Day Three at Sea - Trondheim

Well, dinner last night was at a communal table - and a nice bunch they were! Interestingly, someone else at the table had a wine package and wanted red, but fancied the fish - and they tend to match the wine to the food. On the other hand, I wanted white, but fancied the lamb - so we decided to do a sneaky swap. She ended up with the house red, I with a Riesling.. slightly fizzy, not ideal, but never mind. OMG though, the food was gorgeous.. far superior to the buffet offerings, really first-class. I had soup - something of a consommé, unusual taste, but very pleasant - and wow, the murmurs of appreciation from around the table for the lamb and the fish.. again, we weren't so familiar with the flavours, but we were so impressed. Ice cream for me, for dessert - and yum, it came with chocolate sauce! Wow, if we're fed to this standard every night..

Much of the talk, of course, centred on the Northern Lights - and it was about 10pm when the first announcement came through that they'd been spotted. So, on with the coat, and onto the deck.. and I got my first photo ever of them as we came into Molde:

Ahh, the satisfaction.. there was another announcement as I was getting ready for bed, but I thought I'd leave it for the night. Apparently there were announcements all through the night, all of which I slept through - yep, as the guy who told me said, we're just going to have to nap in the afternoon so we can stay up later!

A revelation over breakfast this morning - those juice machines that don't work for lunch do for breakfast! I just hadn't known about them then.. so I got my apple juice today, cereal and beans again (skipped the spuds), and crucially, was up earlier and had time for croissants and sliced meats. I skipped the toast, the toaster being so slow - but I'm much happier now that I know I can get free juice at breakfast - makes that blasted beverage package even worse value!

Today, I was booked on a guided city walk in Trondheim - and after yesterday's experience, I brought a hat, earmuffs, a snood, and cleats with me, gloves in my pocket.. the temperature was predicted to stay around -4/-5C. I ended up standing around for ages though before disembarkation - we were late in. Well, my hat was needed, and the snood - indeed, I could have done with something for my poor, frozen face! I kept my hands in my pockets mostly, and they were fine. The earmuffs, sadly, although needed, were awkward, given that I wanted to be able to hear our guide! So I just ended up carrying them.

There were three groups - one doing the city by bus, ours doing the walking tour, and a hike. We all ended up going in on the bus as far as the cathedral though - which, given the bitter cold, was most welcome! It's about half an hour from the dock. Our lovely guide, Hilde, explained that Nidaros Cathedral has always been the site for the coronation of Norwegian kings - although these days, it's a blessing rather than a coronation. And its facade would rival Westminster Abbey:

It has also been a pilgrimage site:

And lovely, although it wasn't specifically mentioned on our tour, we also got to go inside, our guide paying in the office to the side and providing us with stickers. Careful, they don't stick very well..

As we walked around, we saw a celebrant practicing for the cameras - of course, it's kind of hard to remember with everything else going on, but Christmas is nearly upon us, and with this being the pre-eminent cathedral of the country, they're going to have a festive broadcast from here! Frankly, I was (pleasantly) surprised they let us in, with all the important preparations underway..

We also came across the shrine dedicated to St. Olaf, the country's patron saint, over whose grave the cathedral is built - the offerings on top were left by schoolchildren:

It's a copy, by the way - the original is in a museum.

Speaking of which, next we popped next door to the museum - we didn't have time to go in though.. which was a shame, as I would have liked to see the crown jewels, which are apparently kept here! It's the old Archbishop's Palace, just slightly less old than the cathedral:

Around the side of the cathedral, we saw the King's Entrance:

Across the road is a home for (wealthy) widows, established in the 17th century:

We came to a lovely old bridge - used to be a drawbridge, as you can see from the existing chain mechanism:

Saw how the streets were so much narrower, before the order was given to widen them to reduce the risk of fire, to which Trondheim has always been so prone:

Saw the other mediaeval church:

Saw the poignant memorial to the 2011 terror attacks:

The statue of Olaf Tryggvasson, founder of the city:

And we came around beside the palace, the largest wooden building in the country! Apparently, the king actually comes here a lot, to attend events in the well-regarded university..

And so to the harbour again - and the guide very sympathetic to me, with my ice phobia (although to be fair, there was little enough of it.. people have remarked how mild it is):

Lots and lots of wooden buildings in Trondheim too, I noticed - no wonder it kept going up in flames?!

The old train station is gorgeously colourful, especially reflected in the water:

We saw some energy-efficient office blocks with solar panels:

Ooh, and a recharging bus!

Our guide pointed out a sauna:

..and an ex-tollbooth, now a high-class restaurant!

And so we came to the port, and a view of the island that used to be a monastery, then a prison.. and is now a recreation facility:

We've also got a statue of Leif Erikson:

So, apparently he's now been proved to have been the first European to discover America. (Yeah, I'm still rooting for St. Brendan..)

And so onto the ship - but not straight to lunch, because the restaurant was full. When I did go in - I wasn't overly impressed, the only reasonable offering being the salt lamb, which wasn't great. The "fermented milk pudding" for dessert was actually better than it sounds - and I had another apple juice, which was again charged to my cabin. I've given up complaining..

I then went to a lecture about Scandinavian Christmas - and took myself to bed for an hour afterwards. And before dinner.. wow, another announcement about Northern Lights! I went on deck, and couldn't see anything - but when I pointed my camera in the same direction as everyone else..

Went straight to dinner, removing my jacket as I went.. dinner tonight was a soup starter for me, then salmon and ice cream again. The starters in general were a bit meh - the salmon was good, the pork apparently lovely.. the ice cream came with raspberry sauce rather than chocolate, but was otherwise quite palatable.

Just heard a dog barking - apparently allowed on board, as long as you register them..

Tomorrow, I was supposed to be on a Sámi adventure - including feeding the reindeer! But I got a cancellation notice with my welcome pack, saying they'll refund me. A lot of fellow passengers are miffed about that too - one remarked that she was told they never do that excursion in winter anyway! In which case, why advertise it..?Now, it seems Christmas Eve is the main celebration here, rather than Christmas Day - which might explain it. Still, a major mistake on their part..

On St. Stephen's Day (AKA Boxing Day), I'll be at the North Cape (Nordkapp) - weather permitting. Seas are rough up there.

I arrive in Kirkenes, on the Russian border, on Saturday - apparently we can take photos, but can't cross! ;-)

We're in Hammerfest on Sunday.

And I'm at a midnight concert at Tromso Cathedral on Monday.

So, Christmas and New Year's on the boat! Just what I wanted. Back on New Year's Day - not as early - and taking the next day off, because it's a Friday - and back home to Ireland for the weekend, because it's been too long. The next two days are with CT - on the 5th, I'm back at the Hen & Chickens for Shake It Up: The Improvised Shakespeare Show.

And on the 6th, I'm at a comedy show - Live Next to the Apollo, at Riverside Studios.

On the 7th - my first Meetup of the year - I'm back with the Horror Book Club - assuming I get the book read in time! It's The House on the Borderland - and they're meeting in the Prince of Wales, as usual. Now, considering the lack of progress I made with Hogfather for my work book club.. we'll have to see.. it's over a year since I was last with them for a book review! (As to Hogfather, we met last week (me virtually - I stayed at home because of my cough), and it turned out I was one of the ones that read most.. I had a last-minute sprint, and got to 71%..)

The next two days, I'm with CT at the Backyard Comedy Club.. again, it's been a while!

Then, four days in a row of Meetups, including five in total. On the 10th, two Meetups.. firstly, a walk titled Southwark: Seedy and Sublime with none other than Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies, yay! Haven't seen him since September, would you believe..

And that evening, back with The Hideout for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Venue and timings TBC, but it'll be somewhere around Leicester Square. 

On the 11th, back with LoMAZ for T is for Thirst: In Search of Freshwater, an exhibition at The Wellcome Collection. Advertised, would you believe, while I was looking at my phone but not especially busy, in The Rockingham Arms recently - and this being the next unscheduled date in my diary, I was one of the five to snap up a place in the first minute!

On the 12th, with Up in the Cheap Seats again, for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - a dark comedy set in Iraq - at the Young Vic. Booked for Bar + Block Southwark beforehand. Ooh, another place I haven't been in an age..

And on the 13th, I'm back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group for The Makropulos Affair, by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, at the Barbican - one of the group with a wildcard ticket couldn't go and kindly offered it for free, so I snapped it up. Eating at Cote Barbican beforehand. And gee, you guessed it.. Haven't been there since September, but was with the group slightly more recently, in October..