A Walk Around Trondheim and the Nidaros Cathedral

 November 7, 2022

One of the things that sets Hurtigruten aside from other cruises is that they provide no entertainment.  That said, they don't just load you on the boat and feed you.  In addition to many shore excursions that you can buy, they have daily lectures indoors on subjects such as the Sami, the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia, or natural resources of Norway, oil and gas.  Additionally, they provide many excuses for getting outside on the boat, at almost any time of day, and in any weather.  Two of these would be, the passing of a sister ship, or a point of interest along the shore or nearby us in the sea.  For the former, both ships will blast their horns, and we run out onto the deck and wave as they go by.  For the latter, we gather aft on deck 7, where one or more members of our expedition team with provide information for us.  

Trollfjord passing Ms Richard With

Munkholmen Island, seen in the photo below, is a small island near the city of Trondheim.  Early history is a bit grisly.  It was used as an execution site in the Viking era.  Benedictine monks built a monastery on the island early in the eleventh century, considered to be the earliest one in Scandinavia.  Later it was converted into a prison and fortress.  Now it is mostly used as a recreational site. 

It was dark and stormy when we maneuvered our way into the Trondheim harbor, late Monday morning.  

With about an hour and a half at my disposal, I opted out of any paid excursions, and armed with my new raincoat and a paper map provided by the ship, I set out to explore.  Well, really I was focused on two popular tourist attractions, the Nidaros Cathedral and the "old bridge".  

I took a circuitous route so that I could cross over two different bridges, where colorful buildings line the shoreline of the Trondheim River.

Along the way I passed this Burger King, a building unlike most fast food places back home.

Though I'd been in Trondheim before, I was at that time on a bicycle tour of the town, so following someone else's schedule.  Today I had time to wander around the wet, leaf strewn graveyard that wrapped around this famous stone edifice.  

Nidaros Cathedral

I climbed up onto a short wall to take this, but it's really hard to get a decent picture of such a large building, as there's no clear spot to take from further way.  I was tempted to sort of join this small tour group, but they weren't speaking English so it wouldn't have been very helpful.  I did, however, slip through the door for a free peek around, but I'll save any photos that I took for another blog.  I've signed up for a tour of the cathedral on my southbound trip.

The Old Bridge, Trondheim

It was around the bridge that I connected with two women that I recognized from the ship.  I tagged along with them for the return trip.  We ducked into a small grocery where I bought a box of hot chocolate packs.  Then we had to really trot to make it back in time for the ship's departure.

Though the clouds parted occasionally throughout the day, we never really saw the sun.  Around 3:30, she dropped to the horizon and created a bit of golden fanfare before slipping away for the night.

An evening port of call