The Atlantic Coast
We began our journey to Jotunheimen with a drive along a piece of Norway's Atlantic coast. With all the fjords and islands, this involves winding roads, ferries, bridges, and the occasional undersea tunnel. For part of the drive we went along Atlanterhavsveien, a scenic road that hops between islands and skerries along the outer coast between Kristiansund and Molde. This curved bridge was the best part.
Seen from the other direction it seems to lean out over the water, bowed by the near-constant wind.
Eventually we arrived in Ålesund, (the subject of the next page). Here Molly and Zoe are communing with the fish at Atlanterhavsparken, a marine aquarium in Ålesund. We learned that the echinoderms (relatives of starfish and sea urchins) called sea cucumbers in English, are called sjøpølse (sea sausages) in Norwegian. Part of the reason this is so funny is that the Norwegians must eat more hot dogs than any other people on the planet. It figures they would call this sea creature a hot dog.
Cod, the unassuming fish that has been a sturdy leg of Norway's economy at least since the time of the Vikings.