Back in the frame

I’m looking forward to my return to work tomorrow, which comes exactly two weeks after my recent surgery. I’ve been following the consultant’s advice to listen to my body and ease myself into things gradually and have been going out for a walk on a daily basis. On Thursday I got behind the wheel of my car for the first time since the op, and headed out on a couple of errands. There were "no dramas," as the Aussies would say, and it was good to be back in the driving seat once more.

Later that afternoon, I took a walk down to the Nelson Arms, in order to meet up with a couple of friends. I hadn’t seen one of them for quite some time, as he lives overseas for part of the year, returning to the UK when the weather becomes unbearably hot in the part of the world where he resides. He is also moving away from Tonbridge, in order to buy a property on the south coast.

So with the catch-up arranged by our other friend, who lives locally, and several other friends and acquaintances of our south coast pal turning up to say their farewells and wish him well in his new abode, we ended up with quite a crowd of us in the Nelson. There was a good line-up of beers on the bar, with two offerings from Salisbury-based Hopback Brewery topping the bill. 

Hopback, of course, are best known for their Summer Lightning, a very pale coloured and heavily hopped beer, which was one of the first “Golden Ales” to grace the bar tops of the nation’s pubs. Nelson licensee, Matt, had gone one better, and rather than having Hopback’s best known beer on sale, substituted two other beers from the same brewery. These were Crop Circle – another pale beer, clean-tasting and very refreshing, whilst the other was Entire – a rich, dark stout, packed full of roast malt flavours.

Of course, I had to have a pint of each, interspersing them with a pint of Buxton Best. The latter was pleasant enough, but if I’m honest, not really in the same league as the two Hopback beers. The conversation and general banter was good, with the pub nice and busy for late afternoon-early evening. Amongst the clientele were two former customers of mine, from the days (16 years ago now), when I ran the Cask & Glass off-licence, in Tonbridge. It was encouraging to see that neither had lost their appreciation of good beer!

By this stage of the proceedings, I needed something to help soak up the beer, so after asking at the bar, and confirming that food was available from 6pm onwards, I ordered myself a “Ruby.” I’m sure I don’t need to explain the rhyming slang meaning of a “Ruby,” but there is a little twist involving the curries offered by the Nelson.

I remembered this from past meals at the pub, but for the uninitiated, the Nelson’s curries are not served with rice, but instead come in a bowl, with a large, side-helping of crisp, naan bread. I opted for the chicken curry. It might have been a Madras, as it was certainly hot enough, but more importantly, it was tasty and there was plenty of it.

As the session wore on, people slowly began to drift away. The second of the two friends whom I had originally arranged to meet up with, had to shoot over to Tunbridge Wells, or Rusthall to be precise, as the West Kent CAMRA social he had helped to organise, was taking place that evening, and his presence was required. The other friend also had to leave, to catch a train back to the flat he is currently renting on the south coast, as he waits for a completion date on his new property.

I sent son Matthew a text, as he had already kindly offered to come and pick me up. He happened to be close by, so as I hadn’t finished my beer, I thought I’d better buy one for my chauffeur. Matt went for a pint of Paulaner Helles from Munich, whilst I also squeezed in a quick half of N.I.P.A. (Northiam Imperial Pale Ale), from Rother Valley Brewery. The latter company are based at Northiam, on the Kent-Sussex border, and brew a diverse range of interesting, traditional ales, that are available throughout West Kent and East Sussex. They will be celebrating their 30^th anniversary next year, so must be doing something right.

The N.I.P.A. was certainly in fine form and was a good beer to be finishing on, especially on a hot evening. My enforced lay-off from drinking hadn’t dented my enthusiasm, and despite knocking back four excellent pints of southern England’s finest, I felt right as rain the following morning.

 

Olden is pure golden, and the scenery takes some beating too!

Just when you thought we had finished with posts about cruising, up pops another one. This one highlights the spectacular beauty of the Norwegian fjords, and it was a desire to experience some of this amazing scenery that led to Mrs PBT’s and I choosing a cruise to Norway in the first place.

It’s not until you look at a detailed map of Norway’s lengthy western coastline, that you realise just how rugged and deeply indented, the shoreline is in these parts, and the narrow inlets of the ocean, between the cliffs, are known throughout the world as fjords. They were formed at the end of the last Ice Age, when the glaciers began to retreat, allowing the sea to fill in the remaining space. There are over 1,100 fjords in Norway, and they are famous the world over for their stunning natural beauty.

The summer months, between May and September are the best times to experience the fjords, as the long days are ideal for sightseeing. This applies equally, when viewed from a boat or on one of the various excursion stops on the mainland. In addition, due to the warming influence of the Gulf Stream, the Norwegian fjords experience a mild climate, and remain virtually ice-free, all year round.  Despite their contorted and rugged appearance, the fjords are home to many small communities, some of which are quite isolated. This means that travel by boat is often the easiest way to get around.

We visited the towns of Ǻlesund and Stavanger, along with the port-city of Bergen – the second largest city in Norway, after the capital, Oslo. Most of these settlements weren’t that far inland, although the approach in and out of Bergen was nothing short of spectacular, but the place I want to describe in more detail, is the tiny cruise port of Olden, which was the third place we visited in Norway.

Situated deep within the Nordfjord, Olden is a sleepy little village that is just a 10-minute walk away from the quay where the cruise ships dock. We enjoyed a scenic, early morning voyage into Olden, noticing on the way the snow that was still present on the tops of the mountains. Despite the bright sunshine, there was a distinct chill in the air, so much so that we both thought that a fleece would be a good idea.

We stepped ashore mid-morning, well aware that apart from the spectacular scenery, there wasn’t that much to do in Olden Cruise Port. That wasn’t quite true, as a number of shore-based excursions were available – either pre-booked, or just turn up on the day. We were content though, to just have a wander around, visit one of the souvenir shops, and then grab a coffee at the small, quayside restaurant; or better still have a beer!

Despite our earlier concerns about the low temperatures, it was surprisingly warm onshore; a situation no doubt helped by Olden’s position at the head of the fjord and sheltered by the surrounding hills and mountains. We headed off along the road, in what I thought was the direction of the village, but once again having failed to procure a map, we ended up going in the wrong direction. Eventually this dawned on me, although I didn’t say so to Eileen, and instead we just retraced our footsteps back towards the quayside where our ship was moored. We then dived into the larger of the two souvenir shops, where I bought a T- shirt, plus a bottle opener for Matthew. I’m not certain what Mrs PBT’s purchased, although it was probably some type of fashion accessory, but by then, thirst has got the better of me.

We crossed the road, to the Molla Guesthouse, located in a former mill overlooking the fjord. The building is also home to the local tourist information centre, as well as acting as the booking centre for various independent activities. We had left it a little late, but I rather fancied the trip to the foot of the Briksdal Glacier. The latter is the most accessible offshoot of the giant Jostedalsbreen, the largest glacier in Europe.      

Promising myself to be better organised in future, I went and ordered our drinks from the outside stall, whilst Eileen found a seat. Coffee wasn’t a problem, but a beer was, as the keg had just run out. The lady running the bar, called inside for assistance, and a colleague came rushing out with a replacement, but as luck would have it, the first couple of pints poured, came out looking decidedly murky.

Despite not wishing to sour Anglo-Norwegian relations, I was about to ask the lady to keep pouring until the line cleared, but fortunately she’d reached the same conclusion and eventually I was presented with a reasonably clear, but by no means bright pint. Whilst this was going on, I’d asked whether the beer was a local one, and she assured me that it was, despite it being dispensed into a glass badged as Rignes Pilsner – definitely NOT a local brewery!

Whatever its origin, the beer was cool and refreshing, which was most welcome in the, by now, rather warm sunshine. The small outside beer garden was a quite a suntrap too, dispelling any thoughts of us being too cold, and we enjoyed our drinks whilst chatting to a couple of Americans, who, like us, had just got off the boat. I have the drinks’ bill somewhere, and to my mind at least, it wasn’t too dear. It certainly dispelled conceptions that Norway was ultra-expensive.

We returned to the Queen Mary 2 for lunch, given that food onboard was all-inclusive, and later that afternoon, we watched our lengthy departure from Olden, from one of the upper decks. A smaller, Fred Olsen cruise ship was anchored a short distance off shore. The QM2 had either beaten this vessel to the mooring, or pulled rank because of her size, but we watched with interest as passengers wishing to leave the smaller vessel were ferried ashore by means of a tender.

Our ship slowly manoeuvred towards more open water, and then from the comfort of the balcony outside our cabin, we were treated to some spectacular scenery, as the captain followed the convoluted route of the fjord, as it slowly made its way towards the sea. Leaving Olden, it’s easy to see how the power of glaciers has, over thousands of years, scoured and shaped the landscape, leaving behind the fjords, glacial lakes and waterfalls that are an essential part of the imagery of Norway.

For me, the flat-bottomed, steep-walled, U-shaped valleys, carved by the glaciers, were classic features, straight out of a school geography text book. I could relate these back to a school geography field trip to North Wales, where we had studied the effects of glaciation on the local landscape, and the wide, flat bottom, “hanging valleys” left behind when the ice sheets eventually retreated. Seeing this, on a much grander scale, really bought home to me the power and awesomeness of nature, and even Mrs PBT’s, who is normally one for the shops and the bright lights, could not failed to be overawed by this spectacular landscape.

Given the, at times, forbidding nature of the landscape, there was a surprising number of houses and small farms in place. Some were shoreline settlements, but the farms, often high up in the hills, reminded me of Alpine practices, where the cattle are sent out to graze the high pastures in summer, before being rounded up and returned to lower ground before the onset of winter. Again, these images were straight out of that geography textbook, proof that I did pay attention in class – at least some of the time!

So as not to miss any of this spectacular scenery, Eileen contacted room service, and we enjoyed a rather good Thai Red Curry, from the comfort of our balcony, without missing any of the views. I cracked open a couple of the cans of Pilsner Urquell, that I had brought on board with me at Southampton, and they were a very fitting accompaniment to the curry.

As we moved towards the ocean, in a mainly westerly direction, the mountains slowly became hills, and the land generally became flatter. After eventually reaching open water, the pilot who had been guiding our vessel through these twisting and winding channels, was dropped off, and the captain then turned the ship towards the south, towards Bergen, our final port of call in Norway.

We didn’t reach this thriving city, surrounded by both mountains and the sea, until the following morning, and that joy of waking up and finding oneself in a different place, is one of the real pleasures of cruising. With Norway ticked off – but only until next time, we left Bergen later that afternoon. We headed back to Hamburg, where there is one final installment of the cruise for me to tell you about, and that was the excursion made to the lovely little, medieval town of Lüneburg. So, until next time, it's Auf Wiedersehen!