June 24 - The Tunnel to Nowhere

Ålesund was a pleasant surprise. We had great weather and it is a lovely place.

This is the "money shot"

In the morning we walked around the town. There was a huge fire in 1904 that destroyed everything. The town was rebuilt over the next few years and the new buildings were influenced by the Art Nouveau style - called jugendstil in Norwegian.

Here are some of the results of the city's Art Nouveau look

In the afternoon we had a Princess tour to Giske Island and Godøya Island. I thought we were going to go there in a boat but we went by bus. We drove through three different under-sea tunnels and one tunnel through a mountain, plus a bridge. These tunnels were fairly new and fairly long.

I assume the tunnels were built with some of Norway's oil money. Maybe they said something like this:

"Yay! It's great to be Norwegian! Look how much oil money we have! What can we do with it?"

"I know! Let's build a bridge to that small island over there with an airport on it!"

"But bridges are so low-budget and they keep ships out. Let's build a tunnel under the sea instead!"

"I just love the new tunnel, but we still have money left over. Let's build a pretty bridge! We can connect our first island to that little island over there where 600 people live. Won't they be happy they don't have to take the ferry any more!"

"But we still have money left over."

"Okay. There's one more island. Let's build another tunnel under the sea to the last island so the 1000 people over there can get to town. I just love tunnels!"

"But we still have money left over and we have connected all the islands. What would the Vikings do?"

"I know! We can build a tunnel through the mountain on the last island. That will make it so easy for people to drive to the hiking trails on the other side of the island!"

"But we still have money left over . . ."

"Maybe we could build a tunnel north of the Arctic Circle."

"How about from the mainland to Magerøya Island? Then you could drive all the way to the North Cape in a caravan (motor home)."

"Great idea!"

But I digress. Our guide, Liv, and our driver, Kristoffer, were both terrific. They were both at least 65. I wonder what that says about the local economy? Do they have to work?  Do they work because there are no interesting activities for seniors? Are there no young people who need these jobs?

Giske is a pleasant little island with a population of about 600. You can walk all the way around Giske's shore in about 3 hours.

Tramp and Turf

One of Giske's claims to fame is its church. Built in the 12th century, it is still in use and it is Norway's only marble church. Or so they say. The marble has been covered with stucco to protect it from the salt air, so it doesn't really look like a marble church except for two blocks which are exposed to prove a point. The inside of the church has some remarkable wood carvings from the 19th century. There are gravestones in the churchyard, mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries. At least half of the people buried here have the surname Giske.

I like seeing really old buildings, but we had to listen to the church warden for over 30 minutes as she explained every minute detail about the church. This visit could have been shortened.

On the way to the next undersea tunnel we passed a large mound which had turned out to be the burial mound of a Viking chieftain. It was practically touching the house next to it. I wonder what it is like to live next door to a Viking burial mound.

Godøya Island is the farthest one out. We drove through a tunnel that went through a mountain and came out near Alnes. There is a very picturesque lighthouse there.

The little house at the foot of the lighthouse is now a cafe and we were given coffee and "cake" there. The first cake looked like a pancake with sugar on top of it. It was delicious once we figured out how to eat it. Half of our group ate it with their coffee/tea spoons; the other half rolled it up and ate with their fingers. Then we had some kind of a layered sponge cake that was also very tasty.

You could climb 88 stairs to the top of the lighthouse. It was recommended that you descend backwards. Thaat was all I needed to hear to make my decision. Even without going up to the top the view was amazing, and the icing on the cake was spotting some whales not far from the shore.

While Ken went up, I admired a series of lithographs by O________ Opdahl. They were like abstract Byron Birdsalls and they definitely had a northern feel. I really liked them.

When we had tunneled our way back to Alesund our bus brought us up a ridiculous switchback road to a lookout point. It was a wonderful view, but I felt like a slacker compared to the tourists (and locals) who walk up 418 stairs to get to the lookout.

Then we drove through the town while Liv told us some interesting stories, embellished with her dry humor. Finally, we were driven around to some places where we could look back toward the ship and the town.

As Liv said, we had now seen Ålesund from inside out and from 145 meters above to 145 meters below.

But I had not yet "seen it all." 

It's not obvious from this stealthily taken photo, but this woman is shaving her legs on her balcony. What would we do without cordless shavers? Now I have seen it all.

Norway's future