Olden Times

After two days at sea we were very ready to set foot on land again. The first day at sea was gloomy and gray. The second day was a grogeous warm day (we haven't had many of those). 

Early this morning we sailed into the Nordfjord arriving at the (tiny) town/village/hamlet of Olden. It really is very small but slightly larger than Flåm. Since it was so small we didn't spend much time there. Also it was raining again. 

Olden's main claim to fame is its the gateway to the Jostedal Glacier, the largest glacier on the European mainland. A 30 minute bus ride takes you within a few kilometers of the Briskdal arm of the main glacier. 

It was very scenic and beautiful hike up to the glacier. Marissa and I caught up to the rest of our group who took an earlier tour about half way up the hike. 

They had a little information set along the trail about the glacier. The glacier has really retreated in the past century and also the last decade. I'm not sure you'll be able to see the glacier from the end of hike in 10 years or so. I'm not sure what happens to Olden then since it seems Ike that's a main tourist draw. Olden is also on the forefront of Norwegan modern design apparently so they have that but it seems like a lot of tourist dollars will vanish without that glacier. 

The other side of the valley is also very picturesque with a giant cascading waterfall down the face of the mountain. I took way too many photos of the waterfall trying to a shot I really liked. Every time I thought I was done I took one more that I liked better. 

Also docked in the harbor was a massive P&O cruise ship called "Britania". It's huge, 3,600 passengers. Our boat only carries 450 passengers (which is fine with me). Still, the Britania is an impressive ship, especially when your sanding below it on the dock. 

We're sailing out of the Nordfjord on our way to Stavanger. That's our last stop on our Norwegan adventure before our cruise is over. It's hard to believe this trip is almost done. We are supposed to have better weather the next few days which will be nice. We've only had a few really great weather days so it will be a welcome change (everyone here goes nuts when we get little bursts of sunlight). On we go.