We arrived in Alesund (Ålesund) late in the afternoon after motoring from Runde. The plan was to stay there for the 17 Maj celebrations.

Alesund is an interesting city. It was rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1904. It destroyed almost the whole city centre, built mostly of wood. The town was rebuilt in the then contemporary Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) and it was nice to stroll the streets.

We went on a mission, to find Norwegian cash. Some marinas can only be paid in cash, so we needed a pile of banknotes in smaller values. We had been told by our bank I Norway that some shops would give out cash. As we have not been home since Evas account was opened, she only has her card electronically in her iPhone. That should not be a problem, said the bank but, the shop’s refused it.

We had also been told that the bank offices could not give out cash. The Alesund office could and, as a bonus, we were able to by shellfish from the boats in the harbour on our way back to the boat. We were also able to provision and by a fender step in the well stocked chandler. The later has since been a great relief for our old knees as the pontoons are quite low.

However, the marina, if you can call it that, was very noisy from traffic and totally without facilities. This led us to rethink and promptly leave having sorted all the immediate needs that required a larger town. We motored, again, to a smaller place.