Our cruise to the Norwegian fjords begins...

Today we will start a 2-week cruise through the Norwegian fjords.  But first we have to travel from Bath to Southampton, where we will board the Sapphire Princess.

 We walk 2 blocks to the train station and have a leisurely 90 minute ride to Southampton.

From there it is a quick taxi ride to the ship and we are on board and ready to sail away .

After a day at sea, we arrive at our first port, Stavanger, the fourth largest city in Norway.  Our plan for the day is to hike to Pulpit Rock, one of Norway's most photographed and visited sites.

Photo from internet

Pulpit Rock was formed over 10,000 years ago when glacial activity sheared off part of the mountain.  Our hike begins with a ferry ride through the Lysefjord to Jorpeland pier...

Then we board a bus to ride to the Chalet, where we begin the hike.  It will be a 5.25 mile roundtrip hike with a 2,000 ft. elevation gain.

We walk along a rock path...

...through marshlands and over boardwalks...

...and we climb up rock steps, many, many rock steps...

...past small lakes...

...across granite rock

...until finally 1.5 hours later we see our first glimpse of Pulpit Rock.

WE MADE IT!
And then it's picture time standing on the 25 x 25 meter plateau that juts out 2000 feet above the fjord...

Terry was hoping I didn't lean back too much farther for this shot!

Terry scampered up the mountain just a little bit higher for a great photo.

Then he came back down and got real close to the edge of the rock.

 Show off!!

It was then time to hike back down the mountain...

...take the bus back to the ferry...

...and the ferry back to the ship.   This was a wonderful day!

It was time to be back on the ship so we had no time to explore the town of Stavanger. We soon were sailing to our next port, Skjolden.

Stavanger on June 26:  sunrise at 4:25 am; sunset at 10:53 pm

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