Trondheim is located in Trondheim fjord which is the 3rd largest fjord in Norway. About 72 nautical miles long and the city named after the fjord is about 40 miles deep into this fjord when measured from the open sea. It is one of the most ancient cities in Norway so old that it takes at times priority over Oslo the capital city. When new Norwegian Royalty ascends to the throne, it happens here and not in Oslo and there are few more of these things. The city has a 2nd name Nidaros and for a brief period in 1930 it was the official name. Then almost a revolution took place and the government put the name back to Trondheim. This must have been a major issue as the attitude of the Norwegians does itself normally not link to revolutions. I have been told that this is still smoldering on but more peacefully as there is a split in opinion about whether the name should be spelled Trondhjem or Trondheim. So maybe one day when we come here during a cruise we will see the barricades up again, dividing the town in a hjem and a heim.
The city is somewhat divided as they have done the same here as in Amsterdam; separated the port from the city by putting a railroad station in the middle. When railroading started this might have made sense, only single track with a small single station house, but railroads tend to expand to multitrack cargo facilities and multi tack covered platforms and suddenly the town cannot see the port anymore from the trains. From the ship you now have to follow a fly over to get into downtown. Which is a really nice place. The city has a university and as a result a booming nightlife with a whole area dedicated to bars and eateries. It is has also two large bookshops and thus it has my seal of approval as well. My lord and master was less impressed as a hamburger in a –not so special- restaurant near the train station set one back 200 Kronen which equates to about 24 dollars. (Without a drink or desert)
The port of Trondheim. It has one cruise berth which is obscured by a large swimming pool from the City and the port is area is separated by a large Rail Road station from the main town area.
The city also has a Shipping Museum which I kept quiet about as I had already dragged my wife into two bookshops but it has something quite special in having the oldest still operational steamship in Norway, the ss Hansteen. It has been a real cat with 7 lives, even being a royal yacht once and is still in use as a oceanic graphic research vessel. I do not know what they research but steam is very quiet and creates hardly any vibration and noise in the water so from that point of view it might not be a bad choice. https://visittrondheim.no/en/see-do/sds-hansteen
The ss Hansteen; oldest still sailing steamship in Norway, docked in the inner basin opposite the ship.
Every larger city in the world has statues and art scattered around but it seems that Norwegian cities have them somehow more prominently displayed. So I came across this one which was a bit creative & intriguing. It was on the Seafront next to the public swimming pool which has been constructed right opposite the ships cruise berth. What else can you do here apart from visiting this delightful city, is take a tour into the country side, go up a narrow gauge railway to a copper mine or visit the local cathedral. (Hence the reason why the Norwegian Royals come here to get their crown and not in Oslo)
Everybody who picks up a cornucopia or conch shell puts it tho his/her ear. Thus the artist saw it fit to combine the two. I love this sort of outside-the-box thinking.
Alesund to Trondheim was basically sailing out and back in again but tomorrow we have a sea day as the distance to Honnigsvag is considerably longer. So we will sail outside again and then sail up the coast.
The saelite picture of today. A slow moving weather front is going North and then Northwest. Pushing a wide band of rain over Norway.
The weather can be very nasty here but as we are currently under a very wide and slow moving weather system the winds are quite benign and thus the waves as well. At the moment we are not expecting more than 15 knots of wind with a wave height of 3 to 4 feet. Add another 4 feet of ocean swell to it and it comes to 8 feet or so and that is not much at all and should give a smooth ride.
Faces of the ms Prinsendam final voyage. This is the Diningroom Team. with the Maitre d’Hotel in the center.
June 21, 2019 at 11:21 pm
I truly hate to see the Prinsendam go. We’ve taken many cruises with HAL and when we planned our trips, we always looked to see where the Prinsendam was going. I think we’ve taken all the trips to all the places the Elegant Explorer went. She will be missed.
June 23, 2019 at 3:04 pm
So wonderful to see these pictures of the fabulous crew on the Prinsendam. Thank you for posting them! We were on for the Grand South America this year, so many of them were on with us. I was able to recognize both dining stewards and host in this picture as well as cabin stewards yesterday. What a fabulous way to give the Prinsendam a proper send-off. SO sad to see her leave our fleet!