Day 08 - Sat - 10/04/2025 - Alta - Day 2

 After a nice night's rest we awoke to sunny skies in Alta.  We decided that today we would go visit the rock carvings (petroglyphs) which are outside of the town center.  So we ate our breakfast and gathered up our things including warm clothing and went down for a tender ticket.  We were immediately sent down to the tender platform, but once we reached deck 5 we were held for about 10 minutes for the tender to be secured.  The tender ride is quite short and at the dock we turned right and walked toward the grocery store where the bus stop was located.  Our plan was to take the local bus #40 which goes directly to the Alta Museum and rock carvings.  We waited awhile when a tour bus pulled up and the driver said "Get on.  My tour was cancelled and I'm headed back to the bus terminal".  So 15 or so of us escaped the wind and got a free ride 2.1 miles up the hill into the center of town.  It was certainly a kind gesture on the driver's part.

Once we reached the terminal area, we had a short wait for the bus to the museum.  Because we were at the terminal, there were more options to reach the museum, so we used a #41 bus.  All of the ticketing for the bus is done online using an app, Snelandia Mobile, and the tickets were $3.50US each for seniors and they were valid for 90 minutes.  So one purchases the tickets just before boarding.  It was about a 20 minute ride out to the museum along a very pretty coastline.  There's a nice sheltered bus stop at the museum which would come in handy on our return trip to town.  

The Alta Museum is a World Heritage Rock Art Centre and the entry fee was $10US each ($100kr).  The clerk recommended doing the rock carvings first and then have the warmth of the museum to come back to.  So we decided to do that.  We took the short path which was 1.2k or just over 1/2 mile in length.  The pathway is largely on a a wooden walkway and there are marked stops where one can using the guidebook read about the specific carving.  These carvings are between 2,000 and 7,000 years old and were once located at sea level.  Forces of nature have pushed the rocks up and they are now several hundred feet above the waterline.  Some of the carvings are marked with red paint, but there is an ongoing project to restore all of the carvings to their original unmarked state.  We found them very interesting, and it was quite windy and the fall leaves were definitely turning color.  Also, the views across the water to the adjoining islands were very pretty.

Back at the museum it was really good to get out of the wind.  The museum has many displays about the rock carvings, Sami (indigenous people), slate mining, fishing, and general life in this area.  Downstairs there are more photographs and another of the bomb shelters.  There was a placard that indicated that the bomb shelter was built because of the Cold War construction period, but that is no longer a building code requirement.  However, all constructed bomb shelters need to be maintained in operating condiditon.  

After completing our tour of the museum, we did some shopping (I purchased a wool hat) and enjoyed a light lunch in the cafe and watched the AIDABELLA cruise ship sail into the harbor.  We then went out to tthe bus stop and waited almost an hour for the next bus.  We totally filled that bus with standing room only.  Several visitors decided to walk back to town which is about a 50 minute walk.

Upon reaching the terminal, we decided to walk back to the port from there as there is a nice paved path and it's mostly down hill.  As we walked the path to the port, many of the AIDABELLA passengers were walking towards us.  The predominant language that we heard was German.  At the port we decided to visit the grocery store which turned out to really be a general merchandise store with a few snack type items scattered it.  It was organized like an IKEA and Angela found some yarn and I stocked up on 3 kinds of black licorice. We also purchased some chocolate balls which are our night treat to ourselves since the cruise lines have eliminated the nightly chocolate.  Now we just bring our own.  

We caught a tender back to the ship and we back onboard before 4pm.  I used the time to work on my blog and then we went to dinner in the Lido.  We sat with a lady from Bermuda and she was pretty excited that we would be visiting her island in November and gave us lots of tips.

Our evening entertainment was a magician from the UK, Magical Bones.  He was quite good with some very difficult magic tricks.  Afterwards we went to round two of the auditions for Voice of the Ocean.  Angela tried out but didn't make the cut.  Then an announcement came from the bridge over the PA system that the Northern Lights were out and a mass scramble occurred to see them.  We went out and I found a few, but it wasn't as good as last Wednesday.  It was also quite windy and chilly.  So we came back in and retired to our stateroom.

Tomorrow is a sea day before our next port in the Lofeton Islands.