John and Diane's Lucky Number 7

[tennisbeforewine]

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Zeebrugge (for Bruges), Belgium

 

Bruges has to be one of the most perfect cities in Europe.  It began in the 1200’s and until the end of the 15th Century, it was one of the most properous cities in this part of Europe.  The wonderful thing about Bruges is that the opulent buildings are still there, joined by a series of canals, resulting in the entire city becoming a UNESCO World Heritage City.  The enormous Market Square is filled with tourists, today including passengers on a Princess ship and a Viking riverboat.  When we stayed here for three days a few years ago, the best part was that at about 5:00 in the afternoon, the “day trippers” (which we were today) left, and it was quiet enough that we really had a feeling of being in a medieval city.  

 

There was a ship excursion called “Bruges on Your Own,” which cost $80.00 and provided a bus transfer into the city and back to the ship.  However, we took the ship’s shuttle to the train station in the next town and for 5 euros each - round trip - we bought train tickets that took us into Bruges - in 11 minutes.  It was a 1/2 mile walk into the center of town, but the whole city is like a little jewel box, so the walk over cobblestones and among historical buildings was delightful.

 

When we arrived at the center of town we re-oriented ourselves from our previous visit and, although we tried to find our canal-side hotel, we were sidetracked by postcards for our granddaughter, chocolates for our dining room and room stewards, beer for Rich, and non-chocolates for Ginni.  You can find infinite amounts of beer and chocolate, it seems, but when you’re looking for candy for a friend who’s allergic to chocolate, it’s a bit of a challenge. When we went into a bottle shop, the young lady told us they only sold Belgian beer and they had 850 different kinds!  If you’re a beer lover, this is the place to visit.

 

After an hour and a half of wandering, it was time to find a restaurant for lunch.  John had set his mind on moules frites, or mussels with fries, and we found a lovely restaurant which had several different preparations of the mussels.  He chose provencal, with tomatoes, onions, and garlic and was very happy with his selection, but there were so many mussels he couldn’t finish.  My French onion soup was delicious, and I did finish it (as well as some of John’s fries).  

 

Since we spent so much time over lunch, it was time to go back to the stores and pick up the gifts we had found earlier.  Then we reversed our path back to the train station and took the 11-minute return, transferring to the ship shuttle and arriving back in our “home away from home” at about 3:30.  John had planned a nap, but when we went to present our Rich and Ginni gifts, Rich talked him into a game of pickleball, and that’s where they are as I write.  As we sailed away, the captain gave a blast of the horn, as usual, but instead of a responding blast from the Princess ship in front of us, it played the theme from “The Love Boat.”  It made me laugh.  

 

Tomorrow is Amsterdam and we’re really looking forward to revisiting the Anne Frank house.  Tomorrow evening is the “big event” at the Rijksmuseum and we’re looking forward to that, too.  

 

 

 

 

 

[tennisbeforewine]

I apologize for the multiple posts.  Our onboard internet was sooooo slow that I guess I hit the "Submit Reply" button two extra times.  I was also having trouble again with the photos, but it looks like they're OK this morning.  

[cat shepard]

I would be smiling too, if I had that bowl of mussels in front of me. Yummo!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just catching up again.

 

Many years ago we did an NCL cruise where in Cherbough we did take the all day tour to Normandy -- toured everywhere and had a delightful lunch at a golf club near Omaha Beach.

 

Belgium -- bought 2 pounds of delicious dark chocolate there which didn't last long.

 

Love your reports and pictures.

[Stakeout]

FYI.. just about right behind you by about a day is the Rotterdam on its Transatlantic from Ft Lauderdale-- announced they are bypassing France and Belgium because of the bad storms and heading directly to Holland.. we were told by a couple we know onboard

[ozcruizer]

Beautiful photos of Bruges, Diane.  Your photos have been wonderful - what are we going to do when your cruise is over? 😥

[tennisbeforewine]

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Amsterdam and (today)at sea en route to Copenhagen

Happy King’s Day

 

Have you ever been on a bus that was stopped by two angry police officers?  We hadn’t either - at least until last evening.  What a day and evening we had in Amsterdam!

 

While the weather was pretty grey and chilly, no rain was forecast, which for us was good news.  We were “parked” fairly near the central station, so at about 9:30 we began what turned out to be a bit of a long walk through the city.  Partway along our walk, we ran into Rich and Ginni, and the four of us managed to get through the station and on the street toward Dam Square, the center of town and the location of both the Royal Palace (where the king does NOT live) and Madame Toussaud’s Wax Museum, with a line a full city block long.  That was our cue to turn right and head toward our goal:  The Anne Frank House on Prinsengracht.  

 

When I was teaching eighth grade (which I loved, by the way), I taught the Diary every year and each year I saw rough and tumble 13-year-olds take away some very deep thoughts from this work of literature.  The first time we came here was in 1969 (our very first Europe trip) and then I was there again with a group of students in 1987.  Both those times, one just walked up to the ticket booth, purchased a ticket, and went into the front door of the building next door.  Now, however, there’s no such thing.  According to what we learned from the young people working there, the only way to buy a ticket is online, and we’re very glad that our friend Jane did that.  Not only is it the only way to buy a ticket, but unless you’re interested in visiting on a rainy Wednesday in January, you’d better get online the first day they’re available for your desired date or there will be no tickets left.  

 

This was not the Frank family’s home, but was Otto Frank’s workplace dealing with imported spices.  When it became necessary for the family to go into hiding after Anne’s older sister Margot was “called up for work detail in the east,” they moved into the top two floors of Mr. Frank’s office building with the assistance of his work colleagues.  They moved there in June of 1942 and lived, with the Von Pels family - called Van Daan in the Diary - (mother, father, and son Peter) and a dentist friend of theirs.  Anne’s 12th birthday had been June 12, and her favorite gift was a diary.   She couldn’t know how important that diary would become.  She expressed her wish to become a journalist and then “a famous writer.”  Little did she know just how famous she would become, although she never knew her fame.  They lived there until August 4, 1944, when the Secret Police, on a tip from a warehouse worker downstairs, broke in and arrested them.  By the end of the war, seven of the eight had died, including Anne and Margot from typhus in February of 1945.  Otto Frank was the only survivor.  

 

There have been many changes since I was here last, including a very modern addition to the side of the house where all administrative responsibilities take place.  That’s where visitors enter, drop off large bags and coats, and receive information devices about the size of a cell phone.  Once in a particular room, you point the device at a marked spot on the wall, put it up to your ear, and listen to the information about that particular room and any background necessary.  It’s a real improvement over just wandering from room to room and reading information on the wall.  

 

It is such a moving experience to travel though this hiding place where eight people had to hide for over two years only because of their religion.  The main thing that my students took away from reading the diary was that making assumptions about and stereotyping any group of people is an inhuman thing to do.  

 

                *    *    *

After such an emotional visit, it was time to return to the ship, walking along wide streets full of shops selling everything orange to celebrate Koenigsdag,or King’s Day.  Today is the king’s birthday, and that is a national holiday.  Before the king’s mother abdicated, the national holiday was Queen’s Day on a completely different date.  

 

Since it’s a Gala Night this evening, I had already planned what I’d wear, and it had nothing to do with orange.  To solve that problem, Ginni and I found a store along the way (one of many) and we’ll be lovely tonight in our new feathered orange tiaras.  Photos will follow.

 

Last evening was our “Big Event” at the Rijksmuseum, and it was spectacular.  However getting there was even more memorable than hundreds of Rembrandts, some Van Goghs, and the occasional Vermeer.  We left the ship on a bus at 6:20 PM, expecting to arrive at the museum about 6:45.  Wrong!  Our driver took the long way around, probably to avoid the King’s Eve festivities (which involve large crowds and a lot of alcohol).  However, instead of using his GPS (which we could see from our seats), he had a map of Amsterdam in his lap to which he referred.  We drove down narrow streets, tried to turn on narrower streets, had to back up when that didn’t work, drove the wrong way on one street, tried to turn across the tram tracks in another place (blocking the tram that couldn’t get through), and finally, across a park from the front of the museum, where we were stopped by a police car with a very angy officer marching over to the driver’s window to ask, basically, “What the heck is going on?”  Of course their discussion was in Dutch, so we had no idea the actual words, but since the driver had opened the front door, we all fled the scene, walked across the park and up the stairs into the museum.  It was, by now, 7:25, and we were never happier to arrive at a place in our lives.  

 

The Rijksmuseum is truly spectacular.  They’ve taken a majestic and historic brick building and added marble and glass and elevators and turned it into an absolutely fantastic place without compromising the historical aspects of it.  The most exciting thing about this particular visit was that they have put together a collection of all of the Rembrandts owned by the museum as well as dozens which are on loan from other museums.  The part of the building which had that collection covered five large rooms and included paintings as well as sketches and etchings in the hundreds.  We were amazed at how complete it was, following Rembrandt from his early 20’s with detailed sketches to his more mature works and his absolute masterpieces that we’ve all seen in books but here were able to see in actuality.  

 

Wine, beer, juice and desserts were served, and we thought it was a truly outstanding “special event,” although of course there were people who were underwhelmed.  We never know what the event will be on any given world cruise, but this one seemed to top everything except the Istanbul cistern party in 2008.  

 

What a fantastic day, bridging the gap from the truly inspirational to the absolutely beautiful.  I think it will take us all of this sea day to recover.  

 

S.  If my photos come through (currently a little iffy), I’m including the handout of the 2021 itinerary which carries the comment:  “Subject to change.  This itinerary is not finalized and is pending port confirmations.”  We wouldn’t be surprised if they deleted Colombo because of the recent bombings, but who knows.  

 

Also, thank you for your kind comments, but the credit for photos goes at least half to John, because I’ve uploaded many of his pictures, including all of the photos of the event last evening. I took my phone to the Anne Frank house, but no photos are allowed there (except for the one of the original door).  

 

Note to sppunk - our Normandy travel agent (who is great!) is:

 

            sabrina@normandy-excursions-and-tours.com

 

On Tripadvisor, sabrina received a perfect score of 5.

 

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love Amsterdam -- been there many times.

 

Bus stopped by angry police -- yup -- but in Israel.  Our tour guide spent too much time giving his political opinions and we got way behind in the schedule.  The bus driver kept ignoring the calls on his phone.  We got to a "check" point and the police stopped us and called the guide off the bus and questioned him is detail. As a result we missed our next stop for viewing.

 

Don't see any pictures.

[tennisbeforewine]

Here's another try with the photos.

[Sir PMP]

You could have taken the tram, nr 2, to the museum, 10 minutes....

[tennisbeforewine]

Four photos down, a few left to go.  I'll try it again.

[tennisbeforewine]

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Copenhagen, Denmark

 

It took us a long time to get to Copenhagen (except for changing trains en route to Stockholm), but once we arrived, we loved it.  We’ve spent time in this beautiful city three times in two years, the first two times for three days each.  We love the whole vibe here, and except for the danger of being run over by a bicycle (there are more bikes than people in Copenhagen and residents cycle more than 80,000 miles each day), there’s really nothing we don’t like - except maybe that pickled herring part.

 

The people are incredibly friendly, and for us language-poor Americans, the fact that I still haven’t run into anyone who doesn’t speak English at least as well as my former students is a real plus.  Apparently the key here is “hygge,” a term which in Danish has to do with one’s attitude toward life and toward others.  At least one of its meanings is that everyone is equal, which results in a society which takes care of everyone from cradle to grave, including child care, education, and health care.  Of course this requires high taxes, but in a recent election, the Danes overwhelmingly voted to keep their high taxes because they are very happy with the lifestyle provided by them.  This is generally found to be the happiest country, and one can certainly see why.  

 

Denmark is an incredibly old country, too.  There are records of people inhabiting Copenhagen as early as 1043, when this area housed a church, a market, two wells, and one large estate.  There was also a settlement during the Viking Age, making Denmark one of the world’s oldest kingdoms.  Now, of course, it’s a major world city and a very popular stop for cruise ships, so here we are.

 

Since this is such a walkable city, that’s what we did this morning.  We began by walking from the ship, past the Little Mermaid (where we were accosted by at least a million MSC passengers), past the setup for a Japanese cherry blossom festival, and into the center of the city.  Stroget is the pedestrian shopping street, but it’s a great deal more.  There are street entertainers, coffee shops (cappuccino and free internet anyone?) where we took a break, and it ends at the world-famous Tivoli Gardens.  We had agreed to meet Rich and Ginni at the entrance to Tivoli with the idea of having lunch at the wurst and sauerkraut restaurant there, but we decided, instead, to head back on Stroget to the Irish pub for fish and chips, three beers, and one hard cider (for me).  Since Denmark is the home of Legos, and since our granddaughter loves them (and can assemble them in record time), we made a stop at the Lego store, where we purchased two more challenges for her.  The one we like the best is a rather simple construction, but it features Hans Christian Anderson sitting on a bench surrounded by some of his famous creations.  What we like, besides the literary value, is that it can only be purchased in Denmark, so none of Jessica’s friends will have one. 

 

We continued on along the water until we arrived at our ship, where, upon checking our IPhone app, we found we had walked 5.2 miles.  Oh my!  I guess my legs will tell me about it tomorrow.  

 

Speaking of tomorrow, it begins with scenic cruising of the Oslofjord, preceding our arrival in Oslo at 10:00 AM.  Norway is such a spectacular place that we’re really looking forward to its beauty.

[tennisbeforewine]

[tennisbeforewine]

[rjbean4]

On 4/26/2019 at 7:21 PM, Stakeout said:

FYI.. just about right behind you by about a day is the Rotterdam on its Transatlantic from Ft Lauderdale-- announced they are bypassing France and Belgium because of the bad storms and heading directly to Holland.. we were told by a couple we know onboard

Just  a FYI that the Rotterdam trans Atlantic cruise started from Tampa not Ft. Lauderdale. The Rotterdam has been sailing from Tampa the last couple of Caribbean winter seasons and when she left last Sunday there are no plans for a HAL ship to return to sailing from Tampa at this time.

[Stakeout]

12 hours ago, rjbean4 said:

Just  a FYI that the Rotterdam trans Atlantic cruise started from Tampa not Ft. Lauderdale. The Rotterdam has been sailing from Tampa the last couple of Caribbean winter seasons and when she left last Sunday there are no plans for a HAL ship to return to sailing from Tampa at this time.

 

that is CORRECT.. Tampa not Ft Lauderdale.. sorry about the mistake.. I guess I always have Ft Lauderdale on my mind when leaving south Florida

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great pictures.

 

Love Copenhagen.  Spent a few days there -- Tivoli Gardens is great.

 

In case you weren't told by anyone, Host Walt died.

[rjbean4]

18 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Great pictures.

 

Love Copenhagen.  Spent a few days there -- Tivoli Gardens is great.

 

In case you weren't told by anyone, Host Walt died.

Oh I hate hearing when someone passes as a very good long time friend of ours was on the Amsterdam WC but is one of the passengers that had to leave the ship due to health problems and is also no longer with us. At least made it back and we had a couple of visits before leaving us. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

4 hours ago, rjbean4 said:

Oh I hate hearing when someone passes as a very good long time friend of ours was on the Amsterdam WC but is one of the passengers that had to leave the ship due to health problems and is also no longer with us. At least made it back and we had a couple of visits before leaving us. 

 

 

You were fortunate to have visited your friend before he/she passed away.

[tennisbeforewine]

Monday, April 29, 2019

Oslofjord and Oslo, Norway

 

We began this morning with a spectacular sail-in through the Oslofjord.  The sky was blue, the small villages were ever so cute, and the hills were covered with green.  We spent about three hours sailing up the fjord, and passengers were moving from front to back, from deck to deck to catch the best photos.

 

At 10:00 we docked in downtown Oslo, about a ten-minute walk from the absolute center of the city.  Passengers poured off the ship, ready to see this beautiful metropolis. Oslo is an economic success story with faster population growth than any other European city, with more than 25% of its residents having refugee status.  

 

Our goal for the day was Vigeland Sculpture Park, (more correctly called Frogner Park) at 79 acres the largest park in Oslo.  It contains over 200 sculptures in brass, granite, and wrought iron, the most famous being "Angry Boy."   Gustav Vigeland, who died in 1943, received permission from the city to fill this beautiful park with his sculptures, all of people showing various activities and emotions.  Clothing is not optional on these statues; it is non-existent.  We found the park fascinating and the ability of the sculptor to show human emotion was amazing.  One of John’s former students had recommended the park, and although we ran out of time on our last visit, this time we made up for lost time - and were glad we did.

 

After a return tram ride, we wandered through the park surrounding the Norwegian royal family’s palace.  The fact that the park is public is unique in Europe; usually parks around palaces are fenced, gated, and guarded.  What was spectacular here were the displays of flowers everywhere.  No only were there tulips of every color planted with daffodils and other flowers, but they had been planted so as to vary their blooming time.  

I would really like to have those gardeners at home.

 

One very welcome addition to our day was sunshine.  It could not have been better weather for our visit here.  When John suggested I forego a jacket in the morning I ignored him completely, but by mid-day the temperature had risen to 79 degrees and we had to have shade at our outdoor restaurant.  It’s almost never this warm here, so we were very lucky folks.  

 

As we wandered through town we ran into our friend Jacques, the Cellar Master, who’s been a bit under the weather lately but is now on the mend.  We had lunch together at a wonderful sidewalk restaurant in front of The Grand Hotel, and then it was time to slowly wander back to the ship.  Along the way we found all the necessities:  a Norway baseball cap for our Norwegian son-in-law, postcards and stamps, and photos of trolls in all their glory.  Since the kids have just put in a rather large fenced garden, I think they need a garden troll, but that will have to wait for Flam, tomorrow’s port.  

 

One day is never enough time to see everything we’d like.  Next time there are at least two places on our list:  Norway’s Resistance Museum and the Nobel Peace Museum.  Although all other Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm, the Peace Prize claims Oslo as its home.  It’s always good to have plans for the next trip.

P. S.  In regard to the strange placement of photos, it seems that I was only able to post about four photos at a time, so I had to go in and begin another post.  Strange but true.

[Krazy Kruizers]

You were fortunate to have such a lovely day in Oslo.  So many times when we were there it was rainy.

 

Beautiful pictures.

[tennisbeforewine]

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Flam, Norway

 

If you want to find the perfect little storybook Norwegian village, completely surrounded by steep snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, and the occasional troll, come to Flam.  We sailed up the Sognefjord beginning at midnight, taking a bit of a detour onto the Aurlandsfjord, and arriving in Flam this morning at 8:00.  It’s a small village whose short name actually translates into “little place between steep mountains.”  How did all of that fit into “Flam”?

 

If you wished, you could have discovered all of commercial Flam in about a 20-minute walk, since it’s just a collection of peaked buildings with cafes, shops, restaurants, a bakery, a market, and “The Mall of Norway.”  Yes, that’s really what it’s called.  Surrounding these really charming commercial enterprises are dozens of small houses, many painted in the shade of red common to the Norwegian countryside.  

 

You’d think, with the small size of Flam that there wouldn’t be much to do, but you’d be dead wrong.  Thousands of people come here every year to hike, kayak, bike, visit their summer homes, and most commonly, take the Flamsbana Railway up into the mountains, ending at Myrdal, a town which has no inhabitants, no road out of town, but  a cute little rail station with a coffee shop.  

 

The train ride was our choice today.  We bought tickets fairly early this morning for the 9:45 departure.  The train itself is just awfully cute, painted green and looking like it came out of a 1930’s Agatha Christie novel.  There were three groups of people on it:  the HAL shore excursion people, the Roads Scholar group, and those, like us, who just bought tickets today.  The first group had the first three cars, and they looked pretty crowded to me.  The RS group was in the car in front of us, and they filled the whole car.  The carriage in which we were ensconced had only about a third of the seats filled and we were all very comfortable.

 

Along the way, there were a few stops, one of which was for people who were connecting to the train to Bergen.  The highlight of the rail trip, however, was the Kjosfossen Waterfall, 225 meters high and with a cascade about forty feet across where we stopped for five minutes.  In addition, there was a special treat.  Apparently there’s a local legend about a woman (a siren) who comes and steals men.  As we were watching the waterfall (and snapping dozens of photos), someone began singing.  We looked up and saw a tall woman with long hair on a large rock, dressed in a long orange dress, who appeared to be singing, while dancing very gracefully.  Suddenly she disappeared and then magically reappeared on a concrete structure about thirty feet away.  She “sang” for awhile and then she, too, disappeared, reappearing suddenly on the original rock.  This went on for some time until she finally and dramatically jumped off the back of the original large rock.  Clearly there were two of them (perhaps three?) and, on using Google, we discovered that the young women were members of the Oslo Ballet.  What a wonderful surprise.

 

After about an hour’s train ride, we arrived at Myrdal, where we had twenty minutes before our train began the ride down the mountain.  It was just enough time to have two cappuccinos and a shared blueberry muffin before returning to the train before it departed.  

 

The trip back down the mountain was every bit as spectacular as the ride up, even including another stop and performance at the Kjosfossen Waterfall.  Somehow it seemed shorter than the trip up, but it was equally beautiful, and the fact that we had so much space in our car meant that we could move from side to side freely and get some great photos.

 

Once we arrived back in Flam, we wandered into and out of several shops, buying a “garden troll” for our kids’ newly planted and fenced garden as well as some really nice Christmas ornaments.  We peeked into the pub and the bakery but decided that we really just wanted something light for lunch so we headed back to the ship to eat and drop off our treasures, and then it was back out to look some more.

 

Finally we decided to call it a day and headed back to the ship for a nap before Rich and Ginni’s sailaway party in their cabin.  Since sunset wasn’t until 9:33 this evening, we had full sunlight sailing down the fjord, seeing more snow-capped mountains, adorable little villages, and crystal clear water.  It had been a great day in Flam - now if only we could have stayed until tomorrow, when snow is forecast!

[tennisbeforewine]

Here are the rest.  After she ship being offline most of yesterday, I'm just glad that it only took me two posts to get all ten photos up.  Thanks for continuing to read.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We would definitely take that train ride -- sounds wonderful.  Good idea to wait and buy the tickets there -- more room to move around.

 

Love the pictures -- we have 3 trolls that we have bought on cruises.

[josumello]

Your pictures are beautiful. Brought back nice memories as we did this train ride a few years back. 

One interesting thing concerning the “siren”. When we were there supposedly she was being portrayed by a male!!  Lol. No one could substantiate the claim but our photos that zoomed  in supported the claim. It was a fun day. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by josumello
Wrong word auto correct