Taste of Vesteralen, Part Three, Return to the Ship

 November 13, 2022

Under heavy clouds we said farewell to all things Viking and boarded the bus.  We rolled through the countryside, along the fjords, and crossed from island to island on bridges.

The Vesteralen region is a archipelago just north of the famed Lofoten Islands.  They probably were not seen at their best with the heavy cloud cover, but were beautiful nonetheless.  Here the bus had pulled off the road near a bridge, so we could walk across to take some photos without the reflections, grime and blur of the bus windows.  Though nearer noon than nine, the sun was not far up the horizon, but did add a pretty glow when the clouds shifted.

At one point we came to a stretch of water where there was no bridge, so we took a passenger ferry across.  It took less than an hour, but that was long enough for us to de-board and enjoy some coffee and snacks in their little café area. We were seated in six-person booths.  With the tables preset for the precise number of passengers, we were all packed in, in no particular order.  I was enjoying a sampling of lefse, rolled around a bit of sweetened cream cheese.  The only American at the table, I was abruptly asked a political question.  I thought briefly, and then said, "since we are all squished in here, and will be spending several more days on a rather small ship, I think it would make more sense to talk about the weather or something."  That was the end of that.  

Back on the road, we trundled along.  The early tour departure had left me sleepy, bringing back memories of riding on the berry bus to Tsugawa's field as a child. 

At another photo stop in a scenic area, Josephine, who I'd helped up off the ice, suggested we take each other's photos. 

On the home stretch, the bus paused a while on a bridge.  And then, gliding towards us was our beautiful ship.  It was raining, so the windows were challenging to photograph through.  A handful of our shipmates were on deck 5 to wave.

Soon after they passed beneath us, we parked at the dock in Sortland, where the MS Richard With was just gliding in.