Hills

If you are thinking at all, then you realize that Norway isn’t flat. In fact, once you get away from the pier and the part of the city or town directly adjacent to it, you come to hills. These can be VERY substantial! Since Amy and I refused to be taken in by the expensive excursions offered by the cruise company, our typical stop was to get off the boat, wander around town a bit and then head for the highest available point. I have intentionally held back some of the best pictures for last as I take you for a panoramic view around the hills of Norway.

First we have Geiranger. It was probably the least strenuous climb we did, but it offered some nice views including the one from the previous post of all the cruise ships at their moorings.

Next was Honningsvag where we climbed up to an old cemetery and monument and looked down to the harbor. Again, it wasn’t a huge climb, but it was well worth it. It was during that climb that Amy spotted her herd of reindeer.

Alesund provided us with Mount Aksla. A more demanding climb, but still doable in an hour or so for the round trip. The literature we had mentioned a coffee and sandwich stop at the top, but I wasn’t able to conjure up the desire for a $7 coffee which wasn’t in St. Mark’s Square in Venice.

Our final hill was actually in Bergen. There is a huge park with many kilometers of hiking trails. After a few minutes of indecision, we bypassed the funicular and headed for the trails to climb Floyen. An hour and a half later we were at the top. An hour after that we were back at the ship and a nice hot shower. The view from the top was quite spectacular. The climb was almost 400 vertical meters. The Norwegians seem to be a super fit people. We saw at least a dozen people running up the hill and several others resolutely pushing baby strollers up.