Bad weather could not have prevented 29 students from attending Ålesund city tour organized by Erasmus Student Network Molde (ESN) on Saturday, as they assembled at Molde Terminal despite heavy showers.

By PAVLA UJMIAKOVA and MONICA AKECH SYSTAD

 At exactly 11.15 am the bus was ready to set off while the seemingly excited students hoped for better weather in Ålesund, which was not the case. The majority of them – clad in raincoats and weather inappropriate shoes – ended up soaked in water and had no choice but to continue walking and follow the scheduled program.

 “I left my room wearing grey socks and by evening they had turned pink and wet,” stated Marja Karpinnen, a sports management master student.

 Amazing houses built in an art nouveau style after the whole town burned to the ground and old historic photographs in walking tunnels reminded everyone how the town had completely transformed. As soon as the group tour ended and individuals were free to walk independently, many camped inside restaurants, shopping malls and indoor facilities just to escape the cold breeze and rainfall while the rest took advantage of the day meeting old friends and asking various people what they could do around the city. In the beautiful Italian food store, the young staff suggested staying overnight and participating in the theater festival.

 “Had the weather been lovely, this trip would have been much better but there is nothing we can do to change it,” said Veronika Brauner, ESN Molde vice president and local representative.”

 Others, like Wilson Garcia of Colombia who is studying for a masters deegre in logistics, enjoyed the somber weather saying that it reminded him of his home town which has a similar climate.

 The climax of the trip came about in the evening when the students had to sail to Molde by “Kong Harald”. No sooner had everyone got on board than one mentioned the movie «Titanic» and that sent some cold chills, but the sailing was smooth. The ship was expected to arrive in Molde at 9.45 pm, enabling students to catch the 10 pm bus heading to Kvam where majorty live. but by 10 pm the ship was still moving.

 To add salt to the injury the group got lost inside the ship misleading other passengers by following the wrong exist sign. By the time the crew caught up with everyone, the only solution was to walk in the rainy night to Kvam, or wait for an hour and a half for the last night bus. Most opted to walk home, while making the most of each other’s presence.