We had three hours on land and it was rainy, but we headed into town and passed the old Hanseatic district of Bakklandet known for colorful wooden wharves, which are propped up on stilts:
This is near the old city bridge, Gamle Bybro which sits over Nid River: The bridge is known to the locals as ‘The Portal of Happiness’, coined in a popular Norwegian waltz by Kristian Oskar Hoddø - Rachel does look happy despite the rain:
As I was orienting myself on the Google map, I saw there was an icon for Banksy “Boy with Rope” or “Shoe fishing”. When researching later, we realized this wasn’t real, but just like the whales yesterday, we delighted in the possibility of stumbling upon a real Banksy piece:
We finally arrived at the must-see site of the city which is Nidaros Cathedral, nicknamed ‘Norway’s Notre Dame’. It is considered the most sacred building in all of Norway. Next door is the Archbishop’s Palace, where Norway’s crown jewels are on display. Due to being an official mourning site, large groups are not allowed to enter and I had heard the boat’s group tour had to adjust and only go to the Archbishop’s Palace. Apparently, it’s also the world’s northernmost cathedral…
We entered and enjoyed the detail inside while in queue to pay our condolences to the King. We observed nursery school students write their messages too and an Asian male tourist who was reading all the condolences - at one point, a church employee asked him to move along.
We also saw a very cool Sami altarpiece made of birch wood with traditional ornamentation - a convergence between the indigenous culture and Christianity in Norway.
We then walked down Munkegata which I was told at the ship orientation meant “Monk’s Street” as that’s where monks lived. It continues to the market square, where there’s a towering statue of the city’s founder, Viking King Olaf Tryggvason:
Nearby was Stiftsgården, the royal residence in Trondheim with the flowers and candles laid in honor of the King. We saw more school students paying their respects and this woman with Munch’s “The Scream” umbrella - so Norwegian:
We stopped into a tea / coffee shop to rest from the rain and we then headed towards the dock and passed by these umbrellas - I think this is the third I’ve taken in an European city… they really know how to appeal to the Instagram posters - just like the colorful houses:
Our walking route passed by this famous statue of Leif Erikson, also known as “Leif the Lucky” - a Norse explorer and thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus:
Back on board, you could see the rain and clouds clearing up and a view of the coastal countryside from our window portal:
In the afternoon, the boat organized a coastal kitchen activity and served us local blue mussels which were cultivated on rope lines off of buoys in the fjords. As such, they are not stereotypically sandy as they are not harvested from the mud, but were briny and ate while enjoying the view:
Afterwards, to remove the briny taste, I ordered an ice cream made of Norwegian brown cheese - it tasted a little like vanilla ice cream:
In the afternoon, the ship announced a point of interest - Kjeungskjær Lighthouse which is octagonal and considered one of the most beautiful of the over 200 in Norway and last manned around 1987. The lighthouse keeper that lived here with his family had even brought in a teacher to teach his kids and they had to be tied to ropes when it was too windy - very isolated…
While enjoying beautiful views of islets and the shore, we drank various ciders in the Panorama Lounge and noshed on some croissant sandwiches:
Then we attended the daily briefing via streaming to our room and learned about cod and their spawning grounds in the Barents Sea in northern Norway and our plans / activities in the Lofoten Islands for the next two days.
We had our first fixed dinner, meaning no buffet and at our assigned seating which happened to be next to the Canadians. We enjoyed asparagus, reindeer cheese, salmon, vegetables, the ice cream of the day which was sorbet, and some cheesecake. I forgot to take photos as we were busy chatting.
But we didn’t forget to take photos of the beautiful sunset:
They then played music from local bands from a playlist upstairs and we enjoyed from our cushy panorama lounge seats….
