Paul and Jean visit Norway: Day 7

Trondheim

The ship had already docked in Trondheim at 5.30 when we woke up. We had an early breakfast and set out to explore the city. It was snowing to begin with but this soon stopped. It is quite a big city but again there was not much traffic about and apart from tourists not many people. Trondheim has a magnificent cathedral which is huge called the Nidaros Cathedral. It was a long walk in the snow to get there but we went through Old Trondheim and along the river Nidelva which has many picturesque former warehouses that have been restored and are now bars and restaurants. We then found the tram line, known as “the most northerly tram in the world” and saw some of the city centre.

On leaving Trondheim we were called to the deck for a "Points of Interest" talk by the Expedition Crew who told us some history about a small island called "Munkholmen". It was once the home of Monks but they had to leave when Norway ceased to be a Catholic nation. It was also a place of executions in the Viking times. Later we were called to see a lighthouse which was manned until 2001 by a family with 2 children and their teacher. When the children played outside they had to be tied to the lighthouse so that they didn't get swept into the sea.

Life on the Ship

There are a higher proportion of Germans on the ship than any other nation but they have been told in no uncertain terms that they are not allowed to "reserve" the best seats around the lounge areas by leaving a coat or book on the seat.

One group who are amusing us greatly are ladies from a knitting circle of all ages, but mainly elderly. Their tour is called "Knitting under the Northern Lights" and arranged by knitting specialists Arne and Carlos in Norway. They all have the same knitting bags obviously supplied by Arne and Carlos containing their knitting and even take these bags at mealtimes. Someone asked them what they were knitting and they replied "I don't know - we get instructions each day and don't know the end result until we finish the last set of instructions". Instead of looking at the views they are all frantically knitting away. I must admit they are working on complicated patterns from what I have seen. They have a dedicated meeting room on the ship and when I walked past earlier there were hundreds of balls of wool on tables and on the floor so I suppose these were for the next part of their challenge. I have brought some knitting to do myself but hope I don't get mistaken for a member of this club. On the website they even advertise holidays called "Knitting in an English Stately Home" which involves a holiday to a Stately Home in the UK and knitting there. You couldn't make this up.....

Breakfast and Lunch are free format and buffet style and we just find a free table. Dinner is a set menu each day and we have been allocated a table for the voyage and are sitting with 2 ladies from Newcastle upon Type who seem very nice. Whilst sailing there are a few things going on organised by the Expedition Team or Chefs such as lectures, points of interest and coastal kitchen sessions where we can taste local food prepared by the chef.

We chatted to a member of staff who told us they work shifts of 22 days on and 22 days off and he said he loves it. He has as worked for Hurtigruten for 24 years. Every 5 years they change ship.

Afternoon voyage

After Trondheim there was only one more stop and that was at Rorvik at 8.45 for 30 minutes. This clashed with our dinner time so we didn't get off to have a short walk around but maybe we can do that on the return trip.