Alesund
When I signed up for the Norwegian Aquarium (Atlanterhavsparken) tour I didn't know that other sightseeing was involved. But lucky for me, it answered a question for me: "what's that building on the top of the hill with the zigzag stairs leading up to it?" The building was the Fjellstua Aksla, a restaurant with undoubtably the best views from a restaurant ever! The viewpoint can be called the Fjellstua Aksla viewpoint but it seems that "Byrampen Viewpoint" is its official name. There are 418 stairs up to the viewpoint from the park - that's about 41 storeys - so I was happy to be on the bus. The bus took a switchback road and as we travelled along it, you saw old German bunkers from World War II. For those who know your history, the Germans occupied this area of Norway for several reasons. It was strategic, in that an occupation of Norway allowed the German Army and Navy to secure ice-free harbors to control the North Atlantic. They also transported iron ore from Sweden from Norwegian ports. Of course it also prevented the allied forces from gaining a foothold in the Northern Sea. With the views to forever from up there, it's obvious why German bunkers exist up there.
After leaving the viewpoint, we went back through the city near the port, over the bridge joining the two sections of Alesund divided by the channel, and over the Steinvagbrua (bridge) to the island of Hessa to the Aquarium.
The aquarium had all kinds of different fish native to the area (and perhaps some that are not). The most interesting tanks were those that were floor to above ceiling. One tank had stimfisk, a small shoaling fish which stayed in schools and swam in the same direction throughout the tank. Another floor to ceiling tank had species of commercial fish - fish that we eat. Interesting to note that my favourite fish (the tastiest!) is also the very ugliest - halibut! There was also salmon, cod, etc. One interesting character was a stingray which might (or might not) have been in the tank to keep the windows clean!
The outdoor area had the penguins, the seals and the otters. The penguins (from the Antarctic) were cute little things. Half were swimming and swimming and swimming while the other half stayed on shore to groom themselves. The seal tank DID have seals but good luck catching sight of them. It's as if they were avoiding their public. They'd briefly come up for air and if you were quick enough (and had a long lens which of course I no longer had) you could get a shot of them. One seal DID appreciate its public. There was a baby seal on the sand by the edge of the tank. I couldn't believe how ignorant some of our group was... some people were reaching under the glass fence to pet the little thing. Didn't they know that a seal that young could catch deadly germs from a human? You should NEVER touch wild animals, even in captivity unless you've used some sort of antibacterial wipe before doing so. I thought I might see the seals by going down the ramp which led to some underwater windows into their tank but no such luck. Again, you might catch a glimpse of them in the distant part of the tank but they didn't swim near the window (at least not when I was there). The otters didn't mind company though. There were 3 otters visible. Two were sunbathing and munching on grass or seaweed and one was on his own just basking in the sun.
Our time at the aquarium over, I thought we'd be going directly back to the ship, but the bus driver went to the east side of Hessa down Kaptein Linges veg (road) towards the eastern most edge. There the bus stopped so we could see views of islands and mainland south of Alesund and you could just see the port area to the east. We got back on the bus and drove back down Hessavegen. There were many big, pretty houses along that road. As we got merged back onto Kaptein Linges, you could clearing see the port from the road. We had to go back over the Steinvagbrua to get back to the main part of the city and the port.
Rather than going back on the ship, I decided to take a walk towards the channel. I saw many beautiful buildings along the way... Jugendstilsenteret (try saying that name) and Alesund Church to name two. At the church there was a memorial which read: "De falne de minne" 1940-1945 (They dropped out of memory) which I found sad. I continued up the road that the church was on to a big yellow building which turned out to be the school - Aspoy skole. At the end (top) of the road, you were high up and had a view north similar to the north view when you were at Byrampen. I walked back down taking a different route and saw one particular street that had trees growing right out of the road. Their bases were protected by stones in the direction a vehicle could possibly hit them. It reminded me of a place in Winnipeg where a large tree once stood in the middle of the road for years (on Wolseley). When I was a kid, I remember that the city wanted to chop it down to make Wolseley a better road. People protested and it was not until the tree died of natural (??) causes many years later that the city was able to take it down. I remember that tree and thus I really liked this road with its absurd rows of trees.
When I reached the channel at the Hotel Brosundet, there was a lady with two dogs. One was an adult and one was a wee puppy. She was a breeder and had come into the city with her husband for the day. We had a nice chat. She'd brought the dogs (the puppy in particular) to socialize them. She asked about my Norwegian trip and when I mentioned Stavanger, she told me that she and her husband owned one of those summer homes along the fjord! The best part of our chat was getting to cuddle the little sprites. I was sure missing all my pets.
I went back across the bridge and walked back to the boat a different way that I'd come. I had a view of the west side of the channel from there. I retraced a few of my steps to check out an artisan type of shop. I finally found the perfect thing knitted in a Norwegian pattern... a winter headband! My ears aren't as allergic to wool as the rest of my body is, right?
The ride out to the open sea was pleasant. There were many houses along the shore almost all the way out. I did dinner as usual then I went to see "Blazing Boots" at the Stardust.
