I don't think I'll be doing much sleeping for the next 13 days......

It is hard to even start thinking  about getting ready for sleep when it is so obviously the middle of the day....  Here is what the view from my window looks right now, at 10:30pm......

I just went for a nice long walk, first to a small light house on the harbor, and then to the top of the highest hill in Aalesund, hoping to catch the sunset, but I'm not even close.....

 (looking toward the center of town)

(looking toward the snow capped mountains.) The sun sets at 11:36pm here on the 62nd parallel..  I will make an effort to stay up till then tomorrow, but today was a travel day, and I'm tired...







We started from Copenhagen:  Karolina got us some Dansih for breakfast because- we were in Denmark and had not had them yet.... Then we headed off to the airport, where the most amazing thing happened - completely unrelated to this trip:  we ran into a couple of French people whom we had met last year on our trip to Antarctica - what are the odds of that?  it just blew my mind....  but we did not have time to chat, as we had a plane to catch.  After a tight but successful connection in Bergen, we landed in Alesund, in glorious sunshine!  What a pretty place this is.

Our hotel (the green one on the left) is on  a pretty inlet from the harbor , with a view on the boats and the snowy hills in the background.

We just took a small stroll to the town and its interesting architecture (we are taking a real tour tomorrow), but already go a nice taste of the interesting buildings.

It was great to be able to eat outside, in the sunshine, which was very warm (although it is quite cold in the shade, something like 48 or 50 degrees.).  I had been warned about the price of food in Norway - but was still shocked to pay about $60 for this dinner (no kidding!).  They are lots of little outdoors cafes and restaurant around the harbour.

My favorite sign was this one:   I think it is a great allegory for the Norwegian people - they are very proud  - but also shy and unassuming - so "we are the best" turns into "we are probably the best"....  love it!
Staying in Alesund tomorrow, hoping for more of this sunshine!