Our Princess Cruises excursion was due to take us to the nearby islands of Giske and Godøya, and if you know anything about cruising or anything about islands then your first thought might be that this would involve one or more boat trips. It’s a reasonable thought, but then you have to factor Norway into the equation. A weird fact about Norway is that it really likes tunnels. We’d previously driven through the longest road tunnel in the world (still, at time of writing) when we’d visited the Borgund Stave Church in 2013, and we’d encountered a few smaller ones through hills on this cruise already, but in Ålesund we’d get to experience underwater tunnels for the first time. Why does Norway like tunnels? It’s either a Freudian sex thing or wanting to appease trolls. With Norwegians, either is equally likely.

Our bus took us via tunnel underwater to Valderøya first, then over a bridge to Giske, then another underwater tunnel to Godøya.

You’ll probably be able to guess already – indeed, you may well have searched the internet for the Giske and Godøya excursion on a cruise that you’re planning, so you’ll know – that our destination on Godøya was the Alnes Lighthouse.

The present Alnes Lighthouse – the fourth to serve the island as a navigation aid for fishing – dates from 1937. The first lighthouse in 1853 was little more than a window in a wall lit dimly with three candles so as not to confuse vessels with the lighthouse on Runde, and operated for only a few months in winter. This was replaced by a lantern that could be hoisted up a pole. In the 1870s a small guard house was built and the lighting time extended to most of the year but attracting anyone to work the beacon proved difficult due to the poor conditions so a larger, better residence was constructed and in the early 1890s moved to its current location. In 1928 the lighthouse was connected to the electricity grid and a backup gas light was installed.

Getting off the bus we were told that we were free to visit the lighthouse or the former lighthouse-keeper’s residence (now a café and exhibition centre) during our allotted time, and that our excursion included a pancake and drink in the café. We headed straight for the lighthouse. Inside we were greeted by art from local artists on the walls and steep steps up a few floors that wouldn’t feel out of place on a warship. They’re the sort you walk down backwards for safety, so bear that in mind if you’ve got any mobility issues or are a generally clumsy oaf. My wife, who has a history of falling down steps, actually managed okay, though.

At the top of Alnes Lighthouse we were treated to some lovely views courtesy of the natural beauty of Norway and a spectacularly bright and sunny June day. We also might have been treated to a phallic shadow that made me snigger.

There wasn’t a lot of room at the top of the lighthouse so we limited our time admiring the Godøya scenery in order that those other members of our cruise excursion who’d hit the monument rather than the café first could see the sights and grab some photos of their own. We’re considerate like that. We then headed off to get our included snack which was fine, pleasant enough, but nothing outstanding.

We spent the remainder of our time at Godøya wandering down to the shoreline. The beach there was rocky and absolutely gorgeous. Norway is not short of wonderful views.

In the next post in this cruise travelogue series we’ll move onto the second part of this day’s excursion while in Ålesund when we stop on the island of Giske to visit the church there.

The photograph below is not Giske Church. What can I say? I like interesting looking buildings, even if they’re silos or warehouses or agricultural constructions or bus shelters or sheds. And I also like people on excursions looking at me as if I’ve grown a new head when I stroll away from the group to take pictures of things they almost certainly consider dull. Confusing people is my thing.

Giske Church dates from the twelfth century and is built from white marble – the only Norwegian church built from marble – of unknown origin. I know what you’re thinking: aliens! But that would be silly. All the trolls kill any aliens that approach Norway. Everyone knows that. All that can be said for certain is that the marble was transported to the island over water because the bridge and tunnel that connects it to its neighbours now are far more modern constructions, and that suggests that the people who built the church had considerable wealth. In fact, it was built for the Giske (or Arneson) family, and was originally a family chapel. The island of Giske and the Arneson family feature in the Norwegian Sagas, and a birth in the family recounted in Stein’s Story in the Saga of Olaf Haraldson would be that of the progenitor of the Norwegian Royal Family.

The white marble of Giske Church isn’t immediately obvious thanks to a covering of plaster and chalk that clearly doesn’t protect it from wear, given the relative hardness of marble and chalk, but perhaps discourages anyone from thinking “Ooh, white marble, that’ll look nice in the downstairs loo!” I think the worst of people.

The interior of the church contains an impressive range of colourful, wooden carvings, feeling very medieval in their look but actually dating from a little later, carved by Jakob Sørensøn Giskegaard in the late eighteenth century when a series of renovations were undertaken after a long period of neglect.

The church and cemetery are still in use these days, and the gravestones are worth a look around if you visit Giske. A protected marble grave in the cemetery holds one of a pair of doomed lovers from a local story that the guide there will be only too willing to share with you. And if you think that’s a way of me saying I can’t quite recall the specifics of the tale then you’re absolutely right. But look, head to new places, spend some money locally, learn some things. That’s what travelling should be all about.

We had a little bit of spare time after our visit inside Giske Church to enjoy the surroundings before our bus returned to pick us up. With the church located on the southern point of the island we had some pleasing views to Godøya where we’d been earlier in the day, helped by the beautiful weather.

This concludes a very short but enjoyable enough excursion on our Sky Princess cruise, and in the next part in this cruise travelogue series we’ll be dropped off to explore Ålesund on our own.

But first, the story so far…

We were in Ålesund, the final Norwegian port on our 2022 Sky Princess Norway and Iceland Cruise and we’d spent the morning of this beautiful, sunny, summer day in Norway at first Godøya to see the Alnes Lighthouse, then at Giske to see the white marble church. The afternoon was free time for us to have a bit of a wander around the town, and that’s what you’re going to see in the pictures in this article.

We were dropped off fairly close to where Sky Princess was docked, as you can see below. You’ll also see a shop called Bunnpris which we’d noticed in another port earlier on this cruise. We continued the very adult conversations we’d already had about this retail chain.

“Ooh, Bunnpris! Shall we head in to see what the pris of their bunn is?”

“Excuse me, sir. This bunn. I’m interested in the pris.”

This is one of the many reasons why you never want to go on a cruise with us.

It was to the harbour that we headed because it looked like it would have the prettiest views of Ålesund and the highest probability of getting a drink somewhere. We like to drink local alcohol in local places for the experience when we travel, so don’t judge us. We almost immediately came upon a statue of a young fisherman. It’s one of the staples of ports in Norway that if there’s a tradition of fishing then at some point you’ll find a statue to honour the men (it’s mostly always men) who braved the seas to bring food ashore.

A more aesthetically-pleasing art sculpture (to me) was a little further along the waterfront of Ålesund Harbour; this being one of Harald Grytten, a local historian and former director of the town’s museum who was instrumental in cataloguing the architecture and teaching local history in public. The statue, sculpted by Olaf Leon Roald, is named The Wanderer and was erected in 2013.

We were exceptionally lucky with the weather on our cruise ship visit to Ålesund, as not only did we have beautifully intense blue skies to contrast with the bright colours of the waterfront buildings, but we also had only the faintest of breezes giving us gorgeous reflections on the surface of the water. A great day for attractive photography in Norway. You’ll also see a nice example of a contemporary, abstract, metal sculpture set in Ålesund Square. Sadly, I don’t know anything about it, but I like the look. It’s like a jellyfish went for a swim in a sea of mercury.

Let’s get around to the architecture that Ålesund is famous for. Late nineteenth and early twentieth century Art Nouveau is what you’ll see a lot online, and it’s fine and perfectly correct to describe the style of Ålesund’s buildings in that way, but if you’re feeling a little bit art-snobby then why not berate people by telling them that, as with lots of art movements, there are branches off them and national or local flavours to them on occasion, and that’s the case with this town in Norway where the prevailing architectural style is actually Jugendstil, a style originating in Germany?

So, why would a Norwegian town have an awful lot of buildings designed with an eye towards floral patterns and geometric patterns and naturally-flowing curves and, most importantly, a young, Germanic feel? The answer is Kaiser Wilhelm, the last German Emperor and King of Prussia. It was probably your second guess, if you’re honest with yourself.

In the early hours of the morning of the 23rd January, 1904, a fire broke out in Ålesund that quickly spread thanks to strong winds and the fact that the entire town was built from wood. One person died – a woman who went back into her house to get her purse – while ten thousand residents were forced to flee, mainly on foot with what they could carry, seeking shelter where they could (which wasn’t many places at all). News of the fire spread almost as quickly as the fire itself and the Kaiser sent a telegram of condolences while the fire was still being extinguished. His personal interest in Ålesund was that he had frequently spent time in the region, and he was subsequently one of the first to send aid in the form of shelter materials, food, and medicine.

When Ålesund was rebuilt it was done so with stone, with better facilities, in the early twentieth century style of the times, and, thanks to Kaiser Wilhem’s connection to the town and generosity, with architects that included many from Germany.

We enjoyed more of the views of the town along the harbour front before deciding we’d quite like a drink.

There weren’t a huge amount of places open when we arrived, which we initially thought was weird considering there was a cruise ship in port until we remembered that most of the passengers on cruise ships are as tight as anything and would rather head back aboard to eat and drink than pay anything extra ashore. Not us, though. However, of the first couple of places we looked at we could see they were rammed with people so we ended up at a small pub called Smutthullet a bit further back from the main tourist spot. It felt like a locals pub more than a tourist pub, despite – or maybe because of – the odd scarves above the bar, and it served Norwegian beers, so we stayed for a couple and divested ourselves of money into the local economy.

All that remained was to simply walk back to the ship. There were many other things we could have done in Ålesund with some more time to hand: there’s an aquarium, and we like aquariums; there’s the museum which would have told us more about the history and the architecture; there’s also the hike up the hill for the views over the town that would have seen my wife kill me had I even suggested it. We might do one or two of those the next time we hit this part of Norway, though.

In the next part of this cruise travelogue series we’ll wave goodbye to Ålesund from Sky Princess, and goodbye to Norway too as we sail away and head towards our favourite European country, Iceland, on a cruise ship for the first time.

Gee, Mark, thanks. A couple of sandwiches on a plate. That’s exactly what I came looking for when I searched online for pictures of the Norwegian port of Ålesund as seen from the Sky Princess cruise ship.

I aim to please, and then I turn around and fire in the opposite direction. It’s my way.

We returned to our balcony, ordered some drinks to be delivered to the room, grabbed our books, and waited for the sail away from Ålesund. We love having a balcony on a cruise ship for this very reason, and we love being able to have drinks delivered to us anywhere on the ship with Princess Cruises. It’s a terribly civilised way to depart a port that avoids all that mingling with other passengers on the top deck.

From the balcony we could see some other parts of the town that we’d likely try to check out if we were to return here on some other cruise. Despite its medieval stone look, the Ålesund Church was also one of the new constructions of the early twentieth century utilising some of the architectural styles of the time, as explained in the previous post in this travel series, and it would be nice to see that up close; and the Aksla Viewpoint on Mount Aksla (bit of a coincidence) holds some appeal if I ever feel brave enough to try to persuade Marie to make the 418 steps climb up there.

Ålesund is located at the entrance to the Geirangerfjord and benefitted from some beautiful rocky sights as a result. What else is new on a Norwegian fjords cruise? Geologists struggling to find a vacation that will satisfy the needs of family members who don’t share quite the same passion for geology as they do – there are more of them than you think – could do a lot worse than suggest a cruise on the fjords of Norway.

The final bit of Norway’s land mass that we passed on Sky Princess as part of this cruise was the island of Godøya to which we’d paid a visit first thing on this day in order to see the Alnes Lighthouse. That had been on the island’s northern side whereas we were passing to the south, but that made it interesting to see the mountainous form of Storhornet from the opposite side.

The open sea marked the start of the transit towards the next country on this cruise and the point at which we hit the shower and changed, ready for the evening.

I mentioned that there was a reason that we went for something light to eat when we got back aboard the ship and that reason was that we’d booked the Crown Grill speciality dining on the ship for that evening. Past experience told us to eat light beforehand, so that’s what we did, and we still felt full to bursting by the end.

All that remained after food was to take a drink back to the room to enjoy the sunset at close to midnight. It never got much darker than this and the sun would start to rise again very soon afterwards. That’s what happens when you cruise in the height of summer.

In the next post in this cruise travelogue series we’ll spend a quiet day at sea heading from Norway to Iceland, and the views will be… not quite what we were expecting.