28 Oct - Last Full Sea Day

From Norway

Last full day aboard involved more motoring time than usual. We awoke to the docking in the fjord-side community of Trondheim, Norway’s 3rd largest city. Jamie and I vigorously walked for almost two hours through the center, past the famous cathedral, and up the hill to the old fort. It was an enjoyable town with waterways, old colorful buildings, and boats docked on the waters. The streets were alive with walkers and bikers commuting to work. This is the first stop where the ship was not visible from the highest point around. In the past ports, the cruise ship has resembled a town construction project that lacked a building permit… oversized and out of place.

Despite the morning walk, we spent an hour doing laps on Deck 5 after the best lunch yet (smoked cod and some potatoes, green onions and cheese gently spiced with chili powder). The weather surpassed the previous days with endless sunshine and no wind, which made the walking and views worth every moment. Our eyes were peeled for wild life, however we missed it all, if there was any to be missed.

On a daily basis, we’ve been conducting our own private happy hours in the empty upper lounge. We fill up our plastic cup from our Malbec meritage wine box, and grab our books for an easy afternoon read. The sunsets are not to be missed during this time. The sky resembles a rainbow trout… pink, light greens, and blues. The time of the sunset continually changes. The sun set tonight was over 1.5 hours later than the time it set from our Northerly departure port. It’s quite amazing. Keep in mind, the sunrise is changing by just as much. Therefore, 4 hours of sunlight was gained by going roughly 5 degrees south in latitude. Keep in mind the sun already is setting earlier and earlier each day, yet we’re going south faster. Jamie mentioned it’d be a good problem for a Physics major to figure out how the sunset time due to boat’s change in latitude versus daily losing daylight factors affect each other. He quickly corrected himself with “physics student” before I could press the challenge to him!

Dinner tonight was pumpkin soup starter (it was disappointing), halibut entrée, and some sort of ice cream ladyfinger whipped cream cake that was brought out from the kitchen with sizzling sparklers. On the way out of the dining room, I stopped by the lonely old couple’s table. This couple has eaten by themselves at the same table for every meal. She is restricted to a wheelchair, so he waits on her hand and foot. They are very quiet, petite, and the sweet old couple that fairytales idealize. Observing their routines, my feelings towards them turned to a sort of shame or sorrow since they were being ignored by the rest of the passengers. Everyone else was having a boisterous good time and the lonely old couple sat by themselves, at a handicap reserved table. This evening I put a hand on her shoulder and complimented her on her Norwegian knit sweater. She looked up through her big glasses and offered her cold hand, which I met with my other hand. Her husband clarified the compliment while the old lady kissed my hand. It turns out they were from Holland and had done the cruise in 1996. They were staying in the same exact room they had slept in 13 years ago. That cruise was Polarlys’s second cruise and they said there were just 10 people onboard. Amazing! They were cheerful to have this small chat and if we see them in the cafeteria for lunch, perhaps we’ll join them tomorrow.

After the evening’s port stop, we met up with our London dining partners and split their bottle of sparkling wine, which came with their room suite. We came armed with a bottle of red and spent the rest of the evening (until 11pm) chatting it up.

Tomorrow afternoon we will arrive at our departure port of Bergen, Norway’s 2nd largest city. Almost a week of cruising is a perfect amount of time. Living in the small quarters, the limited yet endless quantities of food, and restricted exercise facilities is starting to wear on my body. We have a day and a half in Bergen and will likely grab a hotel in the town to make a home-base for two nights. Bergen was Norway’s capital for much of the country’s history and is still known today as the prettiest city of them all. It’s surrounded by seven peaks, all connected by a hiking trail that is accessible from a cable car up the mountain. There are a few key sites to see and activities to experience. I dare say we will skip the ferry tours.

27 Oct - Watercolors on Western Norwegian Waters

Ahoy! The days pass by surprisingly quickly. I’ve had barely anytime to read my book and have not done any knitting! During the daylight hours we’re dining, doing laps on Deck 5 while searching for sea-life (seals, fish, and sea eagles thus far), observing the docking procedures, or painting. Yes, there are two artists on board who are putting together a cruise DVD of pictures and video. They also brought art supplies and have done three art “sessions” since we’ve come onboard. I’ve done four water color postcard paintings and have really enjoyed it. I think I’ll get a small kit for my future trips. It’s an activity that is relaxing and travels well. I wait for the dark hours to write the blog and check emails.

This cruise doubles as a ferry, so it takes 4-6 stops per day and a few in the middle of the night. We generally stay on the boat for the 15 minute stops and disembark for the 30-90 minute stops. This might beg the question, “is that enough time to see the land sights?” Yes, it most certainly is. These towns are quite small. They are increasing in size the further South we go, however 30 minutes is still enough time to get a feeling for the fjord side village’s personality. The number of excursions that passengers can sign-up for are drastically reduced this time of the year both for the weather (it’s too cold and un predictable for zodiacs, and not enough snow for dog sledding) as well as reduced number of passengers. There has already been a cancellation of one of the outings due to not enough participation. The remaining excursions are basically bus tours of the town or land that either meet the boat at the next port or if it’s a long enough stop, return to the same dock.

A spectacular performance occurred on the ship today. Some see such an act of bravery on their “cruises from hell” and most never have the opportunity to be this type of spectator. There was a helicopter rescue drill this evening. The loudspeaker provided a 15 minute warning, mentioning that passengers should not go outside on the boat’s stern. Everyone casually ended their activities (in our case reading & painting) and headed to the back of the boat. My station was on Deck 7 at the rear of the boat in the doorway. I shut off the automatic door such that it was permanently open. Jaime headed to the outside balcony of Deck 5 along with the rest of the interested passengers and crew. It was quite a show! A helicopter hovered 30 ft above the back corner of Deck 7. First, down came a rope, next zip-lined a florescent rescue dude, followed by a metal box. After some scrambling, up went the box, then dude, and I retreated from my station to Deck 6. The back of Deck 6 had a close-up view and deafening hum of the helicopter. It then whizzed away. I imagine this training is a very rare event because the boat crew was standing on the back decks with the passengers. What luck.

This evening we docked at another nameless town. It really does have a name, it’s just at this point they all start melting together in my memory, so they are now referred to as the time of day, for example, “this evening’s stop” or “this morning’s stop”. At this evening’s stop, a Northbound Hurtigruten ship (Midnight Sun, except in Norwegian) roped up behind us. We scuttled around the upper floors of it and were impressed by the openness and airy-ness of the decks (aka stories of the ship), however we marked it down due to the color scheme (neutral colors) and its covered lap deck which minimizes the view. This ship was finished in 2003, ten years after Polarlys (our ship) was commissioned. Ours resembles more of a teal 80s casino, however we’ve adjusted to it and now appreciate the bright nautical colors.

We are tuckered out tonight and plan to get to bed early. The sleeping on the ship is wonderful. Our room has two trundle beds, which keeps the room efficient and spacious. The sleeping is wonderful and very quiet. Our dinner dining partners (the next youngest couple, from London) invited us to share their champagne. Perhaps we’ll toast to the wonderful luck we’ve had on this cruise. They learned today, straight from the captain, that it’s extremely rare to see the Northern Lights this early in the season, let alone as good as we saw them. That was the best show he’s ever seen in October. We’ve also had great weather. It has sprinkled once and rained for 20 minutes… which is a walk in the park compared to the typical stormy autumns. We have one more full day left on the ship. The big stop tomorrow morning is Trondheim. It’s a 3.5 hour stop and we plan to walk for most of it.

Yes, yesterday was my birthday. We celebrated by opening a bottle of California Red Zinfandel (from Oslo airport’s Duty Free store) and Jamie had brought some gifts. I poured a glass of the Zin for Harry, a lively old London chap. We had a solid conversation about a variety of topics (from family/career to health care, Obama, and the war). It was quite fun to get another perspective, for him as well. At dinner they served me a special little fondant cake that I shared with our dinner dining couple. Upon rolling out of the dining room, Harry caught me by the sleeve and convinced the fellow diners to sing Happy Birthday. He then continued with two other passengers claiming it had been their birthdays within the past week, so the room sung the song two additional times. As I said, Harry is an active one! It was quite a lovely day to turn 29.

25 Oct – Enlightened Experiences

From Norway

Now comes the time to describe the in-describable. This has always been a most curious phenomenon that has triggered more questions for me than I’ve found answers… the Northern Lights, a.k.a Aurora Borealis. Thank you to those whom sent glowing thoughts our way.

During the after dinner laps around the ship, Jamie and I observed the night sky activity. It was around 8:30pm. As the laps progressed, we noticed a couple light stripes across the sky, similar to the milky way. With each lap the stripes intensified to the point of being light gray streaks with a curvature of a rainbow. This spurred a conversation of “how intense do the Northern Lights have to be in order for these weathered captains to announce them?” The question was answered not five minutes later with the loud speaker reporting “there are some Northern Lights building ahead of us”. Sure enough the crowd of a dozen other people joined us on the deck to observe the “building”. The streaks had split and were turning a very slight greenish hue on either side of the boat. The streaks formed blobs (slower than the eye could notice) and parts of the blobs would turn a brighter green before diluting. After 15 or 20 minutes the lights dimmed, the temperature was nipping at the under layers, so we returned inside.

Around 9:30pm we bundled back up and returned outside. The rumor on the ship was that the previous nights’ performances were great from 9:30-10:30pm. Jamie and I had the lap deck to ourselves. It was the best light show of my life.

These streaks were moving so quickly across the sky. We were on one side of the boat and watching the green streaks shoot towards us, and disappear over the boat. I ran around to the other side of the boat where we watched them dance over us and drizzle down across the darkness. These lights truly do dance. There are small light bundles that drop like fingers playing a piano and it’s impossible to tell where exactly they will land next. They know they’re route, as they seem to follow a general direction across the sky, however the smaller paths form swirls and swoops.

The speeds of the light streaks vary. In the beginning they were sluggish and the eye was able to notice the light intensity changes, however unable to see any movement. For this private showing, I was literally running back and forth, head bobbing as if observing a tennis ball during an Olympic match. All the meanwhile I was screaming “OH MY GOSH” around every corner of the ship. I do not remember myself ever, EVER behaving this way. It was ridiculous and Jamie was keeping up the pace behind me. After ten minutes of this track practice, it settled down and I wanted to figure out how to capture it on film. Just taking a no-flash picture was not working. Jamie helped adjust the ISO setting and shutter speed so by the time the lights were warmed back up, my Powershot was ready. Despite the adjustments, the photos still are not as brilliant nor lively as the live show.

The cruise crowd was drizzling back out the doors for more show. The remaining lights were intense in color, but not as quick as our private performance. They did show up on film, so I’ve uploaded one of the pictures. The internet is quite slow, so additional pictures will have to wait until later. There is certainly an eerie aspect to the lights. The kids that grow up in Northern Norway grow up with the old wives’ tale that if they wave a white cloth at the lights, the lights will dive down to pick them up and take them away. Our luncheon comrades confirmed this tale and said they would do a wave out the front door and then shut the door quickly. This kept them occupied for hours.

Today we disembarked in the northernmost town in the world… Hammerfest. It is further north than Russia, Alaska and the Canadian islands. It was fairly cold with a dusting of snow on the ground. There was a great hike up the hill behind town so we conquered that bit. There were dozens upon dozens of snow fences that escorted us up this hill. They must be there to prevent a snow drift cornice from forming and dropping onto the town below. Completely unintentionally, I’ve been to the world’s southern-most city (Ushuaia) and northern-most town. The cultures may have a lot in common geographically and statistically, however have quite different towns and businesses. There was a brand new oil facility (largest technological project in Northern Norway) just on an island outside of town. Its natural gas well and dredging is completely under the sea hundreds of kilometers out. There are no barges nor platforms visible.

The terrain has changed from the low-lying barren rock, to snow capped rocky peaks that penetrate the sea with a vengeance. This land is only for hearty inhabitants that can brave the harsh conditions. We’ve met a few of the brave souls today. They take this ferry to travel to the hospital in Tromso, as well as visit family on the weekends. It’s a great experience and quite different from the normal cruise. This afternoon between deck laps and port visits, we painted through an art class. There is an art teacher on board and provided all the tools (water color tube paints and postcards). It’s a fantastic activity to do with these huge windows and scenery. We really enjoyed it. That might be atypical from the regular cruise. It’s such a small group that we can recognize everyone, let alone know some of their life stories.

Many of the fellow passengers are from England. Another point to this not being a typical cruise, as I type this, I’m wearing a sweater, long johns, and socks, sprawled out on a leather booth/couch, with Jamie lying at my side and there are two other people (one in a down puffy jacket) in the entire 200-person capacity lounge. What a life for a week!

24 Oct – 1, 540 Miles to Go

Sure enough the sun broke over the Kirkenes hill shortly before 10am. It likely rose around 8:30, however took and hour and a half to breach the hill’s crest, and it is only a hill, no mountain. The sun today never got above a thumb’s distance from the horizon. At noon, I extended my arm, put my lower thumb knuckle at the horizon, and the top of my thumb blocked the sun. That was high noon (~2 inches from the horizon). It took 3 hours to get there, and took another 3 hours to dip below by 3:30pm. It made for one long happy hour, errr… sunset of a day.

Chilling is a fitting term for the temperature. After being here in the country for a month, my body can get the celcius temperature correct within 1-2 degrees. Today, it never got above freezing. It was very cold, and the morning walk around town did more than just wake us up. After an hour and a half of being exposed to the elements, our legs were stiffening up. It was time to return to our hotel for check-out and bus pick-up to the dock.

We had observed the Polarlys ship’s arrival in the bay and had done some research on-line, so we were aware it was a medium-sized cruise ship (capacity is 737 people). We also knew that this is the ship’s “off season” so we were curious to how many passengers would be on the ship. Now here is the kicker, Jamie & I are 4% of the passengers on-board… there are a whopping 44 other cabin passengers! We can really just pick any lounge/bar area and have the place to ourselves. We have done some laps around the ship’s deck (you can imagine my energy bundle explosions need attention) and we don’t pass a single person for the entire 20 minute walk. Amazing!

During summer and winter months the ship is packed. There are lines everywhere and the lounge seats are taken, not to mention passengers pay full price. The only reason we could afford this trip was for USA residents traveling this time of the year, two people cruise for the price of one. The deal was truly confirmed today when calculating the advertised lunch and dinner prices. Since the cruise doubles as a water taxi between ports, there are temporary passengers that will pay for meals. When summing up the price of lunch + dinner for the two of us for the 5-6 days we’re on the boat, that cost is more than our total trip. So, that’s the economic news.

Lunch was buffet style featuring catfish (though there were plenty of other goodies to chose from). We dined with a couple from Vardo whom had just returned from a week in Bejing. They were temporary passengers that had flown into the Kirkenes airport and were getting off at the next stop. She was head of VIP & Sponsoring for the professional snowball fights. I’m dead serious. There are rules that parallel capture the flag or paintball. They have annual tournaments against the Russians (by the way, we saw Russian land today) that involve beer and they have had games against Korea that involved Sake. It is quite a serious sport as the snowballs are machine made and seem to resemble small ice cannon balls that can provide great injury to it’s target… you. She had gotten a bloody head when a “snow ball” hit her helmet, causing her helmet to puncture her forehead. The amusing part of these injuries is that it’s so cold out and the adrenaline is pumping, that victims can’t always tell (or feel) when there’s been a hit. They hoped we could peak some interest in California, I’m not sure the Lake Tahoe residents are beefy enough though. Anyways, when we have a faster internet connection, I’ll check out her website. In the meantime, you can check it out here .

One of the most interesting facts of the day, special thanks to the luncheon couple, relate to the dozens of large fishing vessels. They proudly displayed a single Norwegian flag on the main mast, followed by a few Russian flags decorating the stern. Apparently they are impounded Russian ships. The Russians have not paid their taxes or dues, so Norway impounds the large boats. The Russians don’t have the money to right the situation, so they just live on these rusty vessels on the waterfront in Kirkenes. We did see two Russians in the morning (they were in stereotypical Russian hats… a fur bomber hat or a black beret). On the side, the Russians “own” the King Crabs in the sea. From my understanding, the Norwegians are only permitted to haul out so many. King Crab was part of the lunch and Jamie confirmed the tastiness of their long legs.

This afternoon the cruise provided a short documentary on Vardo, the next port. It was a major (although illegal at the time) trading port between Northern Norwegians and Russians. Russians needed food and Norwegians needed flour and wood (there are absolutely no trees up here… it’s barren). The black market traded salty fish for bark and flour. The trading benefited both cultures tremendously, so until the King of Denmark/Norway permitted the trading in the 1700s, it was illegal but necessary for survival.

Tonight we are crossing our fingers to see the light show. The ship has seen the Northern Lights for the past two evenings, so is a decent chance. The Northern lights were my main site-seeing goal for coming up to Northern Norway. We have no other plans for the evening, but do have our books and the on-board library to tire our eyes.

On a side note, even cooler than the ship’s actual location website (on the previous entry), is the Polarlys ship’s webcam Ahoy mates!

23 Oct - 69.725 Degrees Latitude

Jamie & I made it to Kirkenes. We're a few miles from the Russian border, above the article circle, and the hotel room window is still opened a crack. That didn't stop Jamie from checking in early. He's a bit tuckered out from the traveling of the past 36 hours.

After I finished up work today, we did some exploring of the local swiss cheese hills (swiss cheesed from the silver mine shafts). For lunch we stopped at a cheese farm where they served us a 4-cheese and cracker plate with tea. While eating, we looked down into the cow barn where cows were socially eating, automatic scrapers cleaned the floors, the cows browsed the colder outdoor pen, and the cows voluntarily walking into the milking machine to get milked. Truely happy cows (as opposed to CA CAFOs) and great cheese!

With the spare time we had, we parked in Oslo and took a walk around Oslo hitting the main attractions (marina, palace, stroget, train station, and opera house). Great to stretch the legs, though it turned out with Oslo traffic, the "spare" time was much less than originally thought. We made it to the airport 45 minutes before the flight and were able to return the car, check us in and our 2 checked bags, through security and to the gate with 20 minutes to wait before we boarded. Phew!

Kirkenes is a tiny, one-terminal airport. I had little knowledge of the transportation other than taxis were super expensive, there is a bus in the daytime, and town 15-20 minutes away. Fortunatley, there was a bus idle so I asked the bus driver what time he left (wanted to make sure we didn't miss it!). His response was "until the terminal is empty". Great. It was below freezing with flurries in the air, though barely a dusting on the ground. Looking forward to seeing this place with the sun up... although that might not happen until 10am. We shall see.

Jamie has already started dreaming of our adventure to come in the coming days. If you'd like to follow our ship, click here . Not sure what the internet access will be like on the boat, so that websit may be the only updates you get for a little while. Sails away MS POLARLYS!

19 Oct - Ugly Man

From Norway

The week started escaping me before it even begun! Between work, preparing for Jamie’s visit, packing up, and shopping for dinner (including pumpkin pie) ingredients for another cook-in-someone else’s-kitchen evening, it’s been quite busy. This will be a short entry to catch up on the rest of the weekend.

Sunday’s breakfast at the hotel on Smögen was just as good as the Marstrand hotel breakfast. This one provided an assortment of berries, to put over the sour milk (similar to unsweetened yogurt). In addition to blackberries, I believe some of them were Lingon berries and the rest remain unknowns. They were yummy… the first berries I’ve had in over a month.

By 8am I was on the road returning to Kongsberg. My coworker and I had plans to hike Styggemann (stig-e-man: ugly man), a popular trail in the greater Kongsberg area. This is the same coworker whom’s house I cooked at a couple weeks ago. The day was clear, but cold. The terrain was icy, muddy, and even a dusting of snow at times. On hikes over the past few weekends, I was always drooling over warm snacks that other hikers were enjoying… whether it was cooked over an open fire or kept warm by thermos. All I was equipped with was crackers, honey, apple, pear, peanut butter, and cold water.

Today’s hike was different; today I was going to have a hot meal! Before we reached the top, we put our bags down next to a lake and my coworker unpacked her kit. She had brought her stove, soup mix, home-picked and dried mushrooms, cream, lingon berries, and herbs from her garden. I scooped water from the pond… well the pond was iced over, however there was running water not too far away and everything was boiled together while we snacked on the crackers and apple. Once it was ready, it was delicious and I savored every hot sip. This is one lesson learned that can be incorporated into the winter snowshoe trips at the cabin!

The view from ugly man’s bald head was better than expected. The Oslofjorden (including a ferry) could be seen, as well as Gaustatoppen (the peak climbed a few weeks ago), the village of Kongsberg, and the swiss cheese mountain (swiss cheese because the silver mines make so many holes in it). It was clear and beautiful. After some Norwegian milk chocolate (it’s good!), we skipped down the mountain. When I write “skipped,” perhaps a better word would be “stumbled” or “tripped”. It was tough keeping up with my coworker. At some points I was just sitting on my butt and sliding down the icy rock. It was all in good fun. I’m trying to convince her and her boyfriend to come vacation in CA. I think she’d really enjoy all the outdoorsy activities.

That about sums it up! I’m off to start a day a work and continue the “Jamie gets here” countdown. Skol! (sckole: “Cheers” in Norwegian).

18 Oct - Swedish Island Hopping

From Sweden

Marstrand Sweden brought back memories of my childhood weekends on the boat anchored at Block Island, Nantucket, Essex, Martha’s Vineyard, or Cuttyhunk. This small island was heavily focused around serious sailing (it’s where the Swedish Match Cup is held), just as the New England marinas. The buildings had detailed trim and railings, almost to the extent of Martha’s Vineyards Victorian homes. Most of the buildings were white with red roofs, similar to some found on Block Island. The landscape was the tell-tale sign that this was no New England port.

Saturday morning was the laziest morning yet. The complimentary breakfast had oranges and a juice press offered. Wow! The oranges’ flavor was a bit flat, not as fresh/tangy as SoCal, but I was still very thankful to have any fresh juice at all! The only other difference from the standard Norwegian buffet was the sour milk. There were bowls of various hearty cereals and two bowls of white stuff. One bowl was labeled as “fruit yogurt” and the other as “sour milk”. I went for it thinking it’ll be like the Norge’s sour yogurt. It was sourer and had less structure than the other yogurts, and just as good. The yogurts of Scandinavia are sights better than the US yogurts. I wish the US dairy farmers processed it the same and disregarded the added sugars!

My new friend Karen joined me at breakfast just as I was ready to depart. Instead, I grabbed a cup of tea. After some conversation, she informed me that the teen sailors had taken a morning run around the island, and were jumping on the boats at 10am. She wanted to watch the herd depart. I wasn’t far behind. The front desk provided me an island map, which showed a surprising amount of greenery. The cobblestone boardwalk guided me along the island’s edge for a bit. At the North end the 60 teens were zig-zagging their sails back and forth in a tight pack… without collisions nor capsizing. A whistle blew from one of the inflatable dinghies with a “1 minute warning” in English. There were Finland kids participating, so the coaches used English for everyone. Towards the end of the minute, the boats all started facing the same direction and sure enough a second whistle marked the start of the race. Other than a few confused sails still hovering in the back, all sails were pointed seaward. What fun!

It was an absolute beautiful day... bright sun, light wind, and not a cloud in the sky. The walk around the island was great. It’s perfect for kids to run and hike around on the trails through the woods and on the rocks. The walk ended at the houses and stores. There were only two stores open (it’s the off-season), so I browsed them both. One of the stores was an art compilation from various folks (glass maker, knitter, pottery, paint, nautical lights, etc.). Each artist took turns running the store for a day. Today it was the glass artist and she once again proved that it’s a small world. In conversation it came up that I was from California. She had just sent a glass bowl to a couple in California whom was in the store a couple weeks ago. I asked if she remembered what town. She said, “Oh yes, I had to google earth the address to see where they lived. The town was Man-hat-tan Beach.” Enough said.

By noon my Marstrand visit had expired. I took the return ferry ride with the hotel receptionist. She asked if I’d figured out where I was going next. The meal comrade (Karen) had suggested another quaint Swedish seaside resort that sounded like “Smorfgen”. I tried that pronunciation in this conversation, and she immediately knew what I was talking about. She agreed that it would be a fine destination. That sealed the deal. I packed myself up in the car (no parking ticket!), took a check of the map, and I was on the road again… this time the back roads.

Once in a while the back roads had a peek view of the water, although it was fjord water and not open sea. There was usually a sailboat or motorboat chugging along these waterways. Jobiska would’ve fit right in (Jamie’s old made-in-Sweden sail boat w/ a 3ft keel). When I use the word “fjord” in the same topic of the Sweden coast, it’s overkill. These waterways are lined with evergreen hills or smooth rock. Most comparable to the pacific northwest, and nothing like Norway’s west coast.

After a few hours, I pulled up and over the bridge to the island of Smögen . This island certainly had the potential to meet the quaint requirement. It didn’t full-fill it until after I checked into the only hotel (yes, there was room!) and began exploring. My walk was along the edge of the island. This one had no trees (other than in people’s small yards) and was all rock. The island would be ideal for swimming in the summer (it had various natural pools with ladders onto the rock) and was built around the fishing industry. There was a lovely boardwalk along the fisherman huts. Some were snoozing in the setting sun’s light and some were conversing, still wearing the rubber gear from the day’s work.

The sunset light was beautiful on the rocks and houses. Similar to Denmark, the sunsets are very long here so the lighting is favorable for photographers and artists. I’m neither, so be patient with my snapshots.

The dinner was probably the most disappointing of the trip. It was a beautiful restaurant with an expertly written menu. The chef just didn’t deliver complimentary flavors on the plate nor do justice to the menu’s writer. Oh well, can’t like ‘em all.

Returning to the room, I posted a blog entry before the ritual phone call with Jamie. He would’ve really enjoyed these sea side towns and would’ve been tugging at my jacket to remind me of a phrase I’ve repeated “you can get a boat after we get a house”…. Hmmm ….