Olden

As we pulled the curtains back to let the morning sun in, we saw we were going up a fjord again. The mountain pass was not as narrow or high as yesterday. There were rolling hills green with pines and small valleys with quaint farms and red barns.

We weren't supposed to land for a while so we just relaxed with the scenery and watched a video on television of the Captain explaining what all happened with the helicopter rescue a few days before. It was very interesting. He said it doesn't happen often, but their drills paid off with everything going like clock work. It gives you confidence in this company and their professionalism.

Getting dressed, I noticed a strange red discoloration on my legs. Yikes! It was not raised or itchy, but weird and concerned me. The mind does crazy things. Anyway we went up to breakfast and met up with our dinner mates, Mitch and Ann. It seemed good not to hurry and we chatted till they were putting out lunch. We heard great stories about their wild rescue, part lab puppy. They said he was too much for them but he made them laugh and he was learning. Mitch is a retired doctor and before we left, Bob asked him to look at my legs. I hated to impose, but he was so kind. He asked me lots of questions, but wasn't sure what it was either. It wasn't getting worse, so he said to just watch closely and see what happened. 

We were finally cleared to get off the ship in the small, darling village of Olden. We again had not booked an excursion and walked around looking at possibilities. We almost signed up for a bus, but decided to think a bit and wandered through town coming to a nice path. We could see an old church up ahead  and it looked like a perfect walk. So on we went and that became our delightful day.

There were lovely Lupins and a variety of bright flowers along the shore with cute little fishing shacks and cottages. 

 This picture is looking back down the shore towards our ship.

We came to a town square with a grocery, some small shops and a public restroom, which we were happy to see. We went on to explore the old church and then walked on to another larger church we saw down the road.

 

At this point we saw a path we could take down to a bridge and then a two track on the other side of the river through farm land. We were off by ourselves listening to the birds, the river and the wind in the pines. Heaven! And, yes, Bob saw some fish, but the sign said something like, "Angliken Verboten." We could figure that out for sure. 

The peace of countryside was a delight. The cows watched us pass and one little bird acted like it was trying to talk to us as it followed us along the river.

As we neared the bridge back over to town, we saw the cute Swedish couple we often chat with. They took a picture of us and we of them. Nice folks.

 

Then as we came into town we could hear Elvis singing, "Hunk a Hunk of Burning Love." That was a surprise. We could see a crowd in the square and then ran into our Liverpool friends, Paul and Pauline. They said they had just watched a short concert with an Elvis impersonator and full band. Pauline said it was maybe the best they had ever seen and she was excited because she "got a snuggle from him."

Walking back to the ship, we saw a group of staff from the ship hiking and there was Bob's coffee shop, Serbian friend, Marko, who told us he would have information for us on what to do in port tomorrow. He is a find!

Once more we had a great dinner and then got to go to an Appreciation Cocktail Party for returning cruise customers. We were both too full to have much, but it was nicely done. We sat with dinner mates, Brian and Helana from Boston and had some nice conversation even if it did get a little political. We laughed that Brian also talks to the television and yells at newscasters trying to make news out of gossip.

More and more we are noticing how so many of the Danes, which are by far the majority on this cruise,  are very stoic and not friendly. The Royal Caribbean singers and dancers work so hard giving their all with high energy and don't seem to get applause. Several of us stood for them as they ended their show tonight, but many sat with no expression.

We turned in for the night, still cruising past piney hills and quaint farms.