Kristiansund, Norway

 Last night was rocky, but not as bad as the night before, so the Captain was correct.  We docked in Kristiansund right in town which is always a treat.  Our morning tour took us on a drive to the Atlantic Road and Kverness.  As I've said before, the scenery in Norway is stunning.  This drive had it all: beautiful farms, forests, the ocean, and a windswept coastline.  We went through two underwater tunnels, the second of which was almost 6 km long and goes down to a depth of 750 feet below the sea.  The Atlantic Road was completed in 1989 and connects the mainland to several small islands over 8 bridges.  The most dramatic is pictured here.

Lots of auto companies use this road for commercials.  And it has substituted for Italy in the latest James Bond movie "No Time to Die".

The road originally had a toll that was expected to be in place for 15-20 years before paying off the cost.  But the road turned out to be so popular that it was paid off years ahead of time.

One of many salmon farms

We stopped at Kverness Stave Church built before the Reformation around 1631 as a Catholic Church, then converted to Lutheran.  

Stave is the style of building and uses no nails.

Along the way, we saw many fields where they've harvested the grain to feed the cattle in the winter, which we've seen in many other places.  In this local area for a few years, the farmers put together a plan to pay a bit more for colored plastic each year, instead of the traditional white, and have the extra money go to charity - support for research for breast cancer, prostate cancer, and children's cancer.  They only did it a few years, perhaps because those who didn't participate didn't like having their neighbors see so obviously that they hadn't participated.  Here's an example of one of the colors.

The pink was in support of breast cancer research.

 Nine out of ten cars sold last year in Norway were electric.  Norway is the biggest customer of Tesla per capita and has invested heavily in charging stations.  Electric cars are cheaper than gas-powered cars and don't have to pay the road or bridge tolls that combustion engines pay.  The license plates designate the electric cars by starting with the letter E or EE.

After the tour, we walked a bit around the local area and had lunch.  I finally got my fish and chips, which were delicious, along with a non-alcoholic beer and Michael had a nice Caesar salad and beer, all for only $58.  The restaurant was very modern and clean, but I still cringed when a local family let their little daughter crawl all around on the floor.  Different customs, I guess.  We also wandered around a beautiful supermarket where we found some things pretty close to prices at home, fresh produce especially, and others that were double like liquor or imported cans of peaches.

Two of our deck neighbors were let out of isolation today after testing positive for Covid on July 21.  Jimbo had only a runny nose and only tested because he was going to the home of Captain Ivo (from the Mariner) in Estonia and wanted to be extra cautious.  A few of the passengers were invited there for lunch.  The other man had mild symptoms.  I don't know his name because they are a slightly odd couple.  They always bring a cooler and empty wheelie suitcase with them on excursions.  The cooler holds foods that she will eat (very particular requirements, apparently) and the empty suitcase is in case she finds something to buy, she won't have to carry it around.  We've only spoken a few times.  Anyway, both wives never tested positive despite MaryAnn staying in the cabin with Jimbo the whole time.  The other couple separated and he was moved down to deck 5 to quarantine.

No trivia today because the others were on a late afternoon tour.  I got another haircut upstairs to use up some of our remaining ship credits.  I'm happier with this one which was done by a different stylist from the Philippines.  Of course, the test will be after I shampoo and style it myself.  Had dinner at Compass Rose.  I made the mistake of getting on the scale up at the fitness center so no pre-dinner cocktail tonight and only one glass of wine with dinner.  And no potatoes with my prime rib.

Tonight's show was by Terry Bishop.  He sang some of his own songs and told some stories, mostly centered on getting older.  I think he's as good as any of the others.