Reise til Norge - Day 5 - Olden

I got up early to watch our cruise in the Nord Fjord. It is a much gentler place than the Sognefjord with greener and more sloping sides. Our arrival in Olden was sedate and involved manoeuvring around Ibero’s Grand Mistral which would be tendering. Olden is pretty but small and was under the predictable layer of mountain hugging cloud. We had a leisurely breakfast and went ashore but soon after that it started raining heavily which did not encourage exploration. We went to the Oceana’s internet cafe as much for power as connection. We had been warned that there would probably be little or none in the fjords. That provided another excuse for the absence of the already elusive internet manager. The condition of the ship and overall level of service are not what we expect – I had been warned – and I doubt we would use this lower end of the market again. It is not at all a bad thing to have limited access to the internet and I am enjoying some sort of detox because I spend too much time online at home. Having said that, I am going to have a massive Flickr backlog and that is also due, in part, to the need to browse meticulously to research my notes.
With Jack Reacher safely in Wisconsin, I have moved on to the highly skilled Michael Dobbs’ ‘The Reluctant Hero’. It is, to use a cliché, a page turner. That kept me occupied until we could go out again. It was a very pleasant walk to the few shops of Olden but it did start raining again. The air was palpably clearer than any we are used to and a small part of ones soul was drawn towards the tranquillity of the area. I think though that its attractions would soon pall for the mildly hyperactive. We went back to the ship at lunchtime and secured a rare place in Cafe Jardin. I think the Marco Pierre White connection is, strictly speaking, for dinner only (evening meal, David) and he probably should be careful what he puts his name to as it is there all day for people to see. I immediately homed in on a salad of chick peas, feta and medhool dates which visibly contained no dates. Normally a man of great patience and legendary tolerance, I hate incorrect menu descriptions (and misused culinary terms). I gently drew attention to the date deficiency and the remedial action was amusing to behold. The maitre d’ had laughably suggested that they might be ‘very finely chopped’. My retort was to request an electron microscope; ‘finely chopped’....?; they were invisible because they weren’t there! We chose very different main dishes. Greg’s Coq au Vin; we always have high expectations of Coq. My cheese and pickle baguette was another matter with the pickle so little in evidence it might have been vapour. Perhaps they did not wish to offend the sophisticated palate; perhaps they had not noticed that there are none beyond our cabin. The patisserie chef has a lot to learn and the first thing is to much reduce his/her use of gelatine.

It is regrettable not to say inexplicable that ship security is now, cosmetically at least, similar to that at airports. The problem is that ship security staff (not just on Oceana) make airport security staff look like Mastermind candidates. They have no real idea what they are looking for or why and I am not surprised. Boarding a ship is not at all like boarding an aeroplane. The potential outcomes of so-called security lapses are entirely different. We returned to the internet cafe for the desk space and I got my photographs and blog draft up to date. Indian food in the buffet was reasonably good. The evening show ‘Simply The Best’ was very energetic but requires more practice and, as we reached the open sea on an amazingly beautiful evening, the internet was back on.