Tromso and The Huskies

Huskies - Tromso, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

FOLLOWING OUR adventures in Flam, the next day, Saturday, was a day at sea. We were headed well north, up into The North Sea, and the Arctic Circle. By Sunday, when we reached Tromso, we were closing in on as far north as we could get - but not quite. We scheduled our only ship-sponsored excursion of the trip for this day. Our only organized excursions for the entire cruise were a trip on the Flam Railway,  and an independently sponsored excursion up into the North Cape (Nordkap) - the furthest North one can travel by land in Europe; above the Arctic Circle. And today's ship-based excursion, which was a trip to a facility where they birth, raise, and train sled dogs. They are all a type of Husky breed, bred to withstand the cold weather and harsh environment, as well as their seemingly endless energy for running and pulling. They absolutely love to run.

Tromso, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

ALTHOUGH I was hopeful for some good photo opportunities, the facility - perhaps disappointingly - did not really lend itself to good photography. All the dogs were either in fenced enclosures or on leads. Understandably, as they might otherwise run, and things would certainly be out of control. Lest the images I included here mislead you, the dogs did not appear to be under poor conditions. The accomodations were clean and well maintained, the dogs all appeared happy and enthusiastic. They get regular exercise during the day, also. There were several busloads of people, so it was crowded. I really hadn't had high expectations. The dogs, though, were very friendly, if a little frenetic. One of the things you will want to be prepared for if you do make one of these visits, though, is the dogs are not particularly clean - they are not bathed regularly and they smell. Not that they are dirty (as you can see from the photos, they seem healthy and well-kept), but they need to keep a certain amount of their natural body oils, in order to ward off the cold. It will get on your hands and clothes. In a way much like being on a livestock farm. As I like to say, "first world" problems.

Tromso Harbor, Tromso, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

BUT COMING into the port at Tromso did present some of the best photography opportunities of the trip. The morning light was really beautiful, and there were a few nice scenes with snow-capped mountains and fishing boats. These northern countries can be dreary - with lots of cloud cover, rain, and cold temperatures. I have noticed that one of the things they do to make things more cheery is to paint their buildings and boats in bright colors. That makes it nice for us photographers. So thanks Norway, for that! 😃

Tromso Harbor; Tromso, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

SURPRISINGLY, TROMSO is the 12th largest city in Norway, with nearly 80,000 inhabitants. We didn't really spend much time in the city, though we did stop at a museum and see a movie after our visit to the Huskies. We did a "drive-by" of the famous Ice Cathedral, but I never really go a great shot of it.

Those eyes! - Tromso, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025

Flam and the Picturesque Flam Railway

View from the Celebrity Apex; berthed in Flam, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

FLAM IS perhaps one of Norway's most iconic spots. A recreational haven for residents of Scandinavia, there are wonderful camping, hiking, biking, skiing and fishing locations up in the mountains around Flam. Once a tiny little agricultural village deep in the end of the Aurlands Fjord, its scenic and recreational offerings have transformed it in modern years into a primary tourism destination. There are approaching a half million visitors to Flam each year. It is one of the sought after destinations by tourists and particularly by cruise ships. The keystone is probably the Flam scenic railroad, which also serves as part of a transportation hub for other rails and locations in the fjords. Norway considers itself one of the more "green" nations of the world, and in keeping with that philosophy, they impose guidelines and standards for the impact that tourism has on the natural environment. In no industry is this more the case than the cruise ship industry. Over the past few years, we have read that Norway will be banning large cruise ships from the fjords. This is not entirely correct, though they have announced much tighter standards for certain  fuel-powered large cruise ships. Originally targeted to begin in 2026, these restrictions would essentially exclude many of the large cruise ships in the cruise industry. When we booked our cruise, it was with this deadline in mind, believing that it would be our last chance to visit the fjords on our favorite Celebrity Cruise ships (or any competitors, for that matter). Shortly after our confirmed booking, they announced that the deadline for newer, stricter, standards would be moved to 2032. But I have not doubt it is coming. Honestly, once we decided to book it, especially with the chance to cruise with Todd and Heather, we wouldn't have changed it for the world. Flam was rainy for the most part, but we were also indoors (on the train, in buildings, etc.) for most of the day.

Flam Cruise Port - Flam, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

THE PERMANENT population of Flam is somewhere from 300 - 500 people. Many, if not most, of them today service the tourism trade. There is one very nice resort in the village and then a few very small establishments and campgrounds. There are a couple restaurants that service the entire area. We made reservations in one of the "Viking" restaurants, knowing that with the influx of cruise passengers, it might be hard to get a table.

Flam countryside from the Flam Railway - Flam, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

LIKE SO many of the cruise ports these days, there was a certain "Disney" feel. The train platforms were crowded with 100s of passengers waiting to get on board for the approximately 30 minute ride up a steep mountain and through several tunnels on the narrow gauge train. There was a large store at the port/train entrance that was so crowded it reminded me of the Friday after Thanksgiving in a Best Buy Store or the local mall. It was packed full of what I can only characterize as "trinkets" and I have very serious doubts that they were locally made. Putting the commercialism aspect aside, however, there is no doubt that this is one of the most beautiful - and picturesque - places in our world.

Flam countryside from the Flam Railway - Flam, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

AND ALSO in spite of commercialism, there are always opportunities for the photographer (though it sometimes requires leaning to isolate compositions). My worst case has always been shooting from a moving vehicle through glass windows. You have to shoot fast and understand that you are going to "waste" a lot of frames as you quickly move past your subject. There is always glare and reflections to deal with through the vehicle windows. But with some patience, it is possible to get some reasonably nice imges. The Flam scenery from the train is beautiful, and the local famers and landowners have accomodated us by painting their homes and buildings in bright colors that stand out in the lush, green landscape. Our day in Flam was a rainy, mainly dreary day. But that also made for clouds and fog, which always ads interest to images, in my view. I got a couple that I liked.

Flam Countryside from the Flam Railway - Flam, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

Norway at Last

Alesund, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025

MONDAY AND Tuesday were a bit of a blur for me. A 90 minute ride to the port from our hotel. Check in and boarding was Celebrity's usual quick and efficient process except for the luggage dropoff. That area was a 3-ring circus. I don't remember it being that way back in 2021, but then we were at Princess Cruises terminal, and it was during Covid-19, so things were very regimented. Anyway, we were basically quickly boarded, obtained our room keys, and found our way to the Magic Carpet Bar. Let's get this show started! We were pretty familiar with the ship by now. This was my wife's and my 4th time on Apex, and Todd and Heather's second.

Alesund, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025

SOMEWHERE ALONG the way, I began to feel the effects of the cold that Heather had gotten on our last day in London. By dinner time, it was full on. I medicated, went to bed, and begged off of our first shore excursion. Sadly, because it was Bruges, which is a beautiful place. Fortunately, we had been there back in 2020, and it is small enough that we had really seen most of it. It was the only repeat for me, and was as good as any one to miss. The following day was an "at sea" day, giving me a pretty good period to just relax and recover.

The City of Alesund from our Cruise Ship deck
Copyright Andy Richards 2025

ON THURSDAY, as we docked in Alesund, Norway, I was (mostly) back among the human race. There have been some cruises where I have taken hundreds of photos during our excursions. And then there have been some where I have taken very few. This cruise was one of the latter, for the most part, which will probably make this post seem relatively shorter. Much like my takeaway from Iceland, I would say that the primary draw of the fjords of Norway are the natural beauty of the environment. Except for Trondheim (our last stop and a very fun city), most of my images here were made from the ship, or from high vantage points at the ports.

Alesund, from Aksla (the highest point in the city)
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

BY NOW, we had seen a lot of the kind of scenery we saw on this cruise, beginning way back in 2010 along Alaska's Inside Passage, and then again in the fjords of Iceland. Each of these 3 spots had their differences. In Alaska, we never saw any evidence of human occupation on land except close to the towns we stopped in. In Iceland, it was almost the same, but not being as vast, there were the occasional fishing boats and cottages and villages from time to time. The Norwegian Fjiords showed more evidence of habitation. Still pretty desolate though. Norway and iceland were more "green" than Alaska, but that probably was a function of the time of year.

Another view from Aksla - Alesund, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025

NORWAY, SWEDEN and Finland are the countries that make up the Scandinavian Peninsula and together cover the vast majority of the north shore of the Baltic Sea. Except along the seacoasts, they are relatively sparsely populated. But they did seem to have a couple cities that were more populous than what we saw in either the Alaskan Inside Passage, or in Iceland. Alesund, for example, has a population of nearly 70,000; over double the population of Juneau (the most populous city on the Inside Passage by a magnitude). The metropolitan region in and around Reykjavik, Iceland, on the other hand, approaches 250,000. But that is where everyone lives in Iceland. You won't find anything close to that outside the Reykjavik area. Akureyri's population was about 20,000 and Isofordjur aobut 4,000. Trondheim, Norway was over 200,000. Tromso was nearly 80,000. However as we got further north, those populatiun numbers really dwindled. Honingsvag, our most northern port, was only around 2,000.

Alesund, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025

IN THE fjords and northern areas of Norway, it seems that the primary industry is fishing, with other types of agriculture being important, but lagging well behind fishing. Tourism, as seems to be true worldwide, has grown to be another significant economic piece for Norway.

Restaurant sign in Alesund, Norway
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

A FUNNY little anecdote: Just before we all left the U.S. for London, Todd confided to us that Fish & Chips, possibly the most popular meal in the British Isles, was something that just doesn't work for him. My first lunch in London at the Olde Thameside, was fish & chips and it was delicious. Of course, I had to send Todd a photo. 😋 I wanted to let him know we had found a great place for us to get fish & chips. Whenever we went anywhere and I saw evidence of them during the trip, I made sure to point them out. With that, some readers here know I like to collect images of "eclectic" signs. When I saw the sign above, I knew it was a must-have image. I love the passive-aggressive confidence the sign exudes! Probably. 😏