Norway in a Nutshell Part I: Heading to Flåm
Jet lag can be rough, and when you spend hours awake in the middle of the night, the alarm in the morning is not a welcomed sound! But the day awaits with part 1 of our “Norway in a Nutshell” tour as we get up, grab breakfast and leave the hotel for the central train station. The Bergen Railway is not having a good start either. Due to service disruption (aka technical issues) our train arrives an hour late to … Read More
Viking Ships, Nudity & Ski Jumping
One of the key recommendations of all guides to Norway is to eat breakfast at the hotel (when included) since food is pretty expensive up here. After we gobble up another big buffet breakfast we head out once more to see what Oslo has to offer. Today has three sights on the schedule and we have a public transport day-pass to get us there. We hop on bus #30 get us to the The Viking Ship Museum (Vikingskiphuset) which is … Read More
A Walking Tour of Oslo, Norway
A good day starts with a good breakfast and the one at the hotel offers plenty. We have a slow start to the morning, trying to get out of jet lag and into sightseeing mode. Ribeke, one of Kirk’s internet friends from Norway (Thanks Ribeke!), suggested a route for today’s walking tour to get to see the most popular sights in Oslo. As we leave the hotel and cross through the Oslo Sentralstasjon, we’re already approaching our first sight: the … Read More
Off to Scandinavia!
Another year, another adventure! When winter just doesn’t get cold enough in the Bay Area, we head north. Well east, then north … to Norway, the first country of our Scandinavia adventure! My parents have come all the way from Austria to house/dog/cat sit for us, in hopes of some warmer weather. J.T. and Spot help us pack all our warm clothes for our winter trip. Lufthansa will take us from SFO to MUC on LH459, not only a packed … Read More
Alaska Day 15 – A Bus Tour of Vancouver Before Heading to San Francisco
It’s just after 6am when the MS Noordam passes under the Lions Bridge and officially arrives in Vancouver. Docking at Canada Place makes for a spectacular finish to our cruise and the disembarkation process is surprisingly efficient. I guess they know what they’re doing! By 10am we are off the ship, our luggage is on the way to the airport and we are boarding the Sightseeing trolley bus to take us around Vancouver for the next couple of hours. The … Read More
Alaska Day 14 – Cruisin’ the Inside Passage
Soon after leaving Ketchikan we are crossing into Canada, and with that set our clocks an hour ahead overnight. The sea gets a little rough at times, but we have a beautiful sunrise anyways. Thereafter however clouds take over and the rest of the day is pretty gloomy. We will be at sea all day today, but still keep our eyes open for any wildlife as we sail through the Inside Passage, hoping to spot a whale or two as … Read More
Alaska Day 13 – Flightseeing Misty Fjords National Monument
Beautiful sunshine welcomes us as we cruise towards Ketchikan, today’s destination. From our cabins’ balconies we watch as the ship docks in the harbor, and soon after we disembark for our excursion, the Misty Fjords Flightseeing trip! Joined by a couple from Arkansas, we meet our pilot Kevin at Southeast Aviation. Kevin’s dad is from Livermore, so we immediately feel like we picked the right tour! We hop on board the seaplane – Kirk in the back, with windows on … Read More
Alaska Day 12 – Exploring Juneau
After leaving Haines just before 9pm last night, our ship has reached Juneau just before 8am this morning. Forecast calls for another day of rain, so the gear remains at hand. The extremely high water levels (flood stage) and strong winds have resulted in the cancellation of our Mendenhall Glacier Kayak Tour for today – bummer. We opt to make up our own walking tour of Juneau instead, as we have until 5pm before we need to be back aboard. … Read More
Alaska Day 11 – A Wet Ride Searching for Bald Eagles
Official arrival time for our ship here in Haines is 6:30am, but when I look out the window at 6am, we’re already tied up to the dock. It’s chilly, blustery and a little rainy again this morning, but we’re still looking forward to our Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Raft Float today. Time to get the day started! First off to exploring the town of Haines (population 2,000) with its former military fort (Ft. Seward) and downtown sights, including historic buildings, … Read More
Alaska Day 10 – Glacier Bay National Park
Tidewater glaciers are great rivers of ice that flow to the sea and calve large chunks of ice into the ocean. The bay boasts seven such tidewater glaciers, including famous Margerie Glacier – one of Alaska’s most photographed features and one of the state’s more active glacial faces. To start the day off, a group of Park Rangers joined us on board, to provide an overview of our route, what to expect we might get to see and provide general … Read More