Baltic , Norway , Iceland and the U.K. on the Zuiderdam 2019 with photos

[scubacruiserx2]

4 minutes ago, puppycanducruise said:

Just got caught up again.

Thank you for the wonderful pictures and commentary.

I have similar pictures of some places from our cruise to Norway  a few years ago.

I want to go back!

 

 

You're welcome , that sounds like a good idea , maybe see some new things and take some new photos 

 

[TravelinTexasGal]

6 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

We Emailed Radmyla and this was her reply :

 

Hello Pat and Joe!

Oh, it is so pleasant to get such a nice email 😍

I am so happy to feel that my tour gave to somebody unforgettable experience 🤗

I call it - Uniktur Miracle Basket. I put inside some Norwegian treats that are typical for locals:

*Lefse - a flat bread with cinnamon and brown cream cheese; 

*Knekkebrø - crispbread with the Norwegian brown caramel cheese;

*Lompe - potato’s pancake with smoked salmon and black Norwegian caviar of Atlantic fish;

*Rådyr pølser - reindeer and elk sausages with addition of cranberries and blueberries;

*Polarbrø - the pure Norwegian bread for picnics/hiking/camping, healthy multigrain bread with fiber. I served it with my homemade blueberry jam;

*Skarbø ost - it was cheese from one local farm of Stranda village, bronze winner 2018 on the international exhibition in Bergen. I served it with a honey from one high mountain farm in Liabygda.

 

Oh, when I wrote this text, I got hungry again 😀

 

Not a good post to read when you're already hungry!!! That was quite a spread!!! You are blessed to have found a great guide!!!

 

Please email me her contact info. I'll be back in Norway next Sept and may try to work something out with her! She seems to be exceptional! 

[scubacruiserx2]

36 minutes ago, TravelinTexasGal said:

 

Not a good post to read when you're already hungry!!! That was quite a spread!!! You are blessed to have found a great guide!!!

 

Please email me her contact info. I'll be back in Norway next Sept and may try to work something out with her! She seems to be exceptional! 

It was quite a spread and yummy. 

She was exceptional. She was very patient with us and let us practice our Russian.

We had several good guides this trip, as you will see coming up with the tour you arraigned in the next port. We will send an e-mail with her information.

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We got off the ship in Oslo early on a Saturday morning hoping to beat the crowds and got a great seat on the Hop on hop off bus that was waiting for us. Our plan was to go to Vigeland Park first because it was the first thing open. They seemed to be waiting for the bus to fill so we inquired about taxi prices to the park. In an Amazing Race moment we jumped the cab and figured that we would have a hour before the bus arrived.

 

 

 

 

It worked ! The park was empty and the light was nice.

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the statues were very touching

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fountain was off 

 

 

 

 

 

It was fun to figure out what some of the statues were doing.

 

 

Touchdown !

 

 

 

 

Angry baby

 

 

 

 

 

Piggie back rides and doggie piles

 

 

 

 

 

Catching butterflies

 

 

 

 

 

 

The monolith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the monolith you are naturally drawn to look up

 

 

 

 

Or take a close up photo

 

 

 

 

The bridge is lined with sculptures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like this

 

 

 

 

The museum in the park did not open until noon and the first Ho ho bus had stopped, so we boarded the empty bus to our next stop , The Norwegian Museum that will open at 10 AM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got to the museum by riding the bus and arrived when it opened at 10 AM. The first stop inside was a house that needed it's roof mowed

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little walk brought us to the stave church rear

 

 

 

 

 

 

This church was built in the 13th century at Gol Hallingdal. It was moved to it's present site in 1881 by King Oscar II in 1881.

 

 

 

 

 

The interior features a painting of the last supper of Jesus

 

 

 

 

 

 

The keeper of the keys appeared in native clothing.

 

 

 

 

Seeing some of the farms reminded me of my grand parents farm in the 1950's in Texas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small wooden houses - with a double outhouse

 

 

 

The same style of interior

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the town didn't look this nice

 

 

 

 

As we were leaving the museum we saw Diane and Larry with a local friend. He informed us that there would be a seafood festival at the down town area. We jumped off of the bus at the modern Aker Brygge shopping area.

 

 

 

Some tents were set up where local chef's were preparing snacks and lunch

 

 

 

 

Seafood display

 

 

 

After nosing around for a bit were drawn to some spicy scampi and a pizza - like bread . It was great !

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking around the mall we returned to the waterfront with this view of the Legend tied up in front of Akershus Castle.

 

 

 

 

Walking along the waterfront with Aker Brygge on the left , you can see that is was a nice , warm day.

 

 

Our next stop was Akershus Castle

 

 

 

 

This is the chapel inside of the castle

 

 

 

 

 

Nice tapestry

 

 

 

 

 

We noticed that one of these cannon was trained on our balcony

 

 

 

 

That was our last photo on our first cruise to Norway

[cat shepard]

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

We got off the ship in Oslo early on a Saturday morning hoping to beat the crowds and got a great seat on the Hop on hop off bus that was waiting for us. Our plan was to go to Vigeland Park first because it was the first thing open. They seemed to be waiting for the bus to fill so we inquired about taxi prices to the park. In an Amazing Race moment we jumped the cab and figured that we would have a hour before the bus arrived.

 

 

 

 

It worked ! The park was empty and the light was nice.

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the statues were very touching

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fountain was off 

 

 

 

 

 

It was fun to figure out what some of the statues were doing.

 

 

Touchdown !

 

 

 

 

Angry baby

 

 

 

 

 

Piggie back rides and doggie piles

 

 

 

 

 

Catching butterflies

 

 

 

 

 

 

The monolith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the monolith you are naturally drawn to look up

 

 

 

 

Or take a close up photo

 

 

 

 

The bridge is lined with sculptures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like this

 

 

 

 

The museum in the park did not open until noon and the first Ho ho bus had stopped, so we boarded the empty bus to our next stop , The Norwegian Museum that will open at 10 AM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got to the museum by riding the bus and arrived when it opened at 10 AM. The first stop inside was a house that needed it's roof mowed

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little walk brought us to the stave church rear

 

 

 

 

 

 

This church was built in the 13th century at Gol Hallingdal. It was moved to it's present site in 1881 by King Oscar II in 1881.

 

 

 

 

 

The interior features a painting of the last supper of Jesus

 

 

 

 

 

 

The keeper of the keys appeared in native clothing.

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing some of the farms reminded me of my grand parents farm in the 1950's in Texas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small wooden houses - with a double outhouse

 

 

 

The same style of interior

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the town didn't look this nice

 

 

 

 

As we were leaving the museum we saw Diane and Larry with a local friend. He informed us that there would be a seafood festival at the down town area. We jumped off of the bus at the modern Aker Brygge shopping area.

 

 

 

Some tents were set up where local chef's were preparing snacks and lunch

 

 

 

 

Seafood display

 

 

 

After nosing around for a bit were drawn to some spicy scampi and a pizza - like bread . It was great !

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking around the mall we returned to the waterfront with this view of the Legend tied up in front of Akershus Castle.

 

 

 

 

Walking along the waterfront with Aker Brygge on the left , you can see that is was a nice , warm day.

 

 

Our next stop was Akershus Castle

 

 

 

 

This is the chapel inside of the castle

 

 

 

 

 

Nice tapestry

 

 

 

 

 

We noticed that one of these cannon was trained on our balcony

 

 

 

 

That was our last photo on our first cruise to Norway

Thank you for taking the time to share these, too.

[scubacruiserx2]

We were excited with the evening's menu 

 

 

We have had these many times in Russia and this was not HAL finest hour ( or meal ) .

 

Borscht

 

 

Pirozhki

 

 

Chicken Kiev

 

 

The sunset was directly behind us and the days were getting much longer

 

 

Hoping for smooth sailing for the 36 hour crossing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

32 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

Thank you for taking the time to share these, too.

 

You're welcome , that was back in Fall of 2013

[scubacruiserx2]

After breakfast on our day at sea we walked down to the MDR to copy the lunch menu

 

 

followed by a visit to the Neptune Lounge . We unconsciously walked back to our old stateroom on the same floor and walked into one of our and HAL's unsung heroes ,  Dewa . He had taken great care of us during the Baltic leg and it was great to see him again .

 

 

It was quite cool , but sunny outside and we noticed that by the clock , it was time to eat again 

 

 

Fried soft shell crab

 

 

Salmon Tikka Marsala 

 

 

I love spicy food but can't eat it late anymore but they did really good with this lunch !

 

Beautiful colors at sea , but a cold breeze

 

 

We really wished that we had this balcony when we were in Antarctica in December/January this year

 

 

 

Dinner was served

 

 

 

 

We had booked an Iceland/Transatlantic on a Princess cruise in September of 2015 but my wife fell breaking her kneecap into 3 pieces just a couple weeks before our cruise . This would be our second chance on the following morning .

 

 

 

 

 

[erewhon]

Catching up with your reports, super photos, thank you.

[scubacruiserx2]

9 hours ago, erewhon said:

Catching up with your reports, super photos, thank you.

 

You're welcome , going to work on Iceland today .

[sevenseasnomad]

Love your photographs.  The 1st leg of your cruise, the Baltic, brought back so many memories.

 

Your food pictures reminded me of our last cruise (April 2019) where we had been reading about the quantity cut-backs in the MDR for months before we left.  I didn't believe it until we boarded.  I don't eat a lot, but I was always hungry by 10 p.m., which has never happened on a cruise.  Luckily, the Lido was open, and several nights we ordered room service late at night, a first for us.  From your photographs, it looks as though the portions have shrunk again!  The spoon in the dessert pic looks almost as large as the cake.  Very sad.

[scubacruiserx2]

We hope that they were good memories ! Which ship did you go on ? We do believe in maintenance feeding by ordering extra apps and most of our afternoon /evening meals were on the balcony or in the room . We did have the Neptune lounge to snack and dive in could be ordered from the TV . It did appear that downsizing may be the trend and the quality of the steaks has declined .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

When we think of Iceland we think of geysers , volcanoes , ice , snow and glaciers like these 

 

 

 

 

So after 4 years of planning and a 36 hour crossing from Norway , this is what we saw

 

 

 

 

But if you do want to see ice , snow , glaciers , penguins

 

 

 

and guanaco

 

 

you can read our review here :

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

When we signed up for this cruise kinda late we hopped on the CC roll call . We had nothing planned for Seydisfjordur and we saw that Travelin Texas Gal had organized a trip there called Puffins , Elves and More . It was limited to 6 and we saw her nice photos so we contacted her and signed up .

 

 

Heading down we met ashore

 

 

 

It was nice being with some other serious photographers so we could shout out for a stop . There was plenty of room in the bus and the driver , Christian , narrated as we drove .

 

 

We crossed over some high country seeing some blue

 

 

 

Back into fog we were told that the road markers is where the snow could rise in Winter

 

 

Lindarbakki turf house

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The Marina from the parking lot

 

 

Ground level

 

 

Viewing platform to the left

 

 

Sign

 

 

Sign detail

 

 

Flora

 

 

Views from the left platform

 

 

 

Right viewing platform

 

 

Puffin's eye view

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We went to the left side first to watch the birds in the water

 

 

 

 

Puffins fishing

 

 

 

 

Walking on the water

 

 

Being puffins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[sevenseasnomad]

So sorry fog ruined the view for you.  Did it ever lift before departure?  

[scubacruiserx2]

47 minutes ago, sevenseasnomad said:

So sorry fog ruined the view for you.  Did it ever lift before departure?  

 

It was off and on and did add to the mystique of the place , but as a photographer I'm always looking for the best lighting .

Edited July 16, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Christian shared a number of facts about puffins similar to this site

 

https://projectpuffin.audubon.org/birds/puffin-faqs

 

 

Some puffin couples

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feeding

 

 

 

 

 

Puffin community

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

This would fit in where we live

 

 

The only bathrooms that we saw were the Porta Potty at the Marina

 

 

 

 Bakkagerdiskirkja

 

 

 

The painting portrays Christ delivering the Sermon on the Mount in Iceland

 

 

Bird stop

 

 

 

Icelandic Horses

 

 

 

[ski ww]

Finally getting caught up, great pictures as always.

[scubacruiserx2]

49 minutes ago, ski ww said:

Finally getting caught up, great pictures as always.

 

Well thank you . We know what you mean , we're trying to get caught up editing pictures .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

Lupines were everywhere

 

 

Ice crossing

 

 

 

As we approached the ship we shouted out a request for a photo stop

 

 

 

Only after getting out did we hear and see this waterfall behind us

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We stopped at this church in the city

 

 

 

 

It was a very good tour at a good price . We were hungry so we took the plunge at Dive In

 

 

Afterward we hiked up to the waterfall near the ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It also had a good view of the ship

 

 

 

 

Views of the sail away

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Our next port was Akureyri

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the good weather we were off the ship at 8 and raring to go

 

 

And we weren't the only ones