Adventure of the Seas Day 10 - Molde, Norway - Part 1

This was Day 10 of our 13N Adventure of the Seas, Iceland and Norway cruise.  Yesterday, we were in Alesund, where we did a self-drive to Trollstigen.  Today, we were in Molde, Norway.   The ship docked at 8am and would depart at 9:30pm.  All aboard time was 9pm, therefore, we had plenty of time.

The view of the ship from our aft balcony.

This was early morning.

And we saw this roll-on, roll-off ferry departing.  I think it was heading to the other side of the Fjords.

A closer look at the Fjord ferries.

Time for breakfast in the Windjammer.

Toast, eggs, mushrooms.... I pretty much take the same thing every day.

Cruise Compass for Day 10 - Molde is a Magical Bouquet of Pure Delight!  Apparently, this place is famous for roses.

The plan today was to go hiking, like serious hiking.  In our trip planning, we considered renting a car to self-drive the Atlantic Road.  However, the ship docked on a Sunday and it was Pentecost weekend.  Car rental companies were not open.  The rental company at Molde Airport was open, but getting there to pick up the car would be a hassle.  Also, there is usually a public bus from the nearby bus interchange that will do the Atlantic Road.  We emailed them in advance. They were closed.  This is the website of the bus company, if you are interested.

So what was our plan?  It was to hike up to the Varden Viewpoint, which is 407M above sea level. This would be fun.  Anyway, it was time for a good hike.  We have been eating way too much. It was a sunny morning.  The ship was docked very near the city center.

You can see the big Welcome banner.  Another Thon Hotel.

Again, the ship was the biggest structure in town.  The ship towered above all the nearby buildings. Cool eh.

As expected, the shops were shut.

Very shut.

When we exited the ship, there were some free maps.  I started to follow the map and walked uphill, towards the Romsdal  Museum.  The hike up to Varden would start from opposite the Romsdal museum.

See the ship?  Cool.

We walked past many nice houses.

Like these.

And this.

See the ship, and the mountains behind.  Rather picturesque.  The scenery would certainly get even better.

We keep walking up the slope, in the direction of Romsdal museum.  This wasn't the scenic way to walk.  There were some gardens that you could walk through to the Romsdal museum, we passed those on the way down.

I noticed quite a number of trampolines.

Took us about 30 minutes to get here, a nice leisurely walk - Romsdalsmuseet.

There was a coach here, not sure whether they were from the ship.  But the museum was open, thankfully, even though it was a Sunday.

Kontor?

I think this was the entrance to the museum.  We would go in later, after we hike up Varden.

This is the start of the hike up to Varden Viewpoint.  The entrance is just opposite the Romsdal Museum.  To get here, just make your way to the Romsdal Museum first, that is the easiest way to navigate.

Another tour coach.  I took a closer look, it wasn't from the cruise ship.

You see this signboard.

From there, Varden is 3.2km.  Looks like we are going to have a fun walking uphill.

Continued in Part 2 of my blog post.