We settled into our small, but comfortable cabin. The bath has a heated floor! Yes! The first night featured some decent rock and roll seas.

And so the voyage begins.  Our first stop was Kristiansand on a gloomy, foggy day.

It was not actually raining but our color photos look black and white! Visibility was not good but it was most atmospheric.  We wandered the town, visiting the oldest wooden buildings in Norway and discovering by accident a wonderful cafe/bakery.  We could not take photos inside the church as there was a service, but we peeked in.

Our second stop was in Haugesund.  A former Viking center, it is also an important oil town.  We did not leave the ship.  The stop was very early in the morning (from 7 to 9.30 AM) and it was pouring with rain.  We did make some soggy deck circuits on the walking deck as we left.

Åalesund saw a great improvement in the weather. (Å is pronounced “Al” as in “alley.”) We actually saw the sun!  It was a lovely town, rebuilt in art nouveau style in 1904 after a major fire. 

We enjoyed our walk through town, finishing with a visit to the Art Museum.  Part of this was housed in a lovely building which had formerly been a chemist shop. 

The furniture displays were interesting as was the art. The spare Scandinavian style that we think of today was not the mode at the beginning of the 20th century.

Sailing into Brønnøysund, the ship detoured to view the Torghatten, a granite dome with a hole through it. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torghatten ) As one might imagine, there are lots of legends!

Brønnøysund was an interesting place. The town is named after the small island Brønnøya (Old Norse: Brunnøy) since it is located on the island. The first element is brunnr which means “well” and the second element is øy which means “island”. The final element of the name is sund which means “strait”, referring to the strait of water that flows alongside the island and town. Islands with freshwater wells were important for seafarers. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brønnøysund) (And the ø is pronounced a bit like the British “oy!) or the French “oeil.” We’re learning.)

A much smaller town than Ålesund, we wandered through the shopping mall and were amazed by the variety of shops and what they contained. The kitchen store would be a find in the DC area.  It might help to like fishing but one could live quite comfortably in Brønnøysund. We visited the Trollfjell Geopark, with its displays of the geology of the surrounding area, the Vega Archipelago. (https://trollfjellgeopark.no/index.php/en/ )