Explore More UK Autumn 2021

VIKING.COM 13
WE FEASTED ON TREATS, SUCH AS HERRING WITH RYE
BREAD AND HEART-SHAPED WAFFLES
the Bayeux Tapestry. Why? Because William the
Conqueror and his army were Norsemen, Vikings
who settled in Normandy, of course.
Viking Sea has two alternative restaurants in addition
to the main dining room, Manfredi’s Italian and The
Chef’s Table which offers tasting menus that change
every three days. We made sure to try the Scandinavian
menu, in keeping with our surroundings. Unusually
for ocean ships, there is no supplement for The Chef’s
Table or Manfredi’s. Complimentary wine and beer
come with lunch and dinner, Wi-Fi is free, and one
excursion is included in every port (along with ones
you can book at extra charge) – just like on Viking’s
large fleet of longships that sail the world’s rivers.
After a relaxing evening listening to a violin recital
of music by Norwegian composer Ole Bull in The
Star Theatre, and a dreamless night in our restfully
decorated balcony cabin, we awoke to wisps of mist
rising from the deep water of Eidfjord. Soon the sun
was shining on waterfalls spilling down the steep, pineclad
mountains into the fjord. Our included tour took
us by coach up the valley to Hardangervidda Nature
Centre where goats grazed on the roof of the gift shop!
The next morning we arrived in our third and final
Norwegian port, Stavanger, the oil-rich city with a
winning combination of quaint old and gleaming
new architecture. Our included walking tour took us
straight to the Petroleum Museum, a steel structure
on the water resembling an oil platform. It was a
revelation to discover how attractive drill bits can be!
In the Old Town, the world’s only Canning Museum
housed in a 19th-century factory could not have
been more different. Here we had the opportunity to
practice the tricky art of packing sprats and to buy
‘vintage 2010’ sardines, a steal at £14 a tin.
That evening we skipped an evening of fine dining
to join six other guests at Sauna Night in The Spa.
Under the guidance of Norwegian therapist Maria,
we brushed ourselves vigorously with bristles until
our skin tingled, ran in and out of the sauna, snow
grotto and steam room, hot to cold to hot, then
thwacked each other with leafy birch twigs until
the pore-closing, heart-stopping finale. One by one
we stepped forward to pull the chain to up-end a
wooden bucket above our heads to be drenched in
cold water. I clutched my face in a passable imitation
of the tortured soul in Munch’s iconic painting, The
Scream! This was a truly immersive Scandinavian
experience that I highly recommend.
My favourite spot on Viking Sea for a leisurely
breakfast was Mamsen’s. It set us up perfectly to potter
around Copenhagen on our own including a pleasant
walk along the waterfront, past the crowds paying
homage to the Little Mermaid. Back on board we
spent the afternoon browsing the magnificent books
in the Explorers’ Lounge with a break for a lavish
afternoon tea in the Wintergarden. The included tour
from the port of WarnemÜnde is a day trip to Berlin.
By chartering a train, some 750 of Viking Sea’s 930
passengers took the three-and-a-half-hour rail journey
each way. Armed with maps provided by Viking and
fortified by the local speciality of currywurst (sausages
and chips in spicy sauce), we had four hours to scoot
round Checkpoint Charlie, remnants of the Berlin
Wall, the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate and linger
at the deeply moving Holocaust Memorial. Likewise,
the days in Tallinn, Helsinki, and the overnights in St.
Petersburg and Stockholm were perfect for revisiting
favourite spots in interesting and very different cities.
All great reasons to take a Viking Homelands cruise on
delightful Scandi-chic Viking ships.
A 15-day 2023 Viking Homelands cruise from Stockholm to Bergen, starts from £5,040pp viking.com