Oslo, Norway 6/4-7/24

 After a few days in Bergen we took the train to Oslo, similar to the Nutshell but we kept going across the mountains to Oslo.  The trip was about 8 hours.

We stayed in a nice chain hotel, both in Bergen & Oslo, Thon Hotel.  The Oslo hotel was more modern (than Bergen) but Tom thinks it more like USSR-era.  At least it was easy to see the room numbers.  Breakfast was included and it was amazing! 

The yellow building is the royal palace, no tours at the time we were there.  The tiny tots were really working hard getting up the slight incline to the royal palace. 

The rounded middle section w/ square ends is the Storting building which is the parliament building.  It’s located on Karl Johans gate (street) which has lots of other buildings to see.

The Oslo Cathedral is seen through the trees.  Dating from 1697.  How about that organ!  It’s a recent addition in 1997 for the 300th anniversary.

You can see Oslo looks modern.  This is by the harbor, the Opera House is the sloped white building and you can walk on top of it.  Edvard Munch is the guy that drew “The Scream”  that’s a museum dedicated to him.  They do display the three original Screams in the museum on a rotating basis.  Also nice city views from the museum.

Next was the Nobel Peace Museum.

A statue of FDR at the harbor.  At this time it’s kind of hard to see because the entrance to the Fortress is closed so no reason to go up the stairs…unless you want a pictures with FDR.

The Bygdoy Peninsula is a ferry ride away from Oslo.  There are several museums there.  The Fram was used for polar exploration.  I got to go into an igloo, I didn’t know Tom could see me!  Next to the Fram is the Kon Tiki.

Our last stop of the day was Frogner Park aka Vigeland Park.  Gustav Vigeland is prolific sculptor.  I read about this park and wanted to see it, especially the crying baby.  I though it was a giant baby, but it’s not.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/t7652M8FTd

Norway in a Nutshell 6/3/24

There is a trip tourists can pay to have it arranged for than and it’s call Norway in a Nutshell, even Rick Steves likes it.  It’s pretty much an all day adventure and you get to see a variety of Norway.  It’s comprised of trains, boats, and buses.  Our train was delayed so we could not do one part of it but did not stop our complete tour.  There are lots of people doing this in various stages.  Ours was train to train to bus (which we missed) to boat to bus to train. 

Enjoy our Nutshell pictures:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/92q1T05517

Bergen, Norway 6/1-3/24

 When the cruise ended we jumped on a plane and flew from Copenhagen to Bergen, Norway. 

As you can see it is a beautiful seaside city, full of tourists.  Develop as a Hanseatic port, commerce developed by Germans in the 12^th/13^th century. 

We took the funicular above the city.  You can see the funicular in the picture for those who have never seen one.  It’s like a cable car for hills (there is one in LA).  We got great views of the city and there were goats (a trolls, but they're everywhere in Norway) at top.  We walked down, better than walking up, so sez Tom.

The last picture is a totem (pole) we found in a park.  Displayed is the translation of the plaque.  Funny, we don’t have a picture of the totem.

Pictures are here:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/1ziVNm61Jj

England, UK 9th & last port, Newcastle upon Tyne 6/30/24

We booked a private tour and 2 other couples joined us.  One couple from NJ and the other from AZ.  We had a great time.  I always worry when it’s an intimate tour, what if we don’t get along - and we’re stuck in a van for 6 hours together.  That wasn’t the case.  Our tour guide & driver were great. 

It was a rainy day but it didn’t stop us.  We drove the Northumberland Coast to the Holy Island.

Pictured is Alnwick Castle, you’ve seen it in Harry Potter and Downton Abby.   The Duke & Duchess of Northumberland still live there.  We only drove by but seemed like a good place to visit the surrounding area and castle.

Next was Bamburgh Castle.  It was quite extensive and lots to see.  We got to tour the grounds & inside.  For fans of The Last Kingdom, it is filmed here and is based on this area.  The basis for the show, the Vikings are invading the Saxons.

Next was Lindisfarne Island aka the Holy Island.  This is part of a pilgrimage, similar to The Camino de Santiago.  See statues of the monks carrying a coffin?  That’s St Cuthbert (635- 687 AD) and the story goes the monks wanted to keep his body safe from…. You guessed it, Vikings.  So they carried his body from place to place until they found his final resting place in Durham, England.  I thought it was an poignant piece of art.

The Lisdisfarne Priory is from the 11^th Century (ruins next to Church of St Mary Church). 

The Holy Island is only accessible during low tide.

Pictures located here:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/i6502rH54L

Scotland, UK 8th port South Queensferry (Edinburgh) 5/29/24

So much for our great weather.  It was a little cool in the morning, mid-50s, warmed up in the afternoon, mid-60s, w/ some sun then...rain.  Luckily our resident weatherman (Tom) was watching the weather and we headed back to the ship before the front arrived in Edinburgh.

The ship used dynamic positioning to secure our position in the Firth of Fourth.  Wha...?.  A firth is an estuary and the river is the River Fourth.  Hence this crazy name Firth of Fourth.  There are some nice looking bridges.  The red one is the The Fourth Bridge built in 1890!  It is a cantilevered rail bridge and a UNESCO sight.  I can't believe it's 134 years old.  

The cable-stayed bridge is the Queensferry Crossing built 2017 and opened to road traffic.

The last of the three bridges is the Forth Road Bridge open to peds, cyclists and public transportation.  It looks like a mini white Golden Gate Bridge.  Completed in 1961.

Queensferry is about 9 miles from Edinburgh.  We started our day with a visit to the HMY Britannia.  It was a fun self-guided audio tour.  Especially fun for those of us who watched "The Crown" (historic fiction on Netflix).  

We started on the bridge (of the Britannia) level 3.  The captain's rooms, captain's kitchen, QE II usually took a car with them.  Sometimes the Land Rover and sometimes a Rolls.  Next was the sunroom at the aft (back) of the boat.  The Queen's bedroom which connects to the Prince's bedroom.  Various family photo are posted throughout the boat.  Across the hall is the queen bed for visitors.

Level 2:  The room with the glowing "fireplace" is the officer's room attached to the dining room. No one was allowed to touch the monkey, but somehow he moved around.  Kitchen, which is still used today for Tea.  Pantries for silver, dinnerware, etc.

The dining room, wow.  Further aft is the Queen's office on port side.  The Prince's office across from the Queen's on the starboard side.  Then grand room which can be closed off or opened to accommodate lots of people. 

Lower level is where the officer's can hang out.  The crew's quarters.  The Marine Band quarters, they were the main security for the royals and they played music!  Practice room, more quarters, mail room, doctor's office, sick bay & laundry room.

The boat used by the royal couple to go places off the ship.

Engine room & engineering.  The bathroom & shower room (9 showers for 220 yachtsmen aka yotties).

Once we finished we took the light rail into Edinburgh  and arrived near St Andrew Square.  I think that's who's on the top of the column.  There is so much to see here!!!

Scotts Monument (spiky) constructed for Sir Walter Scott.  I thought it was for the Scottish people. Nelson's Column (toilet paper roll-looking) atop Calton Hill in honor of for Horatio Nelson Navy Admiral 1805.  The Parthenon-looking structure on Calton Hill is National Monument of Scotland. It is an unfinished monument from 1829.  

Looking across to Arthur's Seat, the green hill.  Then looking across to Edinburgh Castle.  Some pretty Scotts broom (haha).

Then it was off to Edinburgh Castle.  Funny story, the night before we tried to get tickets and all were sold out.  We got off the ship pretty early so not many tourists about.  A wee man was handing out maps and asked if I wanted a map.  I told him we were headed to  Britannia then Edinburgh but could not get tickets to the Castle.  He drew some dots on the map where we'd get off the tram (light rail) in Edinburgh and put a wee dot on the map and says "go here and they may have tickets for the Castle".   I didn't have a name or direction, just a dot about where we should go.  So we went - and found tourist info devoid of tourists but a funny helpful man who got us tickets to the Castle.  Hurray.  

The Castle is huge swarming with tourists!  We got the audio tour which is well worth it but I'm not sure you can get through the whole thing in a week.  They were also setting up for the tattoo in June, (tattoo is a military exercise given by troops as entertainment) in front of the Castle.

We got on the bus just as the rain was starting.  It wasn't quite the bus we wanted but it took us close enough to Queensferry.  We toyed with crossing the bridge (to Fife) then coming back just to say we crossed the firth on the bridge. (I believe it would have been the Forth Road Bridge)

Link to pictures https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/jE7482gu1e

Scotland, UK 7th port Kirkwall on Orkney Islands 5/28/24

It was a nice day but a bit cold, mid 50s.  We were at anchorage and so was another brand new ship, Cunard Queen Anne.

The Orkneys are comprised of ~70 islands, 20 of them inhabited.  Kirkwall is known as the mainland, the capital and it's the biggest.  There are many UNESCO sites here.

Standing Stones of Stenness is a small circle of standing stones dating from 3100 BCE.  They're not quite sure their purpose.  They're kind of a mini Stonehenge.

Ring of Brodgar from 2500 BCE.  Again big stones they're not quite sure their purpose.  They believe there were 60 stones but only 20 left.

Skara Brae is a prehistoric village uncovered in 1850 after a storm.  An amazing example of prehistoric life.  They have covered some of it back up to protect it because they have enough to study right now.

Yesnaby have some beautiful cliffs along the ocean.  The nazi's set up gun batteries here.

Italian Chapel was created by Italian POW during the war.  I read about it but it was amazing to see.  It has been restored because after the war it fell into ruin.  It is created by trompe l'oeil, a painting technique that looks 3-dimensional. 

Furry pigs are Peter & Brian.  There were 2 other tour vans there when we went by. 

Kirkwall we visited St Magnus Church built in 1064, then rebuilt 1764.

Link to pictures: https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/SP1X0843h1

Scotland UK, 6th port Lerwick, Shetland Islands 5/27/24

Another great day!  (I just don't get tired of saying that)  It started a bit overcast, low 50s, but the sun did break through.  The highest temperature ever recorded in Lerwick was 74. It is often very windy here, but not today.

Sunset at 10:05 pm, sunrise 3:59 am

We were on a private tour and it was great.  Does anyone watch the BBC show Shetland?  We hadn't hear of it until a few day ago.  We saw some areas from the show, I'll point them out because everyone on the tour watches except us.

Lerwick is the largest town in the Shetlands, made up of over 100 islands.  It's a cute town as you can see.  Mainly fishing, gas and oil, but tourism has really increased, and it's a good thing.  In the old days people had to scratch out a living and can only grow root vegs.  Ruled over by mean governors sometimes.

Shetland show: the green house is where Duncan lives. Then view of below "Duncan's" house.  Houses are now built in the Scandinavian style & color (similar to the North Cape)

Scalloway - the castle ruins in the middle of the photo was the mean governors (built ~1600) who enslaved the people of the town.  Luckily he was so bad he got beheaded.  Scalloway is also known for the "Scalloway Bus".  The bus was small fishing boat that left (on the Atlantic side of the island) that went to Norway to smuggle Jews out of Norway and provide wireless, guns and other supplies for the Norway resistance.  The boat would leave at 3 pm and return at 9 am.  This means a small boat crossed the North Sea at night to hide from the Nazi!

We visited an old home site where the people eeking out a living.  It's a local's property who's ancestors lived here.

Then there's the Vikings! and sheep...

Near Bigton is St. Ninian's Isle where a 15-year archaeologist helper uncovered 28 pieces of silver comprised of bowls, jewelry & other pieces dating from 750 AD.  The beach (or trombolo) is also a scene from Shetland where a dead body turns up.  Afterwards we had a short back where I got a lovely cup of Scottish tea.

Then off the the southern tip of the island to Sumburgh Head Lighthouse where the Atlantic Ocean meets the North Sea.  There's a big fog horn and lots of seabirds including puffins.  This was built by Robert Stevenson, grandfather to Robert Louis Stevenson.

To get to the lighthouse you have to drive across the airport runway.

Shetland ponies don't do much anymore, they're just pets.  Pets with attitude according to our guide.

Back in Lerwick we visit Fort Charlotte, it appears they have their sites set on our ship.  We visited St. Margaret Catholic Church, Town Hall (from 1883) and the "police station" (from Shetland) that is really the courthouse.

Link to the pictures  https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/92586h8805