This is where Ålesund is on a map.

This is what it looked like as we approached by ship on August 12.  We were in different parts of Norway about eighteen months ago on our winter Northern Lights cruise.

It was nice to be back in Norway, to see their flag, and be in the land of people who consistently poll among the happiest in the world.

Our tour left from the same pier our ship was docked.  Convenient!

We were on a cruise of the Hjørundfjord  Fjord.  Twenty miles long, it is considered one of the most magnificent in Norway. 

This is a map of the various fjords in this area.

Our guide’s name was Sigi.  She is originally from Iceland and was totally delightful.  As a “boy mom” to a seven year old, she had some interesting humor such as saying she thought the troll tradition in Norway was made up by generations of boy moms. They invoked bad trolls to keep their sons’ behavior in check – because sons do not listen to reason.

Sigi told us that settlers built red barns when the lands were first occupied.  The white houses nearby were for the first generation settlers.  Additional houses are for additional generations.

Ålesund is built across several islands stretching out into the ocean. 

The history in this area can be documented to 400 BC.  It was on important trade routes.   

We were traveling the fjord where, in 989, there was a last battle between Norwegian Vikings and Christian Swedes.  The Vikings lost, giving way to Christianity.  (She said the area now is about 1/3 Lutheran, 1/3 Catholic and 1/3 Buddhist with tolerance for all.)

A large part, 85 percent, of the city was destroyed by fire overnight in 1904.  Only one woman died but twelve thousand people had nowhere to go.  Villagers on surrounding islands invited residents into their home.

The town invited 33 architects to design the new town.  It was decided to rebuild in the Art Nouveau style. 

Ålesund is also the city of the owls.  When you see an owl on a building, or in a shop, it indicates it was once a pharmacy or doctor’s office.

Fishing and oil are the primary industries.  This square, modern house indicates oil money.

This was our first view of glacial ice.  Norway had 44 ice ages in its geologic history. There are many mountain peaks rising from the fjord to more than 5,000 feet.

This is one of several salmon fish farms.  Scientists are working on a way to make the farms cleaner for the water environment.

Each little village has an avalanche tunnel, schools and either a medical clinic or a visiting doctor several times a week.

This village was featured in the latest Black Widow movie starring Scarlet Johansson.

This village at the end of the fjord is said to be favored by the king and queen of Norway. 

The hotel is the large building on the left. Room number eight is supposedly the most haunted space in all of Norway.

On the way back, we just enjoyed the scenery.

I told someone once that the Tuscany region of Italy was just as pretty as you imagine it to be.  Norway is exactly the same in that it lives up to every sense of natural beauty you might expect. 

I am so pleased that it is in our plan of plans to be back in Norway in 2027.

On the right hand side of the photograph above you can just see a Norway ferry. They run on batteries and are plugged in at each stop. It is recharged in the 15 minutes it takes to load and unload. And in further technology news, we had 4 bars of 5G cell service throughout our cruise along the fjord. Impressive.

When we got back from our scenic cruise, we were hungry so went for lunch onboard Nieuw Statendam. 

I had frits and mayo, a similar dish to the fries with peanut sauce and mayo we had in Rotterdam a few days ago.

Deciding we didn’t really want to go out again, I tried to photograph the Art Nouveau buildings in Ålesund that I could see from the ship.

As I walked around, I found this section designated for the crew.  We’ve been on this ship several times and don’t recall seeing it before.  We love that.  The crew deserves an outside space to recreate and relax.

We finished our day with dinner and a show. We very much enjoyed solo guitarist Mark Hussey!

Next up: A sea day enroute to Iceland.