In the Wake of the Vikings Cruise

Quebec City, Canada  It took two days to reach  Quebec City from the island of the Viking site. While sailing away from  L'anse Aux Meadows, I expected more rough ocean. It never came. After a while, I checked our cabin TV channel which displays a map of our current position and course  I was flabbergasted to see our Atlantic Ocean travel was over.  But how?  Maine was still a hundred or more miles to the south.   Nevertheless, we were sailing  west through the calm waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Canada, you see, extends way, way east into another time zone.   Our next port of call was the small town of Saguenay, Quebec province. The was only one shore excursion - a theater production of the town's history. Why in the world would 3 cruise ships come u[ a branch of the river to this dinky spot? I should have had more faith in cruise companies itinerary planners. Oh, my goodness. It was wild.  125 people, a good portion of the population, perform on a huge sta

    L'anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada We and the Vikings made it to Canada! How do we know the Vikings were here? Metal. An iron bolt to be specific. The locals and archaeologists have known about this place for quite a long time. But everyone thought is was an Indian site. Then a few years ago some archeologists were digging and studying the Indian village longhouse depressions and other remains. What they originally thought was a pottery kiln turned out to be a smelting furnace. Not wasting time, the locals quickly build two living history locations. The Canadian government build a visitor center, a gift shop, paved roads, and a dock for cruise ship tenders (what lifeboats are called when transporting passengers ashore.) All summer long tourists come. In the visitor center, they have a diorama of the Viking village. They built their homes just off the water so their ships could be within feet of the doors. Were their Indian neighbors hostile? Despite being fierce

Grocery stores are fun to explore in foreign countries. In England an entire aisle was devoted to tea varieties. No surprise there. So what would we find in a Greenland grocery store? It is the blue building in the first picture. Despite their sign in various languages, it was far more than just a fish market. West Greenlandic is their official language. Danish is their second one. English comes in third.  Coming in through the door, the deli case and some shopping carts greet you.  I asked the young teenage girl behind the deli case what a particular sandwich was made of. She could not speak any English. My Danish is too primitive yet to ask a question like that. I could have said,  "The girl has a turtle," but that didn't seem relevant. As a result, we stared at each other. Quick as a flash, she wiped out her smartphone. Typing her West Greenlandic word into a translator app, she had the English word in no time. Proudly she said, "Sug Sheeg!" Seeing

High school student guide Kayak Show As the passengers from our ship wandered around the town, high school students at various road intersections directed us to points of interest and answered questions about their culture. They also told us about upcoming "shows" like the kayak show down by the shore, and a local history lecture in the community center. My favorite was at the community school. Five men performed various songs in their native language. It was interesting to see the inside of their community school too. Note they put a cross on top of the church out building too Salmon  Qaqortoq disappeared as we pulled away from our anchorage. One fellow circled us in his speed boat, yelling, and waving. They were such delightful people.  Did I mention I bought a Greenland polar bear baseball cap at the tourist shop?  Looks sort of dumb, but I wear it with fondness anyway. We enjoy standing on our cabin balcony as we arrive and leave our vario

Qaqortoq is a town on Greenland's west coast close to the southern tip. The population is around 3000. Our planned schedule had our ship visiting two Greenland towns: Nanortalik and Qaqortoq. Sadly we had to skip Nanortalik yesterday. It is located on the eastern coast near the amazing channel/sound we traveled through.  The ocean waves were too rough for our ship's tenders to transfer our passenger form the ship to the shore.  Bummer! A side note: the tenders are really our lifeboats. It's nice to know they work.  Above left shows a very long staircase down to the street of the grocery store. Above right are the only flowers we saw. Marigolds in full bloom. Denny is standing next to the only fountain in Greenland. This picture is from the Internet and shows Qaqortoq better than any of our pictures.. A fisherman was cleaning his net so I helped him. My hands continued to carry the aroma of seaweed after several hand washings. The f

Greenland is magic. It's an oasis of calm waters and an amazing sound (channel) twisting through rocky islands at the very tip of the largest island in the world.    The Vikings must have felt pure relief and joy after days in an open ship. This place is a major reason why we chose this cruise of the North Atlantic. Studying the Greenland ice was a big topic when I was going to college to get my Geology degree.  Before completing the degree, students were required to attend a 6 week field camp in their senior year. I examined a few of the options available to me. While Cambridge University in England was coming here, the University of Northern Iowa was not. The cost to each student for an arctic expedition verses the mountains of Utah were sort of a limiting factor too. But I'm here now! Glaciers and icebergs appeared all along the four hour journey through this sound. Most of the icebergs above the water were the size of a car or ski boat. They didn't see

 We will have to go back to Iceland and see the place during sunshine and summer. I get an email monthly from the Icelandic Tourist Bureau which shows spectacular volcanic land forms, hot pools, and waterfalls. Unfortunately it was high winds, a hard rain, and fog during our visit. We chose to take a shore excursion across a lava bed, to hot springs, and a Viking Museum. Hurricane weather is an added bonus. Our guide for the shore excursion told many tales of growing up in Iceland.  All the people change their last names with each generation. For example my last name would be Alvin-daughter, and Denny's would be Earl-son. The citizens have no intention of changing this tradition. The population of Iceland is 339,031.  The population of Des Moines is 209,000. The museum has a replica of a standard Viking ship.  Considering they came to Iceland from Norway in open boats, I am just stunned by their bravery. Our cruise ship has traveled the same path and distance. The

The isolated Faroe Islands are 18 rocky islands between Iceland and Norway. The entire population is 49,200 That is about 1/4 of Des Moines' population. It has the oddest landscapes I've ever seen. Two joys: the sun is shining, and I can walk without falling down! Seriously, this is an amazing place. The landscapes are stunning with wide vistas. The only wild life are birds. Wandering about the capital of Torshavn brought various delights. One was a gated public garden full of beautiful flowers and trees.Another was noticing many houses painted black.  I wonder what folks would say if we painted our house black. Can you even buy black house paint in Iowa? Denny is standing by the first Viking Parliament.