Day 9

[fbhjr]

Tuesday morning we sailed into Rosendal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosendal,_Norway


I’m told folks navigated by those waterfalls for centuries as they can be seen for quite a long distance.


The kayaks went out early.


At breakfast my wife still wasn’t feeling well, so we check back in with the doctor who said she still had a fever.
I watched the preparations to go ashore while this was going on.



The doctor said if she had a fever, my wife should stay on the ship and rest, so this is what she did.
I got on the zodiac and went off to shore on my own.







The harbor master came out to greet me. The walking tour wasn’t going to start for a couple of hours, but I had wanted to get out of the room so my wife could sleep, so I wandered around town.


If you looked at this ship an older man would appear and asked you if you liked it. If you said “yes” he would then proceed to tell you its history, the history of its sister ships and of the cod trade from Norway to Denmark, Portugal and the politics of it.


After listening to his talk, I told him I came from a place with a “Cape Cod” and he was happy to know my people respected the cod.


I did sit on the bench and watch him approach other people. I could tell who was local by the folks who would hold up their hands and say “no!” as he approached.


There are some interesting paintings on some of the buildings. The town is apparently very proud of their local artist and trying to get them to do more.



Not sure if this is artwork or just using local material to protect young trees.


There is a very active stream through the town that is fed by the very visible waterfalls.


I did not leave town, but went to the edge and looked at the stream.




Back in town there was a statue I can only assume is to the “blue people” who come after ships and make them do poetry or die. No marker to confirm or deny this.


This was not a tuba shop, but an ice cream place that was not yet open. I would come back as the sign in the window said no dairy types available.



I’m told this is the “perfect Norwegian bourse”.



I went to the local market (something I like to do wherever I go), got some snacks and drinks and waited for the tour to show up. I could see our room, but my wife was asleep and not out on the balcony.



It is a very pretty town.



When the rest of the tour got there, one of the people on it was quite put out by what they said was the “one ugly building in town”. Although our guides talked of the history of it, the plans to put a mural on it, the group of owners who can’t agree on much, this person was quite demanding they “fix” it.


Instead our guides, Tracy and Uli, showed us all a building they said was much uglier without any history to make up for it.


They did also point out that the local hotel was for sale, and people could by it, become part of the local business community and get a say in the overall appearance of the town.
The “for sale” sign did not go away during our visit.


We walked up to “The Barony”, through the town, over another stream and past the concert building that used to be the carriage house.





My wife was still on the ship, so I do not have the benefit of her photo taking.


But, I do have photoshop.


There were lots of guesses as to why this house would have sod on top. The answer was “they use birch bark for waterproofing and need to weigh it down to be flat”.


Then to the “smallest castle in the world”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barony_Rosendal


The story from Tracy the guide goes like this: a young woman, the richest in Norway with huge tracts of land, wanted to get married to a Danish noble man, but they didn’t want them to destabilize the Copenhagen court, so told them to build a castle in Rosendal. Maybe this has to do with the money coming from piracy. Who knows?
But, they were told it couldn’t be larger than any of the ones in Copenhagen, and the new husband stayed down there with his wife’s money. She had to get it built without much in the way of resources, and eventually told the Danish king to send her husband home, and he did.

The gardens are nice.





We didn’t get to go in as our group was too large. (7, plus the guides.) So, we went off to the cafe on the side, across a little stream.





The local soda is rhubarb based. I am the only one who finished their can of it.


The day before, Eva Marie had tried to lead a dozen of us into the middle of a busy roundabout to show us a rock, which we thought was dangerous.
Tracy and Uli didn’t lead us to danger, but did just get up and walk off.
“Is the tour still going?” Several folks asked.
We caught up with them, and it was.


They stopped at a little building surrounded by a moat. The story of this place is the daughter of the nobles had a thing for a gardener, so they locked her up here to keep them apart.
The issue with the story is the building was made a century after the daughter was born, and it isn’t very secure.
Never mind Rapunzel, someone could reach my hair out of this window. I guess it is used as a garden shed now, so the gardeners won.


The ducks in the moat were very impressed.


I thought the handrails on the bridge were nice.


Lots of folks stopped to look at the scenery, but the guides walked on. When we got to the house with the sod on the roof, I was the only one left with them.
“Shouldn’t we have more of a tour than me,” I asked them.
“Oh yes,” Tracy said. “Uli, go get them.”
And, he did.



I decided I had seen enough of the tour and parted ways with them after that to go back to the ship and check on my wife.
I did stop at the ice cream place and find they had locally made raspberry sorbet that was dairy free. The young man at the shop told me he had picked the berries across the fiord the day before.
And, it was very fresh.


There was a water shuttle to Bergen that sounded fun, but it was a 2 hour round trip and I wanted to get back to the ship.


I was the only passenger on the return trip in the zodiac.
My wife was feeling better and got up and roamed the ship some with me. We did have tea, but we did not go back to shore.










As we had dinner, the ship set sail. We have two days at sea, one in a fiord, before reaching Copenhagen.


Going out we saw a strange thing by the shore. Turns out it is a Michelin rated restaurant. Not in the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there. Not sure who travels there for dinner. Maybe people from Bergen?

Comments

[palusbuteo]

Hooray!

Wow that is very scenic.

Glad Holly is feeling a little better

[threemeninaboat]

"If you looked at this ship an older man would appear and asked you if you liked it. If you said “yes” he would then proceed to tell you its history, the history of its sister ships and of the cod trade from Norway to Denmark, Portugal and the politics of it."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Boats and rhubarb soda and sorbet! Do they need a vision therapist? My certifications are international.

[fbhjr]

I didn’t see any postings for a vision therapist there. But, it is a beautiful town and I’m sure if you find a posting there it would be good!