John and I have a suite on the top deck with a sitting area and bay windows. We shared our welcome bucket of bubbly and wine with John and Susanna. Supper is at our private dinning room and was excellent. I think we are going to really enjoy this trip!
Today we made port in Andalsnes, a small town of 2,500 residents located in the Romsdalen Valley. The valley is named after two farms, the Romsa and the Dalen. Train travel was important to this town but it took 12 years to run a 45 km line along the coast and tunnel through the mountains. An abandoned train car has been converted into a cute little Episcopal chapel.
The Golden Train sitting on the rails was used during WWII to move Norway’s gold supply away from the German army. The 50 tons of gold was originally in Oslo, it was shipped to Lillehammer and then to Andalsnes where it was loaded onto the train. Just in time, the train moved into a tunnel before it could be discovered by the Germans who bombed the town. The gold eventually made it to Canada and the US where it was held until after the war. They never lost a single gold bar.
The Gondola ride took us up to the top of a mountain where we had spectacular views of the valley and enjoyed a nice hike around the top. It was cold and windy but we missed most of the rain that began after we got back on the ship. You may also recognize this area from a Mission Impossible movie.
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