Our penultimate stop in Norway was in Ålesund, a port town at the entrance to the Geirangerfjord. Most of the town is built in an art nouveau style following a fire that destroyed much of the town in 1904. Today we had booked the 'Tour from Alesund to Trollstigen: The Land of the Trolls' through Viator. We met our bus right outside the port entrance. We were worried we had gotten on the wrong bus due to a large group of Asian tourists who came onboard. We think our guide was concerned too as she asked if we were all from Celebrity Apex and said the tour would be conducted in English. The group did not object but we did not recall seeing any of them onboard the ship so they must have kept to themselves onboard.

We drove through the small town of Sjoholt and made a quick stop at Kokarsteinen Goat Cafe along the Storfjord near Stordal to use the restrooms and take in the mountain scenery. One thing about being on a bus with Asian tourists is they insist on every one of them getting a selfie in front of the scenic views, particularly the view from the patio of the cafe. We finally had to ask them to step aside so others could get a chance to get a photo as well since we had a short time at the stop.

Our bus passed through the former village of Stordal, known for its furniture manufacture and Valldal, a strawberry-growing region. We stopped just past Liabygda for some views across the fjord of the mountains on the other side.

Our next stop was at Gudbrandsjuvet, a narrow but deep ravine over the Valldøla River. A viewing platform has been built over the gorge that weaves back and forth across it, providing great views of the rushing river and the rocks below. After crossing the platform, we boarded the bus again and began our drive to Trollstigen.

The bus climbed the Trollstigen Plateau and dropped us off at the viewpoint. There were two large viewing platforms that offered views of the mountain landscape and waterfalls including one 200 meters above Stigfossen waterfall with views of the Trollstig winding road we would soon be traversing. We spent a good bit of our time admiring the landscape but saved a few minutes at the end to have some sandwiches at the cafe along with a local soda that had been recommended by a guide earlier in the week. We liked the first flavor we bought so much that we bought two more bottles of other flavors to enjoy on the ride down.

One of the advantages of having to cancel our 2025 trip and delay it to 2026 was that the hairpin portion of the Troll road was closed in 2025 due to rock slides and we would only have been able to get as far as the viewing platform. The road with its 11 hairpin bends reopened in April of this year so we were able to have the experience of a large bus trying to navigate the tight corners, oncoming camper vans, and even another bus going up. We saw cyclists trying to tackle the steep 850m inclined road and we were glad we were not driving it ourselves.

Our final stop was at a rest area near Trollveggen, the Troll Wall, Europe's tallest vertical overhanging rock face, at 1000 meters. Locals tell tales of trolls frozen by sunlight, their colossal forms now part of the landscape. There was a small exhibit about the Rauma railway, a scenic route through Trollveggen that was unfortunately not an option for us given our time in port.

The dinner menu in Blu was not overly appealing, nor was the main dining menu, so J. R. booked another night in Fine Cut Steakhouse where Janie enjoyed the lamb chops and J. R. had a nice filet. The description of the evening show told us nothing: 'Gareth Oliver is one of the most in demand entertainers in the world. Authentic, engaging, thought-provoking, moving and unbelievably funny'. We decided to pass in favor of listening to live music at the Martini Bar.

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