2026 - Summer - Alsace and Cruise to Norway

On July 10th, we docked in Trondheim.  The tour I’d chosen was called the National Museum of Music and Recital.  We started the tour by stopping at the Trondheim’s Nidaros Cathedral which was really just a photo op as we didn’t go inside.  Nidaros Cathedral is the world’s northernmost medieval cathedral and has been a pilgrim destination for almost 1000 years.  The cathedral is built over the tomb of St. Olav, the Viking king who converted Norway to Christianity and became “Norway's Eternal King”.  The work on Nidaros Cathedral began in 1070 and was completed in all its glory around 1300. In the early 1800s, after several fires and lack of maintenance, the cathedral was in very poor shape. In 1868 it was determined that the cathedral should be rebuilt as a national symbol and work began the following year. The restoration of Nidaros Cathedral has been going on for 150 years and the work continues on various projects at this national shrine.  Note that ...

Azamara has two signature events on their cruises of 7 days or more.  One is White Night - more about that in an upcoming blog - and the so-called "Azamazing Evening" which gives passengers a cultural experience with local performers.  Most times they are held off the ship although sometimes they take place on board.  It's been my experience the ones held in a local venue are far superior and the one in Harstad was no exception.   It was held in the Harstad Kulturhus which was a short walk (.7 km) from the ship although, like many others, I opted to take the shuttle bus. Captain Divo from Dubrovnik and Cruise Director, Jose, from NYC We were treated to a concert by Bel Chorus, a men’s choir of, what I thought was, exceptional talent.  The program consisted of some Norwegian classics ( Okav Tryggvaso n, The Seal Lullaby , and Pal's Chickens ) plus more modern songs such as The Prayer , and You've Got a Friend .  One called My Song written by Labi Siffre...

On July 8th our port of call was Harstad.  I have to say that I have missed out a lot on this trip because my back has been extremely painful and has limited much of what I'd planned to do.  I had an acupuncture treatment which made it worse - so bad I could barely move so, my apologies for the lack of blogs.  It has been a frustrating holiday.  However, I managed to do today's tour.   Trondenes Church, within walking distance from Harstad, is the northernmost medieval stone church of Norway and the world's northernmost surviving medieval building.  It is one of the country’s largest country churches from this period and has reflected in the waters of Vågsfjord for 600 years.  The drive to the church was very scenic.  The interior is among the absolute richest, with treasures in the Gothic and Rococo  styles .  The church is exceptionally well preserved and has remained completely unchanged.   Infinitely beautiful, it stands ne...

On July 6th, on the way to Hunningsvag, we passed North Cape (Nordkapp).   Nordkapp is often inaccurately referred to as the northernmost point of Europe.  However, the neighbouring Knivskjellodden Cape actually extends 1,450 m (4,760 ft) further north.  Both of these points are situated on an island ( Magerøya ). The scenery as we slowly approached the cape was stunning and I could see all of it from my veranda.  However, I decided to go up to one of the upper decks to get a better view where I found quite a party atmosphere!  There was a talented saxophonist playing, some people were swimming in the pool, and hot and cold drinks were being served; and everyone was taking pictures. Once we had docked in Honningsvag, there was a shore excursion to the cape itself.  I hadn't booked it and, in hindsight, I wish I had as there is a statue there marking the cape and lots of people had their photos taken from what I'd seen but I also heard it was cool a...