As most of you know I am currently on an amazing Norwegian Fjord cruise with my parents. It has lived up to and surpassed expectations so far and we are all having an amazing time. My dad flew to Copenhagen via Washington D.C., and my mom and I flew through Amsterdam. Amazingly, all flight had no problems and we got to Copenhagen on time! My dad waited two hours in the airport for us to arrive since it was raining, and after we got our bags we hopped in a cab to the cruise terminal. We didn't explore Copenhagen this time around due to the rain, but hopefully when we get back the weather will be more favorable.
Our room on the cruise ship is lovely. It is quite large since we are in a suite, and we also get a handful of perks being a suite guest like access to the concierge suite with some food and drinks, reserved seating for all the shows, and a pillow menu where you can select which kinds of pillows you want! We also have a large balcony which is nice, though it is a bit cold outside. Definitely different than cruising in the Caribbean! Our waiters at dinner are wonderful, as is our room attendant. Basically everything is wonderful. We spent a day at sea yesterday where we did some trivia, got massages, explored the ship, played Bingo, and ate of course. It was pretty relaxing and an overall fun day.
Today was our first day in port. We docked at 8AM in Stavanger, Norway, which is a beautiful town on a fjord. It is the 4th largest city in Norway, though there aren't nearly as many people in the Norwegian cities as US cities since the entire population of Norway is only about 5.5 million. Maybe 200k in the city here. I got up early and ate breakfast on my own and then went to meet up with my excursion in the theater. We got our bus numbers and then headed out to hike Preikestolen (the Pulpit Rock). The bus ride was nice, with some great scenery and a quick ferry ride across a fjord. We arrived at the base of the hike around 10AM and got hiking. The hike to Preikestolen was 3.3km each way (over 5.5 miles round trip), with some beautiful scenery, some really steep portions, and overall amazing-ness. It was tough in parts, but not too bad of a hike. It was longer than the Waynapicchu hike, but with a similar change in elevation. It didn't take too much longer though since it wasn't as steep so I could go faster. The view from the top of Preikestolen was amazing. The Lysefjord is absolutely pristine and incredible. I met a girl who works on the ship that I hiked with and a Brazilian girl who we hung out with at the top. We ate some lunch and enjoyed the views for a bit and then hiked down. My heart rate was significantly less on the way down, but my knees definitely felt it a little! Our weather turned out great, which I was really happy with. When we got down we enjoyed the view of a lake for a while and then took the bus back, on which I promptly accidentally fell asleep.
The bus ride back to Stavanger went quickly since I was zonked. When we got off I explored the town a bit and it was adorable. Most things were closed since it is Constitution Day here, Norway's national holiday similar the the 4th of July. Everyone was dressed in traditional clothing and there were parades and it was awesome to see! I got to watch some of a parade with local sports teams, marching bands, etc before heading back to the ship. Once back onboard I got ready for dinner and then ate alone tonight since Mom and Dad went to the onboard steakhouse Chops. I had a great dinner anyways and the waiters all sang an Italian love song for the whole dining room, which was fun. Now I am waiting for the to get back from dinner and then we will go to the show! Can't wait for Bergen tomorrow!
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