Kelly Trips and Tours

Today we got permission from King Neptune to cross the Arctic Circle. But first, we got up to another beautiful 69 degree day - what a blessing. The waters of the fjord are so calm, it was like cruising on a lake. Today was a sea day, but our Captain changed the route to maneuver through more fjords because the weather was so nice. He made a slow pass for photos at the "Hole in the Mountain" and yes, that's its name. How it got there, beats us! We've got to confess, it's hard to describe and pick pictures as every where we turn there's incredible beauty. Although it looks like a low cloud, that's a glacier below. At 2pm local time we officially crossed into the Arctic Circle where the sun never sets. To appease King Neptume, it is a ritual to take an Arctic Plunge (the jucuzzi was filled with several tubs of ice), kiss a fish and take a shot of Aqua Vit (similar to Vodka) to receive the Blue Nose Order Honor. The line was long as...

Wednesday, June 28 Molde (pronounced Mol-da) enjoys a prestine setting amoung countless islands, forested hills and breathtaking views of a magnificant range of 222 peaks. The weather once again was perfect as we took the Molde highlights tour with highs in the 60's. Beautiful panoramic views of the city from Varden Point and the wide fjord below. A cute duck pond and duck house. To get to the other side of the mountain, we drove through a 2.8 km tunnel bored through the mountain. On the other side, views of farm land and lakes before reaching the coast. Finished in the late eighties (here's where the title comes in), we drove on the Atlantic Road, a scenic route along the stunning coastline to islands. Here along the Atlantic coast they built eight bridges across eight islands, 8 km long which took eight years to build! One bridge is very unique - we called it the helix bridge, curving in several directions. Picture below taken through the...

Tuesday, June 27 This morning we cruised into Geirangerfjorden and anchored close to the town of Geiranger.  The cruise into the fjord was so beautiful with sheer walls of rock covered with trees on both sides, green grasses and numerous waterfalls.  Some waterfalls were as thin as string, while others were a little wider. We had decided that we would explore on our own today and not take any of the Viking excursions (busses) so once we were tendered into town, we picked up our rental car and got started.  We took highway 63 up the mountain (13 hairpin turns-see photo below) and stopped several times to take in the view of the fjord. We ventured into several charming little towns. The scenery is beyond description, so here are several pictures for your viewing pleasure. We took a little side trip and ran into some very contented cows, sheep on the road, beautiful lupines, and a 'Norwegian carwash'.  It was really a way to keep the animals...

Monday, June 26 Sunny today - guess God washed Bergen enough yesterday and now it's clean so He let the sun out. So after breakfast, Ric, Bill, and Karen decided to take the funicular to the top of Mt. Floyen.  Walking thru town was wonderful. We didn't want to miss out on the great views and the rain yesterday disappointed us, but not today. The views of Bergen from the top of the Funicular was great.  We even ran into some mountain goats who were friendly enough to let Karen pet one. We made it back to the ship for a quick lunch and then the four of us started out for a tour we were interested in.  It started at the Stave Church, a Viking Church built like tinker toys - no nails.  It was located in a dense forest that looked like it could be inhabited by trolls, since there are said to be many trolls in Norway.  The church was origionally built in 1150, but was distroyed by fire in 1992.  It was lovingly rebuilt exactly as it was originally wa...

The Hotel Thon Rosenkrantz Bergen not only had a very delicious dinner buffet last night, but this morning the breakfast buffet was the best Bill - and all of us - have ever seen. If you wanted it, they had it, to include lots of choices for the Vegan with us. Shortly after our 9am breakfast, Vicki was very excited to see her bag. Can you tell? Bergen was getting washed this morning so we came up with a rainy day activity - shopping. Karen and Vicki managed to drop some NOK (Norwegian money) at their first shop - a Christmas store, and they found a few other shops to spend their NOK. To help out the Bergen economy, Ric joined in and bought a very appropriate hat for our journey. After ducking into a few stores and alcoves when it rained (off and on every few minutes), we picked the Baker Brun for lunch with great sandwiches and pastries. Bergen is well known for dried Cod fish, so the fish market tour was on the agenda before heading to our cruise...