Ålesund, Art Nouveau and Northern Lights

Sunday, 4.9.16

Woke up to rain at 7:15 am. The weather forecast had promised sun and clouds. Now they say it will get better after 11 am. Sitting down for breakfast before 9 am, which is great.

I grab a table by the window overlooking the water and continue to only see shadowy mountains. After 1.5 hours of breakfast, I go to the Varden again. The view is a bit better than yesterday, but not very far.

So a few wet photos and then down the mountain to the ferry terminal.

The ferry runs every half hour and I'm lucky that it arrives after 10 minutes and I find a place on the ship without any problems. The sky is clearing up during the trip, but the bad weather still hangs over Molde.

My journey today is short, only 90 km, so I'm not in a hurry.

From the Vestnes harbor, I drive on the E39 to Ålesund and then directly to the viewpoint on the mountain Aksla above the city. Radiant sun, perfect panorama over the entire town and the islands behind it. I treat myself to a seafood salad and a coffee, read in my travel guide, and then go to the hotel.

The First Hotel Atlantica is located across from the small bus station and the Ålesund behind it. I find a free parking space at the hotel (until Monday 8:00 am) and enjoy the beautiful view of the water from my room. Until I realize that the window of the room is fixed with screws and tape (!) so it cannot be opened. Also, the TV has no reception at all. Not that the latter bothers me much, but I mention it at the reception, pack my stuff, and move to the neighboring room, which is a double room with the same view but with a window that can be opened.

I start exploring the city, which is known for its Art Nouveau houses. 850 houses burned down here on the night of February 23, 1904 and were rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style of the time in the following years. Only after the fire was it allowed to build stone houses in the city center. The Pharmacy has the Art Nouveau Museum, but before I can visit it, I find a Røros blanket for 1490 Crowns in beautiful colors.

I reclaim the tax when leaving the country. So first I bring the huge bag with the blanket back to the hotel and put it in the car and then go out again. I walk around the streets and through the city, which is quite hilly in places.

Beautiful Art Nouveau elements on many facades and old wooden houses at the harbor that are well maintained, although my travel guide says something about rundown wooden houses.

After 3.5 hours, my feet are flat, the sun sets behind the surrounding hills, and after a beautiful evening sun, it now gets cold. So back to the hotel. I check my Northern Lights app and see that there should be relatively good aurora in Central Norway today (KP5). At 11 pm, armed with my camera, I sit in the car and find a road on my GPS that is facing north. I find a place at a slightly eerie roundabout with little light and take some pictures out of the car window with a tripod, which actually show me Northern Lights in the sky.

However, it's more like an overall pattern instead of dancing Northern Lights. At midnight, the Aurora is silent and I drive back to the hotel.