Stonehenge

Several weeks before the Voyage of the Viking the Human Resources Officer posted signs advertising a crew tour to Stonehenge. Seeing Stonehenge was on my bucket list and my two friends, Kayleigh and Simone, whom I had hoped to see in Southampton each got contracts and ended up on ships so I was eager to sign up. Imagine my disappointment when I found out I was scheduled for IPM that day.

The great thing about my team is that we are all pretty flexible and willing to share IPM. Jo found out I wanted to go to Stonehenge and I found out that she had IPM on her birthday (the second day in Amsterdam) so we just traded. I was able to adjust my working hours with my manager and I took the last spot on the tour. The tour was incredible. Stonehenge was amazing and it is always fun to spend time with friends away from the ship.

With my friends Krista and Jenny

The monument itself is amazing, but the landscape is incredible. Stonehenge is surrounded by green and yellow fields and pastures as far as the eye can see. Although simple, it was breathtakingly beautiful. In a way it felt holy; I think it was a combination of the beauty and the fact that, although Stonehenge’s original purpose is unknown, it is believed to have been a religious monument. I noticed that many people spoke in whispers and although the place was packed it was not at all noisy. 

I spent the time with my friends Krista and Jacob and we enjoyed circling the monument and taking pictures; Jacob had just changed his facebook page to timeline so he was determined to take a picture he could use as his cover photo. It probably took us half an hour or more to complete the circle because it really does look completely different from various angles. Once we had viewed the entire thing we sat in the grass and enjoyed both the view and each other’s company. They are totally one of those couples who are easy to hang out with without feeling like a third wheel.

Before leaving we walked through the gift shop (every tourist attraction has to have a gift shop, I think it’s a law) and I was thrilled to find a charm for my bracelet. The charm kinda looks like pi, and I’ve had more than one person ask me if I like math because of it, but it was exactly what I was looking for.

The ride back was beautiful as we made our way through quaint villages and towns. It was a perfect way to spend my day in Southampton if I couldn’t spend it with Kayleigh or Simone.

Amsterdam

What a great city. As a history lover, I could have spent several days and still not have seen everything I wanted to, but as we only had one (Amsterdam was actually an overnight but on the second day my parents’ flight left at 12:00nn and I was on IPM) we tried to see as much as we could.

Because the hop-on-hop-off bus had been such a great option in Bergen, we decided to take the hop-on-hop-off canal boats through Amsterdam. It was a great way to see a lot of the city in a short amount of time.

I was surprised to see houseboats lining the canals; I guess I just did not expect it. Some of the boats were very nice and well maintained, some were just comical. 

 I have always been fascinated by those who fought against and/or survived the Holocaust. I suppose it is because I love the human spirit demonstrated by the Frank family, Corrie ten Boom, and everyone else who disagreed with Hitler and did everything within their power to defy him. If we had had time, I would have dragged my parents to both the Anne Frank Museum and the Hiding Place, but time being what it was I had to settle for walking by the Anne Frank Museum where the line was wrapped around the block. My dad took pictures of the line but I forgot to get them from him.

As usual, we decided to stop for a snack. As I am employed (and fed) by a company called HOLLAND America Line, I feel I know a thing or two about Dutch snacks. I convinced my parents that instead of pastries we should try to find kaassouffle. one of my favorite Dutch treats. Kaassouffle is the same idea as a mozzarella stick, deep fried cheese, but so much better (and I have nothing against mozzarella sticks; I love mozzarella sticks). I always know when my dad really enjoys a food because he puckers his face and says, “Oooohhhhh, that’s good!” This was his immediate reaction to kaassouffle.

It started raining as we were searching for food, so after our snack we decided to do the remainder of our sight-seeing from inside one of the canal boats. It was an absolutely beautiful city and a great way to end my time with my parents.

Bergen, Norway

When I first saw Bergen it looked very familiar. After thinking about it for a while (I was 100% sure I had never been there before), I realized that I had once owned a puzzle with this scene.

By this point in the cruise my dad’s knew knee had seen a lot of mileage (who needs a physical therapist when you have Rachel and Kathy Roos to drag up and down the hillsides of Norway?) so we opted for the hop-on-hop-off bus. I enjoyed the bus because we saw quite a bit of the city, heard some narration, and we were able to get off and get back on anywhere we wanted to explore.

Bergen was definitely the most modern of the most “Americanized” of all the Norwegian cities we visited. It made me laugh to see gorgeous, historic buildings housing American fast-food chains. Despite that, it was a beautiful city. We hopped off the bus to explore a small pond then wandered over to the open air market. I was hoping to find a charm for my bracelet, but no such luck. For some reason I was absolutely fascinated by the traditional hand-knit ski sweaters; the craftsmanship was absolutely beautiful. If I thought I would have an occasion to wear one in the next few years I may have splurged on one, but I did not want to buy one and have it hang in my closet for years on end.

Our day in Bergen was low-key, but nice. It was a great final stop in an amazing country.

Alesund, Norway

This was my first view of Alesund. Not a bad way to start the morning, huh?

My time off the ship was extremely limited that day as I was assigned to in-port-manning (meaning one person from my team of four has to be aboard at all times in case of an emergency and it was my turn). My shift ended at 9:30am and my friends Krista and Amber both had events that would last until about 11:00am (meaning someone from our group was on board) so I was able to explore for about an hour.

Most shops and such did not open until eleven, so we walked along the canal for a bit before a local directed us to the cathedral.

 The church was a bit older than any of the others we had seen. My parents and I had noticed that every church had a small model ship hanging near the entry-way and as this was the first church where we saw staff my mom asked about the symbolism. The gentleman explained that boats and ships have always been the primary form of transportation for the Scandinavian people and the ship in each church represent traveling through life and back to God; what a beautiful idea.

After visiting the church we had about twenty-five minutes before I had to be back so we enjoyed a leisurely stroll back to the ship. It was a short day, but an enjoyable one!

Quebec at Night

Yesterday afternoon, once everyone was on board for our 4:30pm all aboard, the captain announced that our scheduled itinerary put us directly in the predicted paths of Hurricanes Leslie and Michael. He decided to remain in Quebec City, Quebec until at least 4:00pm today in order to avoid the worst of it. Surprise overnight!

I don’t usually go out on overnights because I finish work at 10:00pm, start at 8:00am, and, as I don’t drink, I don’t want to go to bars or clubs which are usually the only places open between those hours. Quebec, however, was different. It is a beautiful city during the day so I was sure it would be gorgeous at night. As soon as I finished work, Jo and I headed off to snap a few night pictures of the city and especially the Chateau Frontenac. It was well worth the few minutes of missed sleep.

Geiranger, Norway

One word . . . WOW. I have been a lot of places, and it is hard to compare the fjords of Norway to the beaches of Moorea, but Geiranger is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen. 

I decided not to be lame and woke up early for the scenic cruising through Geirangerfjord and it was well worth the missed sleep. With the walls of the fjord towering hundreds of feet above us, the water was perfectly still with only the wake of the ship to ripple the mirrored surface and only the sound of waterfalls to break the silence. The hymn “How Great Thou Art” kept popping into my mind as I gazed in awe at this spectacular creation.

 

 Every so often we passed smalls farms built into the sides of the fjord. There are no roads leading to these farms, they are only accessible by boat, then the occupants have to climb to the house. Many of the farms were abandoned in the early twentieth century, around the same time the “family farm” started dying in the US, but a few are still occupied and others are now tourist attractions. The captain explained that when the farms were occupied people would only leave their homes every couple of weeks because boats were not motorized and sometimes the climb could take up to four hours. It’s a charming idea, but I am glad I didn’t have to do it.

Tiny does not describe the town of Geiranger; the year-round population is somewhere between 200 and 300 but the population increases dramatically during the summer. A campground occupies a large portion of water-front real-estate as does a hotel and rental cottages. We left the ship around 10:00am and my parents had a 12:00 tour (the tour was sold out so I was not able to sign up as a crew escort), so we decided to walk up to the road and see where it took us. As it turns out, the road led to the local church and cemetery. As we wandered the cemetery we couldn’t help but notice that most markers were for people who had lived well into their nineties and some into their hundreds. We had noticed the same thing in Molde and I am sure it is because of the ridiculously clean air and all up-hill walking they do.

After exploring the church and cemetery we headed back down so my parents could catch their tour. I still had a few hours before work so wandered around and took a few pictures.

All aboard that evening wasn’t until 10:30pm and as we were so far north the sun was just beginning to set as we brought in the anchor and pulled away. Sail away was just as beautiful as sail-in, but in the dusk it was a different kind of beauty. For some reason it didn’t feel as still as it had in the early morning hours; it felt powerful. I’m sure that doesn’t make sense; maybe it is one of those things where you just have to be there. 

Molde, Norway

I fell in love in Molde. I didn’t fall in love with a person (though that would have been nice); I fell in love with Norway. If Norway isn’t on your bucket list, add it! Everyone needs to see Norway at least once. 

I like to call Molde our “bonus port” because nobody knew we were stopping there until four days before we arrived when we had to cancel a few ports (fog and icebergs, not a good combination). Surprise! I saw no reason to complain (though people still did) because Molde was beautiful. My mom woke up early to see the sail-in; I had big plans to wake up early but after a couple of unexpected sea days and several nights in a row setting the clocks an hour forward I just couldn’t do it; I knew I would be useless at work and I knew I would just get the pictures from my mom.

Because we didn’t have much time to plan for Molde, my parents and I had no idea what we were going to do when we stepped off the ship. We headed towards the town hall and the main church (when in doubt in Europe, visit a church) but we arrived just before six bus loads of tour groups walked in. We didn’t stay long. 

Just across the street from the church was a beautiful city garden where we met a very intoxicated, yet very friendly, local. He pulled a coin out of my mom’s ear then let her keep it. Oh, that was interesting.

 

We left the garden and walked through the town. When I say walked I actually mean hiked because most of Norway is built on the side of a mountain; I now understand why Scandinavians are all so slender. We wandered through a local cemetery (I love cemeteries, there are so many stories to be told and discovered) and found a “museum” set up as a historic village.

 Those working at the museum were all dressed in the traditional costume and we spoke to this really cute little girl. 

I would bet she was thirteen or fourteen and she really tried to answer our question but a few things were lost in translation (I’m not criticizing; I don’t know a word of Norwegian). We were going to explore the village, but the six busloads of tourists caught up with us again, so we opted against it. We noticed an overlook near the village and decided to climb to it instead. The view was breathtaking.

After we headed back down the mountain towards the main street and found a pastry shop. I have no idea what we ate because nobody spoke much English so we just pointed to a few things that looked good. After enjoying our pastries, we made our way back to the ship. Molde may not have been a planned port, but it was a great introduction to a beautiful country.