Fri. 24th
We’re all aboard Insignia and have toured the ship. It’s in great condition, only 580 on board and our stateroom is very comfortable.
The ship has a classic type ambience almost Victorian quite different to any other we have sailed on.
We set sail from Copenhagen on route to Kristiansand a very nice City (85000 pop.)located S.E coast of Norway.
Our first night was in moderate seas (2.5 meters) but no trouble and arrived early on Friday morning to give us ample time to explore the area.
It has a long pedestrian street (mall) and were greeted by the local band, there was a busy market and the locals seemed quite relaxed.
Norway appears to be very expensive and has a very high cost of living.
A lovely place and very clean.
Sat 25th.
After sail away we had dinner with some nice people one of whom is the Marine Biologist on board and will lecture on whales and dolphins during the cruise. He went to uni in Townsville.
The food has been excellent so far, thankfully we do a lot of walking ashore and the gym is first class so control is a factor.
This morning we woke to a smoother sea on route to Bergen. Wow what a sight!
Bergen is on the West Coast and for the last hour before we docked we witnessed some of the most magnificent scenery so far. The unique houses located on the foreshore are truly something don’t seem to have roads to them but all have boathouses presumably for transport.
Bergen is Norway’’s second largest City (275000 plus 30000 students) and has wonderful waterways around granite outcrops and the waterfront has very unique wooden buildings.
Being a Saturday meant their were many locals buying at the fish market, fruit and vege stalls. There were 5 ships in port so the place was very busy.
One of our highlights was our ride on the funicular railway to one of the many mountains surrounding and overlooking Bergen.
The view of the City was magnificent and to top it off we walked back down to the City area a distance of around 5 km. amidst trees and parklands and further down of the houses in narrow lane ways. What a view.
We then did a HOHO (remember a hop on hop off bus) and discovered what a beautiful City Bergen is.
The Bryggen Museum is an area of condemned wooden houses that are being renovated and are now filed with shops of all different kinds, truly a wonderful visit highly recommended to all.
June 26
Our first sea day and woke with a glassy sea Woo Hoo!
Attended the first of six Seminars with Chris speaking on his subject of Whales and Dolphins.
A cool temp. of 10 degrees but a lovely sunny day.
The sea depth is 380 meters and we cross the Arctic circle today on our way to Harstad arriving tomorrow.
Our seafaring cruise continues !!!!!
Sounds as though you are really enjoying your trip so far!! All is well at home, went in Sunday morning!! We are all well too! Keep enjoying your trip, by the way, the pictures didn't come out on this blog for some reason???!!! Love you both xoxo
ReplyDeleteTerrific to hear your news, all sounds like I expected, have a great time. Guess you will work out why the pictures are not showing up, shows you pasted them as a pdf file. All good here.
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