The Last Leg Home

It is Saturday evening and I am going to finish off the blog of our Trans Atlantic adventure.
We arrived in Chicago just a little late, due to the train breaking down somewhere in Indiana. The train was fun, but the rocking of the cars on the route from New York to Chicago got a little old. The food on the train was much better than we thought it would be. We spent a few hours in the Metro lounge in Chicago and then back on the Southwest Chief for Kansas City. We arrived right on time and were met by our good friends Bob and Kathy, who had a cart ready for us to help with the luggage. One of the things we experienced on the trip was crossing the Mississippi river at sunset. The view was breathtaking. The people we met and dealt with at Amtrax were courteous, helpful and spoke English. We were treated better than by the airlines.
We are home and to summarize the trip; it was a great adventure, we had great time, met very nice people and made some outstanding friends. To celebrate getting home we went out for a Mexican food tonight.
We hope you have enjoyed following our trip.
Until the next adventure.
Don and Judi

Thursday on our way to Chicago / Kansas City

This morning we woke up in New York City. We went down and had breakfast in the hotel and while there met a couple from the Isle of Man. They are on a train tour of the US. They will finally end up in San Francisco in two weeks.
We took a cab to Penn Station this morning and it was a better ride than coming in from Brooklyn. The nicest Red Cap met us at the station and took these tourist under his wing and led us through the back way into the station and helped us get our luggage checked in and then took us to the Metro lounge to pick up our tickets and get settled. Everyone that we have come in contact with, in connection with Amtrax, have been friendly and helpful. This includes the people on the phones, which speak English, to the man checking our bags in.
We boarded train 49, the North Shore Limited, around 3:30 and settled into our bedroom. It is OK, but not what we remember from VIA rail. The scenery along the Hudson River is beautiful and the trees are starting to turn. The old river towns along the river are quaint.
Supper call for us was at 7:00 PM. I had what they called Flat Iron steak, brisket. It was good with mash potatoes and apple Pie ala mode for dessert. After supper it was back to the room. We were so tired that we fell asleep sitting up.
Now the rest of the story; 2 years ago we flew from Brussels to Atlanta in coach on Delta Airlines. We had 3 kids that fussed and cried the whole way. Therefore when we flew to London this time we decided to upgrade, with miles, to business class to get away from the kids. As I told you earlier, two screaming, crying little girls one row behind us. Now we get on the train and we have 3 children and an idiot behind us who are screaming at each other instead of using a normal voice. We put up with it for about 5 hours and then ‘the teacher” had a word with them and it has been peaceful ever since.

Wednesday in New York

The Going Away Party, The Crowd at Party, One of the Long Lines.

These are the pictures that I did not get on yesterday.

We arrived in New York this morning. We awoke just after passing under Verrazano’s bridge. The Lady in the harbor looked beautiful all lit up. It was about 5:00 AM when she came into sight. The sun did not come up until around 7:15 AM. We had our last breakfast on the balcony for this cruise this morning. After breakfast we packed up what was left, and asked ourselves, why did we bring so much. Because of the suite we were able to go to one of the nice lounges to wait for our turn off the boat. They had juice, coffee and sweet rolls for us. Getting off the ship went very well, there is always something that comes up, but all in all it was good. We were through customs and on the street minutes after they called our group.

The limo showed up about 30 minutes after we left the ship and we started the “journey from hell”. He told us that he was from the Dominican Republic and had been driving the limo for 6 months and that he really like New York City. We weaved, we started, we stopped, we tried to see how fast we could go in about 100 feet and then check and see if the brakes or horn were going to work. Then we tried to kill Donald by turning left in front of oncoming speeding traffic, and finally he tried to make a U-turn in front of our hotel on 57th street. Thank God he gave up on that and went around the block.
We had to use the Brooklyn tunnel because of the traffic jams caused by our great leader being in New York, along with all the other great leaders.
The hotel is typical New York hotel. We drove past the Twin Tower’s site, the fashion institute, Madison Square Garden and Penn station, which we will be leaving from tomorrow.
After getting settled we walked up to Central Park and to the Tavern on the Green. Judi bought me lunch, the bill was over $60.00, what the heck it was an adventure. We sat on a park bench for awhile and watched people, dogs, horses and bicycles parade by.
For people who like to watch other people, this is the place to be. It also helps if you do not mind if anyone speaks English or not.
We both have been to New York many times and we are tired from this long adventure, so we passed on doing much in this fine city.

Tuesday on our way to New York

It is Tuesday and we are at sea on our way to New York. The morning started out early around 4:00 AM when Judi woke me from a sound sleep to look at the Northern Lights; I am glad that she did. They were across the sky with the big dipper showing through. Later we had a lot of fun at breakfast. A couple of days ago I mentioned our California friend and our Minneapolis friend. Well we were all together again this morning and the fun and laughter was great, also the food.
We have passed about 40 miles off the coast of Boston and we can see it. Not because of the clear vision, but because of the yellow haze running out toward us. If you have not seen it is awful. The area all around us is clear, no fog, and that area of the sea has a yellow haze above it. Just think that is what those people are breathing.
Today is a sad day, as it is pack up the bags day and hope you are not over weight. We are going home with one more bag than we came with. We did not purchase much, but found out that Amtax will not accept any bags weighing more than 50 pounds. The good thing is that they will let us each bring 3 bags.
We met our good friends from LA this afternoon to say good bye. We hope we can cruise together again someday. It looks like we are coming home to cool weather and rain; they are headed to hot temperatures. I think I will take the rain, thank you.
The weather the last two days has been great. Clear to partly cloudy skies and warm temperatures. Warm enough that we had lunch on our deck this afternoon. The weather in New York is suppose to be good tomorrow and Thuday.

Monday in Halifax

Old Brewery and Pub, Massdam close aboard, Private Schooner passing lighthouse, Statue of Cunard

Halifax was different than most of our ports. The sun was shining and there were no clouds in the sky. We arrived right on schedule, but we took it slow getting started. We walked off the boat and just walked the harbor. It is set up very well for tourist. The walk allows you to see the harbor and a variety of boat and ships. We found a very nice pub, which was part of a local brewery that had been in business since the 1800s. We went up to the deck on top and had lunch. It was nice setting in the sun having lunch and a local beer.
Halifax is the largest city in Canada’s Atlantic Provinces. It was once a military and naval base used to defend the British colonies. Edward Cornwallis founded a small town here in 1749. The city is named after the Second Earl of Halifax. St. Paul’s Church, built in 1750, is the oldest Protestant church in Canada.
As we pulled out of Halifax we saw a magnificent sunset. A Canadian Destroyer followed us out, guess they wanted to make sure the Americans left. While we were docked this morning the Holland American Massdam berthed behind us. Very interesting watching from our balcony as the Captain maneuvered in behind us. They got really close.
A day at sea tomorrow and then New York City.

Sunday on our way to Halifax

Today was another sea day. We are on our way to Halifax, N.S., Canada. The Captain says that we are close to the area where the Titanic went down. Oh Boy, that is good news. The weather is cloudy, foggy and chilly, but not as chilly as it has been for the past few days.
Since all we have seen are clouds and water, there is not much to tell. However not ever being at a loss for words, here is some trivia.
Most bodies of water have names that are obvious. The majority of them are named for who discovered them, physical characteristics or the name of a place close by. There are a few that are not as easy to figure out.
Atlantic Ocean; It gets its name from either the lost kingdom of Atlantis or, more probably, from the Atlas Mountains in Northwest Africa, which the ancients believed overlooked the entire ocean.
Mediterranean; Deriving from the Latin medius, middle, and terra, earth, Mediterranean means “the sea In the middle of the earth”, which the ancients believed it to be.
Pacific Ocean; The Pacific was named by the Portuguese Navigator, Fernando de Magalhaes, better known as Magellan, on his voyage to the New World In 1520. During his time in the Atlantic he had to deal with extremes of weather, not to mention hunger and mutiny. Upon entering the new ocean he found this great body of water to be placid for many days, so he named it El Pacifico, the peaceful one. Unknown to him the Pacific Ocean covers 1/3 of the earth and is capable of terrible storms and waves unequaled in any other body of water.
There was your lesson for the day. We dock in Halifax at 8:00 AM tomorrow. They say it is going to be a sunny day. I hope we have not forgotten what the sun looks like.

Saturday at Sea on our way to St.John's / Halifax

Some more Icebergs.

You can enlarge picture by clicking on it.
Today we are at sea on our way to St. John’s, Newfoundland. We went back up to Sabatini’s and had breakfast. There were 3 couples having breakfast together. 2 from the Midwest and 1 from California. The conversation about health care was quite interesting. You can guess who was for what.
After breakfast the Captain notified us that St. John’s was not going to be a port of call for us. They have a narrow entrance into the harbor and a new low is causing problems there with the wind and waves. A sister ship did not make it in today and we are not going in tomorrow. They have scheduled us for Halifax instead. That is Ok with us as we have not been there either.
We met some members of the Cruise Critic group up in the Sky walkers lounge. The Cruise Director and the Second Officer were there. Now I know why they don’t always come to these meetings. Some of the questions and statements made by people attending are just dumb. We spent quite a bit of time trying to set up some kind of tour in Halifax for the “rowdy group”. So far not much luck, but hope they will return my e-mail tomorrow.
It has been a sea day and not much to tell you. The weather is slightly warmer but foggy. The Captain informed us that we will be passing close to where the Titanic hit an iceberg in fog. Probably did not need to hear that.
We ar on our way to Halifax, trying to stay away from the weather.
Well as Bugs use to say “That all folks”.

Friday in Nanortalik ??

The Rowdies, A little too Close, As far as we go in the Quanoc Fiord, Beautiful Fiord, Entering the Fiord, Leaving Nanortalik.

After a quiet night sailing from Nuuk we awoke as we approached Nanortalik, Greenland. We went up to Sabatini’s for breakfast and to watch our final approach into the harbor. The Captain wanted to drop anchor, but an iceberg refused to move from that spot. The Captain then decided since the iceberg would not cooperate, we would just use the thruster to maintain position and launch the tenders into town. The wind and swells did not want to cooperate either, so we ended up leaving. Another port missed. That is the bad news.
The good news is the Captain decided to cruise the Quanoc Fiord. This turned out to be better than going into Nanortalik. There were many beautiful icebergs in the fiord and the mountains and rugged cliffs were breathtaking. We saw one, lonely seal sitting on one of the icebergs. There were so many icebergs, that we would see one which ever direction we turned. They came in all sizes and shapes and some were white, some were white with that beautiful blue ice imbedded in them. The Captain had some difficulty navigating out of the Nanortalik harbor and maneuvering in the Quanoc fiord. As we were leaving the fiord the Captain announced that this was the first time a cruise ship, especially one our size, had ever sailed the fiord. They should make it part of a cruise as the scenery was breath taking.

Inside the fiord is an abandoned graphite mine that was closed after they invented the ball point pen. There is a working gold mind a good distance up the fiord. This is where we turned around as the captain said the waters were not charted past the mine. A supply ship calls once a month to pick up ore and to deliver supplies.
As we were leaving the fiord, we invited some of our friends that we have run around with for the whole cruise to our cabin to have pizza and beer. We spent a lot of the time out on the deck enjoying the view. They were here for about 2 hours and we had a great time. Judi and I will be sad to say good bye to them.
We just took it easy the rest of the day and were still full when dinner time rolled around and passed on dinner tonight.
The weather is cloudy and cold, about 36 degrees with a wind of 15 knots. The sea has just some slight swells right now but they have to be very careful as this area on the way to St. John’s has a lot of icebergs.

Thursday on our way to Nanortalik

Icebergs; The Speed Boat, The Pair, and The Mama and Calf.

Today is a sea day and not much to report. We had a great view of the Auora Borealis last night. We had left a call with the front desk to call if one was cited and they did about 11:30 PM. The Aurora borealis was interesting to see up close and it was quite an impressive light show. We rocked a little all day and it has been cloudy and cold, temperature in the mid to high 30’s.
I cussed the internet most of the day trying to stay on line long enough to send the blog. Yesterday evening, as you know, I finally got to stay on long enough to send it.
We sited some icebergs this morning, medium sized ones. We have not seen any of the really big ones so far. I take that back, we saw a big one off in the distance, I don’t know how tall it was but it was impressive.
We have a strong wind over the deck and the ship is hard to maneuver at slow speeds with this type of wind. So we came down south out of Nuuk, and then to keep the speed up for smooth maneuvering, we turned around and headed back north for awhile. When the time was right to keep our speed up and arrive in Nanortalik on time we headed back south.
At dinner tonight our head waiter brought out pesto pasta. It was good, but not as good as the first three nights. After dinner we came back to the cabin to prepare for our day in Nanortalik, Greenland.

Small Glaser and Tender, Nuuk Ski Runs, Nuuk from the Ship, The Lego Apartments.

We arrived in Nuuk, Greenland this morning, knowing that we would be getting off the ship. It was cloudy, 36 degrees and forecast for light rain or snow. Yes we got off. We tendered into the dock. Only one tender could dock at a time. With 3100 people, guess what that was like. Because of the suite, we had get off anytime tickets and we gave 4 to good friends of ours and we all got off quickly. Of course this meant that we had to wait on people that did not plan ahead, to start our tour.
There is not a whole lot to see in Nuuk, but our guide was so entertaining that the 2 hours passed very quickly. We drove around down town first as she explained the different buildings, some new and some old. There were some apartments that were built in the 70’s that were just ugly, and then some of the new ones were quite attractive. The buildings are all made of poured concrete with wood on the outside as a covering. They like to paint their buildings bright colors so the wood works well. In the old days the color of the building meant something. Yellow was a hospital, doctor, nurse or someone that worked in the medical field. All school houses were painted red and so were the teachers and others homes that worked for the schools. The police, lawyers, judges etc., were paint green. The government buildings and homes were painted blue. I don’t know what the color of the homes of the working bees were painted.
Nuuk has a 9 hole golf course. The grass was imported from Sweden, as there is no natural grass in Greenland. I think this would be a good place for me to play. Just think of the roll you would get on the rock. They have also a ski lift and some runs. Again on solid rock, watch out if you fall. They ski from before Christmas until late May or early June. They also do a lot of cross country skiing and have several trails, some lighted and others you wear a miner’s lamp. They have a very nice indoor swimming facility that we stopped at. They have an airport, and for the pilots out there, you want to stay on the center line here. One side of the narrow runway drops off “\”. They fly Dash 7s in and out of here. Nuuk boast the largest mailbox in the world. It is used for delivering Santa mail.
Nuuk is Greenland’s capital and largest city, at about 16,000 people. Our guide was asked about unemployment. She said in the summer it runs about 200 and in the winter about 1,000. She said that there are always about 200 people that do not want to work. Sound familiar? The formal history of Greenland generally dates from 1728, when a Lutheran missionary Hans Egede, came from Denmark to join12 Greenlandic families in this place, which was then called Godthab. He built a trading post, a Lutheran mission, and opened the doors to slow, but steady integration between Inuit and European people.

The popular native foods are musk ox, reindeer, salmon, shrimp, dried fish and mattack (whale skin with blubber). We ate on the boat. Everything is expensive as it has to be imported from somewhere. They export fish, cold water shrimp, and seal skins.
The Inuit people can converse with the Inuit in Alaska, Canada, but cannot read writings from Canada as they use figures instead of letters for their letters. The Inuit in Russia have lost their native language so cannot communicate with any of the other countries tribes.
The Inuit had what they called a fun adult game. It was blow out the candle. You blew it out and then grabbed your partner for the night. Our guide’s grandfather was a mailman. He traveled to the villages south of Nuuk by kayak, carrying the mail to them. It took him a week to go down and week to come back home. When he stopped at a village he was invited to somebody’s home to spend the night. She said her father had lots of brothers and sisters in the south. She explained that they understood about the gene pool and this was their way of not interbreeding, and spreading the gene pool around.
We saw several medium sized icebergs floating down the fiord today. None as big as the one we saw last night, but interesting.
Only 15 % of Greenland is NOT frozen the year around. It is the world’s largest island. The center of the island is permanently covered with a blanket of ice that is two miles thick in places. If this frozen mass was to melt, the world’s oceans would rise almost 20 feet, and most coastal cities would look like Venice. There are about 50,000 people in Greenland. Most live in closely knit villages and towns, where warfare is unknown, and mutual help is taken for granted. Cities are a new concept for them.
We are on our way to Nanortalik, Greenland, with the hope of seeing the Aurora Borealis tonight and more icebergs tomorrow. Tomorrow is a sea day.

Tuesday on our way to Nuuk, Greenland

Iceberg on way to Nuuk, Greenland

Today has been a lazy day. We had breakfast in Sabatini’s again and then walked the ship to get some exercise. Around 1:00 PM I attended another Rotary meeting and Judi went to the Spa. Lots and lots of people trying to figure out what they were going to do all day. Too many sea days with rainy or cold weather.
Dinner tonight was again good as the head waiter made some more pasta and a tomato and fresh mozzarella cheese salad. The pasta he made for our table was spaghetti with lots of garlic, butter, red pepper and some chopped anchovies. It was delicious. I think he has adopted us and enjoys bringing us a special dish every night.
While we were at dinner, the Captain announced that an iceberg, “he called it a Titanic size iceberg”, was a few miles off our port side. I think they had to compensate for the change in center of gravity as everyone ran to the port rails to take a look. We took some pictures of it from our balcony after we passed it. Nice size iceberg, glad we saw it from a distance.
We are headed north into the Davis Strait. We are about 12 hours out of Nuuk. The weather has turned cold (36 degrees) and still getting light rain. We hope we miss the other icebergs in the area.

Monday on our way to Greenland

A couple of additional pictures of Gullfoss falls in Iceland.
We thought it was quite breathtaking.

As the Captain said it would be, it was a rough ride. During the night we would slide from the head of the bed toward the foot and then back again. I slept through most of it, but Judi experienced it while she was awake. However about 1:00 a loud crash and the sound of breaking glass brought me straight up in bed. The Captain later explained that the ship rolled 4.5 degrees to Starboard and that was when all the glassed and a bottled of wine left the bar counter and encountered the tile floor with some force. Broken glass, broken wine bottle, and a big bang was the results. The cabin smelled of white wine all day. We continued to bounce all day and that and the internet problems caused some mistakes that you read.
We had breakfast and, after we ate, we moved to the center of the ship and there was less bouncing there. I went up to the Wheelhouse lounge and worked on my pictures. We both had massages scheduled for shortly after noon. The ship had settled down a little so we went ahead with them. The Spa is on the top deck and in the bow of the ship. We both had great massages. The masseurs have surprised me as to how accomplished they are.
We then met up with friends at the International café and had a cup of Cappuccino and listened to war stories.
Tonight was formal night and so we got duded up and headed for the dining room. Last night I mentioned to the head waiter that I wished that Judi could have some pasta. Well the head waiter in charge of our section made a wonderful pasta dish just for our table. When he came over we raved about how good it was and he is making one of my choosing tonight. It makes our table feel special. After dinner we listened to a comedian for awhile, then some nice string music and then back to the cabin. We just read for the rest of the evening and then to bed with the sea rocking pretty good. We are now southeast of Greenland and it is feeling colder outside. The Captain said that we now had to be on the alert for ice-bergs.

Sunday in Reykjavik, Iceland

Please excuse the pictures. The computer, the internet and I are talking to each other tonight.

Gullfoss Waterfall, Iceland's Old Faithful, North American Plate side of the Riff, The Mid Atlantic Riff

This morning we woke up in Reykjavik, Iceland. We knew that we would be getting off the ship as the weather was cloudy, there was rain, the temperature was in the low 50s and it was windy.
We joined our tour group of 14 other cruisers, boarded our van and headed for the Mid Atlantic Riff. The Riff is quite impressive and it is not a small crack in the earth, but about 10 kilometers wide. It developed when magna chambers under the crust collapsed and the ground above settled about 150 to 200 feet. This created sheer cliffs and a lake formed in some of the rift area. The Mid Atlantic Ridge is the location of where the Eurasia continent plate is moving east and the North American continent plate is moving west. This is causing Iceland to grow about 2 centimeters a year. As our guide said, “someday Iceland will be the biggest island”.
After taking in the Riff we moved on to the geyser fields. The term geyser comes from Iceland. The Nordic word Geyser, means gushing water, and that is the name of the oldest geyser in the park. The Europeans thought that this was probably the only one in the world, so they took this name back to their countries. When more were discovered they called them geysers and the common name for but the original is just geyser. In Iceland you are liable to find a geyser anywhere. You look up in the hills or in the valleys and you will see steam rising somewhere. The island is very volcanic and they average an eruption every 4 years. They are overdue as the last volcanic eruption was 7 years ago.
From here we moved on to Gullfoss, which is a beautiful waterfall. Here we stopped for lunch and then walked down to the falls. It is not as large as Niagara Fall’s, but remind you of it. This week is fall in Iceland and the plants (weeds) are turning like our trees. If the sun had been out it would have been very pretty with their yellow and brown colors. The saying in Iceland is “if you get lost in the forest here, just stand up”. They are reintroducing trees, but it is a slow process, so brush makes up most of the wild vegetation.
They are growing bananas, strawberries, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables here now. They run the thermal heat through pipes under their greenhouses and then grow whatever they want. There is a lady in the northern part of Iceland that claims to grow bananas further north than anyone else. She is about 40 miles from the Arctic Circle.
We saw many Icelandic horses in the fields. They have not allowed horses to be imported since before 1000 AD. There was a plague in Europe and the Icelandic people did not want it to affect their stock and this law is the oldest continuous law on the books. They now keep in place, as they sell their stock to horse collectors for considerable sums of money.
We visited a thermal power station, which is quite unique. They take the hot water from wells and pass it through condensers. The steam rises into one pipe and the hot water settles into another. The steam is used to turn turbines to generate electricity and the water is piped to the city of Reykjavik for the use by the citizens. They do not own water heaters here as it is furnished by the power station. The loss of temperature for the 30 mile run through the pipes is only 2 degrees.
They have a lot of potential for energy production, from thermals and water. They are producing hydrogen for use in running automobiles. They already have a hydrogen filling station in Reykjavik, and hope to export it to the world in the near future for fuel for our cars. The new process makes hydrogen that is less vulnerable to fire than gasoline.
The economy is in chaos here. The black market and bartering is in full swing. The bankers took full advantage of the people and escaped with billions of dollars, while the islanders took it in the -----. The bankers, although guilty of sacking the country have new banking jobs with other countries. The banks there thought if they were smart enough to get away with it in Iceland, think what they could do in our country. Keep an eye on your banks.
We are now headed for Greenland, two sea days. The captain say to be prepared for a rough ride. Hope he is exaggerating.

Saturday in Akureyri

We arrived in Akureyri right on schedule to clear weather and temperatures in the 50s. That was the good news, the bad news was that the winds were blowing force 8 (35 to 45 kts) plus gusts. The dock at Akureyri is 150 feet long and the ship is over 300 feet long. The dock is rated for a pull of 25 tons and ship is a pull of 40 tons. Too make matters worse there are no tugs in the harbor. To put an end to this long story; we saw Akureyri and northern Iceland from the harbor and that was as close as we got. We departed the harbor around 10:00 and are on our way to Reykjavik, Iceland.
The wind is still blowing with gust up to 65 knots. Judi and I were at least enjoying the sun on the balcony and planed to eat lunch out there. We even were going to have the steward take our picture eating lunch on the balcony. The wind switched and the boat turned and the temperature on the balcony dropped at least 20 degrees. So much for lunch outside.
The island of Iceland around Akureyri was absolutly beautiful. There are still some small glaciers we could see. The mountains had some snow and the lower field was green. They had put up and wrapped their hay and it was lying in the fields.
Akureyri is the capital of north Iceland. The costal climate here is relatively mild, a result of the Gulf Stream and its warm ocean currents. The summer temperatures average around 77 degrees and the winter temperatures average around 32 degrees. Akureyri is about 37 miles south of the Arctic Circle. For two to three months in the summer there is continuous daylight.
The story for today is about cold. The old saying that it is cold enough to freeze the ball off a brass monkey. OK ladies it is not about the monkey’s genitalia. The British Men of War need iron cannon balls to shoot at the other ships. They also needed something to hold the cannon balls when they were not using them. So to solve this problem they made a device to hold the cannon balls out of brass and called it a monkey. (Do not know why the name) They would stack the cannon balls on this brass monkey to keep them from rolling all over the place. The coefficient of cooling for iron and brass are different. The brass shrinks when it very cold faster than the iron. So when it got very cold the cannon balls would roll off the monkey and hence the term: it is cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey:.
We are on our way to Reykjavik, rocking and rolling. The Captain warned us that another strong low is on its way toward us and we may not make any of the remaining ports in Iceland or Greenland. We will just have to wait and see.

Friday at Sea Sept 11

Off the North Coast of Iceland

Today we woke up to cloudy skies, cool temperatures and a rock and rolling boat. It was not as bad as it has been and so off to breakfast in Sabatini’s. After breakfast we just came back to the cabin as it is a sea day. I read and worked on my photos and also did some reading. Around 11:00 Judi decided it was time for her to go to work. (Head for the slots) I found her around 1:00PM and we had some lunch at the International café. While having lunch a Swiss couple sat down with us and we had a nice if short conversation with them.

After lunch we noticed that the sea was calming somewhat. The wind is still blowing around 30 MPH and the temperature is 54 degrees F. Around 3:00 I headed upstairs to a Rotary meeting and Judi went back to work. The Rotary meeting was a lot of fun as there were Rotarians from Britain, Canada and the US there.

We decide on supper in the cabin tonight. Our tablemates are hard to talk to and we get tired of always leading the conversation. While waiting for dinner to be delivered, we saw the coast of Iceland on our port side.

Thought I would explain starboard and port. These terms derive from the days before ships were fitted with rudders as a means of steering. In those days the ship was steered by means of a long, large bladed oar known as the ‘steer board’. As most sailors were right handed they would stand on the right hand side of the vessel, when facing forward, to steer the ship, and therefore this side became known as steerboard side, this was corrupted over the years to become the starboard side. Due to the location of the steering oar on the right hand side of the vessel, to avoid damage to the steering oar, ships would always come alongside a dock on its left side. The left side of the ship would be facing the port dock, therefore the port side. So looking forward; the right side is the starboard side and the left side is the port side.

Probably more than you wanted to know, but hey, it is a sea day and not much going on.

Thursday in the Faroe Islands

Don & Judi in the Faroes, Fish drying on the cloths line, Home with sod roof from

1860, Small harbor with boats and rail to bring load to top.
While we were at breakfast this morning we sailed into Torshavn, Denmark (Faroe Islands). The Faroe Islands are under the control of Denmark. It was not raining when we got there, which is a change for us.
We met other people down in the Galleria to go on a tour of the island. We had to tender to the dock today. Everything went fairly smoothly and the water was also smooth. We gathered on the dock and located our bus and boarded to start our day. We had a late start due to having to get around some nasty weather. We were about 3 hours late. Our guide was a nice lady that spoke fairly good English. At least better than my Dutch. We left Torshavn and headed out into the country. At the very beginning let me say that the island was a big surprise. It is a fascinating island, green, steep mountains and lots of water. Water not only surrounding the island, but waterfalls almost everywhere you look. There are lots of sheep, some cattle and a few horses. They still use sheep dogs to round up the sheep. We saw one running like the wind to reach his master. The main source of income is probably still fishing. Back in the old days it was solely the source of income. Today there are a lot of sheep farms with 5 different types of sheep. We found out there are 3 different wools on one sheep. Soft undercoat, stiffer midcoat and very stiff outer coat used for carpet and such. The wool from the Faroes’ is full of lanolin, which makes it waterproof. After about 4 years the sheep are slaughtered and the meat sold or used by the farmer. Farming is limited, as few crops will ripen in the cool summer temperatures. Potatoes, introduced in the 1800s, are the most prevalent crop. Carrots and turnips are also grown. They can also grow some hay. They dry the hay in open sacks on the fences and then bail it and wrap the bales in plastic. They make use of the sod to use as a roofing material. I do not know how the mow it.
The Faroe Islands are characterized by mild winters and cool summers. The islands are cloudy, wet and windy throughout the year. Daily sunshine in the summer months averages 4 hours. The average temperature ranges from37 degrees F. in the winter to 52 degrees F. in the summer.
We visited a Lutheran church in a small village. They have a ship model in every one of their churches. The picture in the front of the church was of Christ walking on water. The boat in the background is like one they used on the islands to fish from. The hills in the background looks like the mountains around the island. While we were there we passed a house where they were drying fish on clothes line.
The Faroe Islands are made up of 18 separate islands, 17 of them are inhabited. One island has 2 families and another one has only one family on it. Many of them are connected by bridges or tunnels. The Faroes cover about 540 square miles, about 8 times the size of Washington DC. The population is around .48,500 people. The languages spoken here are Faroese (derived from Old Norse and Danish).
One of the interesting things we saw were stones piled in a vertical formation. In the past these stone piles were used to guide a person from one settlement to another. They were spaced so that you could see the next pile from the one you were at. If you could not see it, you were supposed to stay at that pile until the weather cleared. If it was cold you unstacked and restacked the stones to stay warm.
There are few trees on the island and those have been transplanted. The common saying is that the dirt on the island is only a spade blade deep.
The bus drove many miles on very narrow one lane mountains roads, with lots of switchbacks, to show us the beautiful scenery of mountains, waterfalls, small hamlets and the ocean.
We have a sea day tomorrow on our way to Iceland. The Captain reports that it will probably be rough and to take care moving about the ship.

Wednesday at Sea

Tanker in the North Sea, Oil Rig in the North Sea and Judi in the North Sea

This morning we departed Bergen. I woke up early and thought the Captain made a mistake; it is not rough at all. I looked outside and realized we were still protected by the islands leading into Bergen. When we hit the North Sea things changed quickly. The wind was blowing up to 50 miles an hour and the seas were 15 to 20 foot swells. Parts of the ship were closed to passengers and the swimming pools were drained.
We stayed in the cabin for awhile and Judi had breakfast there. I went up to the restaurant and had breakfast. I was seated with 2 other couples one from Ohio and one from New Hampshire. They wondered where I was from because of my accent. Guess I am just a “good ole cow town boy”.
The captain said that the sea would become calmer as we moved further west. He was somewhat correct, in that it did calm down a little in the afternoon. We were also running at about ½ speed to make it easier to move about the boat.
In the afternoon we went down to the galleria and had some latte and hot chocolate and then Judi said the slots were calling her. I went up to the Wheelhouse lounge to read, I was also there waiting for a Rotary meeting. Judi came up to see what was going on and she explained how the slots were really talking to her today. It seems she just caresses them and they open their little mouths and outcomes the money. Let’s just say she hit three machines really well.
The Rotary meeting was very interesting. There were 12 of us from all over; England, Wales, Canada (both sides of the country) and some of us from the US.
This morning we passed an off shore oil rig. They are very large and we give them plenty of clearance. The Captain told us that each of the 4 legs has an elevator in it and that it takes 9 minutes to reach the bottom of the shaft. He said he had no idea why they went down there. I don’t know why anyone would want to go down there either.
We finally met our other table mates at dinner tonight; they are Vancouver, BC. We did not draw as good table mates as in the past. They are nice, but not overly outgoing and conversation has to be forced at times. After dinner we walked around the ship and came back to the cabin to do a little reading.
The Captain says that we should arrive in the Faroe Islands mid morning tomorrow. Sea is smoother tonight, but still rocking and rolling.

Tuesday in Bergen

Downtown Bergen, Old warehouses at the dock, Small village and church in fiord

We woke up in Bergen, Norway today and it is building are but no rain at the moment. The ride over was a little bumpy but not too bad. Judi decided to have breakfast in the room and I went up to Sabatini’s’. After a quick breakfast I departed for another fiord tour.
I had to catch a shuttle into Bergen proper. The city is so much more interesting than Stavanger. The streets are clean and the building are very nice. After being dropped off at the city center, I proceeded to the fish market. You can tell when you are approaching it. There I found the White Lady tour boat. After buying my ticket I boarded the boat and hooked up with friends from the ship.
The tour lasted 4 hours and was different from the one in Stavanger. This one did not have the spectacular vertical cliffs, but showed farms and homes of the people living in outlying areas. It was very interesting and the small hamlets were quite quaint. There was very little industry showing, but we did learn that some of the villages were textile producers, some provided crushed rock and then some were fishing and farming communities. We saw some fish farms, which the guide said the fish were exported to the European continent.
Returning to the city we encountered rain and strong winds. The walk back to city center to catch the bus was interesting. I could not keep the umbrella into the wind, so had it turn inside out several times, which meant that I got a little wet.
Bergen was founded in 1070 by King Olav III Kyrre. In the Middle Ages there were five monasteries and over 20 churches in this small community. It was a major fishing and timber port for centuries. Everywhere in Byggen quarter, the old harbor docks, two and three story wooden buildings retain the red and ocher colors of the old warehouses and shops. These old warehouses contained offices, workshops and sleeping quarters. Even in the dead of winter there was no heating or cooking done here because of the danger of fire. The nearby Schotstrene, which served as a collective residence, had a large kitchen where food was prepared for a communal dining room.
Once on board Iand back in the cabin the rain and wind really started to come down and blow. The rain was blowing almost horizontal. While sitting down and relaxing a very loud alarm went off. Fortunately it was a small fire set off by a welder in the engine room. The Captain said that he sacked the welder. We doubt it as the Captain has a sense of humor. It did get our attention.
We got ready for dinner and went down to the dining room. We met our table mates again; they thought we did not like them since we had not been back since the first night. We still have not met the third couple at our table, although the other couple has.
After supper the Captain announced that we would not be leaving Bergen tonight as the winds were 65 knots out in the North Sea and the swells were 15 to 20 feet. We agreed with his decision even though it means that we will be passing up the Shetland Islands and heading for the Faroe Islands. To celebrate our staying in port we decided to go down and have some Gelato and chocolate chip cookies. It was very good. Then it was back to the cabin and hopefully a good night’s sleep. The Captain says that we should be leaving around 3:00 AM.

Monday in Stavanger

Entrance to Lysefjord Waterfall in Fiord Docks in Stavanger

Today started out very well, with an interesting approach into the harbor at Stavanger, Norway. The entrance was very narrow, and we passed close between the shore and a small island, to get into the harbor. The city is quite beautiful with a mixture of old and new buildings. The houses on the hills are all painted white, but the older ones in town are painted different bright colors. The old warehouses are being turned into expensive condos. We had breakfast at Sabatini’s and then met friends to go into town. We purchased our tickets for the noon boat ride into the fiords and then walked around town to do a little shopping. Before we got on the boat we discovered that Norway is a very expensive place to make a purchase. A friend bought a large Coke at Burger King; yes they have on here along with 7-11, for $10.00 US. While waiting for the boat to arrive for the tour the weather then turned on us and it started to rain. By the time we got on the boat we were soaked.
The boat trip was interesting despite the weather. The fiords were striking. We saws sheer granite cliffs that went straight into the water without a slope although most of the walls of the fiords were sheer there were grassy hillsides also where they had houses and farms, but the acreage was small. At one spot there were 3 goats living on a small grassy cliff side in the fiord, how they got there and what they live on is a mystery, but they seem very healthy. After we returned to the boat the rain stopped and the sun came out.
Norway is slightly bigger than New Mexico with a population of 4,767,000, give or take a goat or two. The capital is Oslo and the government is a constitutional Monarchy. A Bishop from Winchester, England decided to build a Cathedral here and that was force behind the building of the city. Fishing and canning were the prime sources of income in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. In 1900 there were over 50 sardine canneries here. Ship building was also a source of livelihood. Now it is North Sea oil that pays the bills. Fish farming is also a source of work here. We saw a couple of fish farms on our fiord tour.
The weather in Stavanger is affected by the warmth of the Gulf Stream, which provides warmer winters, than the rest of Norway, and lengthy wet spells. The average rainfall is 46 inches a year. The temperature range is 32 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
After we returned to our cabin we both took hot showers and then set out on the deck to soak up a little of the sun. We had pizza in our cabin tonight instead of going to the dining room.
The boat is on its way to Bergen, Norway and it is rocking at the moment. If the weather improves we will try to do the fiords again in Bergen.

Sunday at Sea Sept. 5

White Cliffs of Dover, Steward making bed, Sitting area of our cabin.

Today we are at sea on our way to Stavanger. The weather is cloudy, warm and no rain. Judi was sleeping in and I went up to Sabatini’s restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast returning to the room, I worked on my pictures and Judi read. We called room service and had lunch out on the deck. It was a nice warm afternoon and we spent quite a bit of time out there, napping and reading.
It was such a laid back day that we decided to skip the formal night and have room service again for dinner.
As you can see this was a lazy day for us.