Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland, September 4, 2017: According to our Norwegian Sea Captain, Dag, Kirkwall is from the old Norse meaning “Church Harbor.” The town is best known for St. Magnus Cathedral but the town was named for the … Continue reading A Cathedral Sets its Viking Sails
Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland, Sept 3, 2017: As Prinsendam pulled out of Reykjavik the PA chimes alerted us to a message. It started normally for a sail out with the Captain on mic, “This is your disembodied voice from the Bridge, … Continue reading Unexpected Sea Day
If you want to get to Iceland before it’s discovered, too late. While we found the Eastern, Northern and Western fjords of Iceland pleasantly un-trampled Reykjavik, which is a tidy little city, is overrun. While we were in port we … Continue reading Reykjavik
Reykjavik, Iceland, August 31: The “Golden Circle” was an invention of, I am told, Icelandic Airlines. The original low-cost pioneer. It was licensed to fly people to and from Iceland, however the flight from New York to Keflevik would renumber … Continue reading Cold Mist, Hot Mist and the Mother of Parliaments
John Luther Adams, a composer who spent most of his professional life in Alaska, won the Pulitzer prize for his composition “Become Ocean” an orchestral piece performed by the Seattle Symphony. The peace is about the Greenland Ice sheet becoming … Continue reading “Become Ocean”
Aappilattoq, Greenland, August 29, 2017: Aappilattoq is a village at the entrance to Prins Christian Sund. Prinsendam called at a few days ago to deliver pizza. Today we returned. The Captain had arranged for a limited shore visit. He set … Continue reading An Accidental Cruise Port
Hvalsey, Greenland, August 27, 2008: For twice as long as the United States has existed, from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, almost 500 years, the Norse hung on as farmers in southern Greenland. Then they disappeared. There is speculation … Continue reading 500 Years and Gone.
Qaqortoq, Greenland, August 28, 2017: Walking around Qaqortoq is like participating in a scavenger hunt. In the 1990s Greenlander artist Aka Hoegh commissioned 18 Norse artists to carve reliefs into many of the town’s rocks. The project is called “Stone … Continue reading Stone and Man in Qaqortoq, Greenland,
Qaqortoq, Greenland, August 28, 2017: Qaqortoq is three times the size of Nanortalik with half its charm. It’s the administrative center of Southern Greenland. It has bright painted houses, like Nanortalik but many of them are apartment buildings. You may … Continue reading A Fountain in the Center of South Greenland.
August 27, 2017, Nanortalik, Greenland: Nanortalik is the southernmost town in Greenland, it has about 1,300 people, which makes it a pretty big town for Greenland. Lonely Planet says it is magnificent with soaring mountains surrounding the town. This Sunday … Continue reading “Nearer My God to Thee” and Icebergs
I would wager that not many of you have been through Prins Christian Sund. I would also wager that some of you will never go through the Sund. If you do it will be different, with changing weather, day to … Continue reading Prins Christian Sund Redux
I may be riding on the most expensive pizza delivery truck in the world. We were cruising through Prince Christian Sound in southern Greenland, approaching the village of Aappilattoq, a town of around 200 people. The Captain came on the … Continue reading Pizza Delivery and Old Whalers’ Drawings.
According to Lonely Planet Isafjordur in the Westfjord country is best known for its folk museum and for a tunnel that has a “T” intersection in the middle. One part of the T goes to the town of Sudureri and … Continue reading Waterfalls, Tunnels and Sustainable Fisheries.
We berthed in Akureuri, which styles itself “The Capital of the North.” Akureuri, Iceland’s second city, sits at the head of the Eyjafjorur, a 60 mile long arm of water reaching into the interior of Iceland from the Arctic Ocean. … Continue reading Where North America and Europe Drift Apart
You approach Eskifjordur by sailing down the Reydarfjord until you see a big aluminum smelter. A small fjord, Eskifjord, branches off to the starboard. At the end of that small fjord you see some gleaming white fuel tanks. This is … Continue reading Aluminium and Fish, Eskifjordur, Iceland,
They call themselves isolated. They sit in the Atlantic between Iceland, Norway and Scotland, somewhere around 50,000 people on 17 or 18 islands. But to me they are fully connected. They have weekly ferry service to Denmark, Scotland and Iceland … Continue reading Isolation depends on your point of view.
Johannes Patursson is a “King’s Farmer.” His family has been farming the same land at Kirkjubour in the Faroe Islands for 17 generations, since the Reformation. Kirkjubour, on Steymoy Island, is a town of a little over 200. It was … Continue reading The King’s Farmer
Torshavn, Faroe Islands, August 21, 2017: Holland America assured us that they loved whales but wanted to warn us. “Holland America expressly disassociates itself from whaling. We cannot control the cultural of the areas of the world to which we … Continue reading Torshavn, Faroe Islands.
Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland: The Shetland islands, no ponies, but we did see a goat. He was raising money to buy an infrared camera to be used by the Lerwick Lifeboat Society, the local search and rescue. We met him … Continue reading Shetland, No Ponies
We are onboard and underway, on our cruise to Iceland and Greenland. But we weren’t sure that this would happen. I had complications from surgery the week before we left for Amsterdam and I didn’t get clearance from the docs … Continue reading Rising to Sea Level, the North Sea Canal.
Here are the promised pics from Amsterdam’s Canals on an absolutely beautiful day taken from the hop on/hop off cruise. Continue reading Amsterdam Canals
Our Cruise to Iceland and Greenland leaves from Amsterdam. Given the vagaries of Alaska weather and our desire to avoid jet lag on the cruise we arrived in Amsterdam with four nights and three days to acclimatize. Amsterdam is … Continue reading Amsterdam Thoughts
October 2, 2016 Post 0, Milepost 0. This is a series of blog posts on our trip to Cuba on the cruise ship Adonia run by Fathom Cruises. It is the first cruise ship licensed to travel directly from … Continue reading Cuba 2016
October 3, 2016 As a kid I used to read Scholastic Magazines as part of my social studies program. They were a mix of history and current affairs laced with a lot of 50s Americanism. These magazines first interested me … Continue reading C.U. in CUBA