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Included in our shore excursion at Trondheim, besides the Nidaros Cathedral, was a visit to the Ringve Museum of Musical History, a museum of musical instruments. We didn’t know quite what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised.

First, by the beautiful garden maintained at the museum. Then by the young man who was to be our tour guide. Here, he is giving out stickers to identify us as members of his tour group. We entered the museum and were overwhelmed by the numbers and variety of musical instruments. It’s a museum, so of course you wouldn’t see most of these instruments being played today. For one thing, I couldn’t fathom how a guitar player would be able to finger the strings on the guitar below. I suppose the strings to the left of the neck, without frets, are probably designed to play just one note each.

The bag pipes of course were Pete’s favorite. NOT! I liked the banjo, because my grandfather had one that looked very much like this one, and he played it like a pro. He also owned a mandolin, and was equally proficient at playing that instrument.

Believe it or not, as a kid, it was my dream to be able to play the harp. Some dreams don’t come true. ;o) If you remember the Lawrence Welk Show, you’ve really dated yourself. When I was a kid, that was my grand parents favorite show on TV.

The accordion was really important, and was featured on every show. I think that’s where the saying came from: “If you play an accordion, you go to jail. It’s the LAW”. ;o)

Many of these instruments were real works of art. They made you just want to sit down at the keyboard and pluck out a tune or two, but as in any museum, we could look but not touch.

Not so for our young guide though. As it turned out, he is a rather accomplished musician, and he played several of the pianos for us in another room of the museum, demonstrating the different sounds as the piano evolved.

This is not our guide, but it is one of the piano’s on which he played a classical piece for us.

He also gave us a very interesting history of some of the most famous composers, like Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn. All things considered, the visit to this museum was well worth it.

After we left the Ringve Museum, we were taken back to the ship, and it left Trondheim for stops at Rørvik, Brønnøysund, Sandnessjøen and Nesna before arriving at Ørnes, where we would be leaving the ship for our next shore excursion, the Svartisen Glacier.

I believe that we are doing the advertised speed of 15 knots here. That’s quite a wake as we speed away from Trondheim. This lighthouse looks like it must be one of the most isolated places in the world. You can see the high tide marks on the pilings near the boat dock. The sea looks quite calm inside the archipelago, but I imagine that it can become quite stormy at times. I wouldn’t want to be stationed there.

We’ve retired to the lounge before dinner, for our nightly martinis. Some traditions with us are most persistent, and this is one.

We had a delicious crab dish for an appetizer at dinner, and the dessert was a delicious berry compote with ice cream. As for what came in between these two courses, I can only say that it was so delicious we dove in without taking a photograph. ;o)

Our wine package included a very nice white wine with this meal. Actually, the ‘selected' wines were all very good.

It was quite cold the next morning, at 9:20 when we boarded a tender to take us to the glacier. It probably took more than an hour to get to it from where the ship dropped us off.

We finally arrived, and it was still cold, but at least the sun had come out, and that helped a bit. Svartisen is Norway’s second largest glacier, and over the past several years it has receded quite a bit. Not long ago it actually reached the lake.

Around the visitor center there were trails for hiking, and of course adventurous Pete takes off around the lake.

I find a comfortable rock to sit on while I wait for him to return.

Inside the visitor center awaits a buffet of cakes, fresh fruit and hot drinks. The hot coffee was most welcome.

After a couple of hours of admiring the glacier, we board the boat for the return trip to rendezvous with the ship at Bodø.

We travel quite a ways along the coast of Helgeland, on our way to Bodø where our ship should be waiting. It’s taking quite a while, as we pass by fishing villages, and the crew breaks out the charts to show us where we are, and where we are headed.

At last we reach Bodø and the Nordnorge is there awaiting our return.

From here the ship will head for Stramsund where we will once again leave the ship, and travel by motor coach to Borg and on to the Lofotr Viking Museum, which consists of an authentic Viking Chieftain’s house, recreated in full size and features exhibits of finds dating back to the Viking age. Here we will enjoy a traditional Viking meal, with home made mead. But this will have to wait until the next chapter.