Åndalsnes, Our First Stop on the Norwegian Coast

We woke up Wednesday morning to find that our ship was docking in the town of Åndalsnes. While we ate our breakfast, we looked out over the city. It seemed pretty small. We knew there was a gondola ride to the top of a nearby mountain, but that was about as much as we knew.

The first thing we did after getting off the boat was see how much the gondola ride would cost. It turns out a round trip was about $60. That was too expensive for our taste so we decided to just explore around the town.

Nearby was an unusual building. Its focus was on mountain climbing. Since we had no intention of climbing any mountains, we passed that by as well. We walked around the water’s edge taking photos of the nearby water and mountains. We were in a fjord and could see the mountains that surround the area. I had expected much steeper cliffs, but the fjord was beautiful on this cloudy morning.

We came across a park area by the water. It included a wooden deck and flower boxes. It was a great place to enjoy the scenery across the water.

As we walked farther afield it seemed we were seeing more of the city. A hill in the town had blocked much of the city from our view from the ship. We saw more industrial areas and were surprised at the amount of businesses we encountered. Åndalsnes was definitely not as small as we had originally thought.

We continued walking. On a map of Åndalsnes I had seen a hiking trail that went to the top of the mountain where the gondola went. I knew we couldn’t climb that high up, but I thought maybe we could climb partway up. The problem was I couldn’t figure out on the map where this trail began. The map had me confused for some reason.

Finally we came to a location and discovered the trail. The beginning of the trail was quite interesting. First it was very steep. Secondly it was on a steel pathway attached to the side of the mountain. We could see what looked like the original trail in places, but the steel path was now the main way to go up. At least it was easy to walk on even if it was steep. We ended up stopping and resting before we even got to the top of the first section.

The trail then did a sharp turn and leveled out some. However, the trail was still on the steel pathway. Eventually the steel path did end. Initially the now dirt trail was easy to walk on, but soon it became challenging with large rocks and webs of tree roots that made it difficut for us older folks to navigate. We managed to reach an area where there was a picnic shelter with a nice view, but at that point we felt we had gone far enough. While we really made little progress on the trail, we felt like we had at least managed to get in some good physical activity, and we did enjoy the views of Åndalsnes and the fjord.

One of the fun things about the trail was finding some steel figures along the way which had a whimsical feel to them. We missed a couple going up, but once we noticed them, we began to look around more carefully to discover some of the other ones. We saw some we missed going back down.

Back at the bottom of the trail we walked through town and reboarded the boat. The ship was leaving at 2:00, but we were back by about 12:15. Lunch was ready so we took advantage of that. Following lunch I took advantage of a dark room and took a nap as we left Åndalsnes behind.

That night was the first night we had assigned seating at dinner time. We worked it out so we were eating with Jacob and Andrea at the 7:30 sitting. No buffet tonight, but a limited menu. I wasn’t sure about it all, but it actually turned out to be a good meal. We had a starter, and I chose smoked deer. When it arrived, it looked pretty raw, but it actually tasted quite good. That was followed by a duck lek which was very tasty and then ice cream and sorbet for dessert.

After such a meal Silvette and I decided we needed to walk so we went to the sixth floor and started walking around the outside deck there. Of course I had my camera, and I was taking pictures as the opportunity came up. The scenery is constantly changing so there are no shortages of opportunities for photos.

Along the way we passed another very large cruise ship. It looked like it was a Cunard ship. We just marvel that people would want to be on such a huge ship with so many people. We really like the size of this ship, and the opportunities it provides for various spaces to spend time in. It never felt crowded.

This night we actually had a sunset of sorts. Clouds were in the area of the sun creating golden clouds. However, the sun wasn’t really setting. It remained in the sky rather than gradually slip down below the horizon. I think it may have eventually disappeared for a brief time, but I went to bed before it did that.

Tonight we had another lighthouse moment as well. We were told that between 11:15 and 11:45 we would be passing by this famous lighthouse, Kjeungskjaer. Of course I stayed up to see it. However, again the lighthouse appeared small although it had more of a lighthouse look to it. Originally the sun was shining behind it, but as we passed it, the sun lit up the side we could see. Its red color is its most distinctive element. It was interesting to see everyone lined up against the railing to get their photo.

With that, it was time to end the day. Tomorrow morning we have an early scenic point we are passing by so I need to get up early to see it. Next week I’ll share about that experience and more. See you then.