Travel Diary: Day 5, Andalsnes

Today we docked in Andalsnes, which is a phenomenally beautiful place and definitely my favourite stop on this cruise. As I'd slept late and woken up early the previous three days I'd decided to skip going up to the top deck and eating breakfast in order to be slightly less sleep deprived when we did our tour. I wolfed down a delicious muffin that had been brought for me from the breakfast buffet as I got ready, then we headed down to wait for a tender to take us a shore. For those of you who don't know, a tender is a little boat-like vessel that, in my opinion, somewhat resembles a lifeboat that are used when a ship is unable to dock in the port (you'd usually just walk off the ship when it's in port). They're a bit more of an inconvenience because taking one means waiting for one to arrive, fill up with passengers and transport them either to the port or back to the ship, and who wants to waste time waiting?! I also used to find them quite small, wet and unpleasant as I found they rocked quite a bit, though I'm used to them now and so don't dislike them quite as much. In fact, in this instance I quite enjoyed  taking the tender, actually, as it provided me with the perfect opportunity to drink in the view, which was great as the view was stunning.

After exiting the tender we boarded our coach almost immediately, ready to start the tour. The tour consisted of two stops, one at a church and the other at the Troll Wall. A large part of the tour, however, consisted of driving around, which I thoroughly enjoyed as the whole place was incredibly scenic and all the roads we drove down were surrounded by this great natural beauty. The coach journey was truly amazing (even if I did have an incredibly quick power nap in the coach to boost my energy and reduce my tiredness). I have to say, I was awestruck by the views, which I think I was incredibly fortunate to see. Smooth, tranquil lakes sparkled calmly, while tall mountains stood proudly and peacefully as waterfalls and glaciers graced their sides. Bright fluffy white clouds hung low, adding both an air of mystique and serenity. Even the miserable, overcast day couldn't silence their beauty.

The church was our first stop. We were given a talk about the history of the church whilst sitting on the pews inside. We were then given the opportunity to take pictures of the church and use the loos if we needed, before we boarded the coach in order to carry on with the journey. The church's surrounding area was so astonishingly beautiful, with the most breathtaking view- I wish I hadn't wasted time queuing to use the toilet as it resulted in me having less time to marvel at its beauty. We then carried on to the Troll Wall, a tall rock wall that stands gracefully and majestically. We were given about twenty minutes to get off the coach and admire the wall, take pictures and have a look round the area. Once our twenty minutes were up we returned to the coach, which took us back to the tender area so we could go back to the ship. On our way back, we had a photo stop at a beautiful location, which provided us with an excellent opportunity to get some amazing shots of the scenery. This was great as I hadn't had much of a chance to capture the serene lakes with the impressive mountains towering above, with the emerald trees lining them. It was a pretty quick tour in comparison to others that I've been on, but I was completely satisfied and thought that it was amazing value- it really allowed me to get a real sense of the place without dragging on or being overly tiring.

Since our tour started quite early and only lasted for a short period of time we were back on the ship pretty early. We enjoyed a drink in our stateroom until it was time to go up to the lunch buffet. When we'd finished lunch we watched the remainder of 'The Theory of Everything,' (which I actually read through since I'm not that big a movie fan and I was finding my book pretty interesting). Once the movie had ended we went up to the top deck to admire the beautiful landscape while we still could, as the ship was due to sail away fairly soon. Shortly before the sail away we had some drinks in the atrium (I had the strawberry and lime cider again, yum), then we watched the ship leave the port and waved goodbye to the breathtaking scenery. We decided to have a more relaxed dinner tonight as there wasn't anything particularly exciting in the restaurant and they were serving Indian food in the buffet. It was actually pretty great eating at the buffet as the food was delicious and, as many people also came to the buffet this evening, there was a bit of a buzz in the atmosphere. It felt cosier and more relaxed than the restaurant, and we got to see the remainder if the gorgeous scenery as we sailed away, which made for a fantastic dining experience. There was another show being performed in the theatre, this time with a fairytale theme. It was a great show, though I felt that it lacked the 'wow factor' of the previous one and, as a result, was less spectacular.
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Travel Diary: Day 2 At Sea

I set my alarm for 8:00 am- I wanted to wake up early in order to make the most of every minute on the ship. Unfortunately, we did lose an hour as the clocks had been moved forward in order to match Norwegian time. This resulted in a little bit of a scramble to get ready for breakfast before the buffet closed, as what we thought was 8:00 am actually turned out to be 9:00 am (the buffet closed for breakfast at 10). I was especially keen to see what they had to offer, though I felt slightly disappointed as I felt the options were somewhat more limited in comparison to other cruises I've been on. I didn't let that stop me from enjoying my breakfast, however!

We had a day at sea, which was great as it provided us with some vital time to relax before we got down to exploring the ports. We decided to use some of this time to explore the ship in greater detail. Cruise ships are pretty big and this one looked amazing- it's such a fresh, modern ship, and I really love the decor. We started with a bit of window shopping, as there are a fair few shops on board, before seeking out the bars and lounges.

We then headed up for a bit of lunch  at the buffet (again, I can't remember what I ate, though it definitely involved chips), before heading to a talk in the theatre on the latter two ports we'd be visiting and the tours of these ports that we had booked (or could book, though most of them were sold out). We booked a tour afterwards (which was amazing, I'll discuss it more in another post), that involved visiting a church and what's known as the 'troll wall.'

The dress code for the evening was formal, so we got ready a bit earlier than we normally would, in order to allow enough time to get suitably ready. I usually enjoy getting ready to go out, but when you feel like you've managed to double your body weight you've eaten so much it's not quite as much fun. However, it was nice seeing all the other passengers looking so amazing in their formal wear. There was also an amazing atmosphere in the atrium, partly because everyone was dressed up, but also because they were serving free drinks (which included sparkling wine, whiskey, gin and tonic, red wine and orange juice), which is enough to put any normal person in a good mood (isn't anything that's free?)

I had been particularly looking forward to dinner that night because I had seen the menu before hand and it looked amazing. It included lobster that came in a delicious creamy sauce (which was so delicious; it was honestly the best dish I had in the restaurant) and prosecco soaked strawberries (which could have done with a stronger prosecco flavour). Our meal was rounded off with some champagne truffles, which were delicious, although I didn't quite have room for them after my lavish meal (I did make every effort to make that room, though I wish I could have enjoyed them on an emptier stomach).

We went for a quick wander round the ship, just to see what it was like a night time and to check out what was going on, though we quickly retired to our cabins for the night in order to prepare for an early morning and an inevitably tiring trip around Stavanger.

Travel Diary: Day 1, Southampton

I think it would be pretty awesome to be a travel writer, or having a travel blog. Unfortunately, I don't have the means to carry out the travelling part regularly enough to generate enough interesting content. Since I've (somewhat) recently returned from a week long holiday I thought it might be fun to dabble in a little bit of travel blogging and document my little journey on this blog. It probably won't be as exciting as your average travel diary but I hope that it's enjoyable nevertheless.

I'll start by giving you a bit of background on the holiday and describing my first day. We went on a cruise round the Norwegian fjords, on a ship called Britannia (one of P&O's ships). Again, this probably sets it apart from other travel blogs as I don't think there are many people out that blog about cruises.

After loading up the car with all our luggage we drove down to Southampton on a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon, where out ship would be waiting in the port, all ready for us to board. Seeing as we arrived a little later than we were supposed to we didn't have to wait at all. We collected out cruise cards, breezed through security and boarded the ship. That's the great thing about cruises, your holiday starts almost immediately. We briefly visited our cabins to check them out, then dashed up to the buffet as we were starving and in desperate need of a meal. I can't remember specifically what I ate but I know that it involved a lot of chips (I love chips), and an amazing tasting trifle. I had vowed to try everything, and worrying about gaining weight was banished. It's not everyday that you have access to lots of delicious food whenever you want it, plus it is only a week. Eating is also a huge part of what makes going on a cruise so much fun.

After that we returned to the cabin, where I panicked as my luggage hadn't turned up, even though everyone else's had (they bring your luggage straight to your room). I have to admit, this made me pretty anxious, and I was on edge for the whole safety demonstration. Luckily, when I returned to my cabin afterwards it had arrived. We then went up to the top deck to watch the sail away. The atmosphere was buzzing, as everyone was getting into the holiday mood. We relaxed on some sofas, and I had (and thoroughly enjoyed) a strawberry and lime cider.

Dinner time crept up on us, so soon after the sail away had finished we went to the cabin to get ready, as there 's a dress code in the restaurant. Once ready, we went to the restaurant only to find there was a bit of a wait (which actually happened every night, a bit of a problem with freedom dining). We were given a pager that would alert us when a table was available, so we went off and sat by a window with a view of the sea. The wait wasn't too bad as we'd massively over indulged at lunch, so it provided us with the opportunity to overindulge yet again. Eventually, our pager started buzzing and we made our way to the restaurant. The service was quick and we ate our dinner quickly (I had a goat's cheese soup for starter, skate, potatoes and veg for main and a mango and kiwi pavlova for dessert). After eating we returned to our cabins, where we promptly passed out after, high on the excitement of being on holiday and full to bursting after stuffing our faces, in what are probably some of the comfiest beds in the world.