Ålesund Revisited
In 2002 we had a 45-minute stopover in Ålesund when we took the Hurtigruten from Bergen to Trondheim. We were charmed by the streets lined with Art Nouveau buildings, so on the drive to Jotunheimen we stopped in for a night and spent the next morning walking around the town. We began by going up Aksla, a big hill that overlooks the town. Just below the yellow building is the Brosundet, a canal that runs through the center of the city.
The city was leveled by fire in 1904, and in a very short time rebuilt with most of the new buildings in the then-ascendant Art Nouveau style, giving it a rather rare architectural consistency that extends even to the rooftops. They are made of cut slate rather than the tiles used in many other Norwegian cities.
Sebastian also liked the view.
Here are some boats and buildings along the canal.
This is the entrance to the Handelsbanken in Ålesund. We chose the Handelsbanken in Trondheim as our bank almost at random, and it too is in a massive stone building, with a 9-foot high oak door that opens itself mysteriously when approached, with a wonderful creak. Because of these characteristics we started referring to it as Gringott's, after the goblin bank in the Harry Potter books. This entrance, with the spooky faces in the stone arches, is even more Gringott's-like.