslo using various types of transportation and seeing many beautiful sights. I'll post again then and tell you all about it. Take care of yourselves and all you teachers out there have a fantastic start to your year!