On the Road Again!

Just a few pix... posted from Bloggeroid

Just a few pix... posted from Bloggeroid

Join the queue When we were here way back in 2013 the ship moored a coach ride out from the city centre. Luckily this time we are right on the end of the Bryggen block.  Where we had hoped to land last time has Fred Olsen's Braemar on the berth this time. We set off a out 9.45am just before the lifts went off for testing and maintenance.  Our first stop was the Fløibanen. The queue was pretty long and one of the attendants put out a sign to split ticket holders (us) and those that didn't. Having two shorter queues seemed a good idea. We waited about 15 minutes and got loaded on.  I took a video of it coming into the lower station. I might update with that when we get a connection greater than 2G!! Once at the top we checked out the view. It was quite muggy at sea level but cold at the top. We had a mooch about and retired for a coffee and 🍰 when it began to pee down.  The wind was strong from the north east and blew it away and the run came out. By the time we joine...

Arrived about 7am. We had a short lie in to let the rushers get up to the breakfast buffet and bugger off and leave it easier to munch. Off out now. More later.

I have gone over the paperwork so many times it has left copy marks on my retina! My last job was ordering some Norwegian currency from Thomas Cook. I did it online and arranged to collect the cash today. Only £60's worth. There wasn't much choice as all the other companies had very high minimums. My usual source, the Post Office, the minimum was £400! Norge dosh As we are on a cruise with pretty much all-inclusive food and drink I didn't want too much cash. We have plenty of cards to use if we buy anything. We have stops in Stavanger, Olden and Alesund and so we might need a few krone in the pockets in case of a coffee or maybe a postcard. Do people still send postcards? We have been to Stavanger and Olden before so we can be a little more relaxed and choose where we want to go rather than going at it like tourist bees.  . Alesund is new territory. I have a Rough Guide to Norway booklet I bought a while back to look at and also there will be Tripadvisor. We are due in Ber...

Planning. The date has moved to August now after the decision to go to Florida in May/June. Once the spreadsheet (a modern day pen and pencil), columns for date, day, daytime, overnight, staying in, was started I could start to see that we have 11 days for the trip and then I could begin putting a few ideas together. Slotting in ideas. Using the Harwich to Hoek van Holland ferry means that we can use the Thursday night to travel. Claire doesn't work on Fridays so we would get a head start instead of sleeping at home. The ride from the Hook to Hamburg and the halfway point is 320 miles.  If we went over on the short route on Friday, the ride would be about 480 miles; a longer day and less chance to have a look around once we get there. From Hamburg the ride to Hirtshals is another 320 miles according to Google Maps, and about six hours riding. Allowing for a few stops we should be there well in time for the boat to Norway. The original plan was to get to Hirtshals, hotel and then ea...

The last day in Norway. We were awakened by the captain over the tannoy telling us we had arrived in Bergen. For some reason I had been awake until about 4am and so a wake up call for coffee at 0715 and then tannoy announcements were all I needed! After breakfast we took the shuttle bus into Bergen. It's not far but we are in an industrial berth and not one of the tourist berths. The Minerva is! Maybe that's why the upped anchor earlier than us yesterday!! Having to wait for the buses to arrive and then get into the city, and of course, get back again, wasted quite a lot of our shore time. Claire at the fish market quay.  Loads of seafood but again not sold as we would expect in Folkestone!  No Norwegian version of Chummies. We did have a small taste of a 59kr pot of caviar. Large balls but not as tasty as the lumpfish we buy at home in Lidl or Aldi for the equivalent of 20kr!! We did buy a small punnet of strawberries. A Slimming World superfood to help burn off the lbs we ha...