MegDesk – The Blog

We had originally planned to do a trip up the coast this summer on the Hurtigruten coastal ferry.  However, as I was planning the trip last winter, I found that for the same price as 6 days on the ferry, we could do a 13-night cruise on the Queen Elizabeth II that also included a stop in Svalbard.  Not only would we be able to do a longer trip and spend more time in the major ports, but we got the chance to sail on this legendary ship before it retires later this year (to be turned into a hotel in Dubai).

Even though this wasn’t the final sailing of the QE2 from Southampton, the original Queen Elizabeth II herself was in town to officially bid the ship farewell.  Although we were on boarded before the Queen’s grand exit through the terminal, we were lucky enough to see her on board as she disembarked.

London
We spent a few days in London before traveling to Southampton to board the ship.  While we were there, we visited Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels, the British Museum, and the changing of the Horse Guards.  On the way back, we had time before our flight, so we stored our luggage and visited St.Paul’s Cathedral and then met Lucas’s cousin Jonathon to visit the Museum of Natural History.

Bergen
I can’t believe the weather we had in Bergen (which is known for its ever-present rain).  Having visited the city before, we used the day to visit the Gamle Bergen outdoor museum and Troldhaugen, the home of composer Edvard Grieg.  We walked part of the way back to the city so that we could stop and see Gamlehaugen, the royal residence in Bergen.

Trondheim
With more beautiful weather in Trondheim, I was running out of “summer” clothes to wear.  This was our first visit to the city, so we walked around downtown and visited the Nidaros Cathedral. We also stopped to see the Norwegian Crown Regalia and then caught a bus to the Sverresborg Trøndelag outdoor museum.

Lofoten Islands
After calculating the costs of renting a car and driving around Lofoten on our own, we opted for an organized ship’s excursion instead.  We spent the day riding around the southern islands in a bus, and with a running commentary from the guide, we certainly learned a lot more about Lofoten than we would have on our own.  We visited the old church in Flakstad, the blacksmith in Sund, and the villages of Nusfjord, Reine, and Å i Lofoten.

Midnight Sun
We stayed up late the night we sailed from Lofoten and watched the Midnight Sun dip towards the horizon and start back up without ever touching the sea.  This was the beginning of our five nights of sunlight.

Svalbard
Since the ship didn’t offer any excursions in Longyearbyen, we arranged ahead of time to do a kayaking trip.  Lucas and I had never kayaked before, so our first experience was in Arctic waters!  We bundled into dry suits and paddled across the fjord to an old abandoned mining village where we had lunch and explored the ruins before paddling back to town.  More brilliant weather meant the scenery was even more spectacular, and we hope to take a longer trip sometime when we can see more of the area.

Tromsø
Another beautiful day and we couldn’t believe our luck with the weather!  We started out at the Arctic Cathedral and then took the cable car up the mountain to do a little hiking.  In the afternoon, we toured the Mack Brewery and enjoyed a few samples before heading to Polaria, where we watched the seal training (and had to drag ourselves away to get back to the ship on time).

Geiranger
At last we hit some typical Norwegian weather! Overcast with a little rain.  The fog covered the tops of the mountains, so we didn’t realize how high they were until we started climbing, and a few breaks in the clouds let us see the tops.  After the sail-in, we had half a day in Geiranger, which we spent hiking up to (and behind) the waterfall Storseterfossen.  We hiked from sea level, unlike the ship’s excursion that included only a few hours’ hiking after a bus ride up the mountain, and the sense of accomplishment (especially when we arrived first) was well worth it.  Unfortunately, a rushed hike to one of the scenic overlooks led us through some serious water and mud, so we were soaked and filthy when we returned to the ship!  We soothed our tired muscles by watching the beautiful fjord scenery from the hot tub during the sail-away.

Stavanger
After strolling through the narrow lanes of Gamle Stavanger and exploring the Stavanger Cathedral, we spent the rest of the morning at the Oil Museum learning more about all the offshore platforms we’d been seeing from the ship.  Later, we visited Valberg Tower and the old waterfront, where we met Hallgrim for a drink before heading back to the ship for the last days of the trip.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, 18 June 2008 at 12:42 am and is filed under Journal, Norway, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.