Friday, June 27, 2014

Final Sea Day - Pastry Buffet

On the last day at sea, Ruby Princess had their pastry and chocolate buffet in the Horizon Court dining area.
The pastries were on display from 11 am until noon, and from noon onwards everyone got to enjoy their favourite cakes and pastries.


Only wish they had little signs in front of the cakes to tell you what they were.















Oooh, time to sample!


misterpiggy lives up to his namesake.


Thursday, June 26, 2014

Stavenger, Norway

The last port of call on the Norwegian Fjord cruise was Stavenger.  It is the fourth largest city in Norway and is commonly referred to as the Petroleum Capital of Norway as it is one of the largest oil exporters in the world.  It was nice to be back in sunny and warm temperatures.

The tour boats to visit the famous Lysefjord and Pulpit rock filled up quickly and misterpiggy had to settle for just wandering around town in this port.  Fortunately, the Ruby Princess docked right in town.





Tourist landmarks included the Watchtower, the Petroleum museum and Old Stavenger, all nearby to the pier.








Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Tromso Botanical Gardens

The morning in Tromso was cool and overcast, but by afternoon it had warmed up and became quite sunny.  After having visited the town and attractions, misterpiggy took the princess shuttle bus back to the pier.  Surprisingly there was a botanical garden not too far away and the admission was free.





The world's northernmost  botanical gardens contain Arctic and Alpine plants from all corners of the globe, many of them too heat-sensitive to grow in any other botanical garden.




Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Tromso, Norway

Tromso, Norway is the small city known as the gateway to the arctic.  The pier is quite far, about one hours walk to the center of town, but local bus service and princess shuttle can be used to reached town within 15 minutes.

Tromso's various cathedrals are the main attractions in town.




A very modern looking library. 



Interesting statues of animals could be found throughout town.



The other attractions such as Mt Fjellheisen and the Arctic cathedral can be reached in about half an hour by walking along the Tromso bridge.


By the time misterpiggy reached the cable car to Mt. Fjellheisen, the lineups were already too long.  It would have been about a two hour wait to go up.

That didn't stop some people from going up by foot, although it looked quite steep and muddy.


The Arctic cathedral.



Some random shots around Tromso



Next and last port of call:  Stavenger Norway.