It’s a Wrap!

 As the saying goes, “all good things must come to an end” , and so we said goodbye to the Viking Mars and boarded a plane from Boston to NY.  

Dom and our friend Larry had taken a tour of the Engineering Control Room the other day so now they were eager to have a tour of the Bridge.  Everything is computerized and monitored, even the temperature you set for your individual stateroom!  There’s a little steering wheel, the size of a dinner plate but I guess it’s rarely used as it had a plastic cover over it.  

About halfway through the cruise, in the middle of the night, we could hear a helicopter hovering for quite awhile.  The Captain shared that it was a Danish military helicopter that had traveled 9 hours with 2 refuels from Nuuk Greenland to the middle of nowhere (where we were),  to medivac a woman and her husband back to Nuuk for medical care. The woman was lifted up in a stretcher; the husband sitting in a basket.  The ship never stopped during the rescue.  The Captain said she was still alive but had no further details.  I would have just died of fright!

Here’s a small world story….our Cruise Director, Aaron Syfert, had a recurring role on All My Children and was a day player on One Life to Live in the early 2000’s.  He shared his bio, complete with photos of him with Susan Lucci and other cast members one evening during his musical performance.  Dom and he had a nice chat afterwards, reminiscing about those they worked with, including actors and directors. 

And what a voice Aaron has! He is opera trained and his range is beautiful.  I’ve never heard Ole Man River sung with more richness.  Together with Tara, the Assistant Cruise Director, they sang a duet from Phantom of the Opera.  Her soprano and his bass were truly Broadway quality.

Iceland and Greenland were certainly not any places I ever thought of visiting until recently.  The more we heard of Iceland though the more intrigued we became.  Dom, especially, wanted to go.  Greenland is a bit unconventional but while we were ‘up there’, we thought, “why not”.  Seeing those beautiful icebergs and life as it was and is lived in this remote country will remain with us forever.

A fun time was had by all!

Last Port

 What a glorious sunny day we were awakened to when we sailed into the harbor of Halifax.  Although Halifax is a very walkable city, we chose to start off with the Hop On - Hop Off bus to get the lay of the land.  The narration as we rode along provided a great backdrop.

Who knew Halifax has one of the largest and deepest ice-free harbours in the world?  Because of this, Halifax is one of the most important Canadian commercial ports on the Atlantic.

December 6, 1917 was “a day that will live in infamy” for the people of Halifax.  As WWI waged, the IMO, a Norwegian steamship, carrying supplies for a relief organization headed out of the harbor when the Mont-Blanc, a French steamship collided with it.  No one except the crew knew the Mont-Blanc was carrying tons of explosives destined for the French war effort.  The explosives caught fire and despite all the crew’s efforts, the Mont-Blanc exploded.  We were told the explosion was only second to the atom bomb as the devastation hit the entire city of Halifax.  Every window in the city was blown out, thousands of lives were lost, 9,000 people injured, 1,600 building were destroyed and 12,000 were damaged as the explosion set off a tsunami.  As if things weren’t bad enough, the next day a blizzard arrived bringing 16” of snow, further hampering rescue efforts.

The governor of Massachusetts heard of this disaster and mobilized the state’s national guard, Boston’s best trained doctors and nurses, the Red Cross, etc to get to Halifax to aid in every way possible.

The people of Halifax have never forgotten what the Bostonians did for them.  To this day, over 100 years later, every December Halifax sends the city of Boston a huge Christmas tree that is displayed in Boston Commons.  We met a gentleman on our harbor walk, a retired school superintendent.  He was a wealth of information.  He told us what a big deal the Christmas tree is; how it’s chosen and then put on a train to be transported to Boston.  The children of the city get involved, tracking the progress of the tree, etc.

Not 5 years before this disaster, Halifax was the scene of the recovery of bodies from the sinking of the Titanic.  The company that owned the Titanic chartered 4 boats to recover bodies that were floating wearing life preservers.  306 bodies were recovered; some were buried at sea, 59 were delivered to families & 150 are buried in 3 cemeteries in Halifax.  

On a happier note, Halifax has a Public Garden with the most beautiful display of flowers I have ever seen, especially the display of dahlias.  Our friendly school superintendent told us to be sure to check them out and they did not disappoint.

There is no smoking, no bike riding, no camping, etc. allowed in the Public Garden, making it a serene place for all to enjoy.  We even saw a huge yoga class being conducted.

Enjoy a couple of photos I took on our walk:

Tomorrow is our last day at sea as we make our way to the Boston harbor and then board a flight to NY.  

This has been a vacation that took us to places I never dreamed of going.  We’ve learned so much about the cultures and life styles so far removed from our every day lives in some of the most remote places.  We’ve loved our adventures and hope you enjoyed reading about them.  I’m flattered that so many of you ask me if I plan to blog whenever we take these trips and have said you feel a part of our adventures.  

What a Difference a Night Makes!

We left Greenland to sail into the North Atlantic. As the ship rocked and rolled, no amount of Dramamine or my trusty anti nausea bracelets (which have worked wonderfully up until now) helped.  I walked into the dining room and turned green.  Fortunately, Dom helped me back to the room in time for me to throw up everything since last Thursday!  I got into bed, closed my eyes and prayed I wouldn’t die!  The next morning, all was calm and I was completely fine, so I guess I survived!  I’m told this will be the worst we will encounter…fingers crossed.  We overheard people saying on a previous cruise the seas were so rough the ship couldn’t anchor in Greenland or in Newfoundland 😱.

After a relaxing day at sea, complete with massages for both of us, we arrive in Newfoundland. 

L’ Anse Aux Meadows (“Grassland Bay”), an ancient village founded by that notorious Viking, Leif (Leif the Lucky) Eriksson, is a UNESCO site.  Not to take anything away from Columbus, but Lucky Leif got here 500 years before him and it can be proven. He was on his way from Norway to Greenland when he was blown off course and discovered what he named Vinland, now Newfoundland.  Leif and company saw berries growing and assumed they could make wine, hence the name Vinland.  Soon they discovered those berries belonged to those indigenous people who preceded everyone else.  Fortunately, the Vikings found they could trade other items, like milk, with these people and so there was no fighting between them.

In the 1960’s a husband and wife archeologist team came to the area searching for Leif’s colony.  They literally hit pay dirt about 7 years into their dig when they came across an iron nail and a bronze ring-headed pin that the Vikings would have used to fasten their cloaks.  The dig continued and the foundations of 8 houses were discovered.  The area is now grass covered bumps but just down the road these structures were reconstructed so visitors could see the style of life these discoverers had.  The Vikings stayed in this area for about 10 years.  I think they finally got fed up with the harsh weather and realized its remoteness did not lend itself to any visitors to trade with.  I’m sure they exhausted what they and the indigenous people could get from one another.

I especially was interested in the loom and the skeins of yarn in the ‘spinning room’; making an assumption that the colony was made up of both men and women, a total of about 70 to 80 people.

The homes were heated and lit by fires but not of wood as there was no ventilation.

Present day L’Anse Aux Meadow has about 20 full time residents.  Two additional people come in the summer to open up the restaurant…whoopee!

Seeing the lifestyles and harsh conditions, as well as the ingenuity of the peoples of the countries we’ve visited certainly makes one think.  I didn’t meet any real life Vikings today but we did see docents dressed like them reenacting jewelry making and the like in this little colony.

I’ve thought more of the woman I visited with yesterday in the church.  Forty years ago she came on a visit from Iceland to Greenland and, as she put it, “I forgot to go home”.  I teasingly asked her if she met a guy and she smiled and said yes.  He must have been some guy!  Imagine life in Greenland 40 years ago?

Quaqortoq, Greenland…Almost A Metropolis

 Unlike our arrival in Nanortalik, today we were greeted by fog.  Looking out the balcony we saw nothing but white.  Where is Quaqortoq??

We meet our tender at 9:15 and hope land is somewhere out there.  After about 10 minutes it comes into view. Whew!

A bit of history for you….Quaqortoq, with a population of about 3,000, is the most populous town in Southern Greenland.  Inhabitants date back to prehistoric times.  The Vikings came in the 10th century, followed by the Inuits and then the Danish people.  

Charles and Anne Lindbergh spent at least an overnight here in the summer of 1933.  

Lutheran is again their one and only religion.  We visited the church and I had a delightful conversation with a woman congregant.  I started by asking her if the wreaths on the side wall were in memoriam and she recanted the story I had read about, of the 1959 sinking of the Danish cargo passenger liner that struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage off the coast of Western Greenland.  Only the lifebelt was recovered so, yes, the wreaths were to honor the lives lost.

A local artist wished to turn her town into an open air art gallery so carvings and sculptures can be found throughout Quaqortoq. 

Dom loves cemeteries 🤷🏻‍♀️ so we had to climb the hill for a photo op. I would assume burials can only take place in the spring 😢

We came upon a “kayak show” which was super cool….literally.

 Two guys in wetsuits literally flipped their kayaks over, again and again.  They did not have on gloves and their faces were exposed.  I can’t image how cold that water is!

Shockingly, we are improving our selfie technique so here’s one from the tender for your amusement😃

A short but delightful day, again learning about the culture and lifestyle of the people of Greenland.

Tomorrow a relaxing day at sea as we travel to Newfoundland.

What time is it????

 The night before we arrive in Greenland we are told to manually turn our iPhones back one hour as they may not automatically do so, but do I believe those in the know?  Of course not!

We are awakened hearing balcony doors opening and closing and so, not to have FOMO, we pull back the drapes to see the most beautiful icebergs of all sizes and shapes, floating all around us, reflecting the glorious blue sky and brilliant sun, something we haven’t seen since we left LA.  My iPhone says 7:30am but it’s really 6:30am in Greenland.

We quickly throw on clothes and grab our cameras. Sue Stockdale, the guest speaker for this morning, narrates our approach into Prince Christian Sound.  Dom & Larry brave the wind and stand on the bow of the boat to get the best shots while Arlene & I sit cozily in the Explorers Lounge with glass all around us.  The ship effortlessly glides through the narrow passageway, making sharp rights and lefts as we come upon a little village of about one hundred 30 something’s, who miraculously have WiFi.  Something to be said for literally living off the grid, I suppose.

Nanortalik, (translation: “place of the polar bear”) Greenland soon comes into view.  I must investigate this, but I think Viking goes to these little towns with buckets of red, blue, green and yellow paint to refresh the shore houses so they look as picturesque as they do in the brochures.  Dom thinks I’m crazy.

Nonetheless, we opted for a self guided walking tour to learn more about the life and lives lived in this town.

We peruse a series of cabin-like structures with photos from the 1800’s up to about mid 1900’s.  One cabin served as the ‘hospital’.  Mostly mid-wives handled the medical care with one nurse rotating every year or so in and out of the town.  Pregnant women had to go to the ‘big city’ at 7 months as there was no guarantee the one and only doctor would be available when she went into labor. 

There was a dentist chair and other early medical equipment.

Another cabin had a kayak. The narration went into detail as to how the Inuit people built the kayak, being sure not to weave the wood framing and seal skin too tight as there must be some space for the souls who perished to escape. These hunters would carry rifles and position themselves on rocks to have a good view of the seals.  They then tied the slaughtered seal to the kayak and dragged it to land where every part of the animal was used for their survival.

Soon we hear music and make our way to this lovely Lutheran church where 8 choir members sang several hymns in 4-part harmony acapella.

Since it was Saturday, several young families were out enjoying the beautiful weather, some in shorts and tee shirts; probably the one day a year they get to wear them!

There is a grammar school and a ‘new’ one story hospital and a grocery store in this town of little more than 1,000 residents.  I didn’t see an Amazon truck or a Costco so I doubt I could live here but bless these people.  I cannot fathom how difficult life must be, especially in the harsh winters but they have endured since they made their way from Russia, walking over the frozen Bearing Strait, into Canada and then Greenland. Another factoid: 88% of the Greenlandic population is Inuit and they speak Greenlandic.

Not surprising, 50% of their calories come from fat.  There are no fresh vegetables or fruit grown here.

SeasToo Rough

 We dock in Isadjordur (translation: icy fjord) to hear that the first tender did not make it to Vigur Island.  The seas were so rough they had to turn around.  Guess who was scheduled for the next tender?  Yup.  We were canceled.  I was so looking forward to meeting the only family residing on said island and to see the puffins, but, alas, safety first. Fingers crossed the puffins may make an appearance in Newfoundland.  Stay tuned.

Instead we went to tour this charming village with no traffic lights.  This village is prone to avalanches and rock falls so brackets are built into the mountains to ‘catch’ the snow and rocks that save the villagers’ homes.  

The first stop was a water tasting!  We drank the most pure water we have ever had, gushing down from a waterfall.  The  guide captured the water in a pitcher and poured some into distributed cups.  

As we traveled around the surrounding fjord we can spot fish farms in the water.  These farms catch the fish that within 38 hours is received in stores throughout the world.   The Isafjodur people are very proud of this.

We were treated to a singer/guitarist who entertained us with traditional Icelandic songs in the local music hall.  He had a beautiful voice.  In addition to being a musician, he works in the local bookstore and in the book binding business his parents started.  He quipped about the cold summer Iceland has been experiencing.  He told us June was cold so he took his family to Mallorca for July only to return to the same cold weather in August.  Imagine how WE feel!

Next stop was to the shore of the fjord to hear an old Icelandic fisherman who spoke no English (our guide interpreted) describe the gear the fisherman wore back in the old days and talk of the life of a fisherman.  The triangular shaped hut is where the fisherman would stay and dry some of the fish. 

The wind was so fierce that I made it 1/2 way down to the shoreline but Dom braved it.  Not sure the last time I was so cold!

Upon return to the ship we elected to go on a tour of the Viking Mars kitchen.  I think we were all blown away seeing the procedures and hearing of the precision and exact scheduling that it takes to make every dining room and every meal be executed to the highest of standards. The menus come down from corporate, complete with photographs on the exact placement of each meal.  Every food item must be accounted for.  It’s not easy to get fresh fruits and vegetables in Iceland as you can imagine.  What is brought on board from the onset of the cruise has a shelf life and cannot always be replenished so improvisation must take place.  Cleanliness and inspections go on continuously throughout the day.  There is a ‘Bible’’, an operating manual for every restaurant.  The job of the Executive Chef appears daunting to us mortals but he loves his job and is confident in all his chefs.  I loved seeing the behind the scenes operation.

A day at sea is up next as we sail to Greenland.  We can use the relaxation!

Capital of the North

 

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, our official certificate; we crossed the Arctic Circle!

I swear we crossed again last night as we were awakened by a series of rumblings that passed quickly. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Did you know planes are not allowed to fly over the Arctic Circle? The magnetic fields interfere with their navigation system😱

We arrive in Akureyri, the second largest city in Iceland.  The first thing we notice is the red lights are heart shaped ❤️.  During the financial crash of 2008 the residents became so depressed that the townspeople decided to do something to lift their spirits and to remind them what really mattered and to make them smile.

It  has its own international airport so residents don’t have to travel to Reykjavík to travel abroad.  There is no crime and as in the other cities we visited, the residents love it here.  They take the weather in stride.  There was a snow storm in June that caused the roads to close for 4 days!

This was our longest tour day in Iceland - 7 hours.  It took 1 1/2 hours to drive along Iceland’s longest fjord to one of the pseudocraters that are formed which resembles a volcanic crater but it hasn’t erupted yet.  Thankfully, we were spared an eruption.

The Icelandic people are big believers in Trolls who they say live in caves and hills.  They don’t ever want to annoy these Hidden Folks as they believe them to be vindictive and could steal their babies only to replace them with ugly old men.  We visited a lava park where the rock formations resemble Trolls.

Two Trolls attempting to kiss

No Trolls here; just a cool formation:

There is a gorge in the ground in their park that we were told is the Continental Divide so we had to take a photo.  Not sure who is on the Europe side and who is on the North America side.

Next stop was the hot sulfuric mud springs and gurgling sulphur cauldrons at Namaskard.  This is such a cool place, not only for the colors but the bubbling spots all throughout the park.  Visitors are warned not to get too upfront and personal with these bubbles as they are boiling and if you are downwind, so stinky! A bit of trivia:  NASA astronauts were brought here to practice for their moon landing.  Lots of foreign films have filmed here as well as several Game of Thrones episodes.

Our final stop was so beautiful!  The Godafoss waterfall is spectacular.  The waterfall’s name has its origin in religion.  When Iceland was settled pagan gods were worshipped.  By 1000AD Norway brought Christianity to Iceland.  Legend says the pagan statues were thrown into the waterfall, hence the name Godafoss.

The day went from mountains to rock formations and caves to smelly sulfur bubbles to a rushing gorgeous waterfall.  It was exhausting but exhilarating!

Oh, by the way, I have 5 layers on. Just another summer day in Iceland.  Tomorrow, snow predicted 🤭