Viking Cruise Day 9 - Bypassing Faroe Islands for a day at sea
C’est la vie Faroe Islands. It was nice passing by you without stopping. :( Well, we aren’t too sad, the weather was quite nasty and the ship was pretty rocky, so it would have been a terrible day to sight see. So when we awoke we had long past the Faroe Islands and were quite close to Norway at this point. We had breakfast as usual (this time we sat our clocks up correctly) and are now 7 hours ahead of home. French toast once again jumped in my belly and life was good. After breakfast Guy read some of his book and I took a run around the ship. I love running on a moving ship. After about 1hour and 11 minutes Map My Run said I had gone 21 miles! Woo! That was Gabby Alongi speed right there!
After a little much-needed exercise Guy and I sat up top and watched the ship pull into the fjord. It was blazing hot in the sun and brisk in the shade. Guy contemplated putting his shorts on again, but about that time the clouds moved in and he found us some towels for our legs. It was lovely and it’s another gorgeous day.
About 1:30 we decided to have lunch (no, we weren’t even hungry) but when at sea, on a cruise ship, what else are you going to do? We both had cheesesteak sandwiches with fries and some veggies for good measure. Possibly one of the best steak sandwiches I’ve ever had. I needed a nap, and was going to take one, but the scenery beckoned my attention and I pushed the feelings of sleepiness aside.
It took 6 hours for the ship to navigate through the fjord to the town of Olden. This is our make-up location since we didn’t get to see the Faroe Islands. It was like a beautifully slow and leisure stroll through the mountains. It reminded me of Italy’s lakes, with mountains on both sides, only a narrower passageway. One cool thing the ship did was to zip in and out of one little section of the fjord and I can see why. The views were just unexplainably stunning and photos do it no justice at all. When he got to the end of the branch off the main waterway, we slowed and did a 180 spin and he headed back out. Guy and I were in the room for most of it, looking out our balcony. We thought we had the BEST SIDE, until he turned around and the other side was just as spectacular. And very different. The first side was dotted with gorgeous little homes with trees on tiny farms, some baling their hay. The other side was majestic rock-faced mountains with several notable waterfalls.
When we got to Olden we were showered and ready for dinner. They were holding our favorite table until 7pm, table 101, because we love the waiter and it’s a nice cozy table for 2 (and again we weren’t really hungry). Shidhart was glad to see us, and his section wasn’t very busy, so he treated us like royalty and brought out extra big portions of everything! EEk! My belly is waving the white flag, but he kept on bringing it out. And yes. It was amazing. Shrimp cocktail, goat cheese and asparagus, Indian tomato soup, hand made cheese stuffed ravioli in a lemon sauce. And those were just the starters. Our main entree was Halibut in some kind of lemon butter sauce with a side of potato/sweet potato augratin that was so good. And of course dessert. I had carrot cake crumble (wouldn’t order again) and Guy had crepes (he wouldn’t order again). But we took a few bites and rolled away from the table feeling terrible! Why do we do this to ourselves??
After dinner we walked around the outside of the ship. It was about 8:30 and of course still completely daylight. We were going to stroll around the town as the ship is docked all night here, but we saw only a road with really no sidewalks and all the shops at the port are closed. So we listened to a pianist for awhile and headed to the room to sit in our balcony and enjoy this weather. Yes, it is 70 here. Wow.
Tomorrow we had two tours booked, but the 8:30 town tour was a freebie and we are going to take a leisure morning and enjoy the day until our afternoon visit to the Briksdal Glacier. Guy googled it prior to booking it and the bus ride there will be just as stunning. It’s just a 3.5 hour adventure and should be just perfect.
We have four more towns to visit while on the cruise. Geiranger, Alesund, Flam and Bergen. The first three are inside more fjords. In Geiranger I’ve got a fishing trip planned in the morning and in the afternoon a panoramic bus ride. In Alesund we have an excursion that takes us on some famously winding road, while in Flam we are going to do a train and bike excursion and finishing up with a panoramic Bergen tour with a ride up their funicular. Sounds pretty good, huh? A nice variety to round out the cruise. :)
Should have brought more short sleeve shirts!
After a little much-needed exercise Guy and I sat up top and watched the ship pull into the fjord. It was blazing hot in the sun and brisk in the shade. Guy contemplated putting his shorts on again, but about that time the clouds moved in and he found us some towels for our legs. It was lovely and it’s another gorgeous day.
About 1:30 we decided to have lunch (no, we weren’t even hungry) but when at sea, on a cruise ship, what else are you going to do? We both had cheesesteak sandwiches with fries and some veggies for good measure. Possibly one of the best steak sandwiches I’ve ever had. I needed a nap, and was going to take one, but the scenery beckoned my attention and I pushed the feelings of sleepiness aside.
It took 6 hours for the ship to navigate through the fjord to the town of Olden. This is our make-up location since we didn’t get to see the Faroe Islands. It was like a beautifully slow and leisure stroll through the mountains. It reminded me of Italy’s lakes, with mountains on both sides, only a narrower passageway. One cool thing the ship did was to zip in and out of one little section of the fjord and I can see why. The views were just unexplainably stunning and photos do it no justice at all. When he got to the end of the branch off the main waterway, we slowed and did a 180 spin and he headed back out. Guy and I were in the room for most of it, looking out our balcony. We thought we had the BEST SIDE, until he turned around and the other side was just as spectacular. And very different. The first side was dotted with gorgeous little homes with trees on tiny farms, some baling their hay. The other side was majestic rock-faced mountains with several notable waterfalls.
When we got to Olden we were showered and ready for dinner. They were holding our favorite table until 7pm, table 101, because we love the waiter and it’s a nice cozy table for 2 (and again we weren’t really hungry). Shidhart was glad to see us, and his section wasn’t very busy, so he treated us like royalty and brought out extra big portions of everything! EEk! My belly is waving the white flag, but he kept on bringing it out. And yes. It was amazing. Shrimp cocktail, goat cheese and asparagus, Indian tomato soup, hand made cheese stuffed ravioli in a lemon sauce. And those were just the starters. Our main entree was Halibut in some kind of lemon butter sauce with a side of potato/sweet potato augratin that was so good. And of course dessert. I had carrot cake crumble (wouldn’t order again) and Guy had crepes (he wouldn’t order again). But we took a few bites and rolled away from the table feeling terrible! Why do we do this to ourselves??
After dinner we walked around the outside of the ship. It was about 8:30 and of course still completely daylight. We were going to stroll around the town as the ship is docked all night here, but we saw only a road with really no sidewalks and all the shops at the port are closed. So we listened to a pianist for awhile and headed to the room to sit in our balcony and enjoy this weather. Yes, it is 70 here. Wow.
Tomorrow we had two tours booked, but the 8:30 town tour was a freebie and we are going to take a leisure morning and enjoy the day until our afternoon visit to the Briksdal Glacier. Guy googled it prior to booking it and the bus ride there will be just as stunning. It’s just a 3.5 hour adventure and should be just perfect.
We have four more towns to visit while on the cruise. Geiranger, Alesund, Flam and Bergen. The first three are inside more fjords. In Geiranger I’ve got a fishing trip planned in the morning and in the afternoon a panoramic bus ride. In Alesund we have an excursion that takes us on some famously winding road, while in Flam we are going to do a train and bike excursion and finishing up with a panoramic Bergen tour with a ride up their funicular. Sounds pretty good, huh? A nice variety to round out the cruise. :)
Should have brought more short sleeve shirts!
Omigosh is there anything as great for pics as a FUNICULAR??? Also we need to figure out how to assemble some waterfalls on the local stripcuts....
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