Hunting The Light - Alesund

Hunting The Light - Alesund, Norway March 6 By Sue McCarthy   I had not reached the Arctic Circle yet, but have passed by bucolic islands with sheep, colorful houses, sea birds and passing boats on our way to our next stop at Alesund. We arrived in port at noon and would return to the MS Trollfjord at 3:00pm  A guide took us to one of the town's museums at the Art Nouveau Center, the "Swan Pharmacy."  This was a beautiful old pharmacy depicting how it looked in the early 1900's.  We entered a "Time Machine" and went back in history through a multi-media show "Ashes to Art Nouveau."  The whole town had caught fire, leaving thousands homeless and had to be rebuilt.  Neighboring towns and countries helped in the rebuilding and the wooden houses in town center no longer would exist, instead the new buildings were made of stone. The upper level of the pharmacy museum was the home of the owner and he was a man of wealth.  The furniture was carved with owl designs and stained glass.    We boarded a bus to the top of Aksla Mountain and had lunch and a magnificent view of the harbor at Fjellstua Restaurant.  Fish was the menu choice since Alesund is known as Norway's fishery capital and is also known for dried cod.  Some of our group walked back down to the park in town and joined the rest of us for a guided-walk through the shopping district.  The stone buildings were adorned with carved flowers and figurines, designs in Art Nouveau, German, French and Italian style.   Since this was a winter trip the ship didn't go into the famous UNESCO World Heritage site - the "Geirangerfjord", but this is one site I would have liked to have seen.   Back on the ship and heading north...hunting the light.