Norway—the Short Story
The aboriginal settlers in Scandinavia were the Sami, called Lapplanders. The
Sami are nomadic owners of reindeer herds, which they follow in annual forages along
the northern rim of Europe from Norway to Russia and back.
The Norse were a north German people recognized in Roman times as traders and
farmers, and hunters—as well as warriors. Unlike the rest of Europe, which concentrated
into cities and had regional lords, the Norse lived in small and isolated villages, each led
by a local lord. The coastal Norse were skilled sailors who had a knack for surviving
under extremely harsh conditions. Their primary products were cod and herring, which
were salted and traded with Europe, and walrus tusks, a valuable source of ivory. The
Norse diet was heavily beef and dairy products, a diet that made them inordinately tall
and strong.
The Norse were pagans who lived in ignorance of the Christianity growing around
them; they were the last Europeans to become Christian,
The Advent of the Vikings
The Vikings were a class of early Norse who specialized in raiding (the term
Viking means “raider). In the earlier days they exploited coastal villages in their region
as well as traders who passed by within their raiding radius. But with the advent of the
very seaworthy Viking longboat, which moved at a fast 14-15 knots, and with the
development of crude navigation devices like the lodestone, the Vikings left the littoral
and ranged over the open seas, traveling great distances from their home ports—
Greenland and North America included.
In 793AD the Vikings exploded onto Europe’s stage with their first raid on
Britain, in the Anglo-Saxon area of Northumbria. Early Viking raids were not directed at
the villages—they were too poor—but at the Christian monasteries, where gold and silver
could be found. The Vikings found the Christian priests an easy target because of their
lack of defenses and their devotion to peace. The strategy was simple—they took
religious relics, items like crosses, bowls, and perhaps St. Elizabeth’s fourth left pinky
finger, and ransomed them back to the churches. These easy pickings led to additional
raids until the entire British territory was terrified of the “Danes.”
Norse sagas attest to the powerful positions attained by some Vikings. In 860AD
Ganger Hrolfr (“Rollo”) was born in Ålesund, just below the Arctic Circle. Rollo was
among the most notorious and successful of the Viking raiders, making several
expeditions to northern France to harry the Franks. He was so successful that the Franks
stopped fighting him and started bribing him. In 911AD the Frankish king, Charles the
Simple, deeded Rollo the land that is now much of Normandy; its new occupants, the
Norsemen, came to be called Normans.
Yet another famous Viking was Ragnar Lödbrok, known from the Norse saga
Ragnars Saga Lodbrokar and the subject of the recent television miniseries The Vikings.
The story is a mixture of legend and reality rather than an historical statement, but it is
typical of tales of Viking heroes.
1066AD was a banner year for Vikings and for Britain. At the time, Britain
consisted of a number of independent states (Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Saxony); all
except Wessex were under Anglo-Saxon rule. The Anglo-Saxon king, Edward the
Confessor, died in January of 1066 and a scramble for his throne began. Harold
Godwinson was elected Anglo-Saxon king, but contenders challenged him. Two of those
contenders were Norwegian king Harald Siggurdson, called Hardrada (“stern counsel”),
and William, Duke of Normandy.
In the fall of 1066 Harald Siggurdson and Harold Godwinson’s brother joined
forces to invade northern England. They landed at in the Shetland and Orkney Islands
and, after early successes, they worked their way south until both were killed near York in
September, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Their remaining forces returned to Norway.
At the time of the northern invasion Harold Godwinson was expecting an attack
in the south by William, Duke of Normandy. Harold’s forces were concentrated in the
south and were sent northward to counter Harald Siggurson’s army. As soon as they
could, they hurried south to meet the Duke of Normandy. As we know, Harold
Godwinson was defeated at the Battle of Hastings; he was Britain’s last Anglo-Saxon
king.
Only Alfred the Great’s Wessex remained independent. Alfred’s lifelong goal was
a united England and he set the institutional foundations for what is now England. Those
interested in this period might want to read Bernard Cornwell’s exciting historical fiction
series The Saxon Tales.
Norse Cosmology
Much of our knowledge of Viking cosmology and mythology comes from the
Norse Sagas and from the Poetic Edda, a 13th Century collection of earlier poems of
Norse history; the Poetic Edda is considered the greatest contribution in Scandinavian
literature. An example of modern verse translations of some of the poems is The Legend
of Sigurd and Gudrun, a compilation of Norse poems translated to English by J.R.R.
Tolkien and edited by his son. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is an adaptation of
Norse stories called the XX.
Also in the 13th century, at around 1250AD, the Prose Edda was written by the
Icelandic poet Snorri Sturlusson. The Prose Edda was a manual on writing poetry that
2
used the earlier poems of the Poetic Edda and other sources (such as heroic sagas),
connecting them together with prose evaluations.
The Norse cosmology says that in the beginning there was a place of cold, ice,
and fog named Nilfheim. Far to Nilfheim’s south was a land of fire called Muspelheim. t
Muspelheim was populated by Jötuns (Giants) who created fire; the chief Jötun was the
fire giant Surt.
The area between Nilfheim and Muspelheim was an uninhabited void. The fires of
the south crept northward and the ice of the north crept southward until they met and the
fire melted the ice, At that boundary a new creature was created—a giant troll named
Ymir. Ymir slept for ages, during which he gave birth to the first gods, including Odin
and his two brothers, as well as to a large and growing number of Jötun.
Odin and his brothers feared being outnumbered by the always growing number
of Jötuns so they killed Ymir, whose body became the world—his brain became the
clouds, his skull the sky, his blood the water, his bones the earth, his hair the grass and
trees, and so on. Ymir’s eyelashes became Midgard, the land of humans.
Odin and his brothers became the chief male gods (the Æesir) and they created
Asgard, a realm where they lived with their goddesses (the Asanjur) and their children,
animals, and servants. The Jötuns were relegated to their own distant realm (Jötunheim).
The gods were not immortal—they could be killed but they could never die from old age
or illness.
Another lesser class of gods, the Vanir, arose in the realm called Vanheim. There
were a total of nine realms, all organized around the Tree of Life, named Yggdrasil. Each
creature had its own realm: the Æesir and the Asynjur in Asgard; the Vanir in Vanaheim;
humans live in Midgard; the Jötun in Joutunheim; the unworthy dead in Helheim; elves,
dwarfs, trolls, and norns also have their own realms.
At the base of Yggdasdril were three Norns, women with knowledge of the future,
who maintained the Tree of Life and who spun the Thread of Fate that defines the
destinies of both men and gods. It isthis thread that defines the events in our lives, not the
gods. The Norse gods do not sit by he telephone waiting for a call for help from
Midgard; they intervene in mankind’s affairs only as observers or as a cleanup crew, as
when they take the souls of the dead.
The dead go to three places. Those who die bravely in battle, their hands still
holding their swords, are whisked away by the Valkyries to Asgard to live in Valhalla,
Odin’s Great Hall; there they await Ragnorök, the final battle, while engaging in joyous
combat during the day and festive partying and storytelling at night. Those slain in battle
who are worthy but not taken by the Valkyries to Asgard are taken by the goddess Freyja
to her field Fólkvangr, also to await the final battle. The remainder—essentially women,
noncombatant males, and unworthy males slain in battle, go to Helheim, the domain of
the Goddess Hel.
3
The Norse Pantheon
The list of Viking deities is very long. The chief male deities, the Æsir are the
epitome of the manly arts—strength, war, pillage, wisdom, courage. Below the Æsir, but
living and interacting with them, are the Vanir, gods generally associated with the finer
things. The nine worlds are separate realms but they can interact, as when the gods in
Asgard and the humans in Midgard travel to each other’s realm of the Rainbow Bridge
(called XX ).
In addition, there is a very long list of other beings, including apocalyptic animals
like Fenrir the Wolf and the Midgard Serpent and—as noted above—strange creatures
like Jötuns, Norns, Trolls, Elves and Dwarfs. Fenrir the Wolf and the Midgard Serpent
play an important role in the world’s destiny.
Some of the most frequently named gods and goddesses are:
 Odin (from whom we have “Wednesday”)—the chief and oldest of the Æesir
and the god of wisdom and knowledge. Odin lives in Asgard with his wife
Frigg andtheir sons Hödr (who is blind but able to see the future) and Baldr.
Odin’s thirst for knowledge was demonstrated when he plucked out one eye to
give it to Mimir in exchange for knowledge from his knowledge, and when he
hanged himself on Yggdarsil, the tree of life, until the secrets of the runes
(the Norse alphabet) were revealed to him. That Odin was wise and had all
knowledge is a reflection of the best attributes of a Norse lord—he should not
be directly involved in war but should cleverly guide his clan toward victory.
Odin is associated with death—he sends his Valkyries to bring men who died in
battle still holding their swords to Valhalla.
 Tyr (“Tuesday”), the Æesir god of war and the bravest of the gods. Tyr lost his
right hand in the jaws of the great wolf Fenrir when the gods, knowing that
Fenrir will cause great destruction, trapped him and tied him up. At the end of
the Æesir-Vanir war Tyr and another god killed each other, demonstrating the
mortality of the gods.
 Thor (“Thursday”), the Æesir blacksmith, was a god of strength and a protector
of mankind whose hammer Mjölnir was a magical weapon that generated
thunder and lightning and could destroy mountains; when Mjölnir was thrown it
would fly back to Thor’s hand after doing its damage. Thor was red-haired,
ill-tempered, and only moderately smart. His 540-room house was
the first McMansion and the largest dwelling in Asgard.
4
 Freyr, the Æesir god of fertility and peace, was a Vanir until the war
between the Æesir and the Vanir ended in a truce and Freyr, his sister Freya,
and their father Njördr, (from whom “Nord” and “Norse”) were transferred to
Asgard as hostages.
 Freya (“Friday), sister of Freyr, the goddess of love. She went to Asgard
along with Freyr as a hostage and became an Asanjur.
 Loki, the god of deceit and cunning, a prankster who loved to play tricks on his
fellow gods and on mankind and who created great troubles, as when he tricked
Hödr, the blind son of Odin and Frigg, into killing his brother Baldr. Loki is
the father of the Great Wolf Fenrir, of the Midgard Serpent (a sea serpent who
will grow so large as to encircle the earth) and of the goddess Hel, who rules the
netherworld of Helheim. Loki, clearly the black sheep of the gods. began as a
Vanir but in some writings he was elevated to the Æesir. He, and particularly
his children, will play a role in the end of the world.
 Freyja, a Vanir goddess, selects the more meritorious of men slain in combat
(those not taken by Odin to Valhalla) to be taken to her field Fólkvangr. The
rest go to Hel.
 Njördr, a Vanir, the god of the sea and father of Freyr and Freya. He was
transferred with his children to Asgard as a hostage after the Æesir-Vanir war.
 Hœnir, an Æsir and a god of leadership. Hœnir became leader of the Vanir after
he was sent to Vanheim as a hostage following the Æesir-Vanir war.
 Mimir, a Vanir and a god of wisdom, controlled access to the Well of
Knowledge. He became counselor to Hœnir after they were transferred to
Vanhim as hostages following the Æesir-Vanir war.
The Æesir-Vanir War
Originally the Æsir and the Vanir were separate groups: the Æsir lived in Asgard
and the Vanir in Vanheim. But once upon a time the Vanir goddess Freya visited Asgard,
where she was welcomed for her powers to divine the future. Many Æsir objected to her
presence, arguing that her powers were being misused to gain wealth and that she was
undermining the Æsir standards of good conduct. They tried to murder her, an act that
angered the Vanir.
Eventually this hostility grew into war when Odin sent an army to invade
Vanaheim. A long conflict ensued with no clear victor; the Aesir fought under the rules
of war, but the weaker Vanir countered through deceit and trickery. Eventually the
stalemate ended with a truce and an exchange of hostages: Njördr and his children Freyr
and Freya were sent by the Vanir to Asgard in exchange for Mimir and Hœnir.
5
Ragnarök: The Norse End Time
The Norse have a story of the predestined end-time, called Ragnarök. There will
be a great war when the Æsir, the Vanir, and the dead from Valhalla and Fólkvangr unite
against the Jötun, the Midgard Serpent, Fenrir the Wolf, and the dishonorable dead from
Hel. The Midgard Serpent will spew poisonous vapors and create giant waves until it and
Thor kill each other. The Jötuns, led by the fire giant Surt, will make the seas boil. Odin
and Fenrir will kill each other. Most gods will die, but the children of Odin and of Thor
will survive to create a new life in Idavoll—a realm previously uninhabited and
untouched by the war—will be the new home of the gods. Two humans (yes, a male and a
female) will survive by hiding under Yggdrasil, the tree of life. Those two humans will
populate a new land called Okolnir.
And so it goes…
From Paganism to Christianity
Norway was the last region of Europe to convert from pagan beliefs to
Christianity. The first to attempt at conversion was by King Olaf Tryggvason (Olaf I),
who reigned briefly from 995-1000AD. According to the sagas, in about 985AD Olaf
was on an expedition and met a seer who foretold that Olaf would be badly wounded in a
battle, but he would recover and would be baptized. After that he would oversee the
conversion of many other pagans.
The battle—and Olaf’s injury—came about. Olaf recovered and was baptized.
When Olaf became king in 950AD, placing his seat at Trondheim, he attempted to force
widespread conversion from the age-old paganism to the new Christianity. Those who
refused were executed, which, of course, increased the number of Christians but not
necessarily the number of believers. The much-maligned Olaf died in battle in 1000AD
before the conversion could take hold.
The next effort to replace paganism was by another Olaf, the more benign Olaf
Harraldson, known as Olaf the Fat, who became Olaf II in 1015. Olaf II avoided the
pitfalls of Olaf I’s efforts at conversion: rather than force conversion, he made Christian
laws the laws of Norway and changed the institutional fabric of the country to encourage
Christianity. Still, he encountered considerable opposition from non-Christians and,
more importantly, from local lords who opposed his efforts to solidify his kingship by
uniting Norway. In 1028AD King Cnut of Sweden and Denmark invaded Norway and
6
deposed Olaf II, who was killed in a later battle with Cnut in 1030AD. In 1160AD Olaf
II was canonized as St. Olaf.
Because the two Olafs had made headway toward Christianizing Norway, and
because both Denmark and Sweden, with which Norway was now united, were Christian,
the conversion of Norway continued. It was largely completed by 1150AD, and fully
completed by 1250AD. Initially, of course, the conversion was to Catholicism. But the
Lutheran reformation led in 1537 to creation of the Church of Norway, to which about 85
percent of the population belongs.
Early Trade: The Hanseatic League
Production and trade in medieval Europe was organized through guilds called
hansa that regulated the quality of products, the methods of production, the prices at
which they could be traded, the trade routes, and the trading organizations. In effect, a
guild had a local guild had a monopoly on its crafts (cloth, commodities, jewelry, and so
on), and regional guilds were organized to synchronize the trade in goods.
The League was the major trade and defense organization in northern Europe and
Scandinavia between its origin in the German city of Lübeck (1149AD) to the early 16th
century when the League reached its zenith. Thereafter, the original cities and regions
were consolidated into nations whose kings favored state trading enterprises and
withdrew the trade rights given earlier to the League. Another pressure came from
change in both the products and methods of trade, and the development of the notion of
competition as appositive rather than negative force in commerce. By the 19th century the
League’s power was very weak, but it continued until its official end by Hitler’s decree in
1934.
The League was a collaboration of cities along the northern European littoral in
which the member cities gave specific trading rights to the organization. Lübeck was the
original city in the League because it specialized in two important commodities—wood,
from which wooden casks were made for shipping goods, and salt, which was the most
important commodity shipped in casks. Fish, particularly herring and cod, were major
exports of Scandinavia and casks of salt were sold to Scandinavian regions. The salt was
used to preserve the fish, and the fish were packed in the casks to be traded throughout
the area. The security of trade required insurance of the ships and defenses for the cities
and for the ships en route, so the Hanseatic League was a financial and military
organization as well as a trading organization.
As trade grew the number of cities central to the League’s operations increased,
extending the League’s trading routes along the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts from
London to Novogorod. At its peak the major cities in the League were London (England;
1250AD); Brügge (Belgium; 1347AD); Bergen (Norway; 1360AD); Lübeck (Germany;
1149AD), Hambürg and Köln (Germany), Falsterbo and Visby (Sweden), Riga (Latvia),
and Novogorod (Russia; 1259). Many other subsidiary cities were League members.
7
Oil and Norway
Well into the 20th century Norway was a fringe nation with an economy
depending on the sea: fishing and merchant marine services. During World War II it was
a strategic region because of its reserves of iron ore and its proximity to Russia and to
Germany. In 1940 Norway was occupied by Hitler, who thought that the Allies would
attack through Norway.
In the early 1960’s The Norwegian government established a program for leasing
oil field rights and exploring for oil on the Norwegian coast; this was (the story goes)
done over the objection of one Norwegian government geologist who is reported to have
been so sure that there was no Norwegian oil that he promised to drink a glass of it if any
were found!
Philips Petroleum won the drilling oil rights and drilled its first well in 1966. It,
and all succeeding wells, came up dry until August of 1969, when a major reserve of oil
was found. At its peak in the early 1990s, annual Norwegian production was 40 million
metric tons (293 million barrels) per year. While oil production has fallen since then,
natural gas production has continually increased.
Since oil began flowing in 1971, Norway has experienced a remarkable increase
in its financial wealth and income. 2014 per capita income is roughly $65,000, well
above the U. S. Revenues from oil and natural gas leases and production are placed in
two sovereign nation funds: the Government Pension Fund—Global, with assets of
$857.1 billion in 2014, and the Government Pension Fund—Norway; the first and largest
invests in global securities, the second is confined to Norwegian securities. These are not
pension funds in the normal sense—they do not collect pension premiums from
individuals and businesses, and they do not pay benefits to individuals. Rather, they are
national pensions, created for the nation’s old age. In 2014 the Global Fund’s assets were
about 2½ times Norwegian GDP and amounted to almost $170,000 per capita. If we
assume a “draw” of 5 percent, the Global Fund contributed about 15 percent of all
Norwegian government revenues in 2014.
Norway is a very centralized economy. About 85 percent of national spending
(GDP) is by government—far greater than the 25 percent in the U. S. Taxes are very
high—the total tax burden is about 45 percent of GDP; this includes a 25-percent ValueAdded Tax and income tax rates up to 55 percent. The high national tax rate and income
from the Government Pension Funds finance a plethora of social programs, including free
education and free health care. Norway’s ability to maintain its social programs without
further increases in its already high taxes or cuts in existing programs will depend on the
earnings from its sovereign funds.
8
Norway and Other Baltic Nations
9
Page Intentionally Left Blank
10
Cruising The Norwegian Fjords
July 8 - 26, 2015
Prologue
In August of 2014 we made a big decision. We would sell our Weston house at 10
Ridgehurst Circle and spend all of our up-north time at the Annisquam house (The
Barnacle) on 25 River Road in Gloucester. All that this would require was minor
renovations—more storage space, extra closet space in the master bedroom, and so on.
So we put the Weston house on the market and followed our realtor’s (bad) advice to
empty it. All of the furniture was either sent to the kids or put in storage for the move to
Annisquam once the renovations were done. I also rented our second house in
Annisquam to a friend for three years.
Then the s**t hit the fan. In 2013 our neighbor on the yacht-club side of the
Barnacle demolished their old house and started constructing a massive “dream house.”
Part of that project was to rebuild their sea wall. Little did any of us know that water rats
lived in that seawall, and they were not happy about their house being improved. They
decided to move next door, and they infested the Barnacle. They ate the insulation on the
wiring, destroyed ducting for air conditioning and heating, and fouled the under-floor
area. As we uncovered the damaged areas we found that our original renovation in 2000
had been very badly done and significant departures from the building code were found.
As a result, our minor renovation became a major reconstruction—new electrical
wiring, new heating and air conditioning, ripping up all floors to remove the rats and their
leavings, and generally building a new house leaving only the exterior walls unchanged.
Our three-month project has now lasted almost a year, and will not be finished until late
this fall—if then.
One consequence of these decisions and of the Barnacle’s problems is that while
we own three Massachusetts houses, none of them are available for the 2015 summer
season. Our Plan A was to stay in Naples, Florida for the entire summer. But as that
approached we realized that it would be too hot and too lonely—all of our friends would
be gone. So Plan B was to stay in Naples but to take a cruise on Seabourn to the
Norwegian fjords; we booked that cruise. Then we realized that we wanted to be up
north, so we decided to go north with Myeerah, our 90-foot yacht, and to live on her until
the Seabourn cruise began. On our return from Norway we would move to a rented
house in Annisquam for one month, then back to Myeerah until the Barnacle was
completed.
11
The trip north on Myeerah was a minor disaster, with all sorts of mechanical and
electrical problems. But we arrived at Wentworth-by-the-Sea Marina in Portsmouth, NH,
on July 1, stayed on Myeerah for six days, then we departed for Norway.
Day 1: Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Boston, MA to Copenhagen, Denmark
At 2:30pm Captain Eric, Chef Meghan, Joan and I left Myeerah and drove to
Logan Airport, where we took a Delta flight to Amsterdam with connection to
Copenhagen. Eric and Meghan then went off for a well-earned vacation in Boston.
The flight took off at 7:45pm EST (July 9, 1:45am Europe Time) and was
uneventful, except for the new “seating” on modern international air travel—tunnel-like
seats that fully recline but leave little room for movement. We landed at Amsterdam’s
Schiphol Airport at 8:00am Amsterdam/Copenhagen time. (all times will now be
European times). This led to a very long death march through the massive airport, a
serious pain for the oldest people in the airport—from observation at Schiphol, you’d
think that nobody in Amsterdam is over 40 so we must have been the oldest. We trudged
unhappily from gate 57 on the D concourse to the central area, then miles across all the
shops, then through Passport control and on to our gate on the C concourse (fortunately
not at the far end of the concourse). I liked the old days when airports were small and
gates were accessible, unlike the modern nation-size airports. But then, I like the old
days!
We finally made it with one of us bitching and moaning (Joan is always so calm!).
At 10:15am we spread our wings for Copenhagen’s smaller—more California-size—
airport, arriving at 11:15am. As we reached baggage claim I tried to sit down on one of
our carry-on bags (there being no seating available for tired passengers). The bag slipped
out from under me, leaving me sprawled on the floor, belly up like a beached whale. I
could hear smartphone cameras clicking, and I fully expect to be on Youtube. A very
attractive young blonde girl flew to my side expressing great concern. I assured her I was
OK, and she left. I tried the same trick several more times but she never came back!
Eventually we exited the airport to be greeted by a very nice driver who took us to
the d’Anglaterre Hotel in Copenhagen’s center. A receptionist (also young, blonde, and
very attractive) led us to our suite. The hotel is 260-years old and has recently been
refurbished—it was a very nice room with a good-size living room, a massive bathroom,
and a very inviting bed. Joan unpacked our clothes while I unpacked my carryon
suitcase full of: electrical adaptors (2), chargers for iPads and iPhones (2), chargers for
iMacs (1), my CPAP machine with power cord (1), CPAP machine battery backup (1),
charger for CPAP machine battery (1). It only took a couple of hours to get everything
operating. What have we come to????
Then we slept until 6:00pm. On waking we ordered Club sandwiches for dinner
and sat down to watch a movie. I had been carefully instructed on how to use the TV:
press TV ON, then press MENU and select what you want from the menu. I thought that
12
even I could do that, but I must not have listened carefully. I got the TV started, but
repeated attempts to select MENU were ignored. I even tried looking away from the TV
while I repeatedly hit MENU, hoping that I could fool it into working. Finally, I called
reception and admitted that I am totally stupid, only to learn that there was a problem
with the system and that it would be fixed ASAP—As Soon as the Administrator Pleases.
We watched a J-Lo movie called The Boy Next Door, the best we could find of the
142 movies available. It’s a charming story about a woman whose husband is unfaithful
and has been kicked out. She gets it on with the 19-year old who turns out to be a manic
murderer. That’s it—no need for you to see it!
At 10:00pm we retired, tangled in our technology wires. And so to bed…
Day 2: Friday, July 10, 2015 (Europe Time)
In Copenhagen, Denmark
At 10:00am we awoke, having had 12 hours of sleep due to the ministrations of
Ms. Ambien. After dressing we discovered that my iPhone is somewhere else—I have
lost it. This is not good news, especially since I had just bought an international plan that
would allow us to use it as a Wi-Fi hotspot. We went into search mode and it couldn’t be
found—if Joan can’t find something, it is lost! (Is that a female thing?)
So I disabled the phone using the “Find my iPhone” feature, locking it with a code
that a two-year old Mongoloid could break. At 1:00pm we went down to lunch, where
we each had a very good green salad for only €35 each—a bargain at half the price. Joan
went out to find a store to buy something—any store, any thing. I went back to our room
to figure out how to turn the lights on. I had an email from Lara that a Delta stewardess
had found my phone on the plane and was returning it to her. All’s well that ends well,
so they say! But when I last looked, the phone was in Portland, Oregon. We’ll see if I
get it.
At 6:30pm we walked across the street to a restaurant, The Fishmarket, where we
both had excellent dinners with our new Danish friends. Then back to the hotel where we
vigorously vetted the opportunities for movie and TV viewing, scrubbing them all in
favor of reading. The nightlife in Denmarkland is slow! Well, we are just slow—the
nightlife is fast, as the abundance of young people showed. Do they shoot everyone over
sixty?
And so to bed…
Day 3: Saturday, July 11, 2015
Copenhagen, Denmark to Bergen, Norway
A very poor night of sleep—perhaps it was an Ambien kickback plus jet lag—
ended at 9:00am as we rose for another day of travel. Joan went off to breakfast and
brought back a couple of muffins for me. We packed our bags, checked out, and at noon
13
our car took us to the cruise ship docks to board Seabourn Quest, where we will finally
reach stasis for two weeks. Another solace is that we will be among old people.
Seabourn Quest has a capacity of about 450 passengers, and this trip has over 400
paying guests; the other rooms are temporary folks like lecturers. We were among the
first to arrive and we quickly checked in at the dock and went aboard for lunch and to
wait for our stateroom to be ready at 2:00pm. At 3:15pm we attended the mandatory
evacuation drill (which we all know is useless) to learn the location of our assembly area,
that is, where our bodies will be found when the ship goes down.
By 4:00pm we were back in our room, and at 4:15pm the Seabourn Quest gently
departed from the dock. The sea was very quiet as we headed toward Bergen, the spot
where Edgar Bergen must have been born (or was it Charlie McCarthy?). It is a long
trip—at our breakneck speed of 13.7 knots, we won’t arrive until Monday morning.
At 6:30pm we had dinner in our stateroom, after which we watched an episode of
Scandal on my computer (hookups to TV won’t work here). And so to bed…
Day 4: Sunday, July 12, 2015
At Sea
I had a very good night, sleeping deeply until the ship’s horn began sounding
rhythmically at 6:00am because of fog, then still sleeping well though with dreams of
ships in fog. Joan, regrettably, did not sleep well for the second night in a row. I don’t
know how she stands it!
As soon as we got up at around 9:00am, the fog lifted and the foghorn stopped.
The rest of the day was spent beating our way into 1-2 foot head seas—not bad at all. We
had breakfast in our room. Then Joan went to the spa for a massage and to a morning
bridge lesson, returning to he room at about 12:30pm. We skipped lunch, and she went to
an afternoon bridge lesson while I went to a lecture (Bergen: Gateway to the Fiords) on
Norway as a nation and Bergen as a city.
I learned many important things: Norway (falsely) claims the invention of the
paperclip; Norway drinks more coffee per capita than any other nation. Perhaps more
importantly, Norway was merged with Denmark from 1524 to 1814, then with Sweden
from 1814 to 1905; in 1905 it became independent. Norway was the last European area to
be Christianized—Olaf I unsuccessfully attempted forced Christianization in the 10th
century, and in the 11th century Olaf the Fat effectively Christianized the country, for
which he was canonized.
After the lecture I slipped on a warm coat and sat outside on our balcony to read.
Then a nap, and out to dinner at The Restaurant, tieless in spite of the “formal dress”
requirement. Then back to the room to find that I had left my glasses at the dining table.
I’m losing everything these days—my AMEX card at the Wentworth Hotel restaurant
before we left, my iPhone on the plane, and now my glasses. It’s because we are literally
14
homeless and I don’t have any normal space to put things. Fortunately, I’ve gotten all the
lost items back, but the problem is psychological—I have no sense of place!
After dinner we watched another episode of Scandal and waited for someone to
bring my glasses. And so to bed…
Day 5: Monday, July 13, 2015
Arrive Bergen, Norway; Depart for Flåm, Norway
We awoke at 8:00am just as the Quest finalized its docking at Bergen, and just as
our breakfast arrived. It had been a poor night of sleep—it always is when I know I have
to get up early—but it was better for Joan. The sky was heavily overcast. At 8:45am we
joined a group for our trek to the tour bus that would take us on a flyby of old Bergen,
then to the Stave Church at Fantloft, and finally to the tramway that would take us to the
top of one of the seven hills of Bergen.
Bergen’s Waterfront
Bergen (nee Bryggen) was founded in 1360 as a maritime fishing and trade center
for the Hanseatic League. (See Norway—The Short Story). Bergen is still a trading center
and is Norway’s most significant port. But now the trade is largely in oil. The Bergen
waterfront still has the old wooden houses—narrow for their height and connected in a
line—that were offices of the Hanseatic League merchants; they are now shops. Bergen’s
waterfront is cited as the most beautiful example of a medieval village found in Europe.
The city was, of course, originally constructed in wood and has burned many times, so
the current buildings are more recent and are built on the bones of earlier buildings.
The harbor is set in a bowl of water ringed by mountains, i.e. high hills. Central
Bergen, the area around the harbor, is a mix of the old and the new. The old is itself a
mix—along the waterfront you get high and narrow wooden structures built with
crenelated tin roofs mixed with white structures having red “Dutch-style” tile roofs—
charming old buildings. You also get dirty box-like and charmless office buildings that
dominate as you get farther from the center. There is interesting architecture around the
15
area, but the larger buildings tend to look bleakly soulless. Perhaps in an area that is itself
bleak except for the two days of summer, bleak doesn’t stand out.
We took a bus tour of Bergen’s highlights. Our first stop was the Fantloft Stave
Church, touted as the only remaining early wooden structure; it blends a motif of dragon
heads—a primary pagan symbol—into a Christian religious site. But in fact it is not
original—it was moved from another site in the 1920s and in 1992 (yes! 1992) it was
torched by a “devil worshipper,” then faithfully rebuilt.
Another early Bergen site is Håkon’s Hall, built as a palace in the 13th century,
and the attached Rosenkrantz Tower, built in the 15th century. Both are built of stone and
were sited to guard access to Bergen’s harbor. Yes, the Rosenkrantz of Hamlet (good
friend of Guildenstern) is taken from this name.
Then we drove to Mount Ulriken and took the tramway up about 450 vertical feet
to a 2,100-foot altitude above the harbor. The view was stunning—down onto Bergen
harbor and the adjoining bays and inlets in the area. It was supplemented by a small
flock of sheep bleating their way around the crags. Fortunately, the clouds had lifted
enough to give a clear view. The bleak office buildings disappeared in the view, leaving a
medieval village. We stayed on top for an hour, having refreshments and enjoying the
crisp, clean air and the crisper sights of Bergen below us.
We were whisked back to our ship at 12:30pm, which was scheduled to leave on
an overnight for Flåm at 6:00pm. And it did, right on schedule. The cruise ship that had
been blocking our view had just left, and the sun shone on the Bergen waterfront—a
perfect photo—as we slowly backed out, pivoted, and started on our way to Flåm.
The overnight trip to Flåm was gentle and uneventful. We had dinner in our
room, watched some more Scandal, and retired at 10:00pm. And so to bed…
Day 6: Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Arrive Flåm; Depart for Ålesund, Norway
We awoke at 7:30am at our berth in Flåm, looking out on a steep mountain
covered in fog, and down on a quaint tourist lodge filled with Norwegians. Flåm is at the
foot of the Sognefjord, a very long and wide fjord with undoubtedly beautiful views along
the sides—views that we won’t see from the ship because we arrived and will depart at
night.
Bicyclists were riding along the small canal, and the color of the day was deep
green below, and deep gray above. It had rained but that appeared to be at an end. Today
is our longest excursion of the trip: seven hours by train and bus through what is reported
to be some of the most scenic terrain in Norway. We will do the bus ride first, then the
glorious train ride; the other half of our peers will do the train first. Our assignment is a
matter of good luck that allowed the clouds to lift before the train ride. But unfortunately,
while the clouds lifted they didn’t disappear, and it was a very gray day.
16
At 8:30pm we gathered on the pier to meet our busses. Three busses whisked us
through valleys and mountains up to the town of Stalheim, where we had coffee and a
Danish, and a very impressive view. Stalheim sits in a narrow valley between very high
cliffs. Its attraction is a couple of farms in the valley, and the Shalheim Hotel. The hotel
is a red wooden building high on a small plateau overlooking a deep drop into the valley
below. It is a perfect defensive position, which is undoubtedly why, after invading
Norway in 1940s, the Germans occupied the hotel and built a bunker. If you go out in the
garden area and look over a wall, you see a straight drop of hundreds of feet.
View from the Stalheim Hotel
After Stalheim we took the busses to the valley town of Voss, a near metropolis of
14,000 residents where there is a pretty lake, a period-1870s hotel, and a train station.
We had lunch at the hotel, then we boarded a train for the return to Flåm. That trip was in
two legs: from Voss to a tiny train stop at Myrdal, about one hour, the path is uphill to
near the top of the mountains, where snow still sits and melts, creating waterfalls that can
be quite impressive; from Mydral at which we changed trains, to Flåm it was downhill
for a second hour. A word to the wise—do not sit on a seat facing backward on this
train—everybody is oohing and aahing about the things they see looking forward, but by
the time you can see it you’re in a tunnel or blocked by trees.
Norwegian farmers have two very different climates to work in. At sea-level it
can be temperate and even fruit trees will grow, but in the mountains the crops are more
hay and cold-weather crops. Many farmers have “winter farms” down below and
“summer farms” up above. The highlands consist of the summer farms and very many
cabins—unheated structures with few amenities where Norwegian families go to
commune with nature. Each cabin is located on an isolated patch of often-wet ground, as
if people wanted to be as far from each other as possible. We saw a lot of these cabins on
the ride down from Myrdal to Flåm,
At 4:00pm we were back on the Quest. The scenery had been exquisite, though
subdued by the grayness of the weather against the grayness of the granite. One can see
17
why the Norwegians are such a sturdy race—this is a tough terrain that would inspire
anyone—Viking or not—to set out for new territories.
At 6:00pm Quest departed for Ålesund. The first part of the trip was back through
the fjords (north in Aurlandsford, then west in Sognefjord) and out into the Norwegian
Sea. It was evening, but there was plenty of light to appreciate this very beautiful fjord
with high walls and numerous waterfalls. Along the way we encountered several other
cruise ships coming out of other fjords. We had dinner in the room, watched some
Scandal, and retired. And so to bed…
Day 7: Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Arrive Ålesund, Norway; Depart for Svolvær, Lofoten Islands, Norway
We woke up at 10:00am, unusually late, to find our ship at anchor in Ålesund’s
harbor. There is a very long berthing area at the waterfront, but it is taken up by a
collection of national Tall Ships from Norway, Denmark, and Portugal and other
countries, that have arrived for a Tall Ship sailing race. It is raining and overcast—the
rain would get a bit heavier and the clouds would descend closer as the day went on.
Ålesund is situated on a small plain on a narrow peninsula, surrounded by high
rocks (mountains) that give it a well-protected harbor. From the Viking age it developed
as a cheek-to-jowl wooden city with trade and staging of Viking fleets as its economic
basis. But in 1904, long after the Vikings became civilized Norwegians, a great fire
decimated the city—it is still reported to be the worst city fire in Norway’s history. The
fire spread quickly over the city, leaving the population homeless and unemployed. The
Swedish government (remember, from 1814 to 1905 Norway was under Swedish rule)
provided little relief and Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany stepped up to provide relief,
including reconstruction of all building in stone. Thus, Ålesund is a city where the Kaiser
is honored by street and place names.
Ålesund’s modern niche is that it’s great fire made way for its reconstruction in a
consistent Art Nouveau architectural style that reflected nature, like curves rather than
lines. It has several museums that tout themselves as worth visiting: history, commerce,
Vikings, and maritime. Unfortunately, the rain—persistent though not heavy—kept us
from visiting those delights so it was a full day on board Seabourn Quest.
At 7:00pm we went to the restaurant for dinner. On the way we met Deborah and
David Eller who occupy the cabin across the hall, and we joined them for dinner. They
are from Deerfield Beach, Florida. David is the chairman of a family machine-tool
business that his father started. One of his clients is the Army Corps of Engineers, for
which his company produces massive water pumps like those used in dams or in draining
flooded areas; their pumps were used to drain New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Their sons now run the company. Interesting folks!
18
Ålesund, Norway
At 8:00pm Seabourn Quest left the harbor bound for Svolvær in Nordland; the
dipthong æ is pronounced “ai” as in “air,” so the town is pronounced Svolv-air. It is on
one of the Lofoten Islands, an archipelago above the Arctic Circle that hangs down like a
tail from the northwest of Norway.
At 9:00pm we were back “home” and watching an episode of Scandal. Then we
retired.
Day 8: Thursday, July 16, 2015
At Sea on route to Svolvær (Lofoten Islands), Norway
We woke at 9:30am and had a late breakfast in our room. The Norwegian Sea
was calm and there were hints of sun breaking through the cloud layer. The high today is
forecast to be 53°F, a great contrast with the temperatures we experienced last month,
when we rode Myeerah up from Naples, in a heat index that reached 105°F in Norfolk,
VA. The average July temperature in Norway ranges from low 60s in the south to low
50’s in the north, so today’s reading is nothing unusual. But the solid days of gray might
be a bit more than normal.
At 1:00pm we went to lunch so that Joan could be fueled for her 2:00pm bridge
lesson and tournament. We are just over the horizon from land, about 15-miles out; a few
squalls could be seen behind us heading toward land. After lunch I returned to the cabin
and sat on our balcony watching the sea roll by, then watched a lecture on Norway. Joan
headed off for bridge. She has found a partner who is very nice and an outstanding
player. The woman is in a wheel chair because on a previous voyage there were fortyfoot seas; she was badly injured and hasn’t walked since. But she’s back on cruises!
Today is a red-letter day—at about 6:40pm we crossed the Arctic Circle for the
first time since our Alaska trip with Michele in 1999. At that time we flew over the Arctic
19
Circle in a bush plane, much to Joan and Michele’s consternation as the plane soared,
dropped, and flipped in the thermals near Mount Denali. Our crossing today was marked
by a blast from the ship’s horn, and by a slight bump as we crossed the line (tiny joke).
We learned that the position of the Arctic Circle is defined by the latitude at which 24hour sunlight occurs, so it moves northward and southward in a 40,000-year cycle with
Earth’s precession on its axis. At the moment the Arctic Circle is at latitude 33°66’48.6”
North, and moving northward.
Our status as novice arctic explorers was recognized by our designation by the
captain as “Blue Noses.” This declaration was made in the following oration:
To all the sailors, wherever ye may be, and to all the polar bears,
walrus, seals, whales, huskies, martens, foxes, reindeer, wolves,
musk oxen, caribou, and all other living denizens of the frozen
northern wastes: know ye that you, with my royal consent, passed
the gateway to the top of the world by crossing the Arctic Circle.
Be it further understood that you entered the land of icicles,
blizzards, williwaws, and myriad snowflakes aboard m/v Seabourn
Quest on 16 July 2015 at 11 degrees 17 minutes east longitude and
33 degrees 66 minutes 49 seconds north latitude. I, Boreas Rex,
ruler of the North Wind and Sovereign of all the Frozen Reaches it
touches, do hereby declare this warm-blooded newcomer to my
Royal Domain to be a true and trusty brine-encrusted Blue Nose!
Be it known that by virtue of the power invested in me, I do hereby
command all my subjects to show due honor to him or her
wherever he may be. Disobey this order under the penalty of our
Royal displeasure.
This is, of course, a very long-winded oration, but what else can you expect from
the Ruler of the North Wind!
At 7:00pm we headed off to dinner in the Collonade restaurant with casual dining.
During dinner we could see occasional high crags thrust up on the horizon. At 8:30pm
we were back in our room watching Scandal. And so to bed…
Day 9: Friday, July 17, 2015
Arrive Svolvær (Lofoten Islands), Norway; Depart for Tromsø, Norway
True to our new Blue Nose status, it was light all night long. On awakening at
9:30am we learned that our ship has diverted from its intended destination. The weather
is not good and the swells at Svolvær will be too great to comfortably anchor. So we are
anchored a few miles past Svolvær off the tiny town of Digürmullen, in the protection of
mountain peaks just at the outer reaches of a fjord called Trollfjord—Fjord of the Trolls.
This is one of the exquisite small fjords that one must see, surrounded by high mountain
peaks; it was a tour option if we had stayed at Svolvær. By mountain peaks I don’t refer
20
to their height above us, that is no more than 2,000 feet, but to their appearance and to the
obvious fact that they are mountain peaks with the base far below sea level.
We are told that we can take “complimentary” trips through Trollfjord on Zodiacs,
but we must wear multiple layers of clothes and, if available, facemasks. With the very
gray sky, the anticipated rain, and the certain cold that we would endure, we will pass up
what I’m sure would have been the highlight of the trip. At this point, a ray of sunshine
would be my idea of a highlight.
Trollfjord
At 10:30am we saw two Zodiacs depart, each carrying about ten people clad in
green parkas. My uninformed guess is that it is an exploratory trip by crewmembers to
be sure that the Zodiacs work and that all passengers will be safe. I must have been right,
because not until 11:30am did they begin announcing passenger boarding for the ½–hour
side trip. We could see other larger boats tour doing the trip; they were probably out of
Svolvær.
At 1:00pm we went for lunch; it had started raining and the fog was in again; this
would happen several times—fog in, rain in, fog out, rain out, etc. After lunch Joan went
for bridge while I returned to our digs for a video lecture on the Vikings.
At 5:00pm Seabourn Quest set off for Tromsø. At 6:30pm we had a light dinner in
the room. Our passage to Tromsø will be perhaps the prettiest leg of our entire trip—it is
a narrow inland passage all the way. The bad news is that we didn’t start the passage until
10:00pm; the good news is that it will be light all night, so those who want to stay up can
enjoy the view. We are not among them.
21
And so to bed…
Day 10: Saturday, July 18, 2015
Arrive Tromsø, Norway; Depart for Honningsvåg, North Cape, Norway
Today is a miraculous day. We awoke at our berth in Tromsø to actual sunlight!
This is the first sunlight since we left Copenhagen, at least the first that isn’t a fleeting
glimpse. And even more important, today is our 51st anniversary—another annual tribute
to Joan’s perseverance.
Tromsø, Norway
Tromsø from the Ski Slope with Church in Foreground
22
Tromsø is an exquisite little city nestled with a perfect harbor and surrounded
by high mountains. The buildings along the waterfront are modern, the residences
dotting the hills are supremely white, and across the harbor is a ski slope. It is on an
island in the high northwest of Norway, well within the Arctic Circle. It has been the
launching point for many polar explorations, and among its sights is a museum of polar
expeditions. At 1:30pm we went to the outdoor grill on the pool deck for lunch. As
expected, every table was filled as people gathered in the sun. But a very nice couple,
Don and Betty Elder from Victoria, Texas, invited us to join them. They were delightful
folks with whom we exchanged the wisdom of the ages. They are also renovating a
house on their ranch, so we had lots to discuss.
Tromsø and the Arctic Circle
23
From Tromsø to the Far North
After lunch I sat on our balcony and read to prepare myself for office hours. At
5:00pm Seabourn Quest left Tromsø on a very pretty trip along terrain with snow-topped
mountains dropping down to a shoreline dotted with houses and farms. I’m surprised at
how many people live this far north, though it is a temperate area warmed by the Gulf
Stream from Florida.
At 7:00pm we left for a romantic anniversary dinner where we gazed deeply
into each others eyes and vowed undying love—well, at least the second, our eyesight isn
too dim for the first. We were treated to an anniversary cake for dessert. The sweet
waitress asked how we wanted to cut it; we answered, “just slice it down the middle.”
After dinner we watched the last episode of the third season of Scandal, then we
retired in almost daylight—at night it gets no darker than dusk! And so to bed…
Day 11: Sunday, July 19, 2015
Arrive Honningsvåg, North Cape, Norway; Depart for Olden, Norway
We woke at 8:00am to the delivery of breakfast as Seabourn Quest was slowly
approaching our berth at Honningsvåg, located at the southern end of Magerøya Island
in Finnmark, Norways’ most northern province. At 9:00am tugboats slid Seabourn Quest
into a berth at the dock, a delicate exercise as they had to spin the ship and back her up to
the dock.
24
Honningsvåg is a small town, well above the world’s tree line: all that grows is
low vegetation and rocks. It sits cramped onto the shoreline below a mountain, with
cookie-cutter houses built soon after WWII, when the Germans left the island burning
everything behind them. It has 2,400 residents in a one square mile area, making it one
of Norway’s smallest cities (a designation it would no longer have under Norway’s
current definition of a city).
Honningsvåg, from the Ship Port
Mount What-Its-Name above Honningsvåg
25
At Magerøya’s north end is the most northern point in continental Europe, a
point called Nordkapp, or North Cape. The only land between Northkapp and the North
Pole is an even less inhabited Island named Svalbard.
Every tourist to Norway wants to get to Nordkapp, and we are no different. So
at 9:30am we got on a bus with Sara, our very cute blonde and blue-eyed Norwegian
guide, and we set off for Nordkapp. The route was over hill and dale, both being barren
rock-strewn tundras with occasional fjords and even less occasional family cabins. It was
an unwelcoming landscape indeed. When we got to Nordkapp we encountered the normal
weather pattern—stiff wind and deep fog. So we couldn’t see a thing and spent 1½ hours
in the lodge waiting for the bus trip back, a spell broken only by a visually beautiful 15minute movie that stressed the isolation of the area.
It turns out that the Sami, a people indigenous to the northern littoral who herd
reindeer across Norway, Finland, Sweden and into Russia, are represented on Magerøya:
there are three Sami families that live communally on the island and follow their reindeer
on the traditional forage eastward and back. In Norway, only the Sami are allowed to own
reindeer and to trade in their products (meat, hides, whatever). We know about the Sami
because Alexandra Balter, our oldest grandchild, spent many weeks with them studying
their culture during the summer of 2012, while she was a junior at Bates College. When
she returned she gave the entire family a wonderful talk on the Sami.
At 1:00pm we were back aboard our ship having lunch. Soon after, it was back
to our cabin for R&R. At 9:00pm we leave for Olden, Norway, two sea days away. The
afternoon was spent gainfully unemployed. We had dinner in our room, watched some
Scandal, and retired.
Joan at Nordkapp
26
Day 12: Monday, July 20, 2015
Day at Sea
In the night the ship’s foghorn began sounding, but it didn’t keep us from
sleeping until 10:45am; even Joan slept well until that late morning time. The Norwegian
Sea was calm, and there was fog at a distance with a leaden sky overhead.
At 1:00pm we went off to lunch, then Joan went to play bridge while I returned
to our room to watch a lecture. She returned to announce that she and her partner had
won! At 7:00pm we went to the Patio Grill and sat outside for a quick dinner. We were
joined by Jerry and Melinda Garland from Kansas City; more precisely Overland Park,
Kansas. Melinda is the spitting image of a young Paula Dean, the international chef of
High Cholesterol. They also have a house at the Meditterra development in Naples. Nice
people. We’ve met several Neapolitans on this trip.
After dinner, we watched two episodes of Scandal, putting us well into the
fourth and latest season. And so to bed…
Day 13: Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Day at Sea
Awake at 9:45am with the arrival of breakfast. In the 36 hours since we
departed Honningsvåg we have traveled roughly 600 nautical miles. Today the
temperature is to hit a 60ºF mark, almost 20ºF higher than at Nordkapp—a true heat
wave. The seas are on our stern at perhaps 5-6 feet, so it’s quite comfortable.
At 1:00am we went to the Patio Grill, avoiding the sumptuous buffet that is
supposed to be the culinary high point of the trip; that bar is pretty low. After lunch Joan
went to play bridge and I sat on our balcony to read and to prepare for a stint at the office.
Out room looks out to sea, and the only sight I saw was a lone oil rig flanked by an oil
tanker taking on a load.
At 4:00pm I went to the office and at 6:30pm we were ready for a hike to
dinner. We went to the Patio Grill, where it will be chilly but offers the best menu.
After dinner, more Scandal and then to bed…
Day 14: Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Arrive Olden, Norway; Depart for Stavanger, Norway
Awake at 8:30pm after another night at sea. We are at our destination: the
village of Olden, Norway. In 59 hours of travel we have gone about 825 miles south
from Honningsvåg, steaming past our previous destinations of Solvær and Ålesund. The
transit was very pleasant.
27
We are anchored near the gigantic P&O Cruises ship Brittania: 1,083-feet long;
144-foot beam; 5,000-passenger capacity; 1,400-man crew. This is a huge ship and that
probably explains why it is at the dock and not us. This is, perhaps, a disadvantage of the
smaller cruise ships—they don’t have the clout to get the most desirable berths.
Olden’s skies are heavy, the temperature is in the low 50s, and the clouds are
dipping down to about the ship’s height. Olden is a charming agricultural village in a
placid bowl of water marking the end of the long Nordfjord running westward from the
coast. There are large farms sloping down to the water, and high hills surrounding the
area. The farmland is carved out of forest and the grass has a gorgeous deep green color.
On a sunny day you would think you were in Heaven, well, a Norse notion of heaven.
The activity of the day, for those who choose it, is a one-hour ride on an RIB
(Rigid Inflatable Boat) to investigate the fjord. We were originally signed up, but the
gray sky, the temperature, and some spitting of rain have dissuaded us. So we see the
huddled bodies going out and coming back from our stateroom, and we vicariously
absorb their experience. For most people, a ride on an RIB is itself a unique experience,
but for us it is not.
Olden, Norway
28
North Olden
South Olden
At 1:30pm Joan went for a massage. When she returned we went to the café for a
very light lunch, returning to our room at 3:30pm. At 4:15pm Seabourn Quest left Olden
for a long cruise (about 45 miles) out the Nordfjord; on reaching the North Sea we will
turn south to Stavanger. Believe it or not, the sun is trying to come out.
As we cruised toward the North Sea between the high hills, we saw lots of small
villages taking up what little flat space there was. Most were right along the shoreline.
No doubt the rugged terrain dictated this smattering of small villages rather than any
cities, but one wonders if the Norwegians haven’t inherited a bit of Armadillo from
Viking days; as we know, armadillos never greet each other peacefully unless they are
mating, and then only briefly.
At 7:00pm we went to the Patio Grill again for dinner. It is the only place with
variety in the menu. After dinner we watched more Scandal, which has jumped the
shark. We are now halfway through the latest and, I hope, last season. And so to bed…
Day 15: Thursday, July 23, 2015
Arrive Stavanger, Norway; Depart for Copenhagen, Denmark
It was a dark and stormy night… Well, not quite, but the sea was lumpier than
we had experienced thus far and our good ship danced through the night. So we got to
sleep late in the pre-dawn morning and got up at 10:30am, just as we were arriving at
Stavanger.
29
Stavanger: A Bird’s Eye View
Stavanger was a backwater until the 19th century, when it grew rapidly with the
growth in the fishing industry. It is now a large and modern city, a welcome contrast to
the isolated communities up north. It has grown rapidly since the advent of the
Norwegian oil fields in the 1970s and is a now a center of petroleum research. Its older
harbor-side buildings have given way to large office buildings and a busy port.
Stavanger has a beautiful harbor and—most amazingly—today it had sun. Indeed, it is so
warm that one could see recreational boaters without shirts; regrettably, they were old and
male. Still, I felt like Lazarus awakened from the dead—sun and something to see—
amazing!
View from Quest’s Café
30
We went to the café and took a table looking out on the harbor. In the distance
we saw a huge yacht leaving the outer harbor. It was Royal Romance, a 302-foot
Caymans-flagged Feadship that had just been launched in March; with seven cabins and
about as many decks, it was a magnificent sight, especially in a country with very high
fuel prices and, therefore, much smaller pleasure boats.
Next to us was a giant MSC Line cruise ship, the Panama-flagged Orchestra.
My data source says she is 964-feet long with a 106-foot beam, and carries about 3,200
passengers on her 18 decks; she was originally built for 5,500 passengers. Joan reported
that while she was out walking Orchestra spewed out passengers like an ant colony
spews out soldier ants.
Much smaller boats were toodling around the harbor gawking at the city and the
boats. Even though it’s a Thursday, the sun and beauty have brought everyone out who
can be out.
At 1:30pm we had lunch outside with a harbor view, after which we returned to
our cabin. I watched a lecture about Stavanger while Joan began packing for our return
trip. We leave Stavanger at midnight tonight and have a full day at sea, arriving in
Copenhagen early on Saturday for immediate disembarkation.
At 7:00pm we went to our usual dinner spot outdoors at the Patio Grill.
Unfortunately, it had cooled down quite a bit and there was a brisk wind. So we quickly
had dinner and came back to our room by 8:00pm.
Some more Scandal, and so to bed… At midnight Seabourn Quest pushed off
for Copenhagen.
Day 16: Friday, July 24, 2015
Day at Sea
Up at 9:30am to a sunny sky, chilly air, and a following sea. Sadly, Joan had
slept badly—again. We had lunch at 1:00 and met another couple: Mark and Melinda
Goldfeder from Tuscon, Arizona. They, especially she, are animal lovers and came on
this trip to see the wildlife—of which there has been none. When we leavethe ship in
Copenhagen they will get a flight to the remote far north island of Solvbard (due north of
Nordkapp) to see the wildlife there. Mark was a mathematical modeler for IBM, engaged
in testing equipment to ensure end-user satisfaction.
At 2:00pm Joan went for bridge and I returned to the cabin to watch the
following sea follow us. I will bypass my time in the office in the hope that I can get to
sleep early and be refreshed for or early wakeup and chaotic rush through airports.
We had dinner in our room and retired early, at about 10:00pm, to prepare for
our marathon day tomorrow.
31
Day 17: Saturday, July 25, 2015
Arrive Copenhagen, Denmark; Depart for Boston, Massachusetts, New York City
We awoke at 6:45am with arrival of breakfast. The Seabourn Quest was at its
dock but was shuddering as if we were far out in a rough sea. It turned out that we had a
25-knot wind directly on our beam coming right into the unprotected harbor. It was a
novelty to get seasick while at a dock.
At 8:00am we disembarked and quickly found our bags and our driver, who
whisked us through Copenhagen to the airport. The airport was very confusing, as are all
foreign (and some domestic) airports. We checked in, passed through security, and
stumbled our way to KLM’s Aviator Lounge, arriving at 9:30am to wait for our 11:50am
flight to Amsterdam.
Our flight to Amsterdam arrived at gate C10 at 1:10pm after a treacherous
landing. We were landing just as a major windstorm hit Amsterdam (billed as the worst
windstorm in 100 years). A crosswind gust dropped the right wing of our KLM Boeing
727 so far that I was sure the wing tip would drag and we would crash. But the pilots
recovered well. After we got home we watched a news program that showed a KLM
Boeing 777 landing at Schiphol during that storm and the motions were identical.
To get from C10 to our departure gate at D53 for a Delta flight to Boston we
had to do the reverse of our previous Schiphol death march. Schiphol is the biggest
airport in Europe and could, I think, get national status, though not “most favored nation”
status. We arrived in time for our 2:30pm departure only to learn that Amsterdam our
plane had not arrived because the storm had messed up the whole flight network. The
plane at our gate couldn’t leave because of regional weather, so our plane couldn’t land.
At about 3:30pm the announcement came that our plane was cancelled, setting
off a mad rush by 300 or so passengers for alternative flights. Finally at 6:00pm we were
ticketed on a plane to JFK airport in New York. That plane—a Boeing 747—was then
delayed until 9:45pm (3:45pm Boston time—all times are now Boston times). At
11:00pm (Boston) our plane landed at JFK and a two-hour clusterf**k began. After
waiting for a bag that never came, we went to the Office of Missing Bags and arranged to
have it delivered to Wentworth Marina. Then we started out to find a hotel room and
found that everything in the area was booked. Eventually we got a room at the Crown
Plaza Hotel-JFK and took a cab to a fleabag with a lobby decorated like a Tunisian
bordello. We lined up with all the other swarthy Pakistanis to be checked in by Mo (I call
her SLO), and at 2:00am we were in a surprisingly adequate room. We had been up for
over 24 hours, many of them rushing around the vast expanses of modern airports.
And so to bed…
32
Day 18: Sunday, July 26, 2015
JFK Airport to Wentworth Marina
Awake at 7:30am after a solid five-hour Ambien-induced sleep. Our task for
today is to get ourselves from the Crown Plaza-JFK to Wentworth Marina without
passing through a commercial airport—we’ve been too beaten and bruised by them. So
we rented a Chrysler 300 from Hertz after waiting in yet another long line. After 5½
hours in remarkably congested Sunday traffic, we arrived at Wentworth Marina tired but
happy. The heavy traffic was very hard to understand—either a nuclear attack was
imminent or everyone was coming from or going to vacation.
The girls were very excited to see us. Apparently Sassy took our absence
hardest—she had begun howling each morning when she awoke to find us gone. After
fifteen minutes of wiggling around, they went back to nap-mode. It is very very good to
be back together.
After a super dinner—the best since we left on July 8—Joan and I retired early
to read for a short time and try to get back on a reasonable schedule. And so to bed…
The Baggage Search
So we were “home” but not all together—KLM had misplaced one piece of
luggage. At JFK on Sunday the Office of Missing Bags had located it and we had
arranged that when it would be sent to the marina Monday afternoon. When it didn’t
come on Monday, Eric called and was told that it was on a van and would be delivered
Tuesday morning. When it didn’t come on Tuesday he called again and was told that it
was still at Logan Airport and it would be held for him. So he drove in to get it and was
told they couldn’t find it because it was on a van and would be delivered to Wentworth on
Wednesday morning. When it didn’t come on Wednesday he called again and was told
that it was still at Logan. So he drove in yet again and finally snagged it.
Epilogue
I don’t think I’ve ever had such a negative reaction to any trip—there is always
enough good to blank out any difficulties. But this trip breaks the mold. There are so
many negatives that they will fester in my brain until eventually (in a day or so) I forget
them.
There is beautiful scenery in northern Norway, and a great culture has emerged
with an interesting history. As I hope my Short History of Norway indicates, I am
fascinated by Norse history and by the early Norse view of the world. And I find
Norway’s economic history interesting. These are a people shaped by a tough
environment of fire and ice, and by a mythology that mimics their view of themselves
and the rough world they inhabit.
33
The stereotype of a Norwegian (when he doesn’t have a battle axe in hand) is as a
rather cold-blooded creature—introspective, aloof, very private, and cerebral. Whether
or not this is deserved I can’t say because I don’t know any native Norwegians; my only
Norwegian friend has been domesticated. But the stereotype is consistent with the
history. As mentioned above, the early Norse lived in very small villages and fought
(apparently happily) with each other. They were like that peculiar animal, the Armadillo,
which is so solitary that two of them meet peacefully only to mate, then they go their
separate ways. And so the modern Norwegian communities seem, especially those in the
north: they are small clumps of buildings that give the outside little sense of order or of
community.
Why so? Perhaps it is the Viking heritage, where family meant everything and
others were threatening. Perhaps it is the severe weather that discourages interaction for
much of the year. Perhaps it is the very rough terrain that allows few flat spots for
farming or residences. Perhaps all of these? Or, perhaps, none. It might be an illusion
and the Norwegians are partying animals when tourists aren’t looking. Of course, our
frontier life might appear the same to an urban Norwegian—and they would be right.
Towel Man
One of the upsides of the trip was been our housekeeper—a Latvian named Liga,
Liga from Riga. She is immeasurably cheerful even though she is away from her
34
daughter for four months at a time. She has high hopes for a better and more stable life
as a dental technician. And she is very creative. Every night she does something artistic
in her client’s rooms. As an example, see the display above.
But still, this has been a disappointing trip. The gray weather, the rain, and the
cold are, of course, self-inflicted wounds—Norway is known for its gray skies and chill
even in mid-summer, so to book a cruise to Norway is to invite the spite (or is it spit?) of
the gods. Still, it was colder and grayer than I had anticipated. My dreams of sailing
down sun-drenched fjords in a reasonable temperature remained only dreams. The grim
reality was sailing along under very heavy gray skies with fog and “liquid sunshine.”
But the main disappointment has been the “Seabourn experience.” We’ve been on
a number of cruises on other lines (particularly Holland-America, Renaissance, and
Regent, Renaissance’s successor) and we’ve always enjoyed them. Over the years we’ve
often heard “Seabourners” rave, sometimes haughtily, about their wonderful experiences
on the small and cozy Seabourn ships. The only exception was a couple we met at a
restaurant in 1999, when we were on a Holland America cruise to Alaska and they were
on a Seabourn cruise; they thought Seabourn was too limited in every way—food,
entertainment, excursion choices, you name it.
We agree. While our accommodations were nice but not up to our previous
standards, and the crew was very friendly (particularly Liga from Riga), we found the
food of generally poor quality with small portions and limited variety. The entertainment
was limited compared to other cruises, perhaps because the small number of people on a
Seabourn ship just doesn’t support a lot of entertainment options. Many of the shore
excursions were disappointing, perhaps because Norway’s sites show best with good
weather, but maybe because Seabourn doesn’t have the clout to arrange great tours. (Our
1999 friends had said the big cruise ships took the best blocks of sightseeing excursions.)
I’ll also add my take on on-board lectures, one of my favorite activities. The
Seabourn lectures were decent, but they don’t compare with the depth or delivery of
those we’ve experienced on other cruises. For example, while there have been some
tidbits on Norse mythology, there was no lecture given over to it; I had to cobble together
my own “lecture” on that very relevant and interesting topic.
In exchange for these shortcomings, we paid a “Seabourn premium” that reflects
the unearned caché of a Seabourn cruise. As an example, this Seabourn cruise cost
considerably more than previous cruises on Regent that had a greater variety of shore
trips, better entertainment, better lectures, better food, and many shore excursions
included in the price (Seabourn’s excursions are all extras). To pay more for less is not
the American way—or is it?
Yet another issue was the extreme difficulty of modern international air travel.
International airports are massive, I mean massive. And there are no resources devoted to
making that manageable for older people: there are few trams to assist passengers like
those that travel regularly along the halls of the U. S. airports; there is little seating for
35
passengers struggling from one gate to another gate in a different zip code; there is no
culture of assisting passengers, forcing you to depend on the kindness of strangers.
(When our Amsterdam-Boston flight was cancelled all 300+ of us were told to go to an
area called “T-4” to arrange transfers to other flights. The line was very long and after 1½
hours with no progress, Joan sought out a KLM person who said “Oh, if you’re a
business class passenger you can go to the KLM lounge and they will arrange your
return.”) There were other instances where if you sought help as an individual there was
help available, but it would never be announced as available. Only the squeaky wheel
gets oiled!
These are all elegant problems, but in spite of their elegance they affected my
view of the experience. From now on, my international travel is on the Travel Channel.
36