The Ins and Outs of Geiranger Norway

---

We had a simple light egg-free breakfast in the Lido. We’d plan to meet and join our Trivia Teammates as we were taking the same tour today. We’d confirmed where they like to sit in the Showroom waiting for the tours to depart. However, today Geiranger was a “Tender Port” for us. The Koningsdam policy for tender ports is to sticker everyone coming into the showroom for tours; rather, when they exit and we were early and wound up with #4 stickers and our friends had #5 stickers.

Tendering went very smoothly and we found that you’re much less likely to bump your head on a Koningsdam tender/lifeboat than you are on the other DAM ships. We got on our bus and then began our journey up the winding road to a viewpoint almost one mile above the fjord. We stopped at one viewpoint about halfway up Geiranger Road. Our guide pointed out a few places where the “Old Geiranger” road had been built in the late nineteenth century. It was solely for horse drawn carriages. Pity the horse that had to make that ascent. At about 1000m in elevation there were two lakes. The largest was about 7 to 9 meters deep; and, in the winter the ice can be up to 2 meters thick… thick enough that you can drive a truck onto the ice. At about 800m in elevation we had hit the treeline, and above that only moss and small shrubs could be found. We came upon a private road, included in our tour, and cars must pay a fee to continue up to the World’s Highest Viewpoint overlooking a fjord from the road. Less than ten years ago this was a gravel road which would have made traversing it seem hazardous, especially on the descent. This stretch of road has had a guardrail for only three years, so those with fear of heights were encouraged to keep their eyes closed. Our guide told us, “That’s what the driver is doing!” The view was quite breathtaking. The temperature was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit; but, the air was so still that the Norwegian flag in the parking area was drooped straight down. We could see our ship at anchor near the end of the fjord, and another ship docked at the fixed mooring point. A super long walkway extended to where the ship was tied and passengers could depart without tendering. Sharon supposed that our ship was probably too big to dock there; but, when we checked on line the other ship carried 2,700 passengers or about 500 more than the Koningsdam. We drove back up the road we’d come up to that lofty view, back into and through town, and then proceeded up the opposing rock and green face rock face that sloped down to the end of Geiranger Fjord. If you translate the name, it winds up being Geir Fjord Fjord; since “anger” is the Norwegian for fjord. This road is the Eagle’s Road that zigzags up the face until you reach the final hairpin turn that locals call “The Eagle’s Bend”. As we left, our guide mentioned, “Some of you have asked about these piles of stones that you spot that appear to signify something. Well, let me tell you. No, maybe I shouldn’t tell you. No, you deserve to know. These are markers for where busses have gone of the road.” He was kidding, I think. On our way down from the other summit we’d spotted a number of micro cars that proclaimed that they were “Talking Cars”. They have occupancy for the driver; although a passenger could be seen squeezed behind the driver in some of the cars. These cars are rented out to tourists to go and explore various spots on their own. Their evidently equipped with GPS and the drivers get instruction as they go. We saw one of these cars parked on the Eagle’s Bend, with its gull wing door rotated forward and up. A number of sightseers were having their picture taken with this unique looking petite car. From this viewing spot, we could go out on an elevated lookout point with an unobstructed view of the seven sisters falls. Our guide noted that it was down to maybe four or five sisters right now. At the beginning of summer you can see all seven sisters, a series of seven rivulets that cascade down the mountain. Across the way is Suitors Falls. Our driver also noted that this fjord was featured in a movie. Science has determined that large part of the mountain face of this fjord will someday fall into the water below. The movie was called “Wave” which describes the utter destruction of Geiranger that would result from the ensuing tsunami. Two people on our bus said that they’d seen the movie, a typical disaster movie, and not worth the time to watch. Our guide also told us that when a local viewed the premier of the movie she noticed that the production had swapped the locations of the Seven Sisters and Suitors Falls. Creative license I guess.

We went up to the Lido for lunch. I got myself a custom pizza with white sauce, ham, Kalamata olives, mushrooms and red onions from the deck above and brought it back down to eat poolside with Sharon. She had gotten “the other white meat”, some roast pork with mashed potatoes. My pizza was the best yet. I’ll try adding arugula to it next. We both indulged at the gelato bar and I got a waffle cone, with a freshly made cone, filled with chocolate and pistachio. I’m still looking for my favorite. Sharon was pretty happy with her chocolate and vanilla with chocolate shavings combination; but, she complains that they give you too much. Afterwards there was time for me to catch up on the blog and time for Sharon to indulge in some meditation.

We had a full team to re-contest the afternoon Trivia Title. Mass was an hour later today, so Sharon joined us and our team was back to full strength. Christina started with “How thick is a hockey puck?” And she would accept answers in metric or English units. We were rewarded for going with “One Inch”. Our teammates knew “What TV journalist would sign-off his show with ‘Good Night and Good Luck!’?” Back before Walter Cronkite. It was Edward R. Morrow. She told us that Gaugin had lived on the island of Jiva Oa. She wanted to know what island group this island was in. Our choices were the Cook Islands, Markakis Islands, the Canary Islands or the Channel Islands. We missed this and had no clue that it was the Markakis Islands. “What was the first Disneyland fatality on a ride in 1964?” I urged everyone to go with the Cable-Car (or Sky Ride); but, it turned out to be everyone’s favorite choice for a Disneyland ride The Matterhorn. The 3-point bonus was tough: “What were the busiest airports in number of passengers handled in 2011?” We got Heathrow (London). We guessed O’Hare (Chicago) and the airport in Seoul. The final two should have been Charles de Gaul (Paris) and Hong Kong. Nonetheless, we got 14 out of a possible 18 points, and we returned to the winner circle with a couple of points to spare. I went back to the cabin to add today’s questions to the spreadsheet, and Sharon was headed off to mass.

When Sharon returned it was time for dinner at De Librije. The Pinnacle turns into the De Librije once a week based on the deconstructionist cuisine featured at a Michelin 3-star restaurant of the same name. The offer a 5-course meal, with two choices for each part. We looked at the menu ahead of time and weren’t sure what Sharon can eat. To be sure, this is a dining experience. Our hostess explained about the restaurant and the man-and-wife proprietors who created this unique dining experience. With this cuisine, you either love it, or some hate it. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground. They brought out a sparkling white wine to cleanse the palate, and to accompany the amuse bouche. That would actually be your sixth course in this dining experience. Sharon declined hers, even after being encouraged to try the golden egg. The amuse bouche comprised a long narrow serving tray with three sections. It was suggested to commence with the middle section where a coated plum tomato had been artistically arranged. To the right of that, and recommended for eating next was the golden egg where a gold colored egg shell had been propped up, with the top one quarter removed. It had been topped with a cauliflower puree and that had been topped with a dollop of caviar. Okay, a first time eating caviar for me. This dish was indeed delicious, and Sharon still refused to try a bit of mine. She didn’t want to deprive me of a single morsel. Last came the foie gras lollipop, a round glob of the goose liver pate stuck with a lollypop stick and coated in crushed pistachios. They were all incredibly good, and the foie gras was another first for me that I thought I’d never try. Each course is paired with a partial glass of wine, included in the $79 cost of the meal for one. For an additional $20 they will pour you a full glass for the first four courses; but, it’s not needed. For our 4-star Mariner status this dinner is available at half price. My first course was “Maine Lobster with Avocado”. A few small chunks of lobster are arranged on a plate with small bits of yellow beef steak tomato and micro greens. Quite yummy. Sharon skipped her first course as well. My second course was Lobster Bisque with Alaskan Crab. It was as good a lobster bisque as I’ve ever had. Sharon did decide to try the pork belly that was served with a pea foam. Several bites of pork belly (very tiny bits) were presented with various accompaniments. Sharon let me have the one with caviar, and it was very good. Sharon tended to cut off the crisped fatted part of the pork belly, what I might argue is the best part of the dish. Nonetheless we found something for Sharon to like and eat; other than the French baguettes which were served for the meal. My third dish was seared bass with speck ham. Again, delicious. The fourth course was baked cod with North Sea Shrimps. The cod was excellent; but, I was wondering about the shrimp, I couldn’t find them at first. Then I noticed these tiny (I mean 2-to-3 millimeter size tiny) curved thing in one portion of the plate, tried one, and confirmed that these were indeed the North Sea Shrimp, and surprisingly tasty. Sharon found the miso glazed duck breast, and she enjoyed the tiny bites and presentation. Finally came the fifth course: dessert. Sharon got the deconstructed apple pie; while, I got the white chocolate with lemon grass. I must have liked mine best because I finished mine first! Sharon’s plate was a masterful presentation of four tiny, tine delicately cut pieces of baked apple in sauce, arranged artfully around the plate. Scattered around the plate were the other separate ingredients that make up an apple pie, and you piece these together, as you wish, to experience the apple pie that suits your taste buds best. But I warn you, this meal is not going to fill you up; although, in my case it certainly satisfy me!

Our Evening Trivia Team is fast becoming a team to be reckoned with; but, there are still some newbie teams that came to compete. When we asked Steve what he and Crystal had done today, he said, “We drove up the mountain, we saw the ship from above and took some pictures, we drove down the mountain, through town, then we drove up another mountain, we saw the view and the ship from up there, and a waterfall, then drove back down.” Jackie, our scribe, said that the other day that that lady who said to her face prior to the first trivia “Do you only come to play trivia? We’re going to take you down” had a glaring match with her the other day in the Lido; although we haven’t seen here at trivia since. When it happened, I thought that the two might have known each other and it was all in good fun; but, I later learned Jackie didn’t know them. Joan, the schoolteacher that “interviewed” us for joining the team wondered if they’d been on a previous cruise with them. Becka, the new assistant cruise director, came by with sheets and pencils for us. Her first question was “What was the only thing left in Pandora’s Box?” Jackie had already written down “Hope”. We got our first “Shakespeare Question” when Becka asked “In what country did MacBeth take place? I was writing down my answer when Joan pondered “Denmark”. I was thinking, “Oh boy, here we go again.” On a previous cruise our teammate and scribe had insisted on Denmark, saying, “No, no, I know this one. It’s Denmark!” And I was thinking, “No, no, you don’t: MAC-Beth, it’s obviously Scotland.” When Joan saw my answer, she agreed. I redeemed myself after missing an earlier Disney question by knowing the first voice of Mickey Mouse: Walt Disney of course. We stumbled with “What is the capitol city of Aruba.” Jackie wrote down Orange, asking is it Orange City or Orange Town. Sharon came over and whispered Bonaire in my ear, and I reminded her that we hadn’t visited the “A” of the ABC-Islands. Then she came up with Orangestadt, and we went with that. In the end there was the obligatory “Bible Question” (and a repeat). It was the bonus for two points (one point for each): “Who where the parents of King Solomon?” Sharon knew David, and I had written down Bathsheba. We got another Perfect Score. The team across from us asked us “Are you all in Mensa or something.” Another team came by and told us, “You guys are awesome.” Much nicer than the lady who wants to take us down.

We had encouraged our teammates to try out “Majority Rules”. It’s a game in which there are no right answers, which after the frog fiasco two nights ago suits me just fine. The winning answer however is the one that most people choose. Unfortunately our experience from previous both playing and winning at Majority Rules did not seem to matter. This lounge full of people had obviously not had enough to drink to come up with the typical answers. “What are you likely to find in a man’s wallet?” The consensus was the very PG-appropriate answer was Driver’s License; instead, of the winning answer in every other Majority Rules that we’ve played in: “Condoms”. And the “ms” question that Sharon insists on putting down the right answer “motor ship” has never failed to reward those who go with “mother ship”. Well, today everyone seemed to go with “motor ship”. We kept Crystal busy running up to the Cruise Director with our answers. She had suggested a couple of answers that we had overruled, only to discover that she was right. Then we started to go with her answers, and we couldn’t seem to buy an answer. We wound up with a dismal two points. I’m pretty sure that we got the booby prize.

Afterwards, I tried my luck at the casino, and a couple was already playing at the Fun-21 table. They were a Dutch couple not playing all that well, doing things such as standing on a soft 13. That should have been my clue to leave. Anyway, the casino switch the tables on me, and tonight I lost the 11 hands in a row, and it was time to go back to the cabin.

---