At Sea in the North Atlantic August 31, 2011

Jon Sigurdsson mentioned this morning that at this time of year in the North Atlantic, it is usually when the storms arrive. However, there are no storms now and the waters are much smoother than usual. He went on to tell us about how Iceleand was settled from people in Norway, Ireland, Scotland, and the Faroes. Inland glaciers are prominent on Iceland. The coastline is rugged everywhere except the south coast where there are black volcanic sand beaches.

The population of Iceland is 320,000 with most people living in Reykjavik. Those outside the city are farmers or fishermen. No one lives in the highlands near the glaciers. Opart of Iceland is above the Arctic Circle. Many volcanic eruptions occur here and there are many hot springs.

Interesting facts:

--One family was living in their home and noticed hot steam coming up through the floor!!! A hot spring burst through and demolished their house!

--One city in Iceland decided to put up a traffic light and had the red light in the shape of a heart—the drivers have been nicer to each other since then and there have been fewer accidents.

--Kiko, the famous whale from the movies, was brought to an island near Iceland and kept in a bay until he was released into the wild again.

--In December there is only 5 hours of sunlight. But there is two months of total sunlight in summer, so Reykjavik actually has more yearly sunshine than New York.

--Only first names are used in Iceland. Jon Sigurdsson means Jon, son of Sigurd. His wife, Unnur’s, last name was her father’s name with dotir (daughter) added after it. Their son’s name is Magnus Jonsson. In the phone book, you are listed by your first name!

--The city council in Reykjavik actually hands out a map showing where the elves are in town! The Icelanders truly believe in elves and trolls.

--There are 14 members of Santa Claus’ family that visit during Christmastime. Even his cat! Children leave their empty shoe in the window and it is filled with treats on 14 nights if they have been good.

--Jon told us that if we have a dark clear night while around Iceland and Greenland, we have a very good chance of seeing the Northern Lights!!! Mid-August to April is the best time for the Aurora Borealis. I may actually finally get to see them. If I do, you will hear me screaming all the way from Iceland!

After the talk, we went to the Mariner Society awards ceremony where we received our Copper Medallions from the Captain. This is to signify that we have over 100 nights on Holland America cruises. Very exciting. There was a brunch afterwards and we were sitting at a table with another couple when a waiter appeared and asked if we would like to sit at the Captain’s table! Why yes we would! It was a fascinating discussion around the table talking with him and his wife. And the food was delicious. And we ended up with 5 mosaic tiles—eventually we will have to make something with all of these.

Dinner in the Rembrandt dining room then to the theatre to see “The Adjustment Bureau” with popcorn supplied.

Scenic Cruising through the Narrows of the Faroe Islands

As we left the Faroes, the Captain decided to take us through the narrows, up one of the fjords, on our way north. The scenery was spectacular, even though I didn’t have my warm jacket with me and nearly froze trying to get pictures. I was too enthralled to leave the deck and go back to the cabin to get it. At one point while cruising the fjord, we had to go UNDER the power lines that stretched from one side of the fjord to the other, the lowest point being 54 meters above the water. The interesting thing is that our ship sits in the water at height of 53.6 meters. If we had taken out the power lines, all of the Faroes would’ve gone dark!

More Scenic Cruising

Faroe Islands August 29, 2011

Magnus Heinason established Torshavn’s fort in 1580, ostensibly to guard the settlement against pirate invasion. The clever man was granted a royal charter to operate the fort and a battleship to chase suspected pirates, but instead of defending the town, he plundered passing merchant vessels himself!

When Norwegian settlers established the parliament in 825, they chose the narrow Tinganes Peninsula. The government offices remained here untilt he 20th century. The oldest constructions date from the 15th century or earlier. A fire gutted many of the buildings in 1673, so much of what remains has been restored. Munkastovan was the monk’s house, their private living quarters with stone walls more than 500 years old. Gongin, lined with charming 19th century homes, was the old city’s main street. At the tip of the slender peninsula, Krakusteinur is an unmarked monument to an unusual former ceremony. The word means “crow’s rock” and the flat boulder was used to dispose of beaks collected as tax payments. Ravens and various birds of prey were viewed as pests, so the bizarre levy was a means of control.

Interesting facts:

--The Faroes have 6 islands connected by tunnels.

--St. Brendan led a small group of monks to settle on Streymoy.

--Torshavn was named for the Norse god Thor. “Havn” means harbor.

--Lacking conventional mortar, the Faroese had to improvise, so they fashioned paste from crushed bone and shell. The makeshift mortar proved to be pretty strong, though—the buildings are still intact after enduring 6 centuries of Faroese winters.

--Young puffins are called pufflings.

--The Faroese speak Foroyskt derived from Old Norse. The Faroese krone is interchangeable with the Danish krone. Right now, it’s about 5 krones to an American dollar.

--In the Faroes, when you buy a house, you can do whatever you want with it, unlike in the UK. The average house in Torshavn would cost $600,000, but it would be about ½ that cost outside the city. The average income is $4600 per month.

--$0% of the Faroes Islands exports are salmon. The Gulf Stream is very good for raising salmon and we saw lots of fish farms in the circle pens in the bay with the salmon jumping very high. Many of these pens are computer controlled, meaning the owner can sit at home and feed the salmon & do many other tasks from his chair at home.

--There are 19 tunnels and 4 traffic lights in the islands.

--There are 70,000 sheep here and Icelandic horses, one who was standing in the middle of the road and didn’t want to move. Faorese people love to eat lamb so much that they have to import it. And it costs 3 times more to buy Faroese Lamb than to buy an imported lamb. People will express a wish to have lamb from a particular pasture even.

--They breed swans and geese here in the lakes.

--A fishing license for 3 hours of fishing is the equivalent of $60. The lakes have wild salmon in them and trout. The largest salmon caught in the lakes was 23 pounds.

--There were many more grass roofs in the beginning of settlements here as it was the only method of insulation available. It can wear off, though, and even though it doesn’t need to be mowed, it looks neater if you do. Some use mowers, some use scythes, and some put a sheep up there!

On our shore excursion today, we left Streymoy Island via Kaldbakfjord and the Kololafjordur Valley. We passed through the new underwater (sub-sea) tunnel (3.1 miles long) and arrived on Vagar Island. The tunnel cost $50 million dollars to make and was paid for by the Faroese people from taxes and VAT. It is 110 meters below sea level with the ocean right above you as you go through.

We then drove through the village of Sandavagur where we visited the Midvagur Church. This was a very pretty white church with red trim. It is Faroese Lutheran Episcopal and 83% of the people in the islands are members. There are 85 churches and only 23 priests in the Faroes. This church was built in 1914-17. Inside was a large rock that had been found nearby with Norwegian Runes writing on it from around 1200. The runes said that a man named Torkil Onundarsun was the first to build in this place (town). The Lutheran Episcopals and Danish Churches borrowed the idea of the menorah from the Jews, only since they believe that the Messiah has already come, the menorah is already lit. Our guide said there was one thing about Faroese people—they could never agree on anything. So there is a lot of compromising going on here. Some in this church wanted the 14 stations of the cross and others wanted none. So there are 7.


There was a large sailing ship hanging from the ceiling with 2 chandeliers. The ship represents the fishermen of the congregation. In church, it was a tradition for the priest to speak only Danish, noit Faroese. There was a weapon room (the vestibule) where you had to leave all your knives and guns and other weapons before you entered the church. Only in 1949 was the first Faroese Bible published. One of the priests who found it strange to only speak Danish to those he normally spoke Faroese to decided to create a Faroese written language and he did it in a language very near to Icelandic so that it would be more widely accepted in the whole area.

Britain occupied the Faroes during World War II with 8000 soldiers, 5000 in the area near the church. They built an airport and roads and for a while, this area had the only left-hand driving in the Faroes. They worshipped at this church and sent a lovely letter to the congregation when they left.

Then we passed the largest lake in the Faroe Islands before reaching Vatnsoyrar. Alongside the lake were little peat houses with grass roofs which they used to dry their peat for fuel. In Bour, we found a little village with both old and new houses with green sod roofs and a charming old tar-blackened church. We got out of the bus and wlaked through this little village. From there we had a spectacular view of Tindholmur and Mykines Islands. One of these islands had 5 very prominent peaks at the top. The last persons to live on it were a young couple who were half brother/half sister in an incestuous relationship. They were banished to this island with their child. A legend grew up around this couple that said that an eagle flew down from one of the mountain’s peaks and stole the child. The mother climbed up to rescue him but he died of his injuries and the couple left the island. We left Bour through the tunnel to Gasadalur then returned to Torshavn via the mountain road to capture the view out over the fjords and the capital.

One of the tunnels we traveled through today was a single-track tunnel with passing places!!! It lead to a village with a population of only 25. These people until 5 years ago had to hike over the highest pass to get out of the town. It took them 2 ½ hours to make the trip one way. The postman had to do this hike 3 times a week. 20 years ago, helicopters would come in 3 times a week to bring supplies. The people even had to carry corpses over the top for burial. There is a stone at the top of the pass called the corpse stone which is the only place they rested. Guinness Book of Records records the Faroes as having the smallest state schools—five with only 2 students each. The teachers helicoptered in and stayed the week. As our bus arrived, so did two border collies who shepherded us off our bus then walked amongst us as we looked around then shepherded us back onto the bus—just as they are supposed to do for sheep! It was so cute. As our bus left, they ran back up the hill to the tiny village.

The temperature here in January is around 36 degrees Fahrenheit. There isn’t much snow because of the Gulf Stream. In December it is dark and rainy and there are only 4 hours of sun. There are many activities going on , though, including radio, TV, evening classes, doing theatre and choirs, visiting with others and knitting clubs. Singing is big, too, and there were 13,000 singing at the Festival in Torshavn this last July. The Faroes has the higest birth rate at 2.7 children per family. Medical is free but not dental.

One of our stops today was at the Flogvollur (airport) for the restrooms.

Northwest of Torshavn is Husareyn Mountain at 1138 feet tall and to the southwest is Kirkjuboreyn at 1150 feet. The city of Troshavn has a population of 19,000.

Early on, Torshavn became the center of the monopoly trade, thereby being the only legal place for the islanders to sell and buy goods. This lasted until 1856. The name of the town means Thor’s Harbour and may be named after the god of thunder and lightning in Norse mythology. The coat of arms shows Thor’s hammer. The Faereyinga Saga tells us that emigrants left Norway to escape the tyranny of Harald I of Norway and settled in the island, establishing their parliament called the ting around 825 AD. Other local tings were established in different parts of the islands. The Viking tradition held the ting in a neutral and uninhabited place so nobody had an advantage. The Vikings met on the flat rocks of Tinganes every summer. The Viking age ended in 1035. The ting was followed by a market which gradually grew into a permanent trading area.

There was a very pretty peninsula here in Torshavn with colorful houses. This is the oldest part of Torshavn. We also had another scenic narration as we left the Faroes.
Pictures from top: Torshavn with its peninsula, the oldest part of the city; two views of Tindholmur and Mykines Islands with the sea arch; view showing the tunnel we came through and the pass that the villagers had to walk over only 5 years ago; grass-roofed house.

More of the Faroe Islands

from top: peat house and boat on lake; some buildings in Torshavn.

Midvagur Church

The picture of the inside of the church shows the colorful paint, 7 stations of the cross, the menorahs, and the rock with the runes in the corner.

Sailing Past St. Kilda

Today we had a lecture on Viking Ecxplorations of the North Atlantic by Jon Sigurdsson. Themain record we have of the Vikings is from the “Icelandic Sagas” from the 12-13th centuries. There are some Viking graffiti markings in the Hagia Sophia—our lecturer joked that it said, “Olaf was here.” The Vikings from Norway attacked Lidnisfarne in England in 793 and Ireland in 795, establishing Dublin in 841. They arrived and settled in the Faroes in 800-850. They also discovered Iceland in 850 and in 930 established the world’s oldest parliament there. With the Battle of Brian in 1014, the Vikings were thrown out of Ireland.

In 950, they discovered Greenland and settled there in 985, slao going on to Labroador where they saw trees. Leif Ericsson (Leif the Lucky, son of Eric the Red) went to Baffin Island, Labrador, and Newfoundland, where they found grapes and called it Vinland. He also brought Christiantiy to the new lands. The first Europena born in the new world was named Snorri and was born in 1000. By 1450-1500, the Nordic settlement of Greenland ended because it was getting colder.

The Vikings sailed with Ravens in cages which they could release to see whether they went toward land or returned to the ship. America gave Greenland a statue of Leif to commemorate his founding of America. Funny how this gets glossed over with all the Columbus stories.

Tomorrow we will be visitng the Faroe Islands—18 islands, 17 of which are populated. The Faroes have a population of 46,000 and Torshavn, where we are landing, has 17,000 people. The first people here were 600 Irish monks, but they left then Viking settlers from Norway came here. They have their own language similar to Icelandic. They are Danish but have their own rule. There are many roads and tunnels under the sea that link the islands. There is a warm climate here with not much snow, surprisongly. Twenty years ago, you had to buy beer from the government and it took 2 weeks to get it as they had to be sure you didn’t owe the government any money. The houses are very pretty and colorful. Very clean. With sod roofs. The name Faroes means Island of Sheep and in town you won’t see statues to people but to famous sheep! The oldest part of the city of Torshavn is the peninsula where the 1st parliament was and where now are very pretty houses and cobbled streets.

Our astronomy lecture today was about our solar system. Nothing I didn’t already know though.

We passed by St. Kilda on our port side today around 4:30pm. On the horizon, shrouded in fogginess, we could see the grey silhouette of lonely, abandoned island.
Tonight is formal night so we’ll be dresing up for dinner in the Rembrandt Dining Room. Entertainment is virtuoso pianist Elena Ivanina.

Dublin once again August 28, 2011

The Vikings, or Norsemen, came in the 9th century and built above the river’s south bank in Dublin, on the spot where Dublin castle rose 400 years later. These invaders beat off most Irish attacks until 1014 when they were defeated at the Battle of Clontarf on the north shore of the bay. Nevertheless, the Vikings managed to reoccupy the town and Viking Dublin grew, although eventually the Norse kings were reduced to earls under Irish rule. Until the middle of the 17th century, Dublin remained a small, walled, medieval town, dominating only the Pale—the thin strip of English settlement along Ireland’s eastern seaboard. Over the next 500 years, three uprisings in the city were suppressed, and Scottish invasion and the ravages of the Black Death were endured.

Dublin is very easy to walk around as from DublinCastle, it is little more than four miles to the farthest city boundary in any direction. The medieval castle was built in 1204 by order of King John to suppress the rebellious Norman-Irish clan chiefs. The castle has suffered serious damage in several natural catastrophes. Only the original tower remains. Its Gothic church of the most Holy Trinity is very ornate.

The Temple Bar district was a gift to Sir Henry Temple after Henry VIII seized Irish church lands. “Bar” is a term meaning “riverside walkway.” This area is a center for artists, filmmakers, and writers. Half of Dublin’s residents are under 30. The name Dublin comes from “Dubh Linn” which means black pool. The referenced pool is now at the center of the penguin enclosure in Dublin Zoo. Food specialties include Irish Stew and Dublin Coddle. Most of the architecture is Georgian—loved the Georgian colorful doors.

College Green, the eastern end of the Temple Bar district, is the very place where Vikings once held meetings and buried their dead. The green is now the main entrance to Trinity College. Established in 1592 by order of Queen Elizabeth I, Ireland’s top university recently celebrated its 400th year. Cobbled lanes and squares surround the quadrangle where the Campanile was built in 1852 by Charles Lanyon. The classical view of Trinity College is actually hidden behind the small wooden doors that are the original entrance. Pass through them and you see the glorious Campanile, in front of the old Rubrics. This is the view that launched a thousand postcards--Parliament Square. The red-brick Rubrics are the oldest buildings here (with the Dutch gables being a later addition). The Examination Hall and the Chapel are exact mirror images of each other. The entrance to the Old Library where “The Book of Kells” is located is in Fellow’s Square. It has 200,000 antiquarian books, busts of writers (including Jonathan Swift) and philosophers—a collection begun in 1743, a copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, and "Brian Boru's Harp" (the oldest one in Ireland but some say not as old as the thousand years that is claimed—probably from from the 15th century). This is the harp which appears on Irish coins. It is made from oak and willow with brass strings.

The Book of Kells (originally a single-bound manuscript, but now 4 calfskin-bound tomes) is an illuminated edition of the first four gospels in Latin. It is a lavishly decorated, unique and illustrious manuscript created in 800 AD that was all but lost and then miraculously pulled out in an amazing state of preservation from a bog. This manuscript dates from around 700 hundred years before Columbus landed in the New World.

Apparently in the year 1006 the Book of Kells was stolen from the abbey of Kells and hidden under a sod where it was later recovered having had its precious gold decorated cover removed. The book was brought for safekeeping to Dublin by the Protestant bishop of Meath during the seventeenth century and from that time kept on open display in Trinity College.

It is kept in a low-lit gallery with only two pages displayed at a time, although they are turned after some period. The vellum (calfskin) manuscript contains transcriptions of the four Gospels, lavishly illustrated and ornamented. It is the most elaborate manuscript of its kind to survive from the early Middle Ages.

The scribes and artists who created the Book were Columbian monks who lived in a monastery on the remote island of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland. The monastery was founded late in the sixth century by an Irish monk, St Colm Cille. Iona was attacked by Vikings in a raid which left 68 monks dead.

At the time the book was produced, Irish monks were renowned throughout the rest of Europe for their work as scribes and illustrators. The Book of Kells contains 680 pages (or 340 folios). Just two of the pages are without ornament, while about thirty folios, including some major decorated pages, have been lost.

The decoration combines traditional Christian iconography with the ornate swirling motifs typical of Insular art. Figures of humans, animals and mythical beasts, together with Celtic knots and interlacing patterns in vibrant colours, enliven the manuscript's pages. The decoration of these texts is so elaborate that the text itself is almost illegible.

Also in Trinity College Library are some Celtic works. Irish laws weren’t written down until the 7th century. In these laws, women are given many more rights and privileges than in other cultures, mostly especially Rome. Women could divorce their husbands for many reasons and took all the wealth they had brought with them into the marriage. They could marry again without problems. Children, the elderly and the physically and mentally challenged were also protected.

We took the shuttle bus into the city center then headed straight for Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. The line wasn’t very long at all. Two pages of the Book of Kells was displayed under glass—one an illuminated page and one a page of text. The Book of Kells is insured for $20 million dollars. There were two other books displayed also. Yes, I loved the Book of Kells, but I must say that when I walked into the Old Library, I truly got choked up. It was so beautiful to think of all those amazing old books stored here in one place. And the library itself—wow! It was like something out of harry Potter with its two floors of arches and shelves and ladders. Truly an amazing place.

We walked into the College Green to see the Campanile then caught a Hop On Hop Off bus and took a tour of the city. We got off the bus at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for another visit. This is the National Cathedral for the Church of Ireland (Anglican) and was built by the first Anglo-Norman Bishop, John Comyn, in 1191, on the site of a little wooden church dedicated to St. Patrick. St. Patrick is said to have baptised converts to Christianity at a well in the park next to the church. A church has stood here since the 5th century. The stone chruch from 1191 was rebuilt in the early 13th century and is the building we see today. Handel’s Messiah was first performed here in 1742 with the combined choirs of St. Ptrick’s and Christ Church.

Christ church Cathedral is bearby, the original casthedral of Norse Dublin founded in 1030 by Kiung Sitric and is Dublin’s oldest building.

From the bus guide, we learned lots of interesting facts about Dublin:

--Jonathan Swift is buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral with his TWO girlfriends, both named Esther. To tell them apart, he renamed one Stella and the other Vanessa.

--Swift gave money to start a lunatic asylum. In old age, he was declared incompetent but not insane.

--Marsh’s Library (the oldest library in Ireland, from 1702) had a problem with pilfering of books, so to read a book, you were put into a cage and the book was chained to the wall. Jonathan Swift once worked here.

--Mr. Guinness and his wife had 21 children. They and the children of the employees of the Guinness Brewery were the only children lucky enough to have shoes. He began brewing his famous “Proter” in 1759. It is now produced around the world at the rate of over 10 million glasses each day.

--The Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) in Dublin from 1796 was the scene of location filming for “In the Name of the Father” & “Michael Collins.” This jail detained the leaders of 5 Irish rebellions between 1798 & 1916.

--St. Patrick was believed to be British but was captured and enslaved by the pagan Irish until he escaped.

--The movie “The Night Train Robbery” with Sean Connery was filmed at Dublin’s Heuston Station from the 1840s.

--Phoenix Park, near city center, is five times larger than Central Park in New York. The Pope gave a huge papal mass here and 1/3 of the Irish population was in attendance!

--The only still-operating gas streetlamps left in Europe are around Phoenix Park. There was a race of some sort happening here as we passed by.

--The American Ambassadors House is the only ambassador’s house allowed to be in Phoenix Park as it is a way of the Irish showing their gratitude for America’s help during the famines.

--The Irish president’s house was modelled on the US’s White House. The president is a woman at the present time. Presidents are elected for 7 year terms and can run twice.

--Ryan’s bar (one of Dublin’s original Victorian pubs dating back to 1896) was visited by Clinton and by Julia Roberts.

--Finn’s Hotel is where James Joyce met his wife who was a maid there. Molly Bloom also worked there.

--It was so cool how our bus driver pronounced thirty-three as “tur-tee-tree.”

--O’Connell Street was named for Daniel O’Connell who was the first to rise up in the Irish Freedom Rebellion. There is a huge monument to him there.

--The River Liffey has a fairly new bridge over it that was made in Holland and shipped here and erected overnight. It looks like a huge white harp.

Ray has fought a good fight and came up with us a regular table for two for dinner every evening. Yay Ray! This evening’s dinner was turkey roast, but the REALLY good thing about it was the dessert I had. Oh my goodness. I have to remember this because I have to repeat it when I am home. Warm brioche toast with caramalized apricots with a dollop of cream and square of chocolate and a scoop of clove ice cream! The apricots on toast were excellent and paired with the clove ice cream—which I had never even heard of but LOVED—was out of this world. My new favorite dessert.

Pictures from top: The Old Library at Trinity College; Molly Malone; Christ Church Cathedral; 2 pictures of the Stained Glass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral—the first telling the life story of St. Patrick.

Georgian doors and interesting buildings in Dublin.

The first picture is through a rain soaked window and is of an ivy-covered Gentlemen’s Club.

Volcanoes & the Milky Way August 27, 2011

Today we had a special talk by geologist and explorer Jon Vidar Sigurdsson on the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano that caused so much trouble for travellers last year. Volcanoes erupt on an average of once every 5 years on Icelnad. Jon lives in Reykjavik and was near the volcano before, during, and after its eruption. It was amazing how the Icelanders just hiked up to it and got SO close to the crater. Jon and his family were within 300 meters from the crater as it was spewing red hot lava. His photographs were amazing. Red lava falling into a snow-covered canyon. Hot red rocks bursting out of the crater like fireworks. At one point he and his family were standing between 2 vents when earthquakes began and they decided to leave, urging the other people up there to come along. They didn’t and had to be rescued by helicopter 10 minutes later.

The most amazing photos were taken at twilight and showed the glowing red magma, the Aurora Borealis, and lightning WITHIN the ash plume. The main volcano burst on April 13 spewing 2000 tons of ash per second into the atmosphere. This is when all the trouble started for European travelers—17,000 flights were cancelled in Europe. Their airspace was closed, but in Iuceland, no airports closed at all because all the ash blew south because of the way the winds were blowing. Only farmlands south of the glacier were affected with thick layers of ash which weill take years to recover. The eruption ended on May 24.

This year on May 21, a volcano in the SE of Iceland erupted for 4 days. It was ten times bigger than last years but the ash fell straight down into the ocean and caused no real problems for Europe.

This afternoon we had another special lecture by Bud Murch, a professor and rocket scientist, on the Milky Way. This is the frist in a series of 8 lectures on this cruise by him. I learned that the Hubble telescope didn’t work at first and they had to fix it with a corrective lens.

Now for some astounding numbers: There are 200 billion galaxies, 400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, and 80,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the known universe. And our universe is 13.5 billion years old.

Our galaxy is a spiral one with a galactic bulge in the center. Andromeda is like our galaxy but is 50% larger. It is rushing towards us and will eventually merge with the Milky Way galaxy. Andromeda galaxy is visible to the unaided eye even though it is 2 ½ million light years away. At the center of the Milky Way galaxy is Sagittarius A, a small black hole that is 4 million times the mass of our sun. And the old mnemonic device for remembering the order of the planets has to be changed ever since Pluto got demoted to a MINOR planet. So now it’s: My very earthly mother just served us nachos, instead of nine pizzas. Today our lecturer ended with telling us that we probably WON’T get to see the northern lights on this cruise and quoted a poem for us: Walt Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learned Astronomer.” Very interesting stuff.

Delicious dinner at table for 2 in the Rembrandt Dining Room this evening.

Belgium August 26, 2011

Zeebrugge (zee-brew-guh”) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge was built to facilitate maritime access to Brugge after the river silted up. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés, a marina and a beach.

Located on the coast of the North Sea, the busiest sea in the world, its central location on the Belgian coast, short distance to Great Britain and close vicinity to densely populated industrialized cities make Zeebrugge a crossroads for traffic from all directions.

The harbour was the site of the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918, when the British Royal Navy put the German inland naval base at Bruges out of action. Admiral Roger Keyes planned and led the assault that stormed the German batteries and sank the ships in the harbour to block the entrance to the base for the last seven months of World War I.

Later, Zeebrugge's harbour was the scene of disaster when in 1987 the MS Herald of Free Enterprise passenger ferry capsized killing 193 people.

We had planned to take the shuttle into Blankenburg then the train to Brugge then take the long walk into the city of Brugge from the station. Unfortunately, it is pouring rain outside. Not just showers but drenching miserable rain. We are so glad that we had our visit here in November. A thorough visit with Margaret & Colin so that we don’t feel the need to get soaking wet today to go in to see the city again. Although we would’ve loved to do just that as it is a wonderful city. And if the rains stop, we may reconsider. But as it is, we have to be back to the ship by 4 and with the shuttles only running every 30 minutes or so and the train schedule being what it is, we might not have much time there even if we do make the effort.

Tomorrow is a day at sea then the next we’ll be in Dublin.

Exiting through the Locks

Dinner was at Slice , where we had slices of pizza, AND the Terrace Grill, where I had the best salmon burger. Dessert was a scoop of ice cream in a sugar cone.

This evening we traveled back up the canal in Amsterdam to get to the sea through the lock. Amsterdam sits below sea level so to get back out to the sea, we had to go into the lock with the front gate closed, then they closed the rear gate & pumped in water to bring us up to sea level then opened the front gate and let us out. Quite exciting with a ship this large. So cool how the Amsterdam people come out to watch and to wave goodbye to us.

Things we learned in the scenic narration as we left Amsterdam:

--There are 3 residential canals here and one outer canal for defense, moat, and water management. The construction of the canals began in 1613.

--The oldest building here is the church from 1306.

--The Dutch Renaissance style of architecture ends in the top with a staircase shape. Many of the present buildings are in this style.

--The first stock exchange was here.

--In the early 1600s, the plague killed 10% of the population.

--The Nazis threw thousands of Jews out of Amsterdam & into concentration camps.

--25 windmills provide power to about 10,000 homes.

--The weather is fairly mild here. Temps in January go from a high of 41 to a low of 32.

--There are 572,000 bicycles in Amsterdam—see, I told you there were a lot. In the year 2009, 72,000 bikes were stolen!

--Families live on barges that are also working vessels that carry coal and gravel, etc. for delivery. The family car, boat, and all-terrain vehicles are also on board and are lifted off with a crane when needed. The house is like a houseboat in the rear.

Pictures from top: church and other spires; sunset at the lock; you can see the Captain being very alert; the locks closed behind us—hard to believe our big ship fit in that little space.

Amsterdam August 25, 2011-08-25

Funny to be away from the normal Scottish weather forecasts of “Sunshine & Showers” & “Unsettled.” Weather looks good for today. This morning we made our way through the locks and up the canal to Amsterdam where we are docked for the day. No old windmills to be seen today but several of the modern ones. Amsterdam is known as the Venice of the north because of all its canals. It has nearly 100 islands and 60 miles of canals which are crossed by 400 stone bridges. Distinctive narrow side-by-side homes line the canals and have hooks on top that were used to hoist goods to and from the waterways.

One of the interesting areas of the city is the Red Light District. This is where on our last visit here, Ray was surprised to find that a mannequin that was VERY scantily dressed in a store window was actually a real person. “Workers” wait in glowing red windows for clients and even pay taxes. The Dutch are very pragmatic about the sex industry and doctor visits stem the spread of STDs. Bicycles are very prominent on the streets of the city. You are more likely to be hit by a bike than a car.

Geographically the ancient Netherlands was a difficult area in which to live. Its inhabitants (Celtic and German tribes) had one very important feature - safety. Its rivers, lakes, wetlands, and woods were impossible to cross for the invaders.
Only in the 1st century BC did the ancient Roman Empire conquered the southern part of these lands establishing an important military post in Nijmegen. The northern Netherlands remained unconquered and uninvaded. Under the Roman administration, prosperity grew for almost three hundred years.

The origins of the city of Amsterdam lie in the 13th century, when fisherman living along the banks of the River Amstel built a bridge across the waterway near the IJ, then a large saltwater inlet. Wooden doors on the bridge served as a dam; these protected the town from the IJ, which often flooded the early settlement. The mouth of the river Amstel, where the Damrak now is, formed a natural harbor, which became important for trade.

The oldest document that refers to the settlement of Aemstelledamme 'dam on the Amstel', as it was then known, is dated 1204 AD.

This morning we chose to just walk through the city and along the canals. Basically we headed for the Anne Frank Huis then back through the shopping area.

Anne Frank was one of the Jewish victims of Nazi persecution during World War II. After Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, increasingly severe anti-Jewish measures began here as well. The Frank family tried to escape by going into hiding. On July 1942, Otto Frank, Edith Frank-Hollander and their daughters Margot and Anne hid in this building on the Prinsengracht. They were later joined by Mr. and Mrs Daan, their son Peter, and Mr. Dussel. The building consists of two parts: a front house and a back annex. Otto Frank's business was located in the front house. The uppermost floors of the back annex became the hiding place. After more than two years the group was betrayed and deported. Anne and Margot died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945, only a few weeks before this concentration camp was liberated. Otto Frank, the only member of the group to survive, returned after the war.

During the hiding period Anne Frank kept a diary. In it she described daily life in the back annex, the isolation, and the fear of discovery. Anne's diary survived the war. After the betrayal it was found by Miep Gies, one of the helpers. When it was confirmed that Anne would not be returning, Miep gave the manuscripts to Otto Frank. In 1947 the first Dutch edition appeared. Since then the diary has been published in more then 55 languages.

We had been here before. Saw the statue to Anne near the house. Almost mowed down by an old man on a bicycle. Saw one of the coffee shops with bongs in the window—wonder if they still have marijuana since the no smoking law passed here? Wore ourselves out walking and walking. Very nice city but kind of warm today, especially since I am used to cold Scotland. You have to applaud a place that can get this many people riding bicycles. I dare say they outnumber the cars 100 to 1. But maybe the cars are just hidden in garages. There was a garage that we saw where you drive the car in and a moveable floor slides the car over into an elevator that takes the car up. Ray says it’s probably more like 8 bicycles for every 1 car.

This evening as we sail out of Amsterdam, our cruise director will provide scenic narration. Then we 'll go for dinner in the Lido.

Pictures from top: two views of the canals; Anne Frank statue; car I’ve never heard of before—Weismann Roadster; tulip purses for sale.

Interesting Amsterdam Buildings

from top: one of the many leaning buildings—built this way so they could hoist furniture and supplies up the front of the building with a hook at the top; sign for the cheese shop; window at the cheese store; umbrella store?; pretty café.

In Amsterdam—things that make you wonder….

Pictures from top: post with clock in middle of water; Mannequin Pis Fries Shop—two things wrong with this: mayonnaise on fries and who wants to eat fries from a shop with the little boy pissing—not a good connotation; I am not one to judge fashion, but this just seems wrong; in a restaurant window--hmmmm?; silly ducks.