Olden, Norway June 26 2015

Today we are arriving in Olden, Norway for the Disney Magic’s first visit to this port.  This morning when I arise, I am amazed at how beautiful this port is.  If I was disappointed in Molde yesterday, Olden is more than making up for it.

I have to say, I think Olden is one of my favorite ports the ship has visited.  I am in love with Olden.  There are only 800 residents here and they love having us here.  In my mind, the village would be what the imagineers were inspired for the village of Arendelle.  And going up the valley would be the inspiration for the Valley of the Living Rock, and then the glacier would be the inspiration for North Mountain on which Elsa sculpted her ice palace.  This is definitely my vision of Arendelle and the surrounding area.

The sun is shining, it looks like a beautiful day.

We are scheduled to go on the Glacier Safari and Barbeque.  We begin by travelling along the Olden River to the Olden Lake.  The views are absolutely breathtaking and the reflection in the water of the mountains is spectacular.  Our guide Laura is from Minnesota, she married a guy from Norway whom she met in Minnesota and moved here a couple of years ago.  She was fabulous.  This village is quite small and remote.  Only 59 cruise ships will visit here this year, down from 90 last year.

It takes about 45 minutes to arrive to the Briksdal Mountain Lodge where we board “Troll” cars (these are John Deere Gator vehicles which seat 7 guests and one driver).  It is a good thing we ride the Troll Cars because it is quite a hike (about 1.5 miles each way, which I would say is a moderate hike, but has many steep areas on the hike.)  We go 500 km I think from the base of the Briksdal Glacier where we meet our guides and hike the rest of the way in for our paddle boat excursion on the lake below the glacier.  We get outfitted with rubber boots, helmets and life jackets.  The sky is blue, the sun is shining and the surroundings are incredible.

Our guides get us all geared up to go on the lake.

Olaf is excited to get on the raft and see the glacier.

We proceed to go out on the lake and paddle (not too much though) and float on the lake for about an hour while our guide tells us a lot about the glacier, how it has receded over time and then we watch the glacier and actually hear the cracking of the glacier and see a few small pieces of ice come down.

Our guide Havarth (pronounced kinda like Howard) wants his picture taken with Olaf so he can show his girlfriend.  He was a great guide, gave lots of information.  It was fun being on the lake with him and our group.

After our hour on the lake, we hike back to the troll cars and then make our way back down the mountain to the lodge where we have a barbeque of hamburgers and hotdogs waiting for us.

After lunch we drive back down the road and stop for some picture taking before heading back to the ship.

We depart shortly after 5 p.m.  We have the local souvenir store waving their Norwegian flags, two of the dock workers are riding their segways and waving flags.  The local restaurant has music playing so we can hear as we sail away.  Many people at the dock waving at us as we leave.  We go by one house and they are out on their porch waving the Norway Flag and have Lionel Richie music blaring and they are dancing and we are dancing and waving back to one another. 

I want to come visit Olden again!

We head off to Villians Tonight at 6:30 p.m. and then shortly thereafter head off to dinner.  Tonight we are in Lumiere’s.  Tonight we have beef kabob’s and beignets at dinner.  The beef kabobs were delicious.  The beef just melted in our mouths.  The beignets for dessert had apples deep friend in them.  Yum!

Now the sun is finally setting, so grab a picture while I get a chance.  Today was the best day weather wise since arriving June 2^nd.  The sun shined practically all day long.  First time I have seen so many kids in the pool.

After that we head off to see Hector is Magic in Fathom’s.  He does some pretty amazing magic tricks.
This is his first year on the ship.  I hope they continue to bring him back.  He does a lot of up close tricks and they put the camera right on his hands.  I don't know how he does it!  It is great.

Next it is time for bed, as we have another excursion tomorrow.  I love Olden!