Babette's Cafe on MS Finnmarken

This is on deck 7, and a great alternative to the observation lounge. With cake!

More here: http://hookedonhurtigruten.blogspot.no/2013/11/what-is-your-favourite-ship.html

What is your favourite ship?

A passenger asked me that when he saw me in a Trollfjord vest. He preferred MS Trollfjord because the promenade deck there was roofed - and for a serious photographer, that is an important consideration.

Both Trollfjord and Midnatsol have a central atrium, which gives a lovely impression of spaciousness. And I seem to remember big windows in the saunas and gyms?

And Trollfjord has art by Espolin Johnsen, who knows all about the million shades of dark:

https://www.google.no/search?q=Trollfjord+espolin&client=opera&hs=fXl&channel=suggest&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=k3GXUtjyMKfnywOz6IK4CQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1115&bih=516

I'll be posting wonky pictures of these ships and of Polarlys (does it, too have an atrium? I can't remember) when I find them - all were beautiful, each in its own way,  and all of  them could have been a favourite ship except for one thing: I write a lot on board, and MS Finnmarken is by far the best writing ship.

Finnmarken has more public areas than any of the other ships I have been on. And I spend a lot of time in Babette's Cafe - it's usually peaceful, has huge windows on either side, the internet connection is good, and it has cake!

And it's easy to rush out on deck if you see something that you want to photograph.





I'm stopping here and going to my cabin while the going is good: we have arrived at Stamsund from Svolvær 45 minutes behind schedule, and I want to be horizontal before we start crossing Vestfjorden.


So now that I've outed myself as a Finnmarken fan - how about you? What is your favourite ship, and why?

Meeting the internet baker on Finnmarken

This is how it started:

Finnmarken is my favorite ship because it has one thing none of the others have: Babette's Cafe. The perfect place for an introvert with a passion for landscapes and a need for peaceful writing time.










Babette's also has cake. Lots and lots and lots of lovely and delicious sweet stuff.



And so, when I found Nettbakeren on Facebook, I followed him immediately - on their shift, he and his team are the creators of these goodies, and of the tempting cakes and sweets at the lunch buffet.

Here is a link to Nettbakerens Norwegian Facebook page, featuring him, his trusty sidekick and me:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nettbakeren/147822691979593?hc_location=timeline

I got involved because I wrote a couple of days ago that it was confusing to see Nettbakeren on board ship - in my mind he lived on Facebook. And he replied that he was going to have a surprise ready for me at lunchtime ... which he did: maybe the best toffee I have ever tasted and some elegant chocolate swirls.

When I left the restaurant with a goofy grin, someone asked if it was my birthday. No, it was even better: just a completely ordinary weekday with a dash of magic.