TBW Travel Today: DAY TWO: Trondheim-Rorvik

Nidaros, now called Trondheim, was Norway's first capital city (872-1217AD) and is located at the mouth of the River Nid. After a fierce conflict, a majority of the population rejected the original name and the name Trondheim was adopted. Trondheim is our port from 8am-noon and one of the larger cities (175,000) in northern Norway. The four of us enjoyed an early breakfast so that we could maximize our time in port. At the last minute, Linda & Kenny decided to stay on the ship, so Manfred and I headed towards the center of town.

First, we visited the Gothic Trondheim Cathedral where St. Olaf is buried under the alter. St. Olaf met his end at the battle of Stiklestad in 1030AD. We decided to climb the 150' tower for an overview of the city. Sigrid was our tour leader and she scampered up the 18" wide spiral steps in the narrow tower with ease. Manfred and I were right behind her, but most importantly we stayed ahead of Michael from Prague who apparently had not washed his sweater since visiting Barcelona. :)

Trondheim Cathedral

View looking north from Cathedral

Top of Cathedral bell tower

The views from the top of the Cathedral were worthy of the effort expended. A narrow catwalk ran around the four sides of the tower offering 360 degree views of the city. The descent from the tower was potentially more dangerous than the ascent as one slip on the steep worn stone steps would create a momentous, but ultimately very ugly fall.

Town Bridge with wooden houses

Drawbridge section of Town Bridge

Nearby the Cathedral is the River Nid lined with all-wood buildings. Also the charming Town Bridge with an interesting drawbridge mechanism. After a devastating fire in 1681, Johan Casper von Cicignon drew plans and laid the foundation for the city as it is today.

Before returning to the ship, we had two missions: an Apple SD adapter and to find the state-run ABC store, the VinMonopolet. We were ultimately unsuccessful on the first mission, but scored a direct hit at the VinMonopolet. Norway's state-run stores are clean, well merchandised and quite expensive. A one liter bottle of Absolute vodka was $60. Aquavit was $50 and a 750 ml NZ Crossings Sav Blanc was $21 (about double the price in Virginia).

I commented to the VinMonopolet cashier about the high cost of alcoholic beverages in Norway and she said "this is why moonshine and other illegal alcohol is so prevalent in Norway"...damn, I felt like I was back home in West Virginia!

The lack of an SD adapter means that I will only be able to insert photos from the iPad camera. I may have to wait until I return to Virginia to insert photos from my Nikon DSLR--very unfortunate since I have some good photos to share from the journey to date. UPDATE: Now have photos!!!

Happy 120th, Hurtigruten!!!

Upon our return to the ship, the 120th birthday party for Hurtigruten was in full swing. Many of the crew dressed in traditional Norwegian costume. There was a band playing on a stage set up by the ship and politicians/Hurtigruten execs got to speak to the crowd before helium balloons were released. Then the ship's horn gave a blast and we continued northbound towards Rorvik.