F
ull disclosure. I am a
massive Viking fan, and
asking me to write about a
Viking cruise is guaranteed
to make me go full Jane McDonald
and use far too many superlatives;
fabulous, amazing, fabulous,
wonderful, great, fabulous – all are
synonymous with any Viking
cruise, but unlike Jane, I'll try to
restrain myself.
at the cruise was going to be
excellent was a given, what I wasn't
expecting was the surprises.
It all began in Bergen, which it
turns out is a mighty and
important Norwegian city, has a
storied history, ancient wooden
buildings, is the home to the Viking
ocean fleet, and was once part of
the Hanseatic League. Basically a
medieval version of the EU.
After a whole day in Bergen and
being the perfect passenger – you
know the sort of thing, looking for
a classy fridge magnet, going up
and down a mountain, trying to
buy a hand-stitched Norwegian flag
for less than 500 euros
(impossible), and eating my
bodyweight in cinnamon buns,
drinks, dinner and lively chat – I
was ready for bed by about 9.30pm.
I headed to my stateroom, got into
my pyjamas and went to bed, ready
to sleep.
Sleep, what was I thinking of ? I
was in the land of the midnight
sun. It may have been almost
midnight but it was practically still
afternoon outside. I know I could
have closed the curtains but we
were passing savagely beautiful
islands whose or-like presence
would have been rude to ignore.
ese magnificent monoliths backlit
by the sun were mesmerising.
Kilometre after kilometre, despite
the simple repetition of sea and
austere islands, I couldn't tear
myself away.
Viking
SURPRISE
Fi Cotter Craig discovers more than she bargained for
on a trip to witness the midnight sun
10
VIKING
