Cruising the Norwegian fjords without Disney! COMPLETED About This Page:

[pamcarey]

How neat to be able to get so close to the glacier. Although it certainly is amazing to realize how much it has receded just since 2000.

[cubfancolleen]

Must get there to see it in person prior to it disappearing! Sad, all the amazing sights being lost.....

[lauriep]

Really frightening to see the glacier shrinking so fast and to picture that scenario happening all over.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Must get there to see it in person prior to it disappearing! Sad, all the amazing sights being lost.....

I know.

[chezp]

Thursday 3 May – part seven: this is too much fun!

Soon it was time to make our way back down to the troll cars. Although the walk back down wouldn’t have been nearly as bad as the walk on the way up, I still didn’t want to miss them. We got some more lovely views on the way... and look who was just arriving!



When we got there, it quickly became apparent that no-one had done as our guide had told us, and got back into the same troll car they’d come in, as the places in ours were taken. We had a word with our guide, and decided to split up, with Mark getting in one, and me getting in next to the driver in the other. Oh my goodness, what a good move that was! I absolutely loved being in the front seat, and got such a thrill out of it. I videoed practically the whole way back down, and got all the switchbacks, with Mark taking photos as we went.



Soon we were back at the visitor centre and I was on a high. I haven’t been that excited about something since my first helicopter flight. I even half wanted to go back and do it again, but I knew that wasn’t a great idea, as by now, it was raining a bit heavier. I was just glad to get inside and out of the rain.

On the way here, our guide had told us that we’d be enjoying a Norwegian speciality of pancakes, and he mentioned that there would also be free water, so I wasn’t expecting much, but my goodness, when we got inside, we discovered there was quite a spread laid on for us and all of it tasted so good as well.



We were also able to enjoy either tea or coffee. All in all, I was very impressed with what they had available here.

When we’d finished eating, I ventured outside in the rain to the souvenir shop, but despite the fact that it was a huge place, I couldn’t find anything in there I wanted, so I headed back to the bus, meeting Mark on the way.

We had fun and games getting out of the car park. It was such a tight squeeze that our driver was having to shuttle back and forward, and literally he had just inches in between our mirrors and those of a bus on each side of us. In the end, one of the other drivers wimped out and moved his bus back, although I think our driver was good enough that he’d probably have got out eventually without any harm.



We set off on the way back to the boat, but it was really hard to get any photos because of the rain. I did do my best though...



Finally, we were back at the boat, and we headed back to our room. It wasn’t long before they announced that we were ready to leave, and we were on our way. As you can see, the cloud really had now set in for the day. In fact, I did notice on Accuweather that they were forecasting snow for here in the next day or so - whether they ever got it or not, I don’t know though. It was fascinating to watch us make the turn. At first, we didn’t seem to be moving at all, then suddenly we were swinging around really quickly.



As I stood out on the balcony, under my Eeyore umbrella taking photos, I could hear children on the dock yelling “bye, bye”, which was so cute.

Next: sampling dinner at Sindhu

[cubfancolleen]

With all those switchbacks, I'm thinking I would have wanted to be in the front seat to ward of car sickness!
The dessert assortment looked yummy!
The weather really took a turn - hope its better in the morning!

[lauriep]

You were so lucky that the rain held off as long as it did. Those switchbacks are dizzying! Hope you're sailing out of the bad weather and back you your usual sunshine.

[Principessa_di_Fata]

Amazing photos - and how great to be able to experience the front seat on those, especially going down! What a view!

[KMB733]

Great photos on the way down. Glad you got to see the glacier before the rain hit!

[pamcarey]

The ride down on the troll cars looks like so much fun!!

[Colexis Mom]

Great pics from the ride down! And what a great snack!

[DrDolphin]

Your glacier visit reminds me of our visit to Exit Glacier in Alaska and how much (and how quickly) it has retreated. So sad to think about that in the overall - worldwide context.

Great fun riding in the front of the troll and getting great video and photos!!

[chezp]

Thursday 3 May – part eight: sampling dinner at Sindhu

We didn’t have long before our dinner at Sindhu, so we got ourselves ready and headed out. When we turned up, it didn’t look that busy, but they apologised, as they were going to have to seat us near the kitchen. To be honest, it wasn’t an issue, and we enjoyed seeing everyone go to and fro.



We had a nice view from our table as well...



I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that we ordered a bottle of the Canadian ice wine. we love this stuff!



We were presented with poppadoms first of all, along with a range of different chutneys. I steered away from the lime, as just like at home, it was pretty hot, although the mango was very nice and better than we get at home, while the pineapple chutney was just wonderful.



Then came our amuse bouchee, which was spiced calamari, very delicately flavoured, and just perfect as a start to our meal.



We took ages with the menu, as there were so many good choices. I did ask if I could have two appetisers, as I was torn between the asparagus and tandoori paneer salad with coriander, garlic and passion fruit dressing, the trio of spice crusted scallops with grape chutney and pea shoot salad, and the crisp fried soft shell crab with paw paw salad and kumquat chutney, but I was told – if I did that, I’d have to miss out on dessert.

Finally, I made my mind up and went for the crab and it looked and tasted absolutely amazing:



Mark helped me out a bit, by going for the scallops. I can’t remember what the different toppings were, but I know Mark said that one of them was very spicy, so I steered away from that one. They were utterly divine, with the scallops beautifully cooked.



The main course was a lot easier for me to decide on. As soon as I looked at the menu, I knew I had to go for the tandoori monk fish, with green chutney, curd rice and green sauce. The monkfish was cooked beautifully, although the green sauce was a little on the hot side for me, but nothing too unbearable. Mixed with the curd rice, it all blended together beautifully.



Mark went for the slow-cooked lamb shoulder, mint lamb burger with curry fried asparagus, Channa lentils and Rogan Josh juice, which he really enjoyed.



They brought out a set of vegetables to go with our main courses, and they were all lovely, and complimented what we had chosen perfectly.



Once we were finished with our main courses, we were brought a palate cleanser before our desserts came out, a lovely sorbet.



I opted for the citrus white chocolate mousse with banana and passion fruit sorbet, and it was great, although the banana did overwhelm everything else a bit for my tastes.



Mark went for the fennel bread and butter pudding, with ginger custard. Sorry about the bad quality photo I managed to get of him pouring custard on it. He liked it, but said it was a bit far out, having the fennel taste in it.



Once we were done with that, the food still wasn’t finished with, and we were brought some after dinner snacks. I couldn’t believe how much they fed us tonight!



A word here about the service, it was absolutely superb. They were so attentive, and any time our water started to go down even slightly, they were there, filling it back up again. They constantly kept asking us if there was anything more they could get for us, and they really made us feel thoroughly welcome. It’s some of the best service I’ve seen in a long time.

Sindhu:

Appetiser 9½ 10
Entree 9 9
Dessert 8½ 8
Service 10 10

Average score: 9.25

On the way out, I grabbed a photo of the chefs who’d created it:



And guess what I saw in the Photo Gallery just outside – a nice touch of Disney and donkey!



By the time we finished our meal, it was heading towards 8:30pm. We were thoroughly full and exhausted, and agreed that we wouldn’t make it down to the dining room tonight, so we went down to see Cheryl and Adrian in their cabin. They persuaded us to come to the table to see the others, and I got some shots of the atrium on the way:



When we got there, everyone else was there, so we told them that we wouldn’t be joining them tonight and explained why. And with that, it was back to the room and thankfully an early night. We had an exciting day in store tomorrow – we’d be visiting Bergen.

The weather today was dry and cloudy in the morning, with rain in the afternoon and temperatures in the high 50s.
The best thing today was the troll car ride.
The worst thing today was the fact that it rained in the afternoon.
The funniest thing today was the looks on the faces of the walkers as we passed them in our troll cars. :rolf:
Today we tried exploring Olden
And the result was and there was more to it than I expected.
The most magical moment today was the troll car ride.

Next: this is a very different port of arrival...

[Disneybine]

Mmmmmm, your meal looks delicious! And I would've liked that view, too.

[lauriep]

What a lovely restaurant and meal!