We say goodbye to Norway today, as Alesand is our last Norwegian port of call. We will be saying goodbye with memories for a lifetime of a beautiful country with warm friendly welcoming people.
Our tour wasn't until after lunch today so we grabbed a map and headed into the town centre. Alesand, with a population of 55,386, is situated over several islands that are all close together. The history of Alesand is marked by a devastating fire in January 1904 which destroyed over 800 wooden houses and left around 10,000 residents homeless. Remarkably only one life was lost. It was Germany who came to the rescue of rebuilding Alesand that was completed between 1904 and 1907. This resulted in the establishment of Alesand's distinctive architectural style characterised by ornate buildings adorned with turrets, spires and intricate decorations.
From our ship, we crossed a foot bridge onto a neighbouring island that we were told is the older part of Alesand. The waterway is lined with lovely homes and numerous boats are moored inside this quiet waterway.
We spotted a little red lighthouse at the end of a sea wall so we headed in that direction. When we reached it we were surprised to find that it is a honeymoon suite, belonging to one of the hotels. I love the sign on the door.
Re-tracing our footsteps we go back over the footbridge and head towards the city centre. There is a walking tour in front of us and they are stopped and looking up at something. That something was a very narrow house, just like we saw in Amsterdam. These narrow homes are just one room wide.
We circle back to our ship in time for a bite of lunch before our tour begins. The sun is shining brightly by the time we arrive back at the ship and I snap a couple of photos from our balcony. It's just as well I did because in no time at all the sun disappeared behind dark clouds.
Our tour is called Alesand cityscapes. It was pretty much a drive tour with just a couple of stops along the way. Alesand has a tradition of bonfires that are lit to celebrate the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. In 1964 there came about a tradition of building the highest bonfire to foster community spirit. Our bus stopped at the place where they build the bonfires. Our guide tells us that Alesund holds the Guiness World Record for the tallest bonfire, reaching a height of just over 47 metres. This was achieved in 2016. Our guide passes around some photos of the bonfire being built and when it was set alight.
Our next stop is another ABC (another bloody church). We don't go inside as it is the outside that the guide wants to show us. Instead of the traditional sandstone this church is made from local marble. We can't see too much though as the church is covered in scaffolding as it is getting its annual clean.
The tour then heads to the city centre where we walked this morning. We didn't see much point in seeing the same things over again so we said goodbye to our tour and walked back to the ship that is only a 15 minute walk away. We had time for a quick freshen up before heading downstairs to the Horizon Bar for a gathering of the Grand Arctic Voyagers. The cruise director had us line up the length of the railing, facing the water at the back of the ship for a photo and then the photographer sent up a drone to get footage of us sailing away. I can't wait to see the results in a few days time.
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