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
October 3, 2016 I normally do not like organized tours, and our Old Havana (Havana Vieja) walking tour reminds me why. While the guide is good, it is largely a standing tour, listening while the guide explains some aspect of … Continue reading Havana Vieja
We got back to the ship, showered and went out into the cool of the evening. Our p2p obligations discharged for the day, we were ready to strike out on our own. I found a 1955 Chevy Bel Air convertible, … Continue reading Crusin’ the Malecon
I’ll take a break here and just sit back and enjoy the eye candy of old cars cruising through Cuba. After the revolution the state allowed people who owned cars before the revolution to keep them and even sell them. … Continue reading Cuban Eye Candy (Classic Cars)
We stopped back at the ship for a quick run to the buffet before heading out for the 9:30 show at the Café Taberna. The Café serves dinner but Lonely Planet warned us off the food there. But the mojitos … Continue reading Havana Night
October 4, 2016 Much of our trip to Cuba is defined by conditions set by the late Senator Jesse Helms in the Helms-Burton act. The act limits the conditions under which Americans can travel to Cuba. We are here on … Continue reading Sustainable Propaganda (But Nice Pictures)
Our bus tour took us through different neighborhoods of Havana, through the Miramar and Vedado neighborhoods and we arrived at the pier in time to do a little shopping. At each place we stopped the seller said “See you Saturday.” … Continue reading Sailing into a Havana Sunset.