We spent the first day in Alesund where there was a boat festival going on. It was fun to see the excitement and the booths. We sat and watched Funballz for a while, which is where a person climbs inside a clear, plastic ball which is then inflated and the person tries to stand on the water. It was pretty funny to see people fumbling all around to try to stand up! We also got away from the festival and just walked though the entire city (yes it was small enough to walk everywhere) and we climbed the hill so that we could overlook the area. I really liked Alesund. It's a very small city, situated on an island on the western coast of Norway. Historically, the town was completely ruined in the early 1900's by a fire so when it was all re-built, it was built in the Art Nouveau style.
The next day we took a fjord cruise through the "fjord surrounded by pointy peaks." It was a pretty ride... and we stopped in a town called Oye. Oye is a small valley town with basically a few houses and one hotel/restaurant. After a couple uncertain steps, we made it up to a mountain cabin three hours later. I absolutely loved the cabin... no running water, no electricity, friendly people. It felt good to get away from everything. The cabin was also cool due to the fact that it was owned by a national trekker's association. For me that meant that it was cheaper to stay and all I had to do was clean up after myself, and the people there were interesting to talk to and learn from.
The next morning we started up to the summit of Mount Slogen. It's a mountain that even some Norwegians won't do because it's so steep. After some slow-going, we made it to the top for an incredible view. It was totally worth it with a great view of the fjord and mountain range. Coming town was hard and tiring as it was so steep, but we made it down in good time to take the ferry back to Alesund.
The next day we explored the islands around Alesund. We stopped at a cave and checked it out. We also walked around an island and found a medieval church and graveyard. Even though it was a little chilly, we also stopped at the beach and played in the sand for a bit... our crab castle was awesome.
I'm really glad that I decided to go to Alesund and the surrounding area. It was a great trip to explore another area of Norway, and it was also a great experience to meet so many more people on their adventures, Norwegian and otherwise. This has been such an amazing experience.
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