Over dinner we learned that two of our table guests were celebrating their 20 year anniversary. The ships’ company came over to sing congratulations, waving the Norwegian flag and Gary bought a bottle of champagne for the table to celebrate.
Late in the evening the ship docked at Svolvær where we had a half an hour or so stopover. On recommendation we joined the throng waiting to disembark in order to head to the Arctic Ice exhibition. This was a bit like the ice bar in central London except they had much larger ice sculptures. The sculptures were quite impressive but apart from that the bar had a bit of a temporary feel to it with bare concrete floor and industrial looking ceiling.
From Svolvær the ship headed towards Raftsundet. We spent the time listening to the entertainer and to one of the guests, an older french gentleman who has been playing the piano for over 60 years.
Just before we entered Raftsundet we were invited out on deck 7 for freshly made fish cakes and Trollfjord knert , a hot drink made from blackberry juice and rum. It was very very sweet and reminiscent of mulled wine.
The ship then entered Raftsundet, a very narrow 26km long fjord bordered by mountains up to 1000m high. We first entered a short dead-end where the captain turned on the spotlights to show the passengers the narrow channels before heading into the main fjord which we took about an hour to pass through. Many passengers stayed out on deck for the first part of the passage. It was quite eerie seeing the shadows of mountains pressed right up along the sides of the ship.The captain used the spotlights a few times to find his way.
By the time we came out of the fjord, passing underneath a road bridge, Micha was the only one left on deck. Shortly thereafter it was time for a nice hot shower and bed!
