Geiranger, Norway

This is the very lovely town of Geiranger. People often ask why aren't you in more pictures? Well, to appease my blogger friends I had a good friend take our picture as we headed to shore. This was a tender port. Tiny places like this can not dock a big cruise ship so the ship anchors and drops orange tender boats into the water below. We go to the theater and get a number and as our number is called we go to the boat and it takes us to shore. I am guessing this holds about 80 people. See the orange tender boat going to shore? If you click on it, you will see me at the side waving Hello! :) I know, I do look younger.

If you hold up both hands. Go ahead I will wait...... That's about how many people live in this town all year long. 300 live here in the summer months. Guess how many tourists came to visit today? 4 ships! ..... 3,000 people! It is a very popular place to visit. The reason is 9 miles away, a beautiful fjord, Geiranger Fjord. Geiranger Fjord is best known as "The Diva of all Norwegian fjords".

To go up the fjord you take a bus.

Can you see me sitting way up front? Look real close.

Ha! This wasn't my bus. BUT this is what it looks like here in the winter when they shovel the snow, if they can. The one road out of town is closed once the snows start to pile up and it becomes too dangerous to travel outdoors. That I am guessing why so few people live here year round. There are 3 hotels in town. One stays open all year long.

I don't know why ......



I know, I too was impressed with the amount of snow they get here too. Cars, like buses, can run for just a short time here before the snows and Mother Nature come to give this tiny town a rest from all the tourists.







The roads remind me of cooked spaghetti. You wind and wind all the way up on hairpin turns and then drive back again all the way down. Sometimes the front of the bus, where we were sitting, seemed like it was going off the road and down a cliff. The landscape went from a green, lush, farm land with trees to a barren, grey, bleak, moon like, treeless, glacial snow speckled rock at the top.

Along the way we stopped for tea and pastries and to admire the views. Funny thing they gave us more then enough time to shop for souvenirs.


All this work ..... just to see this view!







People were biking UP to the top. If Landon were here, I would give him a cold bottle of water. Many pulled over to the side of the road for a rest. Daddies found big rest stops for their children. A lesson, I think, in learning to be one with nature. Be careful! There are landslides here.











When we got back into town we found a traffic jam. Police were everywhere. Cars and buses were backed up, nothing in this one street town was able to move in either direction. A police official came to our bus and told everyone to stay on the bus. Norway had issued a level 2 terror warning. At the time we thought it was just Geiranger, but later learned Norway closed all ports, airports, and government buildings that day. No one could get back to the port, the pier or their tender. We sat on the bus for about 30 minutes. We were then dropped off at a grocery store and told to wait there until further notice. There was a lot of confusion. 3,000 people in this tiny town and the roads and ports were closed. All had to get back to their ship on a tender. It took about an hour for the "all clear" to be announced. I was on the first tender back... :) David came much later. We learned once we were back on the ship that the alert was for the whole country and not just our little pier. Then all these people had to form long lines and wait for their tender to get them back to their cruise. Our ship left two hours late because of this.







Dinner tonight was a special dinner made just for us. Our old friend from the World Cruise in 2010, who moved up from assistant waiter to Head of the Dining Room, Mark, and our favorite waiter, Albert, had the kitchen make us a special Pilipino dinner. If you give Regent a 24 hour notice, and they have it onboard, they will make you anything you want. Or dinner consisted of vegetable & chicken spring rolls, shrimp and vegetable tempura, pork fried rice, glass noodles and pork and chicken adobo. They always make extra so they too can have some for themselves afterwards. When you cruise you make new friends from all over the world.


Nice touch. Much appreciated.


We have one sea day left before the cruise ends in Copenhagen. We spent almost a month onboard. We loved our time at on the cruise. One thing I would have love would have been more days at sea. Some people love a port a day. We love balance. Let us explore a new place, give us a day at sea..... We regretfully will get off the ship, collect our luggage and spend 20 hours on planes and in airports getting home. It will be nice to be home and sleep in my own bed once again.

>


Our next cruise? November 13! Until then..... :)

Harstad, Norway

On TVs on our ship there is always a channel where they show you a map, where you are going, a little picture of a boat so you know where you are and a line to show you were you are going. News Flash. There is down time on a ship where you sometimes have No satellite, and no internet, and no news in some areas of the world. Hence, David will watch the navigation page.... endlessly. This one evening David noticed our ship was going in the wrong direction! I had to come see if he was making things up. My cruise ALWAYS follows the right path. So for a half hour we watched the red dot (our ship). He was right. Miles to the next port were going UP not down, we were headed North not South. GASP!

What's this? Is the Captain asleep? Taking a nap? We were stumped. Does the Captain know this???? When we went to dinner we asked around. No one had a clue or would say. Why is land on the right side of the ship instead of the left? WHY WHY WHY? We figured someone was sick and the ship had to take them to the nearest port. BUT the nearest port was Longyearbyen, and we knew from the tour the hospital is small, people have to leave and fly to a bigger city for emergencies and there were only 4 flights out of that airport a day. Well, during dinner at Prime we noticed the ship all of a sudden did a 360 degree turn and started to head South. We were back on course. The Captain must have gotten up from his nap and said WHAT"S THIS??? We never found out why. But as we docked in Harstad, an ambulance and a fire truck were waiting for us and a man was taken off the ship on a stretcher. He had heart problems and needed help. I am guessing this is why the ship thought it needed to get to a port sooner. The man looked OK to us from our balcony and we heard he is doing just fine. A good thing about a cruise is that if you need help, a Doctor and a Nurse are onboard. It is ALWAYS good to have a NURSE nearby!! :) Some of us are lucky to have one in our family..... :) .



Norway is proud to claim the #7 spot in the world for Countries having the longest coastline. We enjoyed sailing all the way up and then back down its long coastline. Norway is famous for its fjords and its magnificent mountainous terrain. There are 450,000 lakes in Norway! It has a clean fresh air smell, unlike Beijing for example where the air is so polluted most people have to wear a mask for protection. In Beijing you can see a cloud of pollution hovering over the city from miles away. Pure and healthy living here.

Some Norway facts:

Norway is regarded as the birthplace of modern skiing. But ski in Norway is a noun, not a verb. Ski means a piece of wood to Norwegians. Snowmobiles are preferred and better then cars, an easy way to travel in towns where there are few roads. Most families own a boat too as traveling over water is a must if you live here.

The movie Star Wars: Empire Strikes back was filmed here. Vikings are well known to have come from Norway. We learned that contrary to what we see in movies and comics, the Viking helmet did not have horns. Some question if Vikings even had helmets as in all of history only one leather helmet, without horns, was found.

Voss Water is bottled in Norway. I was told that the expensive Voss water we buy here, the one with the fancy glass bottle that I buy to impress guests... is actually the same water they drink from the faucet, use to bathe in, brush their teeth with and use to flush toilets....hmmmm. Being one of the most expensive places to live in the world, I wondered if Voss water was sold in stores in Norway. If so, I continued to wonder, what did they sell it for???? Lets go buy tap water in expensive but attractive glass bottles ... 3 cases please. :) They tell us they can drink water right from the lakes. It is the BEST tasting water in the world.

The cheese slicer was invented in Norway. Aerosol cans were invented in Norway.... Norwegians love to eat a BROWN cheese made from goat milk.

The paper clip was invented here. Back in WWII Norwegians designed a wire clip and wore the paper clip as a symbol of resistance and as a show of unity during hard times under the Nazis rule. Once the Nazi's realized this, the paper clip was banned in Norway. At the end of the war, many of these lovely towns were burned to the ground as the retreating army wanted to be sure as much damage and hardship as possible could be done to the Norwegian people. All of these towns have had to rebuild.

In 2008 Norway knighted a penguin.

When you have a baby....listen up.... new Moms take 13 months off with 80% pay. New Dads take 14 weeks off with pay. Families are important in Norway. Wish we would do the same here in the USA.

Some of the special animals you will see if you visit Norway are reindeer (we saw some!),



Puffin birds (Yep, saw some, but they flew away too fast to get a picture), the Arctic fox and polar bears. I would have loved to have seen a polar bear but did not see one this time.

People in Norway do not have to "travel" to see the Famous Midnight Sun like I did. After visiting Norway I have come to the conclusion they can have it. Between May and July the sun barely sets. It is light outside ..... for nearly 24 hours. At 3 in the morning it is like 5:00 in the afternoon..... What's with that? I ask.



Here is a picture I took at midnight.....

Constant sun in the sky wrecked havoc on our sleep. I never knew what time it was. I would look at my watch and be flabbergasted it was midnight .... way past my bed time!! I was not friends with The Midnight Sun. Oh, and the other side of the coin..... in the winter, they never see the sun. During the day the street lights are on because it is dark as night for nearly 24 hours a day..... for months. I think that would be hard to learn to live with.

I bet you wonder WHY so many facts all of a sudden in my blog. I will tell you a secret. I just learned I have a new reader to my blog, especially at bed time. All these little known things we learn while on tours I never put in my blog because I just keep my blog short and sweet. But, I learned some people may like these facts and little stories so I now may start including "fun things for the little people".

HI CAELAN!!!

And ISLA! Hi to you too!





I also hear that someone had a birthday!!! Who was that ???????

Oh My! I almost forgot..... Harstad Norway!



Here is David (Grandpa) waving to me from our balcony. We had a balcony on the 8th deck. Grandpa stayed onboard while I explored the lovely town!!!!






OK it is a tiny town. There was not much to do here. I had to go to 5 different places to find an internet location so I could upload my blog. I found a nice lady at a hotel who gave me a password and let me sit in the hotel lobby.

What I found interesting here was this sign ...:) You will always find something fun if you keep an open mind !



Maybe we have family here????



I think this says Have a Nice Day.... I'm not sure..... But, hey... don't you LOVE it! :)



Thank you Caelan for reading my blog! Sweet Dreams and a Kiss Goodnight!

Cruising the Magdalene Fjord

AWE. The Magdalene Fjord is magnificent. We spent a few hours navigating into this fjord, in the fjord area itself, doing a full circle in the fjord and sending out our own search and rescue mission. I felt like a little kid again, playing in the fjord with a big boat. I will tell you- it was FRIGID out on deck. Winds just whipped around you. Hands froze on impact as you take a picture. It was brutal in the morning. But, a day like today just can't be matched for what you see, experience and feel. There just are not words to describe the sheer beauty of mother nature. Is this where I say a picture is worth a thousand words?



Our Captain ordered the crew to do a SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSION at the Magdalene Fjord. "Get some SNOW for our fellow passengers!" He bellowed in his authoritative Captain voice....... That could not be accomplished.

Well then, get some ICE!

ICEBERGS AHOY!

Real icebergs! You could hear the crew on the tender yell with joy all the way back to the ship. :) It was a happy tender for sure. Mission accomplished. Drinks all around I say! Is that cool or what?








From the Search and Rescue team. Deploy a tender.... Icebergs brought onboard.







Heading back to the warmth of my room I met up with a fellow cruiser carrying two cups of hot coffees. MMMM that looks good. What is it? I asked. A "Cafe Nelson" she said with a smile. It is DELICIOUS!!! Deck 5. Of course why take a strangers word for it? I had to try one of those myself.... at 10:30 AM :) . Coffee with Baileys and Frangelico. After the stress of observing a real life Search and Rescue Mission, wondering with worry about the outcome, I definitely needed a break. :)

A cup of hot coffee on a chilly morning visiting and viewing the Fjords.... Life indeed is very very good.



One of the nice things Regent does is to organize their Sea Days with things to do. We were invited to a cooking demonstration by the head chef. He made Norwegian Salmon Tartare with Lemon Aioli (dressed with a few capers). I did not know you never use FRESH salmon. It MUST be frozen to a certain temperature or else you can get really sick.... never knew fresh raw salmon has worms. Yuk. Also add the lemon juice just before serving as lemon will start to cook the salmon. I never would have thought to try it, but I did. Did not taste fishy and I actually liked it. I also LOVED the Mimosa's and appetizers. One which I want to make is with Boursine cheese (my favorite). They used a Ritz cracker, added a slice of a strawberry, (color and flavor) piped on Boursine cheese (It was very creamy so I wonder if cream cheese is in it) and added a touch of dill..... This is where you say Yummmmm can I have another, or two or six?








By going to the jewelry talks on sea days you get a raffle ticket. I drag David so we get two tickets :). Often an artisan comes onboard to sell her handcrafted one of a kind jewelry. We won $200 towards a piece of jewelry today! This must be our lucky cruise. David's Trivia team has been winning most of the games this cruise. He has lots of 3 point Regent Reward cards to turn in at the end of the cruise. I see lots of pens and suitcase tags coming our way! Bingo... and now a $200 credit!

Hammerfest and Longyearbyen, Norway

Hammerfest, Norway



Longyearbyen, Norway ..... Spitsbergen

I did not take a tour or get off the ship in Hammerfest, a "city" of 5,000 people. Local tours of about 2 hours each were offered by Regent: to a museum, a Polar Bear club or to a Sami Camp. I don't think there was a town, so to speak, of any great note here. After we left port I learned Regent had a shuttle bus to 'town'. Had I known, I would have gone. Today I took a sea day instead and just enjoyed this tiny port "city" from my balcony.


After a break from ports, my day off, I was once again ready to venture out into the wilderness and stark beauty of Norway. Yet another lovely, rustic,isolated settlement, awaited discovery, Longyearbyen. This quaint little town was a perfect spot to stop. In fact I am trying to talk David into coming back and staying here for a few weeks but I think it is too desolate for him to even consider. The population is about 1,800 people, 500 of which are children. Those long dark winters are used for snuggling I think.

 There are 3,000 Polar Bears. 3,000 bears.... 1,800 people...... Not liking those odds. There are usually 2 attacks a year.....

Longyearbyen is a tiny tiny town but still the largest settlement on the island of Spitsbergen. (Another stop on David's Bucket List) We are about 800 miles north of the Arctic Circle now. When we visit Longyearbyen we are in the world's northernmost town, and the northernmost settlement of any kind with more then 1,000 permanent residents. The Arctic Coal Company started coal mining here in 1906. The old mine still stands today but I hear Yoga is taught there now. They have one gas station here...with two pumps. They also have a University. If you are having a baby you must leave the island three weeks before the due date so the baby can be born where there are better hospital facilities. People can not be buried in the ground nor can you bury pipes. Permafrost? (ground movement) causes everything to pop up eventually.  I know, hard to believe.







Five tours were offered at this port. One was hiking up Mount Plateau for about 3 hours, another was a two hour RIB boat Adventure to Bird Island...mmmmm too cold for me. Instead I went to visit huskies, have tea and eat pancakes ....:) I could not get them in Russia so I will have my pancakes in Norway.. :) Actually they are called drop scones but they look like pancakes to me. The black current tea they served was delicious. Perfect for a cold day in good ol' Norway.

The dog kennel was about a five minute drive from the pier. Every single dog at the Wilderness Center started to bark... all tails were wagging...and all dogs had a longing look of "pet me! pet me!" We were served sugar sprinkled pancakes (drop scones) and some hot tea overlooking some beautiful scenery. We learned about how important these dogs are for life this far north. These are their babies for sure. Some people went on a dog sled ride. As the owners set up the sleighs to take cruisers on a ride the barking escalated. Every dog at the Wilderness Center wanted to go out for the ride. It was cold but looked fun to do that. There was a light drizzle most of the day here in port.











Whenever I travel, wherever I go, I have reminders of my brother, Ken, and his great sense of humor. This one's for you, Ken :) . Ladies have the heart ..... Men, go to the back of the building.... behind the Man's Pole door.












Rules of Common Sense published for tourists include: Don't pick flowers; Don't throw trash; Don't disturb animals and birds; Don't destroy or remove cultural monuments (anything on the ground...anything!....on the ground before 1946 (These are considered cultural monuments); Nobody can be an invisible tourist but we would like you to try; and most important.... It is prohibited to attract or pursue POLAR BEARS! Carry suitable weapons and know how to use them. I am on that one! First thing every resident must learn here is how to shoot a rifle. If you are a resident you also pass a test. They cut a hole in the ice. You jump in fully clothed with a pick. You must get out on your own. Our guide tells us once people do this they are very cautious where they take their snow mobile, as you never want to experience that again. Every household has numerous snow mobiles parked out front.

Our two BIG stops on the tour were to take a picture of the Polar Bear sign AND to take a photo of reindeer feeding in the meadow. Both stops were a big hit for me! :) I am entertained easily. :) I loved this tour. Loved the dirt roads, the isolation, the simple earthy colorful homes.










The old airport.....



OH !!!!!!! BIG NEWS !!!! Guess who won full cover the page BINGO!!!!!