Last night we were in the Lofoten islands where we got off the boat in Stamsund, took a bus to a Viking feast and return to the boat in the town of Svolver. Learned a little bit about the Viking history and religion but I hope to learn more as the trip goes on. I… Read More Evening activities

They have both English and German lectures on the boat. Today’s lecture in English was about Norway. The guy that gave it was Swiss and a real comedian. So here are some interesting facts about Norwegians. 76% own their own home or apartment. There is only two seasons in Norway, white winter and green winter.… Read More Lecture on Norway

So I have a question for you folks. If I keep eating all that smoked fish until the end of the trip, will I never want to eat lox again? So the ship makes many stops along the way. Some are only for 15 minutes, others longer. Our first long stop was at Alesund. Unfortunately… Read More Heading north on MS Finnmarken

I found this post from Croatia in my drafts. It was never posted. So those of you that are following my Norway trip here’s a little extra bonus for you. On the way to Mljet we saw lots of sailboats with their spinnakers out. It is such a beautiful sight. I must admit that a… Read More National Park Mljet (2 years late)

The food onboard is excellent. For breakfast and lunch we have a buffet. The buffet has more choices than you can imagine including smoked fish, meats, salads, cereal, yogurt, desserts, etc. For dinner, we have a fixed meal that consists of an appetizer, main course and dessert. Last night the main course was lamb and… Read More Food Onboard

It is now the evening of our first full day on the ship. Our room has two twin beds and a surprising amount of storage. There’s a nice window that we can look out from. We are one floor away from the dining room and around the corner from the laundry. Here are three pictures… Read More First full day on MS Finnmarken

I arrived in Bergen on Monday afternoon. Before joining my group, I took a walk around the town. The hotel is right in the old part of Bergen. The church is the oldest building still in use. Bergen is a delightful city. Here are my photos from that walk. On Tuesday, we got a guided… Read More Bergen

Yesterday I forgot to mention all of the food that Tamar tempted me with. For example with my beer she got Belgian french fries. I have to admit they were some of the best fries I’ve ever had. I think the difference is that they make them with fresh potatoes not frozen potatoes. Later that… Read More Last day with Tamar

Today Tamar and I drove up north of Hamburg to an arm of the Baltic Sea called the Ostsee in German. Our first stop was an old German town called Lubeck that was not bombed during World War II. Here are some pictures from the town. After lunch we drove to the sea to a… Read More North of Hamburg