DAY 13 - ALESUND.

As the ship moved to its berth in the picturesque town of Alesund, the weather appeared a little disappointing, with the cloudy sky and a little drizzle. Throughout this cruise we have experienced pretty good weather so we can’t really complain.

We hadn’t booked a ship excursion at this stop instead opting for a trip around the town on a hop-on/hop-off bus. The plan was to get an idea from the bus tour of the places we would walk to later if the weather perked up.The first stop on the tour was the Aksla view point normally accessed via a 418 step climb from the City park, but much easier on a bus.

As you can see the sun had begun to break through giving spectacular views over the city and the fjords beyond. The bus then took us through the town (pictures of this later) and out to Hessa view point which gave a view across the harbour (including our ship) to the city.
The Askla view point can be seen high on the hill.

We stayed on the bus until it returned to the ship, no hopping on or off for us, but we knew now where we needed to walk.
Alesund was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1904 as sparks from a local fishing factory, fanned by the high wind from the fjord ravaged the wooden buildings in the town. The town was rebuilt over the next three years in an Art Nouveau style by northern German architects. The town itself is very attractive, indeed it has been voted Norway’s most beautiful city. Our walk took us first to the buildings on the wharfside….

….and then taking in the ornately decorated houses around the old town.

Wherever you looked there were more examples.

A little up the road is the fine Alesund church,solidly made from stone….

but inside the Art Noveau theme continues.

The city of Alesund has connections to the United Kingdom as one of it’s old residents, the viking Rollo, journeyed to Northern France in the 10th century. Here he seized land and the French King at the time created him the first Duke of Normandy in 911. His Great Great Grandson (maybe one too many greats) , one William, was set to become King of England in 1066. His feats are commemorated by a statue in the city park, interestingly an identical statue can be found in Rouen,France, where he is buried.

Alesund is a really beautiful town with many of the attractions easy to reach on foot and the weather, which as you can see turned out really fine, made it a pleasure to visit.
Back on ship we had a late afternoon sitting in the sun on deck before yet another trivia near miss. No wins at all this cruise but at least today we were awarded a certificate (as was everyone as on the cruise) for crossing the Arctic Circle.

Tomorrow the last stop on the cruise, an early morning visit to Bergen.