To the Arctic Circle and beyond: Day 7 - Happy Norwegian Constitution Day!

I may never get to Florø, although our boat did - at 4.30 a.m. I was, surprisingly, asleep, given my long-held aversion to large bodies of water (oh yes, I don't mind looking at them, but bobbing about on them...), but I was awake by the time we reached Måløy. Unlike a cruise, you don't get to go ashore everywhere - the stops in the smaller ports are often just fifteen minutes long. Instead, you can, if you're so inclined, watch as a few passengers get on or off, or goods are unloaded for local residents or businesses.

Me, I had breakfast. There may have been oily fish involved. And lots of Norwegian flags, for it was Norwegian Constitution Day, when Norwegians dress up in localised variations of their national costume and celebrate the signing of Norway's first constitution on 17 May 1814. Odd, perhaps, because Norway didn't gain its independence until 1905, but nonetheless taken very seriously indeed. There was to be a parade on deck, and a speech from the captain. I did find myself wondering if we would get as excited about having a constitution...

And the MS Trollfjord sailed on, past Torvik and into Ålesund. Ålesund is a rather lovely town, with its Art Nouveau architecture, something else that you might not necessarily associate with the slightly dour Norwegians. But, after a disastrous fire in 1904, which caused the loss of most of the town (mostly wooden), it was rebuilt in the Jugendstil style by a group of Norwegian architects trained in Trondheim and Berlin.

Luckily, we had three hours there, so Ros and I were off to have a stroll - it is one of the things about shipboard life that you have to take every opportunity to get a walk. And it seemed that most of the town were out, dressed in costume and generally enjoying themselves. The sun was shining, and we really rather enjoyed the place.

But, you have to be back at the boat - it really won't wait - and we set sail for Molde and Kristiansund (two more shortish stops). It was an early night for us though, as we had plans for the morning...