Santo and I are both excited or this day, when we will take the “troll cars” up to the Briksdal Glacier. Our 3 ½ hour tour begins at 11:30, so we decide to load up on breakfast at the King’s Court since we will be missing lunch. At a little past 11 am, we head outside to find our tour bus.

         We are welcomed warmly by our tour guide, Dario, a French guide doing Norwegian tours in English! He’s a handsome young man with a thick curly mane of long brown hair with a beard to match. He has just the right personality for this job: friendly and warm, funny, but not over the top, just the right amount of talking rather than narrating every second.

         The drive to the glacier is beyond magnificent. We drive past the greenish-blue waters of Olden Lake, then begin to climb up the mountain, one hairpin turn at a time. The rocks rise steeply on either side of us, and tall, narrow waterfalls cascade down from great heights, one after the other. There is a decent cloud cover, so some of the mountain tops are lost in the clouds, but we hold out hope that the glacier will be visible.

On the bus, I am seated in the back row next to a man wearing a neck brace. I do a double-take, then turn, as much as my brace will let me, to him and say, “Hey, we’re twins.” We share our neck stories (his was from a bad fall), then continue talking. Paul and his wife Elaine are from Virginia and are seasoned cruisers. They are in the middle of a 26-day cruise that started in New York. They are both easy to talk to and we connect with them more than anyone we have met so far.

The tour bus takes us to the “troll cars”: open carts that seat seven people plus the driver. At the stop, there are a restaurant, gift shop, and toilets. We have five minutes to use the bathroom, then get on the troll cars. Elaine and I stick together and make it back to the troll cars in time. As we are loaded into the cars, the drivers fold green plastic “blankes” over our laps. Is this because of possible rain, we wonder.

         The troll cars take us even further up the mountain, making hairpin turns that are too tight for a tour bus. Up here, the waterfalls are bigger and the blue and white water gushes at great speed down the mountain over tumbled rocks. At one point, we drive right through a large waterfall; it cascades down on our left, then rushes under the road and comes out on our right. Now we know why we have the green blankets!

         At the end of the troll cars the 750 meter trail to the base of the glacier begins. From the stop, you can see the glacier at the peak of the mountain: a triangle of blue ice filling a wide crevasse then trailing off, eventually emerging as a flowing waterfall. This is global warming in action. But it is stunning. There is a bridge over rushing water that gives a particularly good view of the glacier. Santo and I take some pictures, then I’m ready to make the climb. Santo prefers to stay at this spot, so I leave him at the bridge and head out. I am very nervous about making this steep climb, but feel determined.

         The first 250 meters of the climb are achingly steep. My thighs strain with each step, and after so many steps, my chest tightens and I have to pull off to the side to rest. Luckily, I am not the only one. As I climb, I keep wondering when the path will level out, as it supposed to do. It seems like that point will never come, but I keep saying to myself, “You’ve come this far, keep going!” Tall pines along with white birches line the trail, with patches of wild flowers here and there. Everywhere you hear rushing water. Along the way, through the trees, I catch glimpses of the blue glacier.

         Finally I reach the point where the trail levels out, with a sign pointing to the last 500 meters. This part is easy and the glacier is visible most of the way, getting bigger and more looming with each step. I eventually emerge at a real clearing with a small blue lake in front of me. Above me, the glacier dominates. It is living history, a remnant of events thousands of years ago. You cannot help but feel awed.

         The trip back down is of course faster and easier. I run into Santo, Paul, and Elaine part way down. Santo had decided to venture a little way up the trail. The four of us continue down to the restaurant where our treat of cake and coffee awaits us. There is a room dedicated to our tour group, and we choose from a large selection of cakes, taking small pieces of several selections. Both the desserts and coffee are better than anything we have had on the Queen Mary. We enjoy spending more time with Paul and Elaine, sharing more about our families and lives.

         The bus takes us back down the mountain, past all the wonderful scenery we saw on the way up. It does not get old. There is a photo stop at Olden Lake, then we are back at the pier. As we are getting off, I ask Elaine if they would like to join us for a drink before dinner the next day. We set on a time of 4:30 in the Commodore Club. We find out that they are in a Princess Grill room, the most elite accommodations on the ship.

         Consulting with Emmy, we found out that the hours between leaving Olden at about 6 pm and sunset at about 9 pm would be the best scenery of the trip. From 6 to 7:30 we will be sailing past Innvikfjorden and from 7:30 to 9 past Nordfjord. Emmy recommends getting situated on the deck in deck chairs before we leave Olden and planning to stay for three hours. In other words, bring your fleeces and rain jackets!

         Since our usual dinner time is 6 pm, we decide to forego dinner in Brittania. We’ll grab our spots about 5:30, then take turns eating at King’s Court. As we head out to the promenade deck, the deck chairs are beginning to fill and we snag two with cushions. As we pull out of Olden the wind picks up and it feels quickly cooler so I add my fleece under my jacket. At 6, Santo goes in for dinner while I hold our seats. People are starting to line up at the railing as well, and I’m afraid someone will position themselves right in front of my chair. Santo comes out to tell me he has found a table by the window inside and prefers to watch from there rather than coming back out to the deck. I really want to stay outside. Yet we both want to be together. Arghhh.

         It’s 6:30 and so far, we still have not seen any spectacular scenery. I keep holding out hope. As I do, I’m getting colder and colder. Almost everyone has left the deck except me—there are plenty of chairs available. Maybe Emmy got it wrong?

         By 7 pm, I’m wondering what to do. Santo comes out and I decide to go inside and check on the spot he has secured. It actually is a great spot and a view pretty much as good as that from the deck. So I decide to move inside with him. I get my first dinner while Santo fills up his plate for seconds. Still no dramatic scenery, though we are sailing by some lovely hills diving steeply into the water. Clouds still hide the tops of everything.

         After dinner, we decide to take a walk around the promenade deck and see what there is to see all around the ship. The wind is fierce, but we know we can duck inside any time. The views all around are about the same, and now it is getting dark. Beginning to lose hope of seeing anything more dramatic than what we have already seen. We decide to head inside and get a good cup of coffee at Sir Samuel and snag a seat by the window. Here and there, we see breaks of pasture land and farms, some small clusters of wooden houses.

         We are still basking in the wonders of the day and our trip to the glacier. That is what we came to Norway for and we feel satisfied, even though what we’re seeing now doesn’t quite live up to expectations. The weather, which can’t be helped, probably has a lot to do with that. As we sit in Sir Samuel, I begin to feel out of place, seeing everyone around us dressed more elegantly in their “smart attire.” If we are going to go anywhere else, I feel we need to change. It’s past sunset, so we head to the room and spiff ourselves up a bit. Next stop, the Chart Room, where a jazz trio is playing.

         The Chart Room is lovely at night, like a night club from the forties. We love seeing people dressed up and enjoying it, just as we do. I feel so relaxed and happy. After this day, and in this moment, how could we be disappointed?