Norway 2015

Alesund, Norway

Very scenic little town. This is the classic view from a high hill in the middle of town. The hill is listed as the top activity for tourists by Tripadvisor. So scenic it is, but really nothing more than a hill with a great view.

Alesund, Norway, looking east.

Looking eastward from the top of the hill. One of the prettiest days we had on the trip.

Alyska Hill, Alesund

This is the hill where I took the nice overview shots. It's possible to walk up the 418 steps, we took the bus. This was our second stop here, and I think this is more like the normal weather.

Alesund, downtown canal

Lovely colors on a muted day in Alesund. Brief bits of sun would break through for a few minutes and give these reflections. The distant mountains give you an idea of the typical weather we found this time of year.

Geirangerfjord, early morning arrival

Approaching the small town of Geiranger at the end of this beautiful fjord. Taken in late May 2015, about 0600. Probably one of the most scenic fjords we saw.

Geirangerfjord, Norway

Very scenic fjord. Our ship is the smaller one farther back. We took a bus tour out of the valley to an allegedly better viewpoint, but as you'll see in the next shot, we were a few weeks early.

Scenic tour vista

When we got to the turn off to the scenic overlook, this is what we found. In all fairness though, we were warned the road was probably not open. But they sold us a ticket anyway. Some things never change in touristlandia.

HIllside farm on a major waterfall

This farm is on a hillside several hundred feet above the fjord right at the side of the Seven Sisters waterfall. There's no road that I can see, but if you look in the lower right corner there's some type of cable lift.

The Seven Sisters falls, Geirangerfjord

The view from the boat. Kind of a misty, cloudy day, so it really appears ominous. Apparently the water only started flowing about a week before we got there, and does so intermittently. So some of the sisters haven't arrived yet. This fjord would be worth a return trip.

Hairpin turn road out of Gieranger.

These types of roads are inevitable given the geography of the fjords. They all like to brag about how many hairpins their local road has.

Roadside waterfall

Waterfall by the side on the road in Geiranger. One of the bazillion waterfalls in this country.

Yep, another waterfall.

One of the tourist excursions here is to kayak to these falls. Not sure what you do when you get there as the water is about 40 deg F.

Fjord side village, Flam

This size village was very common on the sides of the fjords we saw. This fjord, Sognefjord, has some very scenic sections, and was very long. The boat took several hours to navigate back out to sea. Life must be really hard in these small places.

Trondheim canal

Image taken looking out to sea from the city's old bridge. Must be some law in Norway that two contiguous houses can't be the same color. OK with me, makes for some great shots. I waited for a boat to pass by, but the temperature was about 42 deg F, with intermittent rain. Just another early summer day in Norway. So needless to say, no subject appeared, but I wouldn't mind coming back here.

Boat canal, Trondheim

Nice city to visit. Not really designed for tourists (which is a good thing), but a genuine Norwegian city, large university town. The downtown consisted of the types of things you just need for everyday life, not just piles of souvenirs and expensive sweaters. These canals and fishing boats were just about everywhere we went.