We have some internet!!

It has been overcast every day except yesterday afternoon it cleared a bit. So we walked into Seydisfjordur. The most famous building is the Blue Church.

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Notice the blue sky.

Dinner was of course in the Cafe. And today was special. In Iceland this is called Mountain and Bay. We would call it Surf and Turf.

Of course it is Lobster and Lamb. The Chef made certain to come by our table and ask about the lamb. Again I can order it any time I want. But they have had it on the regular menu twice.

As you probably guessed, when the highlight of a town is one small church it didn’t take us too long to walk the entire area. We did buy a couple things. We went into the small grocery store and bought some chocolate bars to give to special crew members. And more importantly, we bought 2 packages of my favorite English cookie (actually biscuits) called Custard Creams. Those will go home.

Back in our room there was a bottle of wine, 2 glasses, some fancy handmade chocolates and a note from the Chef. It was once again saying Viking was sorry about any issues with Kathy’s ability to move about. A couple managers even found us in the cafe and asked how she felt.

There were loads of conversations with other guests. One lady taught biology. I told her I never took biology. How did you get out of it and why. Because we moved and I was lucky. So stories about moving and many other things.

First the good news. I can get an internet connection. It e3ven seems stable. Two days ago we had an excursion to Viktor Island. A most interesting place. A young couple bought the island and live there. They “farm” duck down (Eider Down ??)i And give tour groups a walk-around for a fee. So we saw Eiders. Arctic Terns, Guillemots and (my favorite) Puffins.

. But now for the real news.. Yesterday we docked but were not cleared to leave the ship. After many hours the Captain finally told the whole truth as to why. One passenger tested positive for Covid. And because we all wear contact tracing devices the crew had to find everyonewho was in contact.

And guess what? Kathy was on of them. I wasn’t. So she was in quarantine. So we ordered room service for dinner. The food was okay but somewhat cold. And when we got the food the Doctor called and cleared her to walk around the ship. Then this morning we went to get on our excursion. When Kathy used her keycard to get off the ship, she was stopped. She has been cleared for the ship but cannot leave the ship. So we din’t take an excursion. I am not going alone!

The town we are docked at Seydisfjordur (spelling???) has 700 people. Everything comes by boat. It is in the middle of no where.

Lamb is on the menu tonight. But it wouldn’t matter. The Chef has talked with s and has assured me I can ask for lamb any time. Back to normal on Viking ships.

This will be our MOST unusual cruise.

We have lost the internet most of thetime because we are deep in a Fjord. Sorry. When it becomes more stable I will try to share more stories and photos.

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We once again were lucky at lunch in the Cafe. Corn Chowder!! It is really good and we have had it on other Viking Cruises.

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In the afternoon we walked around the city. It was heavy overcast sky. So photos were difficult. I decided to take very few pictures. And we have seen the famous sites on a previous trip. Locals were still out doing their thing such as sailing. The volcano was still erupting but not visible because of the weather and the smoke. Some people booked a special helicopter trip to see the lava flow. Instead I bought a photo at one of the tourist shops. Much cheaper.

On board we have seen a few of our crew “friends” . Boban was the restaurant manager on the Orion during the Grand Pacific Cruise. He is back and remembered us. And he remembered the naughty table!

Craig was an assistant manager on the same trip. And he remembered us.

Most of the crew are from the Philippines and are new to Viking. Too bad.

Our Flights were all on time and our luggage all arrived . Fantastic start for any trip.

Then we navigated through the New World of Immigration caused by Covid. We had our vaccinations and Kathy had completed all of the necessary forms both for Viking and for Iceland. Every step in the airport was an experience. Eventually we got onboard the Viking Jupiter and spt in a tube. Now awaiting the test results

But a shower and nap did feel good.

We have our flight reservations, have completed most of our Covid protection information and now haveour blog up to date with a header thanks to Chad Owens. Finally we get to travel again .

So we finally docked in Bergen and had a couple days to explore. However, my computer keyboard died completely. I had a few problems a few other days. But this was the end. So I had to get home and replace it before the last blog of the trip. Sorry for a several day delay.

Our full day in Bergen was also the first full day of sun. In London a coupe weeks ago we had sun all morning but rain in the afternoon. Today we walked and walked. We had a fabulous lunch at Olivia’s Restaurant located right on the harbor area. Great views of the ships including our Viking Star as it was getting ready to embark the next set of guests.

We stopped at a local grocery and bought some ham and cheese for dinner in our room. We were very tired when we returned to the hotel. Along the way back we talked to one store clerk. He said Bergen has seen the sun for a total of 3 hours in the whole month of January until today. It seemed everyone in Bergen was outdoors walking.

The penalty for this beautiful day was our last day. It rained hard all day. We did leave the hotel to walk to the local bakery. A few years ago when we were in Bergen we had a traditional Skillingsbolle sweet roll. I wanted another. So we bought one and had it for dessert in our room. We didn’t want to walk outside to find a restaurant so we ate in the hotel. It was really good. But we rarely eat in hotel restaurants. I just didn’t want to get wet the last night.

We left the hotel the next morning at 7 to get to the airport to fly home. Our flights were all right on time. So we walked in our house at 10:30 Pm. That was 22 1/2 hours later. Good night!

It was a fun trip. The Northern Lights were a bit disappointing. We did see them! But it was warmer than Iowa. The coldest day was still in the 20’s. And the food and crew made up for any disappointment. Plus the cities were fun to explore.

Eventually we docked in Bergen. It was 10PM. Our scheduled arrival was at 1PM. so we were 9 hours late because of the rough seas. Lots of Rock and Roll. But Kathy and I stayed well. Just tired of not doing anything. It was difficult to stand without holding on.

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The evening leaving Narvik Viking served Surf and Turf in the World Café. It seems that most everyone came here to eat. It was the most crowded ever. But it was very good. I did have more than one piece of lobster.

Then nothing much to report on the full day at sea other than the big waves and bad weather Until dinner, that is.

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Again I ordered my special lamb chops for the last night. That was my 6th lamb in 12 days on board. Not quite as high a percentage as on the Grand Pacific Cruise. But close. And still I was the only one with special permission to order lamb when it wasn’t on the menu. That was the ggod part about dinner. Then……….

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It was time to say goodbye. I won’t add all of the photos. There were many hugs and pictures. But this was Laura. She was one on many servers that knew us on the Orion. I gave her a hug every day on both ships. She hasn’t left the ship yet in Norway. Too cold. And she is staying on until March going back and forth on this same route. She plans on visiting the cities in March when the sun comes up and it is possibly warmer. Then she has applied for a tourist guide position to stay in Japan for one year. She is from Chile and speaks no Japanese. Yet! The guide would be for Spanish speaking visitors to Japan.

You might not see them through the smiles but there were tears all around with many servers.

Okay on to Bergen.

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The building s along the harbor are the most famous in Bergen. And I got a picture with sun on them. The Viking rep in the hotel said we were very lucky. She said it had been months since she saw the sun. Sunlight, yes. Rain almost every day. But sun. Not! We walked everywhere. 14,000 steps. We had a great lunch at Olivia’s. We shopped. It was great.

The weather prediction for Tomorrow, our last day. Rain 100% all day! After breakfast I tried to get caught up with my blog and my journal. Walking outside? Not so much.

First of all I had the incorrect name for the Cathedral in Alta. That is the Northern Lights Cathedral. The Cathedral in Tromso was correctly identified as the Arctic Cathedral. That probably isn’t a big deal to many of you but I wanted it to be corrected.

On towards Bergen from Narvik. Only the weather turned very bad. Basically we will have 2 days at sea while travelling between these ports. The waves have reached over 24 feet. It is raining and tehe winds are about 30 miles an hour. No one is allowed out on any of the outside decks. It has gotten warmer. well sort of. It will be 45 degrees today except that we can’t go out to feel it.

So what have we done? There have been shows in the Star Theater and we make our own entertainment at the naughty table.

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One of the shows was the Viking Vocalists performing the Beatles Songbook. So on both ships we had ABBA and the Beatles.

One of the restaurant Managers came by our table 2 nights ago and asked if everything was okay. Yes, but it was National Popcorn Day in the US. Where is the popcorn. Guess what?

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A big bowl of popcorn was delivered to us. There were 7 people at the table so it didn’t last too long. Of course we were the only table to receive any.

Tonight we must have our suitcases out of the room by 10PM. We will leave the ship tomorrow morning and stay for 2 days in Bergen.

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For a few moments we saw sunshine at the top of the mountains. That was the first in many days. The guide told us they will actually have sun in the town within the next 2 weeks. Yippee!

Narvik is famous (well, sort of) because it is only about 40 miles from the iron ore mines in Sweden. A train line from the mines to the city was made early in 1900’s so the ore could be sold and put on ships to transport around the world. The ports in Norway remain ice free all year because of the Gulf Stream. In Sweden they freeze solid. So that limits the export capability.

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The trains were originally steam engines. Now it is electrified engines.

But the highlight of our day was seeing an other Orion friend.

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This is Joachim. He was the Hotel Manager from Auckland until he left the ship in Tokyo. The 93 dayers gave him a salute as he left the ship using crossed Viking umbrellas. He was brought to tears. Now he has been promoted by Viking s the Corporate Manager in charge of all Hotel Managers on all ships. So he was visiting the Viking Star just to check on things. Of course he remembered us immediately.