Christmas Eve

Our boat arrived in Trondheim, Norway's third largest city, this morning (Dec. 24).  We had been informed by various people that Norway "shuts down" for the Christmas Holiday, but I don't think it really sunk in until we got off the boat at 10 AM on 12/24 to a virtually deserted city.  This is not a culture of "last minute shoppers" - very few stores were even open.  The Norwegians begin their Christmas holiday celebrations in November when the special Christmas restaurant menus and concerts begin.  So I guess by the time they get to the actual date they are either well prepared or just too tired out!

Marlow decorating the lounge

Our Christmas celebration on board the MS Lofoton took place on the afternoon and evening of Dec. 23.  The ship held a holiday party where many of the passengers took part in decorating one of the lounges.

Crew of MS Lofoten

Afterwards we participated in the "Captain's Dinner" on board ship which was actually the only dinner we ate in the ship's dining room.  All our previous dinner were either at restaurants when docked at a port or assembled from grocery stores visited during the day.



Once we arrived in Trondheim we walked about the historic center where our hotel is located.

And attended a Christmas Eve service at the Nidaros Cathedral a few blocks from our hotel - together with 500+ others.

The highlight of the day came at dinner time.  Earlier in the trip we had assumed that the hotel restaurant would be open for dinner on Christmas Eve.  But several days before arriving in Trondheim we learned this was not the case.  In fact many hotels in the City are closed entirely for the week.  So the fact that our hotel was even taking guests was unusual for the City.  But having an open restaurant (or bar) was out of the question.  I even asked the Trondheim tourist agency to give me a list of open restaurants for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but they came up with none.  I also expressed my surprise to the hotel management in an e-mail sent a few days before we arrived and they responded that they would try to come up with something.

Christmas Eve dinner

So when we checked in today they asked if we would like to have a "cold plate" for dinner that they would serve at a table in the dining room.  We were happily surprised!  We were served in a beautiful room in this historic hotel (located adjacent to the royal palace).  So instead of going without dinner which we had come to anticipate would be our fate for the evening, we ended up having a very nice meal of smoked salmon, potato and other salads.

Our plan for Christmas Day is to spend the afternoon at the hotel's spa which is supposed to consist of several saunas of various temperatures, a domed soaking pool that reminds me of the Ritz in Paris and other water features to pamper us.

Marlow and I send our very best wishes to all for a wonderful holiday!