On the morning of Sunday, August 2, I woke up in a fjord. Upon opening my drapes, I saw a tiny farm on a little flat strip in front of a mountain along the side of the water. I could see a small clearing with the barn and house along with a few tilled areas of crop land. Right next to it was a waterfall coming all the way down from the top of a steep mountain. What a sight to wake up to!
Our ship was traveling slowly up Hardanger Fjord, which is the third largest fjord in the world and the second largest in Norway, with Iceland having the largest one. Hardanger Fjord is 112 miles long and it feels like you are sailing up a wide, deep river with tall, steep, partially tree-covered mountains and cliffs on both shores.
At the end of the Hardanger Fjord is our port at the village of Eidfjord, Norway. We disembarked in the morning in the rain and temps in the low 50s. We spent the day there wandering around and snapping photos that can in no way do justice to the scenery. The residents’ homes are built on the sides of the mountain, and everywhere you look there are flowers and green trees and mountains and water.
The port is right next to a hotel that looks like a smaller version of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Behind the hotel is a caravan park (for campers) on a beautiful clear river that comes out of the mountains to dump into the fjord. Apparently, the area is a popular local vacation destination as well as a cruise ship port.
There are always excursions that the cruise ship offers (for an extra cost, of course). And, in Eidfjord they were mostly to visit local waterfalls. We usually skip the excursions, since the last thing we want to do is to sit on a bus when we get off the ship, and the fjords are full of waterfalls that we see from the ship.
Along the Hardanger Fjord, in the valleys and plateaus in the mountains are farms that are famous for Hardanger apples. The area is also known for fish farming, primarily trout and salmon, which they distribute worldwide. It’s a wonderful thing to see that people living in such rugged and beautiful terrain can make a good living and have found a way to sustain that lifestyle.
One set of Dave’s grandparents came from Trondheim, Norway, which we found on the map and estimated it to be about a six-hour drive north of Eidfjord, which is in the southern part of Norway. The not-so-great thing about seeing the world from a ship is that you are limited to experiencing the ports and nearby areas. However, having just a small taste of Norway certainly helps to develop an appreciation for where our ancestors lived and what their lives may have been like. It also causes the travel bug to bite and leaves you wanting to see and experience more of Norway—and Iceland, and Greenland, etc.
The ride out of the Hardanger Fjord was mostly in daylight, which was even better for enjoying the scenery, including many waterfalls. We also got to see the famous bridge that was built a few years ago across the Hardanger Fjord. Prior to the bridge’s opening, the only way to get from one side to the other was to ferry across or drive all the way to the fjord’s end and back on the other side. It is one tall bridge that our 11-story ship fits under it, lucky for us.
Today is Monday, August 3. We are again in the north Atlantic, this time sailing toward Rotterdam. Just a few minutes ago, the captain announced that we were passing by Denmark and were about 120 miles from the coast. I really wish that had been on our list of ports to stop at, but it wasn’t.
It does make me think about our grandmother, who sailed across this very part of the north Atlantic to America all those years ago. But she probably was not on a luxury passenger ship with her own room and bathroom, two pools, a spa, a gym, multiple dining rooms, laundry service, and spotty internet access. And, who knows what the ship felt like when the swells were 12 feet high and gale-force winds popped up out of nowhere.
She was one of the lucky ones who safely made it to America and built a new life. For all of us with grandparents/ancestors who were immigrants, it’s good to remember that it was not easy for them—not just the journey over the sea but leaving behind everything, everyone, and everywhere familiar and beloved. What courageous people they were!