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| Serenade of the Seas cruise ship |
We boarded our Royal Caribbean cruise ship, “The Serenade of
the Seas” in Copenhagen with little to no trouble. Finally out of the Sh*t House
in Copenhagen! Our staterooms were a joy to occupy, since they were so much
bigger and better set up than our previous venue where we had just spent the
past three nights.
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| Entering Geiranger Fjord |
After a rough day at sea, our cruise ship “Serenade” entered
the first fjord which was much calmer than the open ocean. The Geiranger
(pronounced: GAY-rang-er) Fjord is supposed to be one of Scandinavia’s premier
natural attractions, and it certainly lived up to our expectations. Our ship slowly
passed by the dramatic cliffs that lined the narrow fjord. We marveled at the
many waterfalls tumbling down the cliffs. What a stunning place!
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| The floating pedestrian walkway moves out to greet us |
The Geiranger boating police showed us their mastery of
technology by having our cruise ship anchor out in the middle of the fjord and then
bringing a motorized pedestrian dock out to us! Yes, a mechanized floating
pedestrian walkway in three pieces (each piece about 100 feet long) was steered
out to our ship by some port authority dude on his iPad. The walkway was expertly
guided out to our ship’s disembarkation portal, where we all merrily pranced
down the floating dock to shore. We’ve been on a lot of cruises but have never
seen anything like that. Without the floating dock, all passengers would have
had to be tendered to shore, which can consume potential tour time, as it is a
long process. This was soooo much easier!
Of course, Frank’s engineering antennae were at full attention when they
put this ingenious device into action.
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| Our Serenade of the Seas dwarfs everything in the fjord |
Our ship looked like an ominous sea monster in the small
fjord, dwarfing the tiny town of just 250 year-round residents. The village of
Geiranger is virtually cut off from the outside world, especially in the
winter. Tourism is the primary source of income and 600,000 visitors arrive
every summer, drawn to the tranquil beauty of the seductive place.
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| Our bus passes another with just inches to spare! |
We had booked a private excursion with Viator, and a fifty-passenger
tour bus was waiting to take us on a 3-½ hour jaunt around the sights of the
area. Geiranger Fjord is extremely mountainous and has only one main road. A
very narrow road at best, replete with hairpin switchbacks and thousand-foot
drops on the sides. For anyone seated by the window (as Frank was), the level
of apprehensiveness was exacerbated by any occasional glances downward. The
other challenge for the driver was dealing with oncoming traffic. Since two buses
of this size were not able to pass one another easily, one bus needed to stop and
pull over as far to one side as possible, while the other bus slowly inched its
way forward, sometimes with side mirrors folded inward. A very time-consuming
process.
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| Pockets of snow around the fjord |
The scenic drive took us past many overlooks and snow-capped
mountains that made this place seem as if we were still in the midst of winter.
This road is only open six months out of the year, and the snow is so deep the road
is totally buried. The road crews need to use GPS to figure out where to plow
along the narrow road. To avoid driving off the cliff!
The views were incredible as we rode through birch forests and
then up to the tundra with its sparse vegetation and low-lying shrubs. We were
surrounded by rocky terrain with crevices of melting snow that created many rushing
waterfalls.
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| Partially snow-covered Lake Djupvatnet |
Our first stop was at Lake Djupvatnet, one of those
beautiful, pristine mountain lakes usually seen only on a Courier & Ives greeting
card. The sun sparkled on the clear water and parts of the lake were still
covered with snow and ice.
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| Our ship from atop Mount Dalsnibba |
One of the most famous sights in Geiranger is the 4920-foot
high mountain called Dalsnibba. We stopped at a viewpoint for a breathtaking
look at the fjord below us. We could see our cruise ship moored way down there.
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| Our ship in the fjord |
We also stopped at
Flydal’s Jubet (jubet means gorge in Nordic) and saw part of the Seven Sisters
Waterfall. Each stop emphasized the beauty and vastness of this land.
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| Goats populate the slopes of the fjord |
Our guide Danny talked to us about many things as we went endlessly
up and down the mountainous roads. For example, potatoes grow well here, but almost
no other veggies or fruits can be grown because of the short growing season;
most every food item needs to be imported. Goats are the primary livestock
because they get around with little trouble on the steep hillsides of this
fjord.
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| Vertical fissure spells potential rockslide danger |
Danny told us the rock fissures along the fjord are going to
cause the cliffs to shear away someday and collapse into the fjord’s waters, causing
a tsunami that will travel down the fjord and completely destroy the village of
Geiranger located at the very end of the fjord. Special sensors have been
installed on those rock faces to monitor any micromovements of this dangerous impending
rockslide event. Those sensors will give the people of Geiranger ten short
minutes to flee to safe high ground away from a possible 100 foot tidal wave
coming their way.
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| Poster for the movie "The Wave" |
All of Norway’s fjords are subject to possible rockslides
and potentially destructive tsunamis. For anyone who wishes to learn more about
tsunamis in these fjords, and in particular Geiranger Fjord, there is a movie
called “The Wave” which came out in the year 2015, based on the actual 7 April
1934 rockslide tsunami in the Geiranger Fjord that killed forty people. We saw
it prior to taking this trip, but we want to watch it again now that we have
been there and seen the layout of the actual location.
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| Anne wanted to take this little guy home! |
Anne was quite taken with the trolls of Norway, the
funny-looking mystical creatures with Pinocchio-like noses and devilish tails common
in Norwegian folklore. Trolls and troll houses are all over the place in Norway,
and we think the Norwegians actually believe in them.
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| Certificate that shows we have crossed the Arctic Circle |
The following day on 6 June 2018, at 11:35 a.m., we crossed
the Arctic Circle for the first time!
The Captain issued attractive certificates documenting our achievement, but
first we celebrated with the “Blue Nose” indoctrination.
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The Captain dumps ice water and ice cubes
down Anne's back |
Apparently, this is a
traditional ceremony among seafaring types where the captain dumps ladles of
ice and cold water down the backs of all who cross the Arctic Circle.
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| The Blue Noses! |
Lots of
screaming and shivering, followed by a dab with a blue marker on each of the inductee’s
noses. (Luckily, the blue stuff washed right off lol). Frank, brave man that he
is, volunteered for camera duty while Anne and Kathy braved the ordeal to become
official “blue noses!” Ice down the back
in the Arctic? Haaaaa! Cameraman Frank ain’t no dummy!
More pics:
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| Exploring Geiranger Fjord |
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| Geiranger countryside from Mount Dalsnibba |
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| On top of Mount Dalsnibba |
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| Beautiful Geiranger countryside |
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| Stunning Geiranger Fjord |
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| Waterfalls along Geiranger Fjord |
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| Frank can't stop taking pics of this fjord |
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| Threes of the Seven Sisters Waterfalls |
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| The majesty of Geiranger Fjord |
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| Traveling through the Geiranger Fjord |
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| Geiranger Fjord at its best! |
