February 11, 2020 – Alesund and Molde

February 11, 2020 – Alesund and Molde
I woke up at 4:15am when we stopped at the first port, Floro. We had 2 more short stops before getting to Alesund. We had a 2 hour 45 minute stop here. Peter, our guide, took us out on a 1 1/2 hour walk through the city. We had variable weather with only short spells of rain. The temperature was 38° F. Alesund has been voted Norways prettiest city. After much of downtown was destroyed by fire in 1904, the city was rebuilt with many buildings designed in the Art Nouveau style. I’ve included pictures of my favorites.
Back on board we enjoyed a buffet lunch. I sat at a table for 8 and was joined by another couple from my tour and 5 German tourists. We talked about why each of us was on this trip. One woman who had been here in the summer said her friends who did the trip both times of the year said winter is the best time to go.
I took a nap after lunch. I woke up just as they announced that we were coming into Molde. I quickly got my warm clothes on and ran to meet our group. It was raining in Molde so some of the group stayed back on the ship. Peter took us on a walk around the small downtown area. I was soaked when I got back.
Tonight was our first fixed dinner at 6pm. The appetizer was Clip fish (salted cod). Those of us that don’t like fish were given a tomato salad. The main dish was leg of lamb with horseradish sauce, vegetables, and potatoes. Dessert was slices of apple with caramel ice cream.
On this cruise we will stop at 68 towns. Many stops are just to drop off mail and packages and we are only there 15 minutes. At 15 ports we will have time to get off. We actually stop at each port twice so we hit the major ones either on the way up or back.
Interesting fact is that there are more Teslas per capita in Norway than any other country.