Chapter 7: Ålesund
Burned 120 years ago
07.25.2023 - 07.25.2023 56 °F
View Fjords on paulej4's travel map.
Chapter 7: Ålesund
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
We slept in this morning after a 'night on the town' so to speak last night. We actually woke as we arrived at Ålesund, an hour behind the previously published schedule at 9:00am. It is gray and overcast and wet and nippy but, thankfully, not cold as we are greeted at a port seemingly devoid of activity of any kind. We have nothing on our agenda (Paul has nothing on his agenda. As for me there are spa appointments with my name on them) today until a Silversea arranged tour at 2:30pm dubbed Ålesund Highlights. One advantage of small ships--specifically Silversea's--is that there is a selection of excursions that are automatically included in the price of your cruise. This is one of them.
Here is the official description: "Experience the splendid beauty and history of Ålesund during this picturesque, half-day excursion through the city and its surrounds. Depart the pier for the scenic, approximately 40-minute drive through Ålesund, a city built in the Art Nouveau, or 'Jugend' style following a catastrophic fire in 1904. One of the few Art Nouveau towns in the world, Ålesund is home to an atmosphere and distinct character embraced by inhabitants and visitors alike. Whilst driving from the harbour through the Art Nouveau centre of the town, marvel at the amazing decorations and colorful facades.Next, continue on to Borgund, which was the largest trading centre in Sunnmøre during the Viking Era, then proceed to the Sunnmøre Open Air Folk Museum. Upon arrival, visit some of the old houses and the museum's boat collection.
Afterward, re-board your coach for the drive up Mount Aisle, which rises high above the city centre and offers splendid panoramic views over the town, skerries and Sunnmøre Mountains. At the conclusion of your visit, you may opt to re-board your coach for the short drive back to the pier, or walk down the 418-step pathway leading to the city centre, and return to the ship on-foot. Please note: This tour involves a moderate amount of walking and standing for approximately 1 kilometer, at times over uneven surfaces and several steps at the sites. Walking at the Sunnmøre Open Air Folk Museum is at the discretion of each guest over uneven surfaces. This tour is not suitable for guests with claustrophobia, guests with limited mobility and guests who utilize a wheelchair. Comfortable, weather-appropriate clothing, flat closed-toe walking shoes are recommended." Remember that old adage 'neither rain nor snow nor sleet or nor hail, shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds"; for us neither rain, nor wind, nor cold will keep us from this excursion just described. We might have been smarter to hang out on the ship.
An aside of only passing interest is that at 4:30PM aboard Silver Dawn, the following activity was on offer at the Fitness Centre on Deck (6): "Complimentary Foot Clinic with Personal Trainer Adrianna. She can't let that run long, however, because at 5:00PM the shipboard newsletter, The Daily Chronicle's reports that she offers "Abs Class", (sign up required). From the look of the vast majority of us aboard Silver Dawn, well....that ship has sailed long ago for all of us.
The Dress Code aboard Silver Dawn today is "Casual." That is defined as, "For Ladies: Dresses or Blouses and Pants", and "For Gentlemen: Sport Shirts and Slacks." Added to that is this admonition: "No shorts, jeans or flip flop type footwear after 6:00PM in indoor venues." I suspect a January 6 style insurrection on that front should the company attempt to enforce it. Jeans--on gentlemen--are everywhere after 6:00PM. I first realized the difficulty of enforcing dress codes when I was in high school. It appears that little has changed during those six decades.
Silver Dawn has equipped waiters with tablets upon which orders are taken and wirelessly sent to the kitchen. We noticed that our pictures were attached to our order. I hope, during the day, I did not offend a chef in a passageway.
Back to our port of Ålesund: The place literally burned to the ground in 1904. Locals who did a beautiful job of rebuilding insist that the fire, which leveled 850 homes sparing only 230 others, was ignited when a cow kicked a torch and the wind took it from there. Only one Ålesunder perished, apparently because she foolishly reentered her burning home to retrieve her sewing machine. Everything in that part of town was rebuilt--in stone, not wood.
They must have a thing about fire.
Here in 2016 was lit the then-tallest (156.5 feet) man-made bonfire—according to the Guinness Book of World’s Records—at Slinningsbålet. Like many world’s records, this one, like the pile of pallets that fueled it, later fell. Now a tradition, this year’s fire was lit a month ago on June 24th, on “the Saturday closest to Saint John’s Eve” so we missed it but, of course, there is a video of everything that ever happened in the world and there is one of the bonfire as well:
Today, only 67,000 people live in Ålesund but it is growing. Gangerolf—also and perhaps better known as Rollo, founded the place in the ninth century. He is remembered via three statues only one of which is here. The other two are in either Rouen, France or, interestingly, Fargo, North Dakota. Rouen is easy to explain as Rollo the Viking raided the area. Fargo residents report that in 1912 Herman Fjelde, a local physician and art-lover, ordered it because the U.S. state “has the highest percentage of Norwegian settlers.”
Norwegians are outdoorsy and they love places such as this. They go to the mountains. They go to the fjords and the sea. They hike; they ski. Their love of the always nearby outdoors even has a label: Friluftsliv. Friluftsliv explains why cities are quiet on weekends. Inhabitants are off to the forests or islands or peaks or trails. They have hytte: cabins, cottages and lodges. Allemannsretten—the right of common access—is a matter of law keeping beaches, lakes, forests and mountains open for the Norwegian public. The temperature today is 57 degrees so just imagine what December and January must be. Seems to me that the Norwegians should find themselves some indoor activities given the weather. For sure, I couldn't live here. Outdoorsy to me is a lounge chair by the pool. My morning activity was a 100 minute facial which i enjoyed thoroughly. Paul's question - what can they possibly do to your face for 100 minutes! To each his own i guess.
Allemannsretten is one outcome of Janteloven—the law of Jante: putting society ahead of individuality. Don’t boast, don’t be jealous, don’t be covetous. Participate in dugnad, a practice of joining with others to clean the place up. Enjoy a communal cup of coffee—frequently. Eat tacos on Friday. Norwegian tacos are bland compared to Mexican tacos but they are a Friday tradition. They are preferable to matpakke which is a form of sandwich often accompanied by Norwegian brown cheese called brunost which is more fudgy than cheesy.
The first word to learn is “takk.” Use it frequently. It means, mostly, “thank you.” It substitues for “please.” For example, you would say, “Kan jeg få en kaffe, takk?” which translates to” May I have a coffee, thank you” in place of “Kan jeg få en kaffe, værsåsnill?” Værsåsnill (please) is more often used if one is pleading rather than requesting. On our excursion coach, we got a "takk" when asked to wear our seatbelts. The guide made it clear that even on a coach in Norway it is the law to buckle up. "Neither I nor your driver will pay your fine," she added. We all complied. Some of us routinely; others begrudgingly. I think it is a cultural thing.
Norway is frequently labeled as being one of the happiest countries on earth. There are very low levels of inequality in this generous welfare state system. There is a much larger middle class and much smaller lower and upper class. The public health care system is revered. The discovery of oil here funds all of that in a way difficult to replicate elsewhere. The gender gap is tiny compared to what we see in the United States.
One very interesting observation involves naming your children. In the 1880s legal restrictions limited what you could name your offspring. In 2003, the law was loosened but not by a lot. Before the baby reaches the age of six months, parents must submit an application to name their newborn to the National Population Register which determines whether or not the proposed name is acceptable. Reports are that annually between 50 and 100 “unusual name requests” are filed and about half of those are rejected. First names must be gender appropriate. What’s disallowed? Slang, swear words, titles (king or prince), names of medicines or diseases and the use of surnames as first names. Middle names are not an issue and anything goes. Ivar Utne, a University of Bergen name adviser told one publication that “there are six people who have Batman as their middle name.” I wonder if George Costanza's favorite baby name - Seven - would be accepted.
The most popular girl’s name is Nora, (listen up, Sears family) perhaps because it is short for Eleonore who is a major character in Norwegian author Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play, A Doll’s House. Emma is second. For boys, Jakob is number one but declining. Noah is increasingly popular.
In Oslo, however, Mohammed is now the most popular boy’s name. That, I assume, tells us a lot about immigration here. Unlike the United States, Norway does not recognize birthright citizenship.
We enjoyed this evening's post-dinner entertainment in Dolce Vita on Deck (5): "Piano Entertainer Mark Farris pefroms. Come sing along, or just sit back and enjoy!" We listened to Mark perform to a near empty room two nights ago. He asked us to request a song which we did: "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers. "I don't know it," he said, "but I'll learn it if you come back on Tuesday night." Since that is our song, we are back. The thing that drove us to love this particular song comes from a chorus:
When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face
When someone else instead of me
Always seems to know the way
Then I look at you
And the world's alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be
A lovely day
Let it be said about this lyric, even with rain and chill in the air and jeans-clad older Chinese men violating shipboard after-six wardrobe rules, in Ålesund, Norway, as is the case around the world, with B4 at my side, it most certainly is a lovely day. Cruising is great fun and we recommend it. We met some new people today, ate a wonderful dinner, sang along with the piano man after dinner, laughed at this and that and wrote to you about all of it. Cruising is great fun and would be even better with friends along. Who among you is joining us on our next voyage?
More Norwegian phrases for us:
Excuse me – Unnskyld meg;
I do not understand – Jeg forstår ikke;
Nice to meet you – Hyggelig å møte deg
If only I could pronounce it, and were it not for the fact that virtually everyone here is fluent in English, I think I would be saying Jeg forstår ikke quite a lot about an increasingly large number of topics. That would hold true at home as well.
