Our first port of call - definitely the Eric Morcambe moment

Alesund

 

 

 Not being terrible mobile I had opted for a tour of the two main islands which made up the area; the islands of Giske and Godoy. Sadly, I wasn't going to walk around the area of Alesund which upset me but it did mean I had already come to the conclusion I would be returning so as to be able to enjoy the ports and surrounding area without having to resort to the coach. It was still interesting however, and I was able to take a few shots which showed a reflection of what it is like in Alesund and as you will note, its character is quite different from other destinations as we went further north and moved into the Arctic tundra.

It was pretty obvious they had had snow but it had reached that all too familiar stage of thawing and hanging around looking far from pretty. The guide told us they had experienced a hard winter this year and how the snow was hanging around longer than it usually did.

We were blessed with sunshine and it seems it was a welcome change from the grey overcast days they had experienced until then. I was especially enamoured with the sun up here, it reacts differently at this time of year to the sun further south. This shot was taken directly into the sun and apart from some silhouetting of the foreground, it didn't struggle with the image at all.

Further into the tour we came across the farming areas. You'll note the large number of trees. Many have been re-planted as many milliions were lost during the war; Hitler's army felled all they came across leaving swathes of Norway devoid of tree cover.

These two photographs taken as we past in the coach, show some of the Nazi fortifications. The hill we went up was a prohibited zone to all those who live there another reason the trees were removed, they could spot anyone trying to get up and sabotage.

Our guide was a child at this time and she said when the war finally ended their school and one other replanted all the trees over a period of years and used one of their lessons to do it in.
 

I am very glad I went because I saw lots of places I wouldn't if I'd stayed in Alesund and I wouldn't have heard about the bravery of a few of their men in preventing Hitler getting "heavy water" and hence the technology for the atom bomb, which was held not far from here. They were brave!!