Tuesday 25 May 2010

Pentecost in Andalsnes

Welcome to the dramatic nature as More and Romsdal. So we start our excursion trough Romsdal
with Raumabanen directly from our ship because the railway station is opposite.
The Rauma Railway is operated by NSB, the state owned Norwegian train operator. This trip
offers our passengers a unique opportunity to experience one of Norway's most spectacular
natural regions. The train follows the river Rauma, runs dead-slow, to allow travellers time to
photograph such attractions as the famous Trollveggen, Europe's tallest vertical rock wall.
Later the train crosses the river at Kylling Bridge, Norways most impressive railway bridge.
It is here that the Rauma River is perhaps at is most dramatic.The Rauma Railway's bridges and
horseshoe tunnels are a tribute to the skill of the engineers who built it, and passengers will appreciate
why it took a full twelve years from the start of construction to the official opening of the line in 1924
by King Haakon VII.
Another highlight was our second excursion to Molde,the town of roses and jazz and the Atlantic Road,
a strech of road on highway 64 in Nordmore and Romsdal. The road is 8,274 meters long an goes from
Vevang in Eide to Kårvåg in Averøy.The construction includes eight bridges, and replaced the ferry
connection between Ørjavik and Tøvik. The road cost 122 million kroner at 1989 values and was partly
financed by road tolls. The toll was removed in June 1999.
Back on board there was a presentation of Vingården Tuen, the most northerly winegrower of the
world. Johan Setnes, the owner offers desert wine and wine-aperitiv in our panorama-lounge.
The nightcap in our daily program: we were ships passing in the night - two times! MS Fram traded cheers, waves, banners and fieworks with the MS Nordkap and MS Midnatsol, two other ships in the Hurtigruten fleet.