Brace yourself! Today is the longest day of the year, thus, the longest post. SO much beautiful scenery today that it was difficult to narrow down the photos.

Set our alarm for 4:45 am, pulled back our curtains……of course it’s daylight! We’re in NORWAY! We’ve entered the fjord and headed towards our destination of Geiranger. Geiranger is the gateway to some of coastal Norway’s most magnificent natural treasures. Nearby, the Seven Sisters Waterfall tumbles 1,000 into the fjord’s water, while directly across the fjord, the Suitor Waterfall also plunges down a steep face. The overlook known as Eagle’s Bend towers 2,000 feet above the village, accessed via a winding mountain road with 11 hairpin turns.

We stood on our balcony to watch the jaw dropping views. Huge snow capped mountains, stunning waterfalls, blue water and trees. One of Bob’s dream trips was sailing through the fjords of Norway. I’m very happy about his choices.😉. As our ship sailed up the fjord, we would turn a corner and see another waterfall. The Seven Sisters was just amazing! Thoroughly enjoyed the fjord. We felt so small! Soon we arrived in the port of Geiranger.

Geiranger is a small, coastal town at the end of the Geirangerfjord. Population 250. Geirangerfjord is on the UNESCO World Heritage list (most spectacular places in the world). We anchored in the blue water. It’s the only place on our trip where we anchor and take a tender to shore.

We started our tour early. We left the charming town of Geiranger and started climbing our way up the mountain. On our way, we saw the white, octagonal, wooden church built in 1842. It has the perfect view overlooking the fjord. We were traveling to the Jostedalsbreen National Park Center in the village of Oppstryn. It’s located at the northern side of the Jostedalsbreen glacier (the largest glacier in mainland Europe, spanning an area of 183 square miles and a length of 37 miles). Very popular area for hiking, skiing and kayaking the many lakes.

Our tour was a scenic mountain drive and it did not disappoint. We stopped at a few lakes for photos. We saw two people heli skiing down a mountain. Wow! We saw farms with fields of strawberries (ripe in July) and orchards.

Why is Norwegian milk so good? Well, we learned that Norwegian law entitles all cattle, sheep and goats be free to graze for at least 8 weeks of the year. Many even spend the entire summer season roaming the mountains. Happy cows😉. No hormones or any kind of drug unless the animal is sick. Sheep are seen everywhere on mountaintops. Interestingly, the farmers know exactly where they are because they have GPS trackers and they can find them on an app on their phones. They can also set geo-fences.

(Old houses in the mountains where the dairy maidens would live in the summer to take care of the animals that grazed in the mountains)

We drove up a mountain with several hairpin turns and arrived at a restaurant for lunch. The restaurant had a cliff side setting. The view was spectacular so we were not really interested in spending much time inside. We grabbed a quick bite and then went outside for a walk. A trail gradually led us towards a thunderous sound of rushing water. As we approached, we saw how blue the water was coming down out of the mountains towards us and then, a cliff. The water took a sudden drop, a free fall, over the cliff. I bent over the railing to get a picture and couldn’t even see the bottom. Videfossen waterfall was the name and it was incredible! Strolled back up the trail and saw many wildflowers. We had a view down the valley of tall, snowy mountains on each side (Skalafjellet Mountain – elevation 6,000 ft), green fields at the bottom with houses that dotted the landscape. Trees on steep slopes, a winding road and a river with the water from the water fall we are standing by.

We continued our tour down the mountain. Some turns were so tight, if we met another vehicle, they would have to backup so we could fit by. And then, our guide had a phone call and said the clouds have lifted. Ok, what’s that mean? We’re heading to Dalsnibba and the Geiranger Skywalk (Europe’s highest fjord view from a road). Down the valley we drove until we reached the blue lake we stopped at earlier. We turned right and straight up the mountain with many more hairpin turns. As we approached the top, you could see the snow piled high on each side that the snowplow had carved out. I doubt the snow ever melts here. We reached the top and there was an open, metal grate that cantilevered out over the edge. As you walked, you could look down at your feet and see a few thousand feet straight down. As we looked over the railing, you could see this crazy stretch of road that looked like a squiggly line. Bob said it reminded him of an old Beatle’s tune and I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about. 😉 Apparently, there was a song named The Long and Winding Road. We walked over to the area where you could see the Geirangerfjord in the distance. There’s our ship! Can’t believe we can see it from here. I climbed down over some rocks so I could get some more pictures. Amazing! Wish we could spend more time here. I was climbing back over the rocks to reach the parking lot and caught a whiff of cinnamon. I shouted up to Bob…I smell cinnamon! He laughed and said, there’s a coffee shop up here and think they have homemade cinnamon rolls. What?! Now that would hit the spot. Bob was sweet and went inside to buy two before we headed back down the mountain.

How many times did I say to Bob – “we must come back and I’m renting a car”!

Down the mountain, back and forth, back and forth. On hairpin turns, the front of the bus appears to hang out over the cliff. Later, we found out the bus had rear steering and that’s why we could turn so sharp (counter steering). Enjoyed the ride back to the port and took the tender back over that smooth, blue water to our ship. Our ship left port around 5 pm because the Captain wants to make it to Alesund for tonight’s big celebration.

We enjoyed sailing out of the fjord. The sun is out and the sky is blue. It’s a different look than it was this morning. Even more beautiful as we passed the Seven Sisters and The Suitor waterfalls.

The Captain was on a mission. We’re heading to Alesund for the celebration marking the summer solstice (the longest day of the year) and yes, the world’s tallest bonfire. Believe it was 120’ this year. It’s a huge tower of wooden pallets stacked in various directions and layers and whiskey barrels. It took us about 4 hours from Geiranger to Alesund. We rounded a bend to see hundreds of boats and probably thousands of people on the shore celebrating. A group of men had scrambled to the top with a road flare and a Norwegian flag and started the fire. We could see the top smoking and soon we could see flames. As we got closer, the captain had to blow the horn because so many little boats were moving into our lane. Then all the little boats would blow their horns and people would cheer. The layers of the tower started burning one by one. Big chunks would fall off flaming on the way down, hit the ground and sparks would go everywhere. The crowd would cheer. Apparently they all stay until it burns to the ground.

Bob just found a video on YouTube from this year’s bonfire. Shots from a drone that included our ship. Different perspective. We were not there for the final collapse of the tower, but the video showed the huge tower crashing to the ground…and a good time was had by all!

We docked the ship just around the corner from the bonfire.

We went to dinner and talked about everything we saw today. What a day!!! We LOVE 🇳🇴 Norway.