Looking ahead as the Polarlys left Bergen, the light was dramatic
Our cabin was not a lot larger than our camper van, but functional. We didn't take a picture, what loons! But we had a porthole, although it looked out through a 3-foot tunnel in the ship's side.
Before going to bed in our tiny cabin, we read descriptions of the Hurtigruten's 34 ports of call. At 4:15am we would stop at at Måløy which was said to have a spectacular highway bridge. So David set the iPhone to ring at 3:55. On deck at 4, there was some light through overcast.
The ship was just making a sharp turn around a tiny island.
The bridge was visible ahead in the dawn light.
It is 43m high and the ship had lots of clearance.
It is gracefully curved at both ends.
And 1.2km long.
The ship eased up to the dock, unloaded some cargo, and was away in 15 minutes.
Part of the cargo, rather startlingly, was a coffin. Hurtigruten carries everything.
Four hours later, after another hour of sleep and a nice breakfast, we stopped at the town of Ålesund (oh-le-soond) (pop. 45,000) where the ship would stay for 30 minutes, so passengers could take a (brisk) walk to the center of town and back.
ålesund was mostly destroyed by fire in 1904, and was rebuilt in Art Nouveau style. We didn't have time to see much of the characteristic decorations.
Appropriate pic for "Jugendstile" architecture. (Joke for Wally.)
Inner harbor. It looked like a nice town.
Fishwife statue.
Fisherman statue with inevitable seagull.
Hustling back to the ship when the whistle blew. Hurtigruten is on a schedule!
From Ålesund the ship started the run down to Geirangerfjord, which deserves its own blog post.
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