I was the first to get off the ship on this Sunday morning. Oslo was like a ghost city. There were no cars whatsoever. Empty streets, and this is the capital of Norway? Oslo is modern and is in facto one of Europe’s fastest growing cities. On every corner a surprise is [...]
We met Johanna Molin for the first time in December 2012 when we visited the STX shipyard in Turku, Finland. While she passionately guided us through the newbuilding Viking Grace we knew right away we met one very special lady. In 2013 we sailed on the freshly-delivered ferry and got to know [...]
Twilight photography, it is one of my passions. Last week’s trip to Northern Norway made me a happy photographer, and not only because of the Northern Lights. I got the blues too. I got the blues, literally. The so-called blue hour is the period of twilight each morning and evening. The more north you [...]
How to photograph the northern lights? That’s the theme of the voyage. When writing these lines I am sitting in my cabin 619 on Hurtigruten’s NORDNORGE after a lucky evening with a starry night and plenty of aurora borealis, while we are sailing to Kirkeness, the last Norwegian port before the Russian border. [...]
Our cruise ends in beauty : Bergen. This city reminds me of the city where I grew up: Bruges. It has in common the small, cute houses, with here in Bergen the waterfront as a bonus. But also the many many tourists in the old town. Luckily tourists have the tendency to stay [...]
On Wednesday we berthed in Geiranger. It did not take me a lot of time to award this town to one of my favourites. Besides the mind-blowing emerald-green Geirangerfjord, the small town also has attractive cafés and stores to offer. When you're there, do have a coffee and sandwich in café [...]
Tuesday. Another sunny beautiful day. I know I use a lot the word beautiful but I cannot describe differently how happy and lucky we were to enjoy such weather in Norway for more than one week. After a short stop in Molde, the ship sailed direction Åndalsnes. I could not get [...]
In the morning we arrived in Ålesund, surprisingly the Art Nouveau capital of Norway. In 1904 practically the whole city with mostly wooden houses was destroyed in a massive fire. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, being a regular visitor of this region expressed his concern and was one of the first to [...]
On Sunday we entered the 100 km-long Nordfjord. Another beautiful morning. Next stop: Olden. Must see in this region is the Briksdalsbreen, this glacier is a well-known and accessible arm of the Jostedalsbreen, the largest glacier on the European mainland. We drove past the miraculous emerald green lake of Olden. Our guide [...]
On Saturday we were happy to approach beautiful Ulvik early in the morning. Last year we already sailed in the lovely Hardangerfjord when we attended the Conference on Sustainability Shore Excursions. The Hardanger Suspension Bridge was opened a year ago Early morning arrival in Ulvik When we boarded the tenders the [...]
