1. 😊We are happy to have seen a flash of green - even the tiny flash - of the Northern Lights, it was just not long enough.
2. 😒 We had a lady influencer at our table that couldn't stop talking and boasting and an gent influencer that was a know all in all departments. What a pain they were, filming food, interviewing their partners. Thank goodness we could converse in Afrikaans and say what we felt about it.
3.😊 We loved walking in the snow.
4.😊 Tromso Cable car and Arctic Cathedral was spectacular
5. 😒 The food was very English - Roasts and Vegetables most of the time. No spectacular desserts as on our Fiji trip. We'll be happy to have our own grilled steak back home again. Back to Carnivore for us after this trip.
6. 😊 Cabin with the balcony was a good choice and the bed was very comfy.
First night entertainment was the energetic dancers again. I was so worn out again I had to go and rest. It was really hard work watching them. I was out of breath.
Our last stop is Stavanger- we sailed into port at 09:00 and it reminded me of the Dutch villages from our Barge holiday in the Netherlands. Lovely and quaint.
The sun is out and the temp is 7deg. A stroll around the town to get a few nick knacks and didn't stop for a beer as it was too early. That was our excuse. Not sure what a beer price would be if a burger hits you at R 600. We'll rather have our beers on board.
We sailed early today from Stavanger and are on our way to Southampton.
A short overnight trip to the Alta. This is the most northern port we will visit and have two full days to explore.
Day one was a trip into town but not much to see. The only thing we made sure of was that we have magnets from each of the stops on this trip.
First night entertainment was the ships entertainment team doing magic and dance. So-so but the dancing was so hectic I was out of breath and needed to have a rest after the show.
Day two is our Viator booked trip where we will be going into the countryside for a sleigh ride and experience authentic Sami snacks in an authentic Sami village. Or so we thought. Rude collected us in his Merc passenger bus and a half hour trip took us out into the wooded area. The sleigh ride was cool but in was just a round about trip on a farm and the Sami village was a Sami tent on their farm. They did however show us how they sheep farm and we learned a bit about life and rules in Norway.
Rude was very good and took us on a little detour of Alta - The church where the copper mines were discover and then over by the British - areas that were bombed in WWII - and of course the conversation turned to guns and he loaded us off at the only gun shop in Alta.
The gun shop was more fishing shop than gun shop and we then had to walk back to the boat - four kilometers, I measured in my walking app.
Entertainment on the boat was the juggling comedian - Jon Udry. Second best show on board.
Up on deck on 31st March, we saw traces of the Northern Lights. The way to really see them is by searching with your phone camera. They appear for a few seconds and then poof, they're gone.
We sailed again at one o'clock in the morning of 1 April.
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