Gallivanting Grandma

Tuesday – August 15, 2017

It’s a gray overcast rainy day with poor visibility.  The fog horn was sounding its mournful cry again this morning.  At 9:00 AM it was 54 degrees with eight knots of wind (3 on the Beaufort Scale)  We’re heading due East to Alesund, Norway.

The ship was rolling and shaking all day and walking a straight line was challenging.  By 3:00 o’clock the wind picked up to 21 kts (6 Beaufort) from the SE.

I haven’t gotten used to the ship’s movement yet.  Just when I stop thinking about it, the floor moves and I have to hold on to something.  It’s weird to be taking a shower while the walls are moving up and down.  Sometime last night, I was awakened by the increased side-to-side rolling of the ship and I felt like someone was turning me over.  It’s pretty funny.  Fortunately, I haven’t felt seasick!

Today is another “relaxing” day at sea.  Except no one told the wind or the boat to relax!

I had a light breakfast then we went to hear John Nixon talk about “The Race For Tea.”  This was a lighthearted lecture in which he described the maritime history of commercial sailing ships which brought tea from Asia to England.  Captain Nixon also talked about the most common teas available today and the best way to “make tea.”

We attended another interesting lecture entitled The Vikings – Scandinavia and The Viking World presented by Dr. Thorsteinn Hannesson.  He is a science professor from Iceland who attended the University of Michigan.  He described the migration of people from the Nordic countries to England, Scotland, Iceland, and Greenland.

It was a quiet peaceful day aboard the Rotterdam.

Monday – August 14, 2017

At 8:00 AM the temperature was 48 degrees with a 14 knot wind (4 on the Beaufort Scale) We’ve traveled 2858 nautical miles since Boston.

We’re heading East to Norway.  We had a great time in Reykjavik, Iceland.  It was a fantastic city and interesting country and we’d like to return on our own some day!  Maybe drive around the “Ring Road”?

Today was another Sea Day and I didn’t take any pictures.  We checked the ship’s schedule to see what’s available to do.  Most of the choices didn’t appeal to us, for example Ping Pong Tournament, Beer Tasting, Tennis, Jackpot Bingo, Dutch Shuffle Board, etc.

We were interested in two of the lectures.  In the morning, we heard John Nixon talk about “The Work of the Marine Salvor: Shipwrecks,Disaster & Salvage.”  I thought this was a surprising topic to present to passengers while cruising on a ship!  He had worked for an international salvage company and he related his experiences as a Salvage Consultant.  He talked about the types and causes of casualties:  structural failures, grounding & stranding, stability & capsize, flooding & listing, and human error.  He spoke mainly about commercial vessels which were shipwrecked during the last fifty years, so the topic seemed remote to us sitting comfortably in the theater as the ship gently rolled back and forth.  Captain Nixon had photographs of all the disasters he spoke about and his lecture was very interesting.

Later in the afternoon we also heard Location Guide Barbara take about our next two ports: Bergen and Eidfjord, Norway.  I always enjoy travel photos and her talk was enjoyable.  Jeff and I visited Bergen a number of years ago and loved it so we’re looking forward to seeing the city again.  Eidfjord is one of Norway’s famous fjords and it looked beautiful in Barbara’s pictures.  I hope it’s not raining when we cruise there!

Tonight was another dress up – Gala Night.  We wanted to eat in the dining room so we wore our dressiest outfits and shared a table with two other couples.  David and Henry were from Seattle, Washington and Linda and Hank from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  We had good conversation and a pleasant evening.  We’ve been lucky so far!

The weather was lovely all day: bright and sunny with some clouds.  The sea was relatively calm with just a few white caps later in the afternoon.  At 11:00 PM the temperature was 52 degrees;  we’re sailing directly into the wind with 17 knots of wind from the east;  we’ve traveled 3095 nautical miles so far.

Sunday – August 13, 2017

The sky was a bit cloudy this morning.  I knew the crystal clear day we had yesterday in Reykjavik was a rare gift.  I hoped for another sunny day because we signed up for an excursion called The Best of the Golden Circle which took us out of the city to see geysers, waterfalls, hot-springs, and other natural phenomena.  We met our excursion bus at the ship’s terminal and rode away from Reykjavik.  The vast landscape was treeless and barren.  

The first place we visited was the Thingvillir  National Park. This is where the first Nordic settlers of Iceland established their parliament in 930 AD.  The Parliament was held outdoors at “Logberg” – Rock of the Law.  Thingvillir is also the only place on land where people are able see the rift between tectonic plates of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.  In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean there is an extended geological fault which continues up through Iceland.  The distance between the walls of the rift is growing by two centimeters every year.  Our bus-load of people joined other tourists on a high viewing platform to see a large lake and the rift.

We were able to descend and walk between the walls of the massive geological fault.  With hundreds of tourists, we continued along between the huge rock walls of the rift.  It was an amazing experience!

Our second adventure was to visit the bubbling cauldron of Geysir Geothermal Area to see it shoot up from the earth.  This geyser reliably spews hot water and steam every five to ten minutes.  Of course, everyone compared it to Yellowstone National Park.  Similarly, steam emanated from the earth and there were several pools of bubbling water.

Another interesting place we visited was to see a huge waterfall called Gullfoss. There were two observation levels to see the falls.  We chose the high road above the falling waters.  Far in the distance we could also see one of Iceland’s largest glaciers.  

The last place we visited before returning to Reykjavik was a hydro-electric plant.  The people of Iceland have worked to harness their natural resources to create energy.  The plant utilizes hot water to generate electrical power. 

We had enjoyed a sunny day but on the way back to the ship, clouds grew darker and it began to rain.

Later onboard, we watched the huge Koenigsdam ship push off from the dock and head out to the Ocean.  This gigantic ship had been tied up to the dock ahead of us.  Finally, our pilot boat pulled up next to the Rotterdam and we slowly moved away from the port of Reykjavik.  Iceland was a great place to visit and we were so happy to have seen the city and part of the countryside.  We both would like to return and see more of Iceland.  It’s a wonderful country!