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Published: September 14th 2014
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Hi everyone
This is the 2
nd last day of the cruise and we are sitting in the Lyric Theatre listening to the Captain’s talk about maritime issues. The first question is about the weather…surprise, surprise!
So going back a couple of days. We’ve been in Norway for 5 days now and it’s a BEAUTIFUL country. It’s been incredibly warm and sunny, only raining on one day. That was the day we hiked to the Briksdal Glacier which is a part of the Jostedal glacier ice-field, the largest glacier on the European mainland. The glacier slope plunges from a height of 1200metres, down to the lush, narrow Briksdal Valley.At its thickest part the ice is 400m deep!
I thought it was going to be a 2 mile walk there and back. Bzz…wrong answer! It was an 8.6km round trip. The first bit was up hill, well up mountain! Peter seems to recall this hike quite differently. He reckoned it was a walk in the park. My recollection was of struggling up steps, taking long rests at waterfalls etc. I even went to the toilet on the way just to have a rest!
The glacier was amazing. The ice
was actually blue. I stuck my hand in the Briksdalsvatnet Lake and my hand came out the colour of the glacier, a lovely blue! We decided to fill up our waterfall from the lake and the water tasted fantastic. Peter brought some back to drink with his whisky.
The downhill trip back from down from glacier was a doddle! There was an incentive to get back down…coffee and cake at the cafe. They make a mean sponge cake in Norway. The black forest gateau made with cranberries was to die for.
Yesterday we went to Stavanger which I’m sure was the setting for a Scandiwegian TV series! With about 120,000 people, Stavanger is Norway’s fourth-largest city with a history that stretches back to the Middle Ages. Stavanger was once a small coastal market town later becoming an important fishing port. The Stavanger region claims to be the cradle of the Vikings but nowadays is known as the “The Petroleum Capital of Norway”. It’s a very wealthy town.
The ship docked in the city centre, near the oldest part of the town, just a short walk away from the cathedral, and the old city with its cobbled pedestrian
streets. We caught a hop on hop off bus which took us on the very short trip around the town. We could probably have saved ourselves the 13 pound fare but the bus had WI-Fi which relieved my feelings of (internet) deprivation.
We have had a very good time on this cruise (as usual). The food started off a bit ordinary but improved in leaps and bounds over the last few days. This has happened on all three cruises but I’m not sure why.
A couple of days ago we went to the Italian restaurant on deck 14. What a great experience! We started with antipasto and scallops, moved on to the most wonderful mushroom risotto and then a veal and truffle dish. We managed to stuff down desert and then wobbled off back to the cabin. I can’t remember having a better meal in my life. Even more fun was that we dined with the Stephens’ who really are the life of the party.
We enjoyed different things this trip. Peter decided to forgo the quizzes and has gone art mad. We bought a couple of abstract paintings. It’s going to be very interesting to see
where they hang them and how they go with our antique furniture. We’ll invite you over for a showing when we the paintings are up! We’re hoping our resident artist next door, Pete, will help us with positioning the painting appropriately.
Back again at the art auction this time listening to a bit of Van the Man…brown eyed girl! I just come for the champagne. I think Peter actually comes to learn about art and enjoy the auction atmosphere. I must admit I have learnt a bit about modern art. Oh here comes the champagne…I must go!
Sadly we waved goodbye to Adventure of the Seas and our friends Liz and Alan on Friday and took off for our next exciting adventure with Flossie and Bessie. They still live at Ampney Crucis which has a population of 609 and a number of sheep!
love Sandy and pj
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