Hillerod, Denmark

 One last post. Before returning to Minnesota, we spent time with Metta and Stan in Hillerod. Metta took us to the Frederiksborg Castle which was spectacular and the following are a few photos from that visit. 

Voyage Ends

 This is our final day on the Havila. We are already our of room, but the boat is still traveling to Bergen. We stay here for another night and then fly to Copenhagen to visit Mette and Stan for a couple of days. I thought I will conclude this series of posts with several of the images I captured while on the boat. The scenary that drifts by is impressive. 

I just had this funny experience. We are on the top deck waiting until we dock and I have been working on this post. It was taking time to upload these photos so I went down a couple of floors to get Cindy and I a cup of coffee. When I returned to the elevator with a cup in each hand, a man on the elevator pointed at the elevator controls to select my floor. I said 9. He looked puzzled and then pointed at 6 (the floor we were on). I shook my head and said 9. He then pointed at 7 and looked at me. I said 9. He tried 8. He then started over with 6. I finally realized he must be German and I kept telling him "No". When I started laughing and pointed at 9 and said 9 a few more times we both achieved the necessary understanding. 

Northern Lights

This has been an unusually good year for viewing the Northern Lights in the Northern United States. The sun has been especially active and even weather forecasts have provided viewers predictions concerning whether sightings will be possible. Seeing the Northern Lights in the north of Norway is not extraordinary and Havila, the cruise line we are on, pretty much guarantees you will have the opportunity. 

We prepared for this opportunity by learning a bit about how best to take photos of the lights on an iPhone. Tbe iPhone is very good at capturing images in low light conditions, but for the Northern Lights it is best to learn how to manually expand the time the "shutter" is open. Of course, when you go to a 5-10 second shutter you have an issue with steadiness so the pros use tripods. A tripod would only go so far on a ship that is moving both up and down and side to side, but I did learn how to set a longer exposure duration.

We had three opportunities to photograph the light show. One was sometime after midnight so I did not bother. The second of the remaining two opportunities was the best and I did get a couple of reasonable images. 

These were not the most impressive Northern Lights I have seen. My best experience was in North Dakota when I was driving back from doing a workshop late a night. No photos but an entire section of the sky lit up.

The science of the Northern Lights. Norway and the Northern Lights

Languages

 International travel has been one of the great opportunities of retirement. We traveled some when we were younger, but now we have more time and more money. At one time I was hesitant to spend time in countries where I could not speak the language. I have always had difficulty getting to where I wanted to go and have often been lost. This does not increase your confidence when you cannot communicate regarding your situation.

We have spent time on this trip with people from many different countries and different ages. We seldom have found a situation in which English did not work as a way to communicate. Probably those folks able to afford travel have had the resources and professional interests that make learning English a goal. If all else fails, pretty much anyone we encounter wants to know about our take on the political situation in the U.S.

We have noticed one thing about the use of languages on this ship that seems a bit odd. Everything is repeated in multiple languages - Norwegian, German, and English. If there is an announcement over the ship's speakers - three languages. If there is a presentation on what passengers might see, history, or other matters of interest, the speaker presents a short segment and then repeats the same segment in the other languages. This is a bit inefficient as anything takes much longer, but I suppose the alternative would be to have separate sessions to repeat a given session, but that would require a lot more time for presenters. After experiencing this for several sessions, I began to anticipate the laugh lines to know where she was at when speaking in one of the other languages. I have decided the woman who makes these presentations has considerable skill, I would be worried that by the third language, I would not remember if I told a given joke before or not.

We took an outing today that included a visit to an ancient Lutheran church. Most of the churches in Norway seem to be Lutheran. The same thing happened. The Paster provided an abbreviated service again duplicating his remarks three times. The handout for the congregation's participation included a prayer and hymn in multiple languages (the service was again conducted in Norwegian, German, and English). On the way out, I noticed a history of the church for purchase that was available in three languages.

Stockfish

The stockfish has been a staple of the Norwegian economy for centuries. Stockfish are pretty much freeze-dried fish, mostly cod. Freeze dried in this case is very descriptive. Fresh fish are cleaned and cut along the backbone so they can be hung on drying racks in the cold. The fish dry retaining most of their protein and in this dried state can be stored for years. When the dried fish are submerged in a liquid they take on moisture again and can then be eaten in a wide variety of dishes and are stable in many countries. Italian cuisine makes heavy use of stockfish. Supposedly the best come from Norway. 

I admit I was completely unfamiliar with stockfish and I had assumed that drying and storing in salt was the more typical method of preservation. Holding a dried stockfish is very much like holding a dead and dried stick of wood.

The final image that follows is a preparation of stockfish I had at dinner on our boat. A couple of meal options for lunch and dinner always are based on local dishes and ingredients.

Crossing into the Arctic

 We have now officially crossed into the Arctic. The temps are not as severe as North Dakota moderated by the ocean I assume,  but it gets dark very early - 2:30 today. The darkness mid afternoon is weird. 

A couple of photos from the event. There is a marker and my iPhone says the marker was placed in the correct location. These sea folk recognize special crossings. In this case, a Norse guy dumps ice water down your back to mark those who are doing this for the first time. I was busy taking photos and unable to participate. 

Trondheim

We decided to take one of optional excursions to explore Trondheim. This exploration made use of an old-school wooden boat allowing a small group to travel the canals that extend throughout the city. The boat is uncovered and the trip goes rain (snow) or shine. It was raining, but that is not unusual for Norway. We were told to bring rain gear and they provided large ponchos. We decided this made for a more authentic experience.

Every experience we have had in Norwegian villages and cities has revealed well maintained and attractive homes and buildings. There must be areas that do not appear as affluent and well cared for, but somehow we never encounter these settings. I know little of architecture, but there is clearly more color and buildings look more modern. This is somewhat ironic given the long history of these locations. We have yet to see much of what we would describe as manufacturing. Trondheim is regarded as a technology center and several of the locations we have visited could be described as university towns. You hear guides describing an awareness that fishing and oil are the basis for the modern economy and they realize that the country must find other opportunities. 

One thing we have learned about several of the villages we have explored is that most have burned several times. This was due to the close spacing of the wooden structures, the use of wood preservatives such as pitch and turpentine, and the lack of open areas between buildings. 

Bergen to Kirkenes and Back

 We are taking a cruise from Bergen to Kirkenes in Norway and back. This voyage takes 11 days and stops in 34 different ports - half on the way North and half on the way back. Our ship, the Havila Pollux s a working boat carrying tourists on a long cruise, but also taking passengers and goods from port to port. 

The Havila ships were built to be environmentally friendly can run on battery power for four hours and uses liquid natural gas when the batteries become exhausted. The batteries are recharged using hydropower when the boats are stationary. 

The Havila ships are smaller and stay close to the coast line. Their size also means they can enter the narrow fjords of Norway.

Bergen

Our sea voyage begins and ends in Bergen. We had only a little time, but we did walk around a bit. Bergen is the second largest city in Norway.

Bergen has multicolored housing that is so unique to Americans and the buildings are modern. Since we often post photos with a coffee theme, the third image below is their Starbucks. 

The Bergem Fish Market is one of the "must sees". 

I have to throw the following image somewhere. Cheese is a big deal in Norway and now that we spend so much time in Wisconsin and have developed our own cheesehead cred, I have my own favorites. Brown cheese is new to me. I have had some on bread each morning for breakfast and I have become a fan.

We will be in Norway during the most contentious election in our experience. We voted before we left, but CNN is everywhere and we can follow any late developments. We do find U.S. politics a topic we often discuss with lunch and dinner companions and we have yet to encounter a Trump supporter among any international voyager we have met. Folks are just as baffled by the state of U.S. politics as we are.

Oslo to Bergen by Train

The train ride from Oslo to Bergen is supposed to be the most picturesque in Europe. We don't have enough experience to confirm, but the imagery was certainly spectacular. Perhaps earlier when the leaves were still turning or later with more snow would have provide some additional opportunities, but the trip was certainly better than another plane flight. The route runs from the coast to the coast so the images toward the middle of the following sequence will be at the higher altitude. This is not a tourist trip so all images were taken through the window at full speed.