A day in Sognefjorden

Real explorers start the day early!  We reached Nærøyfjorden 05:30 in the morning. The fjord is regarded to be one of the most beautiful and dramatic in the world and is on the UNESCO world heritage list. Hikers were dropped at Bleiklindi in the inner part of Nærøyfjorden and left there to make their way to Flåm. They followed the old postal route to Styvi. It was a very pleasant experience, as  they walked in the midst of this stunning landscape. The hikers were off the ship before breakfast; however, nobody goes hungry on Fram as the Hotel Manager and Chef had prepared a full breakfast on the beach.

Tomasz Zadrozny

Tomasz Zadrozny

Tomasz Zadrozny

The Royal Postal route were built in the 1600`s to get mail between Bergen and Gudvangen. The post was transported at this time by foot some stretches or by boat if possible. When the fjord was frozen the post had to be transported overland and the mail carrier used the route Bleiklindi-Styvi and onwards by boat.

Tomasz Zadrozny

The hikers chose the same way this morning to catch up with the ship in Flåm. They walked the 6km to Styvi and there they were picked up by Polar Cirkle boats.

Tomasz Zadrozny

In the meantime another adventure had started from Flåm; a ride with the train from Flåm to Myrdal. The railway is 20 km long, but the train climbs 867m during these 20 km, crossing back and forth across rivers and through 20 tunnels. The railway is a masterpiece of engineering.

FriedaPhoto

FriedaPhoto

FriedaPhoto

FriedaPhoto

FriedaPhoto

FriedaPhoto

Next stop in Sognefjorden was Balestrand. Some enjoyed a cultural walk through this beautiful little town surrounded by high mountains and stunning scenery.

Lisa Anderson

To get a better view some even hiked all the way up the steep trail to the viewpoint at Orabenken. 

Tomasz Zadrozny

The evening ended with a fruit and ice carving show presented by our very talented crew out of the galley and the restaurant.

Lisa Anderson

A day full of action

We spent the night in the harbour at the pier in Eidfjord just next to a huge and nice looking hotel. But we have to say, it’s wonderful to have the possibility to take the own hotel with you on your trip. Coming back from a hike, a city tour or other activities, your cabin is waiting for you again. No need to pack or unpack day by day. Your personal belongings are where they should be already; it’s a bit like coming home.

FriedaPhoto

This day turned out as a day full of activities. In the early morning our kayakers started the first passenger cruise of this trip. Accompanied by our experienced and well trained expedition team passengers went into the boats for an unforgettable experience. Well equipped with dry suits, and even chocolate and a bottle of water, kayak by kayak was pushed into the fjord – and the tour could start, very well observed by the other passengers.

FriedaPhoto

FriedaPhoto

FriedaPhoto

FriedaPhoto

Some guests learned the city by themselves; others joined our lecture team on the “footprints of the Vikings”.

Our Chef Johan Ludvik expected us on the pier already when we came back after a morning full of new experiences. He had a typical Norwegian cake prepared for us, the so called “krotekake”, something like a pancake made out of potatoes. What a nice and warm welcome back on board.

FriedaPhoto

After lunch and a short break we started with our bridge visits. 

Lisa Anderson

The expedition team had some “brain activities” prepared for us. Of course there have been lectures again, but there has been a very special lesson too, a lesson in Hardanger embroidery. Like school children passengers and even staff members learned from our expedition leader Karin the first steps of this amazing needle work. 

Lisa Anderson

 The evening ended with an Udo Jürgens show by our pianist Ralf.

Lisa Anderson

Everything is possible in Hardangerfjord

We started the day with a visit to Rosendal , an area known for its long shipbuilding tradition. Gjøa was one of the many boats built here and used by Roald Amundsen on the expedition through the “North West passage”. The ship building museum has maintained tools and models  from the time of the ship building period 1855-1955. The small community of Rosendal  keeps the boatbuilding tradition alive. The community has taken upon themselves to restore the old wooden boat Gurine which was built right after Gjøa. The locals showed off their old lady and gladly offered a tour for those of us who passed by. The lucky ones caught the workers in their coffee break and got a taste of the local pastry “Svele”. So far, the community of Rosendal has spent 7500 hours of volunteer work on Gurine. The plan is to have her finished in 2017. They discuss lively during the coffee break where to go sailing when the work is done. Will it be Torshamn (Faroe Island), Caribbean or to neighbouring fjords?

Another famous attraction in Rosendal is the manor “Baroniet”. In 1650s a Danish nobleman came to Bergen and met the daughter of the biggest landowner in the area. When they married in 1658 they were given Baroniet as a wedding present.  King Christian V of Denmark gave the estate a status of barony, the only one of its kind in Norway.  The property remained in private ownership until it was donated to the University of Oslo in 1927. We enjoyed the beautiful park around the manor.

The weather was splendid and the Hardangerfjord beautiful so the lecture about fjords and surroundings where given on outside decks.

In the afternoon, we landed in the village Ulvik which is famous for fruit and cider production. Brakanes Hotel lies here in this  beautiful location.This highly respectable hotel was established in 1860 and is surrounded by high mountains, sparkling fjords and a well-organised cultural scene.

The most adventures decided to paddle the 18km between Ulvik and Eidsfjord, while Fram sailed the same distance

Our first day in the Norwegian Fjords

Our lovely lady MV FRAM made her way to Norway during the night. In the very early morning hours we reached the “Lysefjord”. Lysefjord means “The shining or lighting fjord. When we started our cruising with lots of information given by the expedition team from the bridge the sky was very cloudy. But the sun broke more and more through the clouds during our cruising and we got a good imagination about the very special light here in the Lysefjord.

Around 11:00 we reached Stavanger, that’s also called as the capital of the oil industry. We were just lying next to the very interesting Oil museum. Many passengers went into the museum to learn more about Norwegians important “Oil industry”.

There have been offered excursions like a walking tour and a Panorama tour by bus so that everybody got the possibility to see as most as possible of Stavanger and its surroundings.

Special points of interest have been the “Stavanger Cathedral” out of the beginning of the 12^th century and the old part of the town, the “Gamle Stavanger” where you can still find more than 170 old wooden houses built in 17^th and 18^th century.  This old part of Stavanger is Europe’s best preserved wooden house settlement and of course it is protected by a special conservation law.

 We set sail again around 21:00. The day ended with FRAM’s very famous and funny Fashion show.

Smooth crossing of North Sea

Morning announcement at 9 in the morning was promising for a calm crossing of the North Sea.  Therefore, it was possible to enjoy the view over the sea from open deck, in either the Jacuzzis or taking a stroll around the decks.

The sea day gave us the chance to prepare for the adventures to come. Going to the Norwegian fjords some obvious topics had to be covered Vikings and Salmon. Not only did we hear the lecture about salmon, but also the delicious Norwegian fish was served for dinner.

 

Our Expedition Leader Karin Strand used to opportunity to prepare for embroiders class that she will hold later on this cruise. She was spotted in the strangest settings with embroidery in hand.

It was a relaxing evening onboard with movies and live music by Ralf.  We are ready for an early start tomorrow to enjoy the spectacular Lysefjorden.

Another «change over day»

In the very early morning we picked up our river pilot who should guide us over the river Elbe to the harbour of Hamburg. Around 11:00 Fram went alongside the pier in the “Hafen City”. It was a big good bye and a lot of hugging before passengers left the ship to travel home.

A “change over day” is always hard for the crew as the whole ship has to be cleaned so that the ship is more or less shining for the new incoming guests.

The new guests arrived just after 16:00. Passengers started to learn the ship just after the check in.

Fram left the harbour of Hamburg at 20:00 after all passengers had participate in a mandatory safety drill.

During our first dinner we had a special event with music and cake for our hotel manager Kjell, as it was his birthday.

Some days ago a couple of our passengers celebrated their “Golden Wedding” on board. The huge amount of roses the husband bought for his wife, have been left on board as it was too difficult to bring them home. Now we all can enjoy them. Love is something wonderful. We send many congratulations to the happy couple via our blog.

In the evening our Captain, Rune Andreassen, invited us to his Welcome Cocktail. Here we saw also our expedition team the first time.

As everybody was quiet tiered most passengers went to bed early, dreaming perhaps of the Norwegian fjords.

A day of reflection on our experiences

Our last day at sea was again blessed by good weather and smooth seas. Sailing along the coasts of the Netherlands and Germany we saw a surprisingly large number of oil rigs, and many wind mill farms, and for long stretches we had low-lying land in sight. So civilization was never far away!

Tomasz Zadrozny

Tomasz Zadrozny

Even though there were many lectures today, this day also gave opportunity for quiet reflection on what we had seen around the British Islands and Ireland. For many it was also a day for making plans for meeting again in the future with new friends discovered aboard. Looking at the photos that the expedition photographer made available also was an entertaining activity.

Steffi Wiegand

Steffi Wiegand

The captain’s farewell cocktail was the final even of a day that had  passed just too quickly!

Steffi Wiegand