When we got out of the Geirangerfjord, we were back again to the westcoast of Norway, ready to visit more of the islands there and enjoying the view on the North Sea.
We sailed into the charming city of Ålesund which is know for it’s many Art Nouveau houses. Nowadays it is a very elegant city with all the colorful houses and great architecture, but in the year 1904 a widespread fire destroyed 80% of the city. Since Art Nouveau and Jugendstil were the upcoming fresh new buildingstyles in the beginning of the 20th century, almost all houses were rebuild in that style. And well preserved after that. So the scale of Art Nouveau architecture in one city is like nowhere else in the world.
Since the draught of our boat is only 1.25 meters (most people are surprised to hear that, because of the weight of the catamaran and it’s size!), we could sail very far into the guestharbor of Ålesund in the middle of the city center, and were able to park the boat in front of some of the colorful Art Nouveau houses! We walked and cycled through the city and climbed the 418 steps on Mount Aksla, on the top of this mountain you have a beautiful view on the city which actually consists of 3 little islands connected with bridges.
After Ålesund, we sailed to the city of Molde which is famous for 2 things: their footballclub and the many roses. In this season the roses are not widely spread, but the footballclub was very active when we arrived in the harbor! The stadium is next to the harbor and there was actually a match starting, so we heard people singing and cheering for their club!
Molde is a situated in the middle of the Romsdalsfjord, which gives the city a beautiful panorama with a long chain of mountainpeaks. Before we arrived in the harbor, you could see in the mountainpeaks. And we could also see Toon and his wife Monique sailing towards us! We met Toon (originally from Eindhoven) in the south of Norway in Sandejord 2 months ago, he has been living with his family in Norway for 15 years now. He gave us a lot of good tips concerning Norway, sailing here and nice places to visit. So we kept in touch in those 2 months and we knew he lived in Molde, so we invited him and his family on our boat for a BBQ. And to meet each other, they sailed their boat towards us and with his drone, Toon took some nice pictures of our catamaran and the scenery of the Romsdalsfjord! We also were invited to their house, had a great Norwegian dinner with them and saw the beautiful sunset close to their house. We are so thankful to have gotten to know these lovely people, we really had a great time in Molde with them!
