Trolling for Something to Do in Eidfjord, Norway

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One look out of our cabin window told us that the sun was not shining in Eidfjord. Sharon felt just a little guilty about telling Duncan and Pam “what a wonderful” time we’d had when we’d done the “Waffles and Waterfall” tour on our last visit to Eidfjord. The waterfall is quite spectacular, and on our visit to see it the sun was shining so we had a great view; but, as for the hype about the Norwegian Waffles, somebody has a really sick sense of humor to tout these as something that you should think about spending good money to try. Upon arriving at the mountaintop café that served these monstrosities you walked into a room in which the plates are covered with waffles that are too big for the plate they’re being served on, which could be a good thing. These waffles were about one-half inch thick, they were cold, and they were limp with no crispiness at all to them. And they were served dry. The only accompaniments were sour cream and what I recall being lingonberries. So sending Duncan and Pam of with this preconception of what they might expect, I believe, completely burst their bubble. They, like we, had been completely been sold a bill of goods by the write-up, and not the first time either from the writeups of HAL tours. Don’t even get me started on Lobster Rolls. We feared, with the weather being what it appeared to be, they might not even get to see the waterfall.

We were in no hurry to rush up to the Lido this morning, and tendering was scheduled to start before 10AM. Sharon even managed to miss her 8AM mass. I guess when port-arrival is as late as today, they count it as a pseudo-sea-day, so mass is in the morning.

We headed to the Lido, where the “Code Red” precautions still seem to be in force. They evidently pull staff from other departments to fill the additional staffing needs for the people who repeat in a continuous monotone drill, “Please remember to wash your hands” or the ones who fill requests for coffee or water. As I got my morning ice water, the server handed it to me saying, “Good morning, Mr. John.” I had to take a double take before recognizing her as the steward in the Exploration Café where I have been getting my San Pellegrino. Sharon pooh-poohed the scrambled eggs as she walked by, and I understood what she mumbled, “They’re too runny for me;” but, the server/cook seemed confused and wanted so much to fix whatever Sharon thought needed fixing. I told Sharon, “She’ll make you scrambled eggs, any way you want them.” Sharon came back and explained what she wanted to her, and she beamed, “I fix just the way you want!” And she did.

We got Tender Ticket #33 and the last tender called was for #20. We had to wait in the Ocean Bar about twenty minutes before they called off about eight tender groups, including ours. We got on the tender and were thankful we made the first tender; because, there was a second one waiting to come along side the Rotterdam. We were experiencing something more than misting and the steady drizzle was accumulating on the outside windows of the tender; while, on the inside they were getting quite steamed up. Okay, maybe I’m a bit underdressed for this weather in my cargo shorts and Vegas-Strong baseball hat. There was one other burly geezer; besides me that is, that had donned a similar pair of shorts. He however had a graying handlebar mustache and a Rough Riders hat and could have been used as a stunt double for Teddy Roosevelt in the movies. Getting onto the pier, I struggle to get my jacket on because that drizzle has changed to rain. We look for the nearest shelter and find none. We head in the general direction away from the tender when we spot the Troll-Train. The train looked promising for providing us shelter from the rain. I spot “Deutsche Spräche” on a sheet taped to the inside of the train window and thought, “This could be a problem… for Sharon.” We’d spotted the large Aida ship at the one cruise ship berth on the pier, and clearly, this was for them. There were not a lot of German-speaking people on the Rotterdam. We were directed to the Ticket Office across the street, and made our way there. “The trains run every 20 minutes.” As an afterthought, she reminded someone, “Make sure to get on the English-speaking Train!” She claimed that there were two German speaking trains, and that the next English-speaking Train was scheduled to depart from across the street in 40 minutes, at 1PM. The German-speaking train that we’d spotted was just now pulling away from the boarding area. We found some sheltered seating by the local market near the Ticket Office pull up to the boarding area about ten minutes later. Sharon figured that this was the German train; but, I volunteered to go over and make sure. It’s raining enough that there are drops on my glasses and I had to get closer to confirm “English Language”. I wave for Sharon to come.

We were lucky to find space in the last car of this multi-car train. We were getting settled when: “Crash!” The conductor had just closed our door with a thunderous slam that startled the guy in front of me. “You’d think that he’s a government employee, and not one working for tips,” the guy complained. The Troll-Train makes a circuit out to the Viking Graveyard and then out to the Old Church. The pre-canned English narration started: “Deep in the protection of the fjord, Eidfjord enjoys a temperate climate due to the Gulf Stream, and consequently it seldom rains or snows in Eidford”. It gave everyone in our train car quite a laugh. I’m guessing that we’re enjoying some of that “Seldom Rain” today. Lucky us! The path meanders on a narrow-paved road up a hill and onto a flat where several farming buildings and homes are surrounded by green fields. Mostly they seem to be harvesting grass, and large white marshmallow bundles of hay lie about the fields. We passed two significant mounds of stones in a woods near the edge of a grassy field. This is the Viking Graveyard. The train windows were heavy with rain drops streaking down the sides. The train made a U-Turn at a small Turn-about in the field then continued back again past the Viking Graveyard, again without stopping. I guess you don’t need to stop if both sides of the train get to “be on the good side”. It would have been nice to get out though to snap a few decent pictures. At the crest of the hill we did stop; before heading back down towards Eidfjord. Those who wanted to get out could venture out into the heaviest rain yet to take some pictures. Those who had wives that wanted their husbands to go out into the heaviest rain yet to take some pictures could do so as well. I went out into the heaviest rain yet to take some pictures. I thought that the thick rolling fog was going to obscure the view of the Rotterdam at anchor in Eidfjord (or so I thought). I later learned from the Captain’s afternoon PA announcement that this part of the fjord is too deep for the ship to anchor, I believe he mentioned 800 meters, so they had to use the engines and thrusters to maintain the position all day. However, there was an opening in the changing cloudy conditions that gave a good view of the ships in the harbor from the promontory point which obscured this view from the train. Sharon will just have to wait to see the pictures to know what she missed, staying behind in the dry train car. The guy behind me was the last to board and was not yet seated when: “CRASH”, even louder than before. I could see the steam welling up under his collar. I heard him mutter something like, “He and I are going to have words.”

We drove back by the downtown area, through the circle and finally up a second hill on the other side of town. This time we went to the Old Church. We were stopping for five minutes to take pictures, and then we would return to the station; or, people could choose to take the fifteen-minute walk back if they wanted to stay a while longer. Somebody complained, “Well I wanted to walk back, but not in this downpour.” “Go get some pictures,” I hear somebody urge… oh, it’s Sharon. “You can’t go into the church, because they floors are being redone,” the conductor advised. I got out took a picture, and realized that we were too close to capture the full steeple. I walked to the corner of the churchyard, trying to avoid the increasing pools of water, snapped a few pictures and returned to get on the train. A lady is blocking my way. She is taking a picture of the church from inside the train and blocking the entire entrance. I say, “Excuse me.” She can’t decide whether to take the shot upright or sideways, and she continues just to stand there. Takes one picture, and then decides to continue to stand there while she gets ready to take another. I start in, saying “Excuse me” again; but, she doesn’t budge. “Just a minute dear, I’m lining up my shot.” Is this the same lady with the Bronx accent I keep bumping into on this cruise? Water is now pouring on me from the roof of the train. She takes her picture; but, was still in no hurry to get out of the way. I guess getting wet isn’t high on one’s priority list from inside a dry train. As the last person boarded I see the conductor walk up to grab the door. He paused, looked briefly at the gentleman just getting seated in front of me, and I think I saw him smile: “CRASH!” “And I talked to him,” the man complained. And I added, “And he thought about it, and paused, before he slammed the door.”

Sharon headed up to the Dive-In to grab a burger for a late lunch. I decided to skip lunch altogether and remain in the cabin trying to get the blog caught up before it falls hopelessly behind. Duncan and Pam are probably still out on their “Waffles and Waterfalls” tour and it doesn’t bode well for them. Sharon and I talked to a lady in the hallway, and I asked her, “Are you just getting back from tour?” She nodded, “But we couldn’t see a thing.” Sharon asked, “Did you go to see the waterfall?” “We did; but, all we did was HEAR the waterfall.” Jim and Rose Marie showed up with their Happy Hour Gin and Tonic. Jim often gets them each a glass of ice water and tries to pass it off as gin and tonic. After slogging around in the rain today, I guess they both needed the real thing. Two others were looking to join a team, so we welcomed them… the one guy assured us, “I’m good for at least two answers.” Today, Tino was doing Team Trivia as Linda must have had the day off. I’d stopped in to listen to a few of his questions the evening before at Evening Trivia; and, I wouldn’t have even gotten one of the six that I heard, so I wasn’t optimistic. So you can imagine what I was thinking when I heard the first question: “When Samuel Becket first released ‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘End Game’ in what language did these works appear?” That’s right, I was thinking that we weren’t going to get any right. We agreed on “French” for this answer. And to my surprise, “French” was the right answer. And to my even greater surprise our new teammate had convinced Jim to change the answer to “Gaelic” without telling the rest of us. Jim knew the name of the movie where Jane Fonda had played an exotic space maiden. I think that even Sharon knew that one, which surprised me. The answer: “Barbarella”. Tino has an interesting Spanish accent, which he enjoys over-exaggerating with a haughty French attitude, asked, “Sig-moan Frood would treat his morphine-addicted patients with what drug? We wrote done “Opium”. Rose Marie was pushing laudanum. And Jim and the new guy were trying to change the answer to “Cocaine” after Tino had called for “Pencils Down”. We didn’t let them change the answer; even though, as it turns out, they would have been right. Tino asked, “What are the bonus items called that DVD and Blueray makers hide in their products for fans to find?” Sharon started to right down “Jelly-Beans”, then crossed it out and wrote down the right answer: “Easter Eggs.” The new guy redeemed himself with the two point bonus question, “Name the Brazilian martial art that begins with the letter ‘C’". He says, “Oooh, Oooh, I know this. He had written down “Capriera” before Tino had add the extra hint that it started with a “C”. Since we don’t count for spelling, we gave ourselves full credit for “Capoeira”. We wound up with 15 out of 17 points. The winners got 16! If we’d only not changed our answer!

It was time to change into smart casual attire for dinner. We showed up just after opening and there was no line. Hopefully things don’t bunch up again when we leave Rotterdam. We sat at a table for four in the lower interior section with another couple that was already seated. I ordered the Veal Tataki appetizer, and the plate came with about five slices of veal and made a nice plate with some substance to it. I also had the shrimp and artichoke dip. I found this quite tasty by itself; although, I suspect you were supposed to spread it on your bread. Alas, I am still avoiding the basket of bread, even the one that is now being brought around by the bread-serving person and deposited by him onto your bread plate. This “Code Red” stuff is starting to get old; but, it is better safe than sorry. The captain and crew seem to know what they’re doing to handle the problem and reduce the threat. Everyone but me ordered the petite filet. I decided to take the advice of our dinner companions last night and get the “Fish Dish” with the fresh catch from Ålesund. Today’s delicacy was Fresh Norwegian Spiced Plaice. I’m told that it is like cod. Whatever kind of fish it is, I found this dish very nice. Sharon’s prospects are looking up with her chocolate cake and blueberry whipped cream. For me, it was time to enjoy the third Banana Crisp with vanilla ice cream. I also couldn’t resist tonight’s Nutty Irishman consisting of Frangelico and Irish Cream.

Tonight’s Show was postponed from when it was supposed to air a couple nights back. It was postponed due to technical difficulties; which, it seems the male dancer bit his tongue rather badly making speaking/singing problematic. They are a married couple who perform around the world. There show is a combined audio/video routine which serve as segues to their dance numbers. Tonight’s dances were inspired various movies, from one end of the spectrum to the other. Their opening video sequence required the audience to read way too much information. Sharon found it annoying and it was beginning to put me to sleep. They danced very well; but, Sharon felt her time best spent securing a choice spot in the Piano Bar before the Show ended. I stayed to the end, and managed to stay awake.

It was a “You Pick’m Night for Frank Sinatra.” He had lists of several hundred songs that Frank had song and would let people yell out choices until he got 10. Sharon’s choice was “Both Sides Now,” which she knew was a Jonie Mitchell Song but guess Frank recorded it too. He played that one 2^nd and most people seemed to enjoy it.

I opened the Fun-21 table, and to my surprise, was able to play by myself. This suited me fine. Things were much better than the previous evening. I am still finding it difficult to win with 20; which, is never a good thing. I did get my share of blackjacks, and double-downs were mostly going my way. I even won six hands in a row a couple of times. After playing for over an hour, I was almost even, and decided to call it a night.

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