Geiranger, Norway

This is the very lovely town of Geiranger. People often ask why aren't you in more pictures? Well, to appease my blogger friends I had a good friend take our picture as we headed to shore. This was a tender port. Tiny places like this can not dock a big cruise ship so the ship anchors and drops orange tender boats into the water below. We go to the theater and get a number and as our number is called we go to the boat and it takes us to shore. I am guessing this holds about 80 people. See the orange tender boat going to shore? If you click on it, you will see me at the side waving Hello! :) I know, I do look younger.

If you hold up both hands. Go ahead I will wait...... That's about how many people live in this town all year long. 300 live here in the summer months. Guess how many tourists came to visit today? 4 ships! ..... 3,000 people! It is a very popular place to visit. The reason is 9 miles away, a beautiful fjord, Geiranger Fjord. Geiranger Fjord is best known as "The Diva of all Norwegian fjords".

To go up the fjord you take a bus.

Can you see me sitting way up front? Look real close.

Ha! This wasn't my bus. BUT this is what it looks like here in the winter when they shovel the snow, if they can. The one road out of town is closed once the snows start to pile up and it becomes too dangerous to travel outdoors. That I am guessing why so few people live here year round. There are 3 hotels in town. One stays open all year long.

I don't know why ......



I know, I too was impressed with the amount of snow they get here too. Cars, like buses, can run for just a short time here before the snows and Mother Nature come to give this tiny town a rest from all the tourists.







The roads remind me of cooked spaghetti. You wind and wind all the way up on hairpin turns and then drive back again all the way down. Sometimes the front of the bus, where we were sitting, seemed like it was going off the road and down a cliff. The landscape went from a green, lush, farm land with trees to a barren, grey, bleak, moon like, treeless, glacial snow speckled rock at the top.

Along the way we stopped for tea and pastries and to admire the views. Funny thing they gave us more then enough time to shop for souvenirs.


All this work ..... just to see this view!







People were biking UP to the top. If Landon were here, I would give him a cold bottle of water. Many pulled over to the side of the road for a rest. Daddies found big rest stops for their children. A lesson, I think, in learning to be one with nature. Be careful! There are landslides here.











When we got back into town we found a traffic jam. Police were everywhere. Cars and buses were backed up, nothing in this one street town was able to move in either direction. A police official came to our bus and told everyone to stay on the bus. Norway had issued a level 2 terror warning. At the time we thought it was just Geiranger, but later learned Norway closed all ports, airports, and government buildings that day. No one could get back to the port, the pier or their tender. We sat on the bus for about 30 minutes. We were then dropped off at a grocery store and told to wait there until further notice. There was a lot of confusion. 3,000 people in this tiny town and the roads and ports were closed. All had to get back to their ship on a tender. It took about an hour for the "all clear" to be announced. I was on the first tender back... :) David came much later. We learned once we were back on the ship that the alert was for the whole country and not just our little pier. Then all these people had to form long lines and wait for their tender to get them back to their cruise. Our ship left two hours late because of this.







Dinner tonight was a special dinner made just for us. Our old friend from the World Cruise in 2010, who moved up from assistant waiter to Head of the Dining Room, Mark, and our favorite waiter, Albert, had the kitchen make us a special Pilipino dinner. If you give Regent a 24 hour notice, and they have it onboard, they will make you anything you want. Or dinner consisted of vegetable & chicken spring rolls, shrimp and vegetable tempura, pork fried rice, glass noodles and pork and chicken adobo. They always make extra so they too can have some for themselves afterwards. When you cruise you make new friends from all over the world.


Nice touch. Much appreciated.


We have one sea day left before the cruise ends in Copenhagen. We spent almost a month onboard. We loved our time at on the cruise. One thing I would have love would have been more days at sea. Some people love a port a day. We love balance. Let us explore a new place, give us a day at sea..... We regretfully will get off the ship, collect our luggage and spend 20 hours on planes and in airports getting home. It will be nice to be home and sleep in my own bed once again.

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Our next cruise? November 13! Until then..... :)