Joe Almost Got Run Over by a Reindeer…

Another two days of sailing and now Christine and I find ourselves in the Arctic Circle and the land of the Midnight Sun. This included one full day at sea sailing along the Norwegian Coast, the first of four sea days during our cruise. Sea days are always interesting, it is a means of forced downtime. So what does a sea day look like. Wake up, eat, nap, eat, spa, eat, watch the world go by, eat. As you can see, lots and lots of eating, and sleeping. But heck, it’s a great way to unwind and totally disconnect.

We made it to our first stop in the Arctic Circle, the city of Narvik, a simply gorgeous hamlet. Unfortunately it was a Sunday, and as we learned in Oslo, Norwegians take their Sundays off seriously, and the little town was pretty dead. But Christine and I had plans, mainly to hit up Polar Park, a wildlife refuge showcasing the many large mammals in the Arctic Circle.

There were musk oxen, Arctic foxes, brown bears, wolves, red deer, moose, and to the subject of my post, reindeer. Christine and I were able to see all the other animals, except for a lynx and wolverine who were painfully shy, and headed over to the reindeer enclosure. On the pathway there, however, I spot a reindeer standing in the woods. Our eyes meet, and he starts moving toward me. My first thought is, “Wow, it’s a real reindeer!” Followed immediately by “Oh crap, he’s trotting toward me and he has pretty big antlers!” Christine told me just to freeze in place - all I kept thinking was that I was about to be impaled on antlers. Thankfully, these reindeer are used to humans, so the reindeer simply trotted close to me, probably enjoying tremendously that he frightened me.

But of course, this was not the only time it happened while we were there. On another occasion another reindeer decided to buzz by me. They must think it is some sort of fun game…

We wrapped the day riding the perennially popular gondolas up to the highest point in Narvik, Narvikfjella. Why I continue to take gondolas despite my increasing fear of heights, I’ll never know. But the view was amazing from the top, and that made it all worthwhile.

There more stops in Norway, and then we’re off to the northernmost city in the world. Until then, beware the reindeer!

-- Joe

Just Food

Electric Bikes and Brown Cheese

Our first day in Bergen was beautifully sunny and warm, which is apparently not the norm in Bergen. Bergen typically gets 98 inches of rain per year and often sports a gray, Seattle like climate. We took advantage of the sunshine by riding the Fløbanen funicular 400 meters above the city to Mount Floyen take in the picturesque views and absorb some vitamin D. Day two of Bergen was more atypical of the region, overcast and drizzly but not too chilly. On this day, we followed our good old “Rick Steves Walking Tour of Bergen” and had the opportunity to visit the oldest castle and fortress in Norway, weave through the precariously perched shops of the Bryggen (a German business area who were members of the Hanseatic League), and ended our day on a small boat cruise around the Bergen bay.  

While at dinner for our departure night, it dawned on us that unlike our Christmas voyage to the Mediterranean in December, the guests on this particular journey are skewing even more towards a more senior demographic. There are lots of wheelchairs and walkers, frequent queries of “what did she say?” and “do you know what’s going on?” I think I can count those under 55 on one hand! This, however, does mean we have the ship to ourselves after 9:00 PM, LoL.

We departed Bergen at 3:30 PM and by morning we were in Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Geirangerfjord is one of the longest and deepest fjords in Norway and it is quite isolated. In the winter, all roads in are closed and people and supplies can only get there via ferry. Once allowed to leave the ship, we jumped on the Viking included tour of Geirangerfjord and the Eagle’s Nest via bus. OMG, giant buses on narrow lanes, weaving through eleven 180 degree switchbacks and maneuvering around hikers, campers, vehicles, and bicyclists also using the same road! Thank God we didn’t even consider driving those treacherous roads ourselves — but wait we actually did, more details on that in the next paragraph! The tour took us to an elevation of 3000 feet where we again had spectacular views of the Geirangerfjord and beyond. I was much too nervous to stand at the edge of the cliff despite there being a very sturdy railing so you may notice that my photos are a bit more reserved.

Joe decided that our final activity for today was to ride electric bikes and take in the scenery in a more engaged way. Now, it’s been years since I’ve ridden a bike — I know, I know, I should remedy that — but the idea of an electric bike appealed to me because I thought that the bike would be doing most of the work. I also thought that we’d be on flatter ground. None of these assumptions or expectations were met. First of all, apparently an electric bike requires one to pedal and pedal hard! It is a pedal assist system and not a vroom, vroom go system! My seat was too low and uncomfortable and the bike is significantly more heavy than a regular bike because of the “motor” and battery. Secondly, we were going UP the same road that our bus had taken us earlier in the morning!!!! I was at the END of our small group of 10, desparetly pumping my legs in order to keep up with the group. There was a leader at the front and a young woman at the end of the group helping to keep everyone going. We were so far behind that I couldn’t see where our group had turned off for a quick check in and I had to double back to find them. THIS WAS NOT VACATION FOR CHRISTINE!!! THIS WAS TORTURE!! My ass hurt, my thighs were burning, and despite the fresh mountain air, I could not catch my breath! We biked higher and higher and higher! Maneuvering around buses and vehicles, and campers! I did not want to take pictures. The only great thing was the ride back down the mountain, which required only the use of breaks! I loved feeling the wind and actually didn’t mind the sprinkles dotting my glasses. However, this is where Joe decided he wanted to be cautious and I ended up tailgating him on the way down. On our way down, we stopped at a small cafe to have traditional Nor wegian waffles topped with raspberry jam, sour cream, and brown cheese! Yes, BROWN cheese. The cheese is the whey from the cheese making process and it is cooked down where it carmelizes, therefore it is a cheese with a sweetness to it. I think I need to buy a Norwegian waffle press (be ready Jeanne, Luana, and Lori for Norweigan style waffles!) Unfortunately, while pulling in for our waffle stop, a member of our riding team (Joe and I were the youngest in the group) lost her balance while getting off her bike and tumbled (bike and all) into a ravine 5-6 feet from the road! It was quite frightening, but she was able to get up and walk. The cruise line sent a car to come pick her up, we’re are praying she has a quick recovery. The rest of us, including her husband, rode the rest of the way down the mountain and into the port. But because of this, we were a little delayed in our return and the last ones on the ship! Whew!  

Tomorrow is a sea day so I get some down time. I intend to get a massage to help alleviate some of the soreness in my thighs! 

God Natt! Christine

That’s the best Norwegian taco I’ve ever had!

The last 36 hours have been a whirlwind, the the hectic pace of our vacation travel is merely one of the reasons. On Tuesday we wrapped up our last full day in Oslo before boarding an early morning train to Bergen to catch our cruise.

First, on that last day in Oslo. Christine and I added yet another 20k steps to our fitbits seeing all the big sites around town - the revitalized Oslo harbor front, the new national museum featuring yet another version of Edvard Munch’s iconic painting “The Scream”, the oldest fort in Norway, and Oslo’s city hall. All fascinating, all definitely recommended sightseeing, but the biggest surprise was dinner.

Tacos. Yes, Norwegian Tacos. Well, actually good old Mexican tacos like queso birria by way of Norway, but still, tacos nonetheless. Norwegians are crazy about tacos, stands litter almost every street corner and Taco Friday is a well known pastime. So I had to try the tacos while in Oslo, considering they are quickly becoming the national food. I can’t make any claims toward authenticity, but four tacos I sampled were all pretty tasty..

(For more info on Norway Taco Friday, check out this link: https://theworld.org/stories/2016-09-23/be-norway-do-taco-friday)

Earlier today Christine and I boarded the train for Bergen, a six and half hour journey commonly referred to as the most beautiful train trip in all of Europe. Believe me, the scenery was stunning - bucolic villages, lush mountains, crystalline lakes - it was out of.a romantic Norwegian landscape painting.

What was less than stunning were the seats on the train. You think for 6 ½ hours we would get accorded some decent seats, but we sat on fairly firm benches hat basically made my rump go numb sever 45 minutes. It was the rough equivalent of sitting on the benches in the Pavilion section of Dodger stadium. OK I do exaggerate a touch, but it was uncomfortable.

We did finally make it to our ship, though! The ship was first afloat this year and this is only it’s 4th passenger voyage. It still has the new ship smell… ah…

We will take a much needed snooze tonight after 50k+ steps over the last 2 ½ days. Hopefully, I can keep those steps up - if I eat the same way I did tonight, I will have to be rolled off this ship.

- Joe

Hei fra Oslo!

Hello from Oslo! Well, I’m quite happy to report that we have had a lovely start to our journey. We arrived in the early evening on Sunday to a very quiet Oslo. Apparently, all of the locals are “summering” and working remotely in their summer cabins this time of year, so the city is inhabited only by those who don’t have a summer cabin and, of course, tourists. We are staying at the Revier in the city center with access to everything quintessentially Oslo. Our first meal in Oslo was not in fact Scandinavian in nature, but pizza. It was very tasty pizza and almost everyone in the restaurant was practically American, but we went for open and easily accessible for our first night in town after a long travel day.

After sleeping 11 hours (whew, jet lag got me hard!), the morning, despite a forecast of rain, was absolutely beautiful with a sun brightly shining high in the sky and temperature of a balmy 65 degrees — yes, I was still very warm and ran around the city in a t-shirt and jeans. We started our day at the famed Oslo Opera House, a stark white marble structure in the harbor that very convincingly represents an iceberg breaking through the water. With few people venturing out at 10:00 AM, we practically had the place to ourselves and had the opportunity to take some great photos of the structure itself, the harbor, and the city of Oslo from atop the Opera House. I am still not a fan of opera, but opera houses are extraordinary places and this one caters also to ballet performances and pop acts (Elvis Costello is coming in September).

The second stop of the day was to Vigelandsparken via Oslo tram. The tram was very easy to navigate and quickly transported us to our destination in quick succession — though for God’s sake crack a window! Europeans like their indoor temperatures a bit on the warm side which just makes me sweaty! On our tram was a group of retired Americans led by a woman who I could totally tell was a teacher prior to her retirement. “Carol, is this our next stop?” (said in what I believe was an east coast accent, probably Boston) was heralded through the car, “Carol, do we need our ticket to get off?” and “Carol is getting off, this must be where we go!” Carol was very patient and exacting with her instructions, she must have been an elementary school teacher in her former life, LoL. I also have a feeling we’ll probably see Carol and company on our cruise. Vigelandsparken is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist, Gustav Vigeland. His work is everywhere, more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite, and wrought iron. The sculptures are art but also intended to be touched. Children and adults climbed atop many of them, interacting with the pieces and enjoying the summer sunshine.

Our final tourist stop of the day was the Eduard Munch Museum. Now, all I know about Munch is The Scream for which there is a version in this museum. Everyone was crowded in the small room, including a large group of Norwegian children on a field trip of some kind running about and getting much too close to the art work — thank goodness there will be no children on my cruise! I didn’t realize, however, how prolific an artist Munch was and though I do find The Scream to be intriguing, I discovered that I liked a lot of his other work. His works put into visual context a lot of emotional states and his pieces on jealousy, envy, and isolation were very moving. Now, that sounds like I took a lot of time really delving into the work, but Sophia (the art teacher at my school) would be very disappointed to learn that I just read the captions on the wall and was really just drawn to the pretty colors . . . very pretty colors.

We ended our evening with dinner at a nouveau Norwegian restaurant, I mean we should try Norwegian food, right? We enjoyed our meal at The Grand Cafe, situated near the Norwegian Parliament, where I had a tame meal of a delish fish soup with mussels (yay, bivalves!) and shrimp, grilled halibut, and a raspberry mousse. Joe on the other hand, per his usual, was a bit more daring and had the chef’s menu which was raw crab with horseradish, whitefish with potatoes, cabbage, and caviar, and a pina colada pavlova. After 19,000 steps today, it’s time to rest my feet. Tomorrow still has lots of walking involved and we plan to hit up some of the sites that are closed on Mondays so still lots to see! God natt from Oslo!

4th of July in the UK – now isn’t that ironic…

Oslo, here we come, slowly but surely.

Christine and I are currently taking a brief respite in London’s Heathrow Terminal 3 before taking our onward flight to Oslo, Just two more hours, so I thought, heck, what a great opportunity to start a blog post.

I will try to keep it brief, I know I can be very long winded. But a few lessons learned from our travels so far:

The check-in line at Hertz on a holiday weekend should be considered penance for a lifetime of sins. Christine earned her penance standing in line to pick up a rental car and then dealing with a nosy Hertz employee interrogating her with a variety of totally outrageous questions…

- "Should I add your husband to your rental?”

- “Shouldn’t your husband be driving?”

- “Don’t you have a husband?”

- “Don’t you want a husband?”

On the flip side, the shuttle driver for Hertz was amazing! She took no prisoners, cutting across lanes at LAX, blasting her horn at slow cars, and putting the pedal to the medal. If I was in her path, I would be totally appalled, but since she was on our side, I was totally enthralled.

Europeans tourists believe that the ultimate vehicle for a picture perfect SoCal vacation is a convertible. Driving down an open PCH taking in the sea air is one thing, the reality is being stuck in crawling traffic on the 405 in 90+ summer heat.

Last but not least, I do want to get to the title of my post. Our flight from LA to UK was absolutely packed, with the majority of our fellow Americans traveling directly to the UK to spend their 4th of July holiday. 

Just how does an American celebrate Independence Day in the UK? Going to Buckingham Palace to flip King Charles II the bird? I just find that just a tad bit ironic…

Next post hope to be writing from Norway, until then!

Joe