doobieb

We have walked from the pier to the cathedral on two different Hurtigruten cruises. The walk was a great experience, full of local sights that we would not have wanted to miss. We popped into a grocery store to check out things on the way back, took pics of all the buildings along the way, thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We could have used public transportation, It was there and available, or a taxi or uber, but we might have missed something!

Thanks to The Daily leaders who start my day with prayers, remembrances, and smiles.😎 There is something powerful about praying with a group and for folks you don’t know but care about. Max the chihuahua and I rushed our morning walk today because of storms coming any minute. By the time we returned, the storms had moved south and will miss us completely, at least until later today. Our ac went out last night but today’s high is expected to be only in the 60’s. Great timing.😎 On a garden note, below is the first bloom of the season on my one and only rose bush. It was given to me last year to honor my mom, who passed away at age 98. It bloomed on the 1st anniversary of her passing. Feels like a message from her. The recipe sounds interesting- I will try it with riced cauliflower since I am trying to be a better cook for DH. I add my wish for blessings to all on The Daily. Debbie

This is so sad. Prayers to the family and friends of the deceased crew member.

Should we be using a TA?

Just went through the same confusing struggle to get in writing the educator and AARP credit applied. Our PCC was going to take care of it right now…… Another call to ships services showed no, but let me work on it. She did and I asked for a statement in writing to show the credit. I am amazed that it is impossible to see your account status without calling someone at HAL.

Today is International "Louie Louie" Day, National Clean Up Your Pantry Day, and National Pet Day I play in a ukulele band- will have to check to see if there is uke music for this famous song. After all, if it the most recorded…… Love pet day and clean your pantry day. We had a bonus this past weekend while we were off to see the eclipse- our wonderful pet sitter cleaned out and reorganized our pantry. Prayers to all in need. I hope everyone on the Daily has something good happen today!

It looks like another great day on The Daily. Healthy French Toast? What could beat that! My favorite produce managers are the local farmers. We have a great market two blocks from our house. It is the best spring, summer and fall social gathering event. Starts the first Thursday in May. Wonder about the story behind today’s quote. It is a good one to keep in mind. Weather today is about 70 already and feels balmy. Schools will dismiss at mid day because the threat of strong storms and tornados. My DD is a counselor at one school and both her DSs go to two different schools. Getting everyone home safely and quickly before the storms should work as long as drivers are all cooperative with each other. @kazu, so glad the dog sitter has been scheduled and you feel good about it. And most importantly Ivan is happy. I think our pets have good instincts. Saying prayers for all those in need and extra prayers for the caring community on The Daily. Hope to get a long walk with Max in early today, raincoats for both of us.✅💦☂️☔️

Rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit! Thank you all for getting April off to a good start with the Daily! One teacher in a school where I worked got all her 4th graders to say “White Rabbit” and try to be first. Soon we had a whole school- adults and kids- trying to be the first. A phone call before sunrise sometimes was the winner.😎 I like the sound of the drink, and look forward to the recipe for the day.I don’t want advice from Marilyn. Sure hope the weather here is as perfect today as it was for Easter Sunday yesterday. Debbie

Happy Easter to all who celebrate! My rhodendrum bloomed after 5 years. It must be spring! I love the spinach and egg bake and will give it a try tomorrow. . I am learning to cook differently since DH was recently diagnosed with diabetes. I got my dog sitter! At least for our short trip ( with the other millions of people!) for the eclipse. She was starting to get worried that we had decided not to use her again. And all I had to do was get on her calendar. Fingers crossed for @kazu dog sitter success. Prayers for all in need, and special thanks for all our blessings. I appreciate all the reminders on the Daily. Debbie

Thank you @kazu. we have little Max, an 8 yr old rescued chihuahua who prefers to sleep on our heads. We have been blessed in the past with sitters who agree to this, too! A friend’s daughter just moved back here around Christmas. She stayed here in Nov when we were on a Hurtigruten cruise. Max has bonded with her so now she is joining us for Easter . 😁 I just need to get on her calendar for this trip. Your post made me nervous, and I certainly feel your anxiety. We tried boarding once in the past 30 years, and it was not terrible, but no sleeping on your pillow. Max deserves the best. As does Ivan. No need to stress them out at all! my fingers are crossed for both pf us. !

Thank you @grapau27. My best to Pauline. I admire her style.😄

I enjoy this conversation most every day, so today I am jumping in to participate! I think it was @kazu’s dog sitting issue that prompted me! We have just booked our first BHB cruise since the pandemic (Oosterdam, Sept. 29-oct.10). Now I too need to go focus on dogsitting plotting. Thanks for all the kindnesses you all share with each other. I feel like I know you. Debbie

What a great idea for a forum. We have shared offers among a small group of friends for years, but this is much better! We have cruised with V River cruises on all but one of the European itineraries, plus China. When I called for our last booking using info from a flyer, the agent could not find my special pricing. I had to take a picture and send it in to get the special pricing. And, I find this interesting, we have never received a flyer for the Great Lakes. I don’t think I even knew V sailed there. Might be interested in that one. We get frequent flyers for cruising Nashville, Memphis routes but since we live in North Alabama we would not be interested in a cruise we could drive. Debbie

@miklinga And one more comment- we are watching True Detectives with Jodi Foster and pretending it is Norway, Polar Dark day 7 was last Sunday’s episode!

@miklinga So glad to read your post! Sounds like a lot went right on your Hurtigruten journey. This was our 2nd trip, but our 3rd Hurtigruten ship. Our first journey went north from Bergen on one ship, and then we transferred at midnight somewhere and went south on another. It was all good, but this time we met more people, probably because we were all searching for the northern lights. Last time there was no special goal and most people on board were going home, or to visit family. I did not see the northern lights this trip, but everybody else we traveled with did.😝 Some could only actually see them via the iphone camera. We came home to our own version of snow and ice, and were snowd/iced in for 7 days. We felt like our Norway adventure had prepared us well. And who knew we would find our shoe spikes useful here! I heard today from friends in Bergen about their January snow- 70 cm in one storm.- electric buses could not always run, some homes closest to the harbor had doors and windows blocked by snow plows, cars stuck on the way home. I gather it was a lot even for Bergen, and not so typical. Where to next? We would go right back and repeat the Northern Lights trip tomorrow if we could.

I have been to the Washhouse- love it! But not the PuntaClara Kitchen - . It is on my list now. Thanks!

I am curious how your trip was around the top of Norway to Kirkenes. Did you find the food ok? Or better than ok? We liked this cruise better than any other cruise we have been on (not that many, maybe 7-8). The food was good, plenty of healthy choices for us, we did not need room service, or extra food, and we did not miss anything about a traditional cruise. I lost 3 pounds and never felt hungry. However, I would have killed for a pizza. 😁 The MS Trollfjord was almost completely full and it did not feel crowded except when we wanted the best seats in the observation lounge, but good ones were usually available. How did your trip work out? I would have loved to be able to stay on til the very last port and experience Kirkenes.

@Gretchendz What excursions did you decide to do from the ship? We walked in every port and really did not have enough time to explore each of the towns. We loved walking and watching and just seeing how beautiful everything looked. It did not make a difference to us if it was dark because of all the lights. We could have stayed on board for a B2B and still not had enough time to take it all in.

We thought the coffee, hot chocolate, lattes, …..from the 1893 Bar machine were quite good. There were usually more people in line for that than waiting for a drink at the bar. Speaks to the cold, I think, and the fact that the coffee was pretty good.

@Host Jazzbeau Fairhope- our favorite place in the state! We make an annual trek to the Grand Hotel there, usually between Christmas and New Years.

@miklinga thinking about you on board MS Trollfjord. How is the water so far? Lucky folks to be able to have such a long journey! Are you doing a B2B? North Alabama weather to us feels colder than Norway! Our pictures look magical with all the holiday lights. Everything sparkles during Polar Dark time! Hoping to hear your first impressions when you can share .Debbie

After reading about the rough seas on your trip, I was a bit nervous when we boarded for the trip following yours. Evidently,the seas used up all their energy during your voyage. We hardly ever felt the ship moving the whole 12 days. Even when we were passing through the areas they typically warn you about. Zero rain before or after the trip in Oslo and Bergen. Those little spike things we wore on our boots make walking a snap.I think the troll gods were smiling on us. We left most of the really cold weather clothes behind to be donated- wool sweaters, wind pants, extra long underwear.wool caps, fleece lined pants. We used about half of what we took with us.

We just completed the 12 days Costal Express on trollfjord.We had an arctic superior room, 150 sq ft. I agree that it was cozy, but we did have enough storage. One side of the bed required you to get in bed facing the wall or you had to back up and try again- no room to turn around! We did book one excursion independent of the ship in Alta. It was a sleigh ride with the small polar horses.I think it was about $150 each, compared to a similar excursion provided by Hurtigruten for closer to $400. It was a highlight of the journey. Pick up and return at the pier. Experiencing polar dark was as much fun as seeing the northern lights for us. We could certainly see well enough for walking around. We found that all the staff were great.They were funny and joked with us, knowledgable when giving briefings, and great whenever we interacted. We were blessed with calm seas and no rain, just the lovely snow almost daily. Good advice about the dry heat- I could not drink enough water the whole journey, but it was made worse by wearing a motion sickness patch. Once I took that off, it was better. 12 days was almost not long enough!

It turns out that we did need a little NOK. Once was at a small Christmas market- a vendor only wanted cash, no credit cards. The other time was in the far north town. We decided to eat lunch in town and after a short power outage, cash registers were down. We negotiated for 3 sandwiches and 3 drinks using all the cash on hand. Certainly did not need cash any other time and could have skipped those two purchases if we only had cards. Glad to not be holding lots of NOK at the end of the trip.

We changed a small amount of US $ so we would have cash for any Christmas markets in small towns. Already had a need to use it.