Archive | M/V Dirona RSS feed for this section

The oil-rich city of Stavanger is the fourth-largest in Norway, and is a wonderful combination of working port, historic districts, modern street art, and excellent restaurants. We were excited to arrive, even if it did mark the end of our five-month Norwegian cruise. As is normally our habit, we spent our first day there on…

Lysefjord, in southwest Norway, is one of the country’s major tourist draws. Waterfalls plunge down cliffs that extend over a thousand feet above and below the water surface. The walls are so sheer in both directions that you can bring a boat within touching distance of shore without getting a depth sounder reading, and in…

We only planned to make a quick pit stop outside Haugesund for gasoline before continuing south through the main channel. But as we left the fuel dock, we made a last-minute decision to take the waterway through town and another last-minute decision to stop for the night. We ended up staying for three. That kind…

Langfossen gushes into the Akrafjorden from 2,008ft (612m) above, with a vertical drop of 400ft (122m). The waterfall was rated the best in Norway in the World Waterfall Database (and the best in the world using an earlier rating system). After a 60-mile run from Bergen to the Romsa Islands, the following day we made…

A popular outing for Bergen residents is the 8-mile (13km) hike between Mt. Floyen and Mt. Ulriken. With a funicular railway at one end and a cable car at the other, you don’t have to climb up or down to take in the sweeping city views at each summit. The cable car at Mt. Ulriken…

MVDirona.com subscribers will have noticed our richer new subscription emails, giving pictures and details for each event. What is less obvious is that you can now select how often you want to receive updates and what you want to be notified about. The bottom of the subscription mail shows the current settings: To add yourself…

Seven mountains surround Bergen and the city rises up from vibrant Vagan Harbour into the steep hills behind. We moored right downtown and spent our first day on a walking tour of Norway’s second-largest city. It’s easy to see why many consider Bergen to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Below…

Herdla, a small island north of Bergen, is full of military ruins. During World War II, the occupying German forces turned most of the island into a military base and built an air strip and torpedo battery there. Norway kept the torpedo battery in operation during the Cold War, modernizing it several times until it…

On May 11th of this year, we passed north of 61°30′ latitude and returned back south of that line recently as we approached the Bergen area. This latitude is significant because our insurance policy, Jackline, explicity excludes travel north of this without purchasing an additional rider. Prior to this, the farthest north Dirona had ever…

Briksdal Glacier is one of the few European glaciers not constantly receding—the size changes depending upon temperature and precipitation. Between 1935 and 1951, the glacier receded 800m and exposed the lake below, but from 1967 to 1997 it expanded and covered the whole lake and was the only glacier in Europe that was expanding while…