After breakfast at the Tyssedal Hotel (room view of church, fjord & ship) we were on our way about 8:45 AM. Today was waterfalls day plus a long drive through the mountains and mountains again plus geocaching for navigation. We drove 265 km today.
We also happened upon the oldest Stave Church in its nearly original construction from between 1100 and 1350. We arrived just as a woman with the keys was just coming out. She invited us on to see the interior and talk about the history of this particular church. It escaped being burned during the reformation because it was hidden away in the mountains!
1. Biggest Rock in Norway (Odda Norway)
2. Låtefoss falls
3. Longfoss falls + geocache
4. Stave Church (Røldel Norway)
5. Mountains snow skiers
6. Nice rest stop with huge boulder
7. Reiårsfossen (falls)
8. Arrived Evje Norway about 6 pm
Stopped at the local SPAR grocery to resupply, checked in at the Dølen Hotel and enjoyed dinner from supplies….!
Now that we are in road trip mode, we got ourselves together and were able to get away from the hotel about 9:30 AM. Breakfast from hotel supplies.
It was a caching day that covered 168 km. Remember, we use the roads less traveled even here in Norway!
We discovered several waterfalls and found a few caches on a beautiful sunny day. Drove down a long fjord with scenic views – except some places the roads were narrow and extra attention was required.
At our hotel, we opted for their restaurant’s local trout. With it, Joyce had hard cider and Gary a Reisling.
We disembarked from the Viking Vela at 8:45 AM this morning after packing out suitcases to be handled to the bus and into the Bergen airport. We rented a car for the balance if our stay and were on our way about 10 AM.
First stop was to a replica of a Stave Church from the Viking time (1150 and 1350). We met a local and had a nice chat about the church, Norway and the area.
Stopped for a cache near a train station along a fjord. Along our drive, there were many, many tunnels ranging from 100 meters to 2 km. Interesting driving.
Then we were on our way to find a geocache at a waterfall. The waterfall was a bust as access was closed due to dangerous winter conditions. The cache was still there and we found it!
Arrived at our hotel around 4:30 pm. Today we had lunch and dinner from supplies! Dinner supplies were obtained by walking to a nearby grocery store. Gary climbed up on a wall to retrieve the cache on the way for groceries.
This is additional images from the fjord cruise. Due to technical difficulties i am not able to sign in to our adventure site. So I have to resort to an email process. Hope you don’t mind the reduced information.
After the day and night at sea, we arrived in Trondheim around 7 AM on Saturday morning.
Wave action, but we aren’t sea sickSunset from our balcony
Saturday In Trondheim
After breakfast in the World Cafe, we headed out on our own to explore the city. Viking provided a shuttle bus on a half hourly schedule for guests who wanted to get to town and we took it! Once there we began to use our geocaching finds to see the interesting things while adding to our total cache numbers. We even started the day with sunshine! That was great for photographing the Old Bridge and colorful buildings.
View from our balcony for 2 days in portSmall harbor lighthouse within sight of our shipArches of the Old BridgeColorful apartments, formerly shops or warehousesThe DomGeocache requirement to encircle the Rose windowCute photo point – wonder if left from Christmas
Back to the ship for lunch! They do feed us well and you never want to miss a good meal! Then we were off for the organized bus ride excursion through town to a few view sites with a local guide giving narrative. Mostly there are no photo opportunities on a bus ride throughout town!
Bus Ride did take us to an overlook of TrondheimThis museum lights up differently each night
Sunday Back To Town On The Bus
We had a few more caches to find today before we leave for Ålesund tonight. Breakfast, then donning our rain pants and coats to avoid getting too wet! The bus was waiting, and we were on our way about 10 AM.
Made a second pass by the charming wooden building even if cloudyView down the River that runs betweenHad to climb two rungs to reach the cacheYes, LFL in Norway, tooA geocache challenge – #25 anywhere to celebrate 25 years (we only have 20)
Returned in time for lunch. Today was laundry day for us aboard ship. Clean clothes for our week following the cruise on our own. Rented a car for pickup at the Bergen airport on Tuesday morning after we disembark the ship. Then on to see other parts of Norway!
We decided to book a weekend stay in Philly to celebrate our 55th anniversary. With a little searching we found a lovely B&B near 18th & Pine–La Reserve convenient to the Kimmel Center for our Philly Orchestra concert, our favorite restaurant La Viola and of course some geocaches accessible by SEPTA bus.
We left home a little after 9 AM to drive to the Wawa (Wawa PA near Media PA) station, parked Ms. Merlot in the covered garage and paid for 2 nights parking.
Made the 10:08 AM departure to Suburban station. From there we took Bus 17 to 19th & Pine. Walked with 1 rolling suitcase the 2 blocks to La Reserve and had an early check in. We enjoyed lunch after settling in.
Then we were off via SEPTA Bus 2 and 64 to get to the Washington/South Street area. All bundled up against the cold we found 3 geocaches in a few blocks.
Magic Garden EntranceAwaiting our last bus
Returned to our B&B via bus 40 and walked the 2 blocks from the nearest stop. Inside it was toasty warm!! Had a cup of tea, did some reading and rested up before heading out to dinner and concert.
Departed the B&B around 5 PM for La Viola where we discovered it was “restaurant week”. Had a lovely dinner with a nice wine we brought along (BYOB). Then on to the concert at the Kimmel.
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