2022 Nordic Seas - Day 5 Eidfjord

Norway is a very long country. If one could stick a pin in Oslo and rotate the country 180 degrees, it would reach Italy. (in US reference, the distance from New York to Miami). About 2/3 of this narrow country lies above the Arctic Circle, but we won’t get that far north during this first week of our trip.

I woke up early this morning, so threw on yesterday’s clothes and hurried to the top deck to see us pass under the Hardanger Bridge. Completed in 2013, it is the longest suspension bridge in Norway and at .85 miles, one of the longest in the world. It replaced a ferry across the Eidfjorden branch of the Hardanger fjord, shortening the driving time between Oslo and Bergen. Our ship, with lowered antennas, passed under the 55 m clearance with a good half meter (20 inches) to spare. The bridge disappeared into tunnels at either end. Those few of us on the deck lifted our coffees to toast “good morning!” and scattered to begin our respective days. 

We’ve been having trouble with the ship’s Wifi for the past 24 hours. But cellular service seems to work well in even the most remote parts of these fjords.The international low-speed data package which comes with our T-Mobile account has been working just fine. So this morning, using my phone as a hotspot for the iPad on which I write the blog, I was finally able to post last night’s update. I wish we had such good cellular service throughout the US!

The pool area on our ship has a retractable roof which they close on chilly or rainy days. It’s been closed since the night we left Rotterdam. Today it was so nice in Eidfjord that they let the sun shine directly in again.

Early this morning


This afternoon in Eidfjord

Today’s destination changed from Stavanger to Ulvik about a week before we departed. After we boarded the Rotterdam, they changed it again, to Eidfjord. We’d had a plan mapped out for Stavanger, and then were going to hike to a vista at Ulvik (a tiny town without much to see) if the weather was good. We didn’t know a thing about Eidfjord, so figured we’d just wing it. The barista at the Dutch Cafe (one of my favorite coffee places on the ship) recommended walking to a lake near town, so after exploring the harbor area (i.e. getting a geocache), off we went.

Greg doing secret stuff.

The Eidfjord commune is about 950 people. Norway’s sixth largest glacier sits on the Hardangervidda mountain plateau over a mile above Eidfjord. The Sima power plant, completed in 1983, was built to capture the energy generated by the fall of the water. The plant also generated an economic windfall for Eidfjord, with a 600% increase in revenue over the next nine years. The village built a new nursing home and houses for seniors, an expanded school, a new church, kindergarten and community center. Sewage and water services were improved, roads were paved and street lights added. A ski resort was built, as were sports facilities ranging from outdoor fields to an indoor arena. A nature museum was built, and new tunnels linked the area to other parts of Norway. A new city hall followed, and the cruiseport where we docked today. All this, generated from a clean energy source.

The power plant generates enough electricity for 150,000 households. The water that spins the turbines travels at 500 km/hr (300 mph), and the Pelton runners rotate up to 300 revolutions per minute. In 2015, one of the vanes on an original Pelton runner snapped. Damage was extensive and that unit had to be shut down for 2 months. Today the 40 ton Pelton runner, blade welded back in place, sits in an Eidfjord municipal park.

Pelton wheel

We took a fine path along the swift-flowing Eio river towards the lake. Signs in English and Norwegian informed us there are records of salmon traps as far back as 1533. Eventually regulations limited the traps to no more than 1/3 the width of the river. Salmon traps have been forbidden since 1980, but you can still see the runways built to lure the fish into faster water…and traps. 

The runway is closest to shore

The glacier-fed lake had a little beach of smooth pebbles, and a view worth the walk.

The trail continued uphill, circling back towards the center of town. (We just kept following signs marked “Centrum”). Signs of human activity dating back 1000 to 2,500 years ago have been found in a terraced area well above the lake. The oldest traces are early fields. The most striking remnants are two Iron Age burial grounds from 500-1000 AD.. This is the largest Iron Age burial site in western Norway. Bronze kettles, a sword, pottery fragments, a gold ring and other artifacts have been found. Some of the mounds are large and easy to spot; others have sunk into the ground. It’s speculated that there may be no correlation between the size of the mound and the prominence of its person, but rather that as the mounds were constructed over centuries, burial customs may have changed. 

Our path continued past little farms with apple trees (this area is known for its cider) and neatly packages hay rolls. 

And finally the ship came back in sight. With towering rocks all around, it’s difficult to gain a perspective on just how big things are here. I asked a workman how high the mountains behind the ship are. 1,200 meters, he replied - or 3/4 mile.  

From our stateroom, as we head towards tomorrow’s adventure.

2022 Nordic Seas - Day 4 Flam Railroad

We enjoyed our sea day yesterday, as we cruised from Rotterdam to the west fjords of Norway. 

During the night we headed up the Sognerfjord, Norway’s longest (122 miles) and deepest (up to an astonishing 4,200 ft or 8/10 mile!) fjord to Flam. This aptly named village means “little place between steep mountains”. 

The tiny (pop. 350) village of Flam sits in the heart of Norway’s fjord country. Despite being inundated with 450,000 visitors in the course of a typical travel year, it’s managed to retain its small town feel. It would be interesting to stay for a night or two in the absence of cruisers. 

People come to Flam from all over the world for the views, to kayak the fjords, cycle the trails and climb the surrounding mountains. But people come especially to ride the Flåm Railway.

This is not it. 

The legendary Flåm Railway is one of the world’s most spectacular train journeys, listed in National Geographic Traveler Magazine’s top ten European train rides, and named by Lonely Planet Traveller as “the world’s best train ride”.

Of all the things we’ll see on this trip, the Flam Railway was the thing I was most anticipating. We’d reserved a ride from Flam to Myrdal, and were then going to hike 6 miles back to a lower station where we would hop back on the train to return to Flam. However, when we boarded the Rotterdam two days ago, we were notified that this trip was cancelled. So we settled instead for a round trip ride on the train this afternoon.

It was exciting to wake up in Norway this morning, at the end of the Aurlandsfjorden which obligingly looked just like the fjords in my elementary geography textbook - only foggier. The weather was supposed to be miserable, raining all day and chilly. But my weather karma held up this morning. With only light intermittent drizzle, we walked around the harbor and hiked on some well-marked trails in the Frethium Kulturpark

The port of Flam 





Without Norway’s amazing tunneled road system, its towns in the western fjords would be isolated during much of the year. Norway has 1245 tunnels bored through the mountains. By comparison, the US, fifty times the size of Norway, has under 500. Just wandering around Flam, we saw two of the tunnels. The longest tunnel in Norway is the Laerdal tunnel, which is near Flam. It’s 24.5 km -15 miles. It was designed with input from a tunnel psychologist who used colorful lighting and turnouts in the tunnel to reduce both driver boredom and anxiety. We went to a talk about it yesterday on the ship. We thought about renting a little electric car this morning to drive through it, but the car doesn’t have enough charge to go both ways. If you’re curious, you can read more about it here:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/the-longest-tunnel-in-the-world

Not sure what this bench represents: The origin of Manspreading, or the origin of Oompa Loompas?

After a light late lunch back on the ship, we joined our group to get on the train. Construction on the Flam Railway started in 1924 and was completed in 1940.  The engineering marvel is one of the world’s steepest train rides built on normal tracks. The railway climbs more than 2,800 feet during the 12.5 miles from Flåm Station at sea level to Myrdal Station. It averages a 4.4% grade, with the steepest incline 5.5%. 

The train runs up and over the side of a gorge for 45 harrowing minutes. We wove in and out of twenty tunnels, past countless waterfalls and a 180 degree spiral turn inside a tunnel. It was hazy, but still a beautiful ride up the gorge. While there was some comfort in the knowledge that the train is equipped with five sets of backup brake systems, it is still not a ride for the faint-hearted or those afraid of heights. (A woman sitting near us was clearly unnerved by the tunnels.) 

Village of Flam

140 meter (455 ft) free falling waterfall.

We emerged from the line's longest tunnel at Naali to the stunning vista of Myrdalsberg Mountain. We could see how the railway is built on multiple levels and the snow sheds over the tracks. The Raller Road, with its 21 hairpin turns paralleling a waterfall, was built in 1893. 

On both the way up and back, we stopped for 5 minutes at the Kjosfossen waterfall for a spectacular photo opportunity, and a somewhat cheesy performance by a local dance student posing as a Huldra. We all piled out of the train cars to take photos of the waterfall, getting drenched by spray in the process. Lo and behold, some appropriately mysterious music began and the Huldra appeared high on the cliffs. (According to Norwegian folklore, the Huldra is a beautiful forest spirit that lures men into the woods to seduce them. She is stunningly beautiful although from behind she has the tail of a cow or fox. She was careful to show us only her best side.)

The Kjosfossen has a total drop of 738 ft, with the longest drop 305 feet. There is a small power station at the waterfall, which is used to power the Flam Railway. It’s fitting, as the train is the only way to visit the falls. -

Kjosfossen

With the Huldra

By our highest point, we could see patches of snow and icefields. 

And then we reversed course, heading backwards back to the port, the ship, and onwards to our next destination.

2022 Nordic Seas - Day 2 Anchors Aweigh

Greg, as usual, was up 6-ish. He went for a long walk to stake out a Dutch KFC and pick up some geocaches. After laying awake and then finishing a book around 1:30 AM, I slept until 9:30 this morning and felt much better for it. We checked out of the hotel an hour later, left our bags there, and walked to explore a little more.

We noticed big posters yesterday for the World Police and Fire Games. We saw contestants all around town. Greg spoke to one and learned that they are an  international competition for police and firefighters. As the contestant explained, “Kind of like the Olympics, but you don’t have to be good. I’m not good.”  Then we happened upon one of the competition fields this morning. We watched several one-on-one contests including such finely hewn skills as rolling up two fire hoses, stacking them atop one another, and racing with the stacked hoses to the end of the short course - all in full fire-fighting regalia.

Greg said he was disappointed that we missed the seven-floor baby drop-and-catch. 

More fun architecture. From the side, the red building on right looks like a giant Jenga  stack. 

There’s even a Chinatown in Rotterdam.

The highlight of the morning was breakfast. We had fun watching the people who walked by our table, including a gentleman who realized his fly was unzipped and tried to rectify things surreptitiously until he noticed us laughing. (Unfortunately, no photo to record the event.). Greg especially enjoyed his double-decker hot chocolate, which came with hot milk and warmed Dutch chocolate chips that he had to stir into the milk. 

A demonstration for Ukraine included speakers and a model using humans to show the extent of the Russian-occupied territory. 

We took an Uber to the ship. Our driver immediately tried to engage us on Biden and US politics. We demurred. Then he entertained us with stories about the bombing in WWII and the newly-thriving film location business in Rotterdam. 

From the ship, the Erasmus bridge. That’s Greg’s finger pointing to it. 

The view from our cabin - which we really like. It’s in the front of the ship, a great vantage point. Hopefully we’ll be treated to sunsets when we start heading west, provided we can stay up that late when we’re a lot further north! It’s light until 10:30 already. The weather today and yesterday was delightful, sunny and in the 70s. Here’s hoping the weather karma continues. (we are expecting lots of rain in Norway, however).

Our cabin on the Rotterdam will be our home for the next three weeks. We’ll be cruising Norwegian and Icelandic fjords, exploring cities and villages in Norway, Iceland and Scotland, and (we hope) getting in some good walks. The Rotterdam is Holland America’s newest ship, launched only last October. 

Our itinerary. The stops are numbered in the order we’ll be visiting them. 

And now for a word about Erasmus, whom I mentioned yesterday. 

Desiderius Erasmus (1469-1536) was one of Europe’s most famous and influential Renaissance thinkers. I first encountered him in college, when I read “In Praise of Folly” for a class. This 16th century work has never been out of print, an accomplishment claimed by few other books of this era. Among other things, he was an activist, a philosopher, a Christian humanist, a translator, satirist, theologian, monk and a priest. He was influential and at times controversial. 

The statue above was installed in 1622, 86 years after Erasmus’ death. The bronze statue is considered to be one of the finest in Europe. The statue is not static; it depicts Erasmus walking while turning the page of a large book. (I can relate to being that engrossed in a book.) It somehow survived the WWII bombing of Rotterdam, a subsequent burial to hide it from the Nazis, fell headfirst off its base in 1996 (damaging the stones below), and was moved several times over the last 4 centuries.

I won’t be posting anything tomorrow. We have a day at a sea, so going to enjoy it and take a break. We’ll be in Norway Tuesday morning. 

2022 Nordic Seas - Day 1 On the Road Again

It’s been a long time since we’ve slipped the surly bonds of COVID and ventured out of the country. We’ve planned and scheduled trips to New Zealand / Australia (twice) and to the Baltic states, only to have them cancelled. So - though I have a bit of trepidation about the virus - we are pretty excited about our 3 week cruise to the Nordic Seas. We were both packed early and ready for our airport ride hours before he arrived.  

Maggie had hopes of smuggling herself aboard in a packing cube.


While Ellie wanted nothing to do with it. 

We woke up on our departure day to an email from Holland America notifying us that our embarcation port was changed from Amsterdam to Rotterdam.  Because of a long drought in the Netherlands, the government has limited the hours during which the IJmuiden locks leading to the port in Amsterdam can operate.  

Grateful that we’d decided last week to leave a day early for our cruise, we quickly checked train schedules, cancelled our Amsterdam hotel and booked a new room in Rotterdam. We’re supposed to return to Amsterdam for a day next weekend, and then disembark there 3 weeks from today. We’ll stay flexible with our plans. The train from Schiphol (Amsterdam airport) directly to the Centraal Station in Rotterdam is timely and reasonable priced, and now that we have the train app any adjustments should be easy 

The train passed acres of greenhouses, farmland, wind turbines and the occasional old-timey windmill. We assumed that a lengthy tunnel went underwater, as there were certainly no mountains to burrow through. After about 30 minutes, we arrived at Rotterdam’s Centraal Station. It was our first sample of the city’s striking architecture. The station opened in 2014, and incorporates the lettering and a large clock from the previous iteration.

After checking into our hotel in the Rotterdam’s core and picking the brain of the receptionist, we set out to explore some of the nearby landmarks. I didn’t know much about Rotterdam before our cruise was re-rerouted. It’s the second largest city in the Netherlands and the largest port in Europe. I assumed it would be gritty and industrial. While it certainly is a high-functioning commercial center, I couldn’t have been more wrong in assuming there would be little for an accidental tourist to see or do in the city. 

The area was settled at least 1100 years ago. In 1279 a dam was built across Rotte (hence the name: Rotterdam) and as the area developed, was granted city rights in 1340. At one time it was a walled city. Although the walls were destroyed to accommodate the city’s continued growth, references to the original city gates are commemorated in street and monument names. 

Rotterdam’s most famous son, Erasmus, would recognize few sites in the city where he was born, wrote and preached. The central district of Rotterdam was flattened by the Luftwaffe on May 14, 1940. Archival photos show the complete devastation of the old city. Today, Rotterdam is a vibrant, diverse, multi-cultural, young city. Two-lane bike lanes, complete with their own traffic lights, encourage healthy commutes. Much traffic is diverted underground, freeing streets for pedestrians and minimizing traffic noise and congestion. There are also tunnels for bicyclists. Another benefit of underground traffic is that it eliminates the need for bridges over waterways, easing navigation for the many boats and ships in Rotterdam’s port. 

After the debris was cleared, the ruined Church of Saint Laurence stands as Rotterdam’s sole surviving piece of medieval architecture.

The restored church as it looks today. 

A symbolic recreation of the Delft gate in the old city walls, dedicated on the 50th anniversary of the Luftwaffe attack.

This sculpture, Memorial to the Fallen 1940-1945, stands across the street from the Stadhuis (City Hall). The Stadhuis, a 1914 neo-Renaissance building, also survived the bombing. 

The Markthal is an amazing marketplace/office building with a bustling array of shops and restaurants on the lower floors. There are boutiques and a grocery, but mostly it’s about food, light and color. A huge colorful mural explodes across the entire arched ceiling of the barrel-shaped building. There are so many things to look at, and foods to sample. One could spend a week inside and not try everything. There were traditional stroop waffles, a macaroon shop, many ethnic restaurants, dumplings, Edam cheeses, and (most amazing) a corn dog shop with a variety of flavorings including black squid ink. 

The Markthal ceiling

Across the plaza behind the Markthal is the Cube Houe complex, an eccentric collection of private homes sprawled over several blocks. The bright yellow cubes are set at 45 degree angles, and one can’t help wondering what it’s like to live inside one of them.Fortunately, one of the houses is open for tours. The roughly 1000 sq ft space was spread over 3 levels, and used very efficiently. What couldn’t be efficient was the inability fo push furniture to any walls with acute angles to the floor, so there was a fair amount of “wasted” space. 

The iconic Witte Huis, or White House, is another of the few buildings to survive the Second World Was bombing of Centraal Rotterdam. The Art Nouveau building was the first high-rise building in Europe.

The Witte Huis, Willems Bridge, and historic sailing ships. 

We limped back to the hotel to shower and watch the end of the Tour de France time trial. After a good outdoor dinner at the nearby Cornelis’Bar, we are both overtired and ready to crash.