This is a 4 part photo series on the last day while I was in Ålesund. Since it was raining, and not much tours were available, I decided that I could go to visit the Atlanterhavspaken, or aquarium. After a nice breakfast and an early checkout. I proceeded to the tourist information kiosk to get more information. I left my big backpack at the hotel luggage storeroom, a decision i came to regret because I realized later that I had also left my SD card in my laptop, which then means I had to use my very limited camera’s internal memory to take pictures. Fortunately, all is not lost because I still have my phone camera with me :p..
I took the first 30 mins trying to figure out where to take a bus from. To make matters more exciting, it was cold and rainy. The tour agent at the tourist info kiosk wasn’t very informative with directions, although she did gave me a map and a bus schedule. I should have asked her about the place and not assume that it’s nearby. Things are really different when you come from a small country to a big one as Norway. Paradigm shift required.
I decided to make my morning even more interesting by walking 3km to the aquarium. Since the bus only comes every 30 mins, and although I finally found the bus route, I decided that when in Norway, try to do as the Norwegians do. Just walk. It seems that is their preferred way of transport. The walk itself would be nice if it weren’t raining and although I would have much preferred an umbrella, I was thankful for my hood. When I’m like 1/2 way there, the bus came to a nearby bus stop and I decided to take it for part of the way. The bus does not go to the aquarium during off peak season but stops at a stop still requiring about 15-20 min walk.
If there are non-Singaporeans reading this post, yes, we Singaporeans do not walk often, because our country is probably too small to have some serious walking. That said, walking for 1-2 hours is something that takes quite a bit to get used to. If this is done in Singapore, the only place that this would probably happen is inside a shopping centre :).
After I got off the bus, I decided to tailgate a family, for the place seems quite bare of entertainment and stuff. Hence, in my mind then, any sane family with a kid to be in this spot at this time will only have one thing in mind. The aquarium. And sure enough they were heading there.
It was really a nice picturesque walk though from the pictures though the weather was a bit dreary.
Finally, reached the Atlanterhavspaken. And I immediately headed to the cafe for kaffe (yeah pun intended) kaffe means coffee in Norwegian. And also some nice blueberry iskrem. Yeah, I’m becoming like them, having ice cream in cold weather. Heh…
I got to see quite a bit of things, from a dive in a big enclosure of cod, to penguins doing the backstroke, swimming and enjoying themselves.
The view around the Atlanterhavspaken was just simply gorgeous.
