Alesund was a delight of a city- both historic and beautiful. After the 1904 fire that burned most of the city, architects were brought in to design a new city in the new, “in” style, Art Nouveau or Jugendstil. You still see many of these buildings around downtown. One highlight is the Jugendstilsenteret, a museum of Art Nouveau located in one of the buildings built after the fire. Our guide told us that the guiding principle of Alesund was fish and you could see the influence of fish everywhere.

We stayed in the Brosundet hotel, which had one of the comfiest and warmest hotel lobbies. A large fireplace warmed the lobby, creating an atmosphere conducive to sitting, reading, visiting and enjoying a coffee or drink.

The restaurant in the hotel and the sandwich shop were excellent. However, the other two restaurants, Sjobua and Apotekergata, were awful, unless you love, and I mean love, salt. My husband, who actually likes salt, even had to send a steak back because it was too salty. At the second restaurant, when I request no salt, a man came to our table and said that some people like salt, some don’t, but he does.

Next post: back to Oslo and home