5/31 -- Trondheim and Rorvik

The ship docked in Trondheim at 6am, making the end of the night quite calm sailing. After breakfast, we headed off for what was officially billed as a 3 hour bus tour, but turned out to be two hours of walking, and at least half of that outside. I became a poster child for the saying that there is no bad weather, only bad clothing choices. It was no more that 40 degrees out when we left. I wore jeans instead of my rain pants and liner. I left my down jacket in the room figuring  I would over heat in the bus if I wore it. Worst of all, I forgot to exchange my light weight, breathable, comfy walking shoes for my rain-resistant hiking shoes.On the plus side I did have gloves and a longish rain coat. I was the picture of miserable. Not only was it cold, the rain ranged from drippy to slashing.

Trondheim, at over 200,000 people, is the third  largest city in Norway.  It is home to the second largest university and focuses on scientific and medical research. Students in Norway pay a small entry fee and get about 500-600 euros a month in government funding as long as they are working actively toward a degree within accepted timelines.

We drove around the old city but couldn't really take photos from the bus because of the rain and window reflections. We went up to a view point that would have been spectacular with better lighting and no rain.

This was a monastery, now a public park.

When we came back down, we got off the bus for an hour and half, walking through a ritzy neighborhood near the cathedral, and then had a tour inside the cathedral which was a life saver for me. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside.

The old building the group is standing next
to seems to be folding out at the bottom
of the second floor.

Veera demonstrated a very cool bike assist
for the hills here. It is a track that pushes
the bike uphill and there are instuctions
on the panel for how to use it.

 

These were old warehouses along the river and now may be
apartments.

The Nidaros Cathredral was named for one of the old names of Trondheim (which means stronghold), and it is also the name of the river that snakes around the old town, creating a natural moat on three sides. The cathedral is dedicated to St. Olav, who was a king. In his travels, he converted to Christianity and came back to be elected king of Norway, but the ones who elected him were not keen on his conversion, so they threw him out. and he went into exile in Sweden. He built up an army and came back to reclaim Norway.

The night before the battle, he had a dream that he would not survive, so when he took an ax to the knee, he gave up and succumbed to two more blows. His foes declined to bury him, but when some wounded soldiers walked past his body and were healed, they created a grave for him. In time, others who walked past the grave found themselves healed.  He was declared a saint and a church was built with his grave under the altar. Over the years the church became a cathedral and was burned and rebuilt.

When protestant religions swept though the nordic countries, this became a Lutheran cathedral. The king of Denmark, who ruled Norway at the time, stripped the gold decorations from the church because they were considered unseemly in protestant churches. The cathedral has two organs -- the older one was built in 1738 and is used for baroque style music. The larger, more modern one was added in 1930, the 900th anniversary of the battle when St. Olav died. As we were at the end of our tour, the organist started practicing with the newer organ and it was quite impressive.

The blurred blobs on these photos are raindrops on
the camera lens.

 

Back on the ship, we exchanged wet clothes for dry and went to lunch. After lunch, Veera showed a slide presentation about the seasons in Finland, along with pictures of her summer cabin and the foods of the seasons. There are 8 seasons there, with differences between early, mid, and late seasons. Her pictures of the snow reminded me of how beautiful it could be on a crispy, sunny, winter day with no wind after a fresh snowfall.

We explored the ship a bit and discovered that resting in our cabins was shortchanging us, that the lounge on the top deck was the place to be if only you could find a seat!

Before dinner, there was a champagne reception for the OAT travelers on their 4th or greater trip. Two couples in the group have traveled  more than 20 times, and we each got a gift -- a pair of linen and cotton tea towels with a fox and a reindeer image.

Just before 9pm, we docked at Rorvik a little late. Veera had planned a quick walk around town, which got a little quicker because departure time stays the same even when arrival is late. It wasn't rainy for a change, so the walk was enjoyable. This is a typical small town on the fjords with 3000 residents. It looked very new and modern and has new building going up on the shore.

Village map

 

This is a fake bird on a pole to scare away seagulls.

The two black dots in the sky are the fake
birds, pictured above.

 

Demonstration fish drying rack at a museum.

Our program on this trip includes several events later in the evening, to take advantage of the interesting places we are stopping, which appears to be unique among OAT trips.