Day 4 : Andalsnes
Once again I was told there would be
fantastic views of the fjords in the early morning.
I took all my gear in anticipation of
greatness. What I saw that morning was the greatest view I've ever seen, and will probably see for quite sometime.
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| Not bad |
I was totally blown away by the view
and could not stop snapping pictures. As the ship turned around to
drift to port I went port side (left side of ship) and saw the town of
Andalsnes. Not just the town, but a gigantic mountain behind it, and
a view to top the one I saw a minute before.
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| Best View Ever of Andalsnes |
Naturally a view like this puts a smile
on your face and gets you thinking – 'These lucky people who wake
surrounded by majesty, damn you!' After taking it all in it was time
to get ready for the day.
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| View and the Cruise |
I was on gangway duty, meaning I was on
of three who stand on land and wait for the passengers to disembark
and explore the town and tours. We grab them for a photo with the new
town as the backdrop. Fortunately this time, there was a great big
green and black, snow capped mountain as the backdrop. Many people
obliged to a once in a lifetime photograph of the amazing view.
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| The scenery for the gangway shots |
After gangway duty it was time to head
out and enjoy the town. Trolls are a big thing here so there was a
giant troll right outside the dock, and of course, an overpriced cafe
beside it!
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| Troll |
Once in the town of Andalsnes there
wasn't much to see. There was a red train that went right through it
but I'm not sure where that went. I wondered around with my room mate
Simon trying to find a cash machine. We finally found the cash
machine and I put my card in. The minimum amount I could take out was
1000 Krone, about £112.43! Everything is expensive here, The GDP is
high as well as the quality of life. I decided against taking out
more Krone than I'll ever spend in a month and headed towards a shop.
The shop was also a cafe so we ordered some baguette thing, filled
with chicken and cheese and other things. I bought Simon's as well and
this included a drink. In total I twas about 200 Krone. I payed by
card and according to my bank account that was £24! We sat and ate
the food with two Cadet friends and discussed lenses and camera's
that they would like to purchase.
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| Andalsnes Train Station |
After a wonderful, but expensive meal
we headed over to the crowd of people. A crowd of people outside a
building means that they have free Internet. Laptops, iPhones and
heads down. I don't blame them since the Internet on the ship is very
slow and it costs.
By this Internet gathering we met the
pianist form the ship. I had had a chat with him the previous night
about music. I had been accepted as an unofficial member of the
eastern European cruise ship musicians as I had had an amazing 'jam'
with one of them in the crew bar. It was all 'oompa oompa' stuff from
one of them on the trombone and me playing a melody on my tin
whistles and melodica.
When I was chatting to the pianist I
noticed he was very drunk and had about 15 empty cans surrounding
him. So whilst I was talking to him today outside the Internet
gathering, it was a great surprise to see a yellow badge on his
jacket that said - 'Tour Escort'
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| The pianist and tour escort |
I believe tonight was the formal night.
I can't quite remember the order of dress code.
Anyway to put it briefly, they dress in
tuxes, I dress in a tux and take their photograph. They drink
champagne, I drink my cranberry juice or bottled water. They go to
the restaurants to eat, I finally get to go to the 24 hour passenger
buffet!
After a buffet upstairs it was time for
bed again.
Tomorrow was another port day, this
time the village of Olden.
Once again I was very exited to check
out the scenery and see if it can get any better than Andalsnes?
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