Where East Turns West: Double Dip Thursday (Alesund, Norway)

Today I did a double dip in Alesund, Norway. A double dip meaning that I ran twice in one day. This double dose of running, however, did not begin until we completed our crew drill. Once the drill was over I grabbed some food and headed out into the city of Alesund. Alesund is unique in that it is essentially a small island surrounded by snow-capped mountains and a series of other small islands. Unfortunately the big mountains weren't really within striking distance today. Not to worry though, there were still some smaller mountains/hills and a bunch of trails. In fact, I started my first run by ascending the 418 steps that lead to a lookout high above the city. From there I ran all over the forest on a series of trails. After exploring the trails I returned to the ship to take care of some printing stuff.

Once things were under control in the print shop I went back out for my second run. This time I went in the opposite direction. Once again I found a very nice trail. This trail hugged the base of a decently sized mountain. At one point the trail was sandwiched between the ocean and the base of the mountain. This made for a very scenic run. After approximately 30 minutes of running I turned around and returned to the ship.

Once again I am including some pictures from the day's adventures. The last two pictures were taken after we left Alesund. Can you guess the time of day that the pictures were taken? Finally, this concludes my first journey to Norway. Fortunately we will be back several times this summer! But, before we return to Norway we must travel to a few more places. The next stop on the list is ICELAND! We are scheduled to arrive in Akureyri, Iceland on June 22nd.