In the Wake of the Vikings Cruise

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.

Use this link in your browser if the video doesn't play.    https://youtu.be/eQk-WojeqhU The bow of` the ship hit the wave with a boom that rang through the vessel's theater. On the stage, the lecturer continued his history of the Iceland to Russia WW2 convoys without a pause. Boom! A few of the passengers in the audience looked wide eyed at each other. Boom!  I struggled to stay awake and lost the battle. I roused to groggy wakefulness, when the captain made an intercom announcement to assure guests the booming noise was nothing to be alarmed about. I awoke next to Denny tapping my knee. The lecture was over.  Rats, I really wanted to hear this lecture.  It was a significant piece of history I'd never heard of before. Oh, well, I needed urgently to get back to our cabin to finish my morning nap. I hadn't felt this drowsy since coming out of a surgery. I woke up for lunch well rested an alert. Should I take another Dramamine? Was I feeling seasick? Nope. Not e

Bergen, Norway receives twice the rain of Seattle, Washington. If it weren't so far north it might be a rain forest. So we were not surprised to meet our ship the Viking Sun in a down pour. Before booking a tour, I check the average weather of each port during a particular voyage's time of the year.  In every port on this cruise it was 70% chance of rain and average high of 50 degrees Fahrenheit . So we knew exactly what to expect and prepared for it. All the passengers on the ship were in high spirits throughout the entire trip. Braving Noah's deluge was part of the adventure. There is a saying in the North, "There is no such thing as bad weather; only bad clothing." Every time the bus stopped on our tour of the city to take in a vista or a historic district, everyone got eagerly off the bus. I loved their cheerful attitudes and 'let's go for it' actions. We were suppose to set sail Sunday evening for the Shetland Islands. After our tour o

Sailing across an open ocean is an experience I have avoided for 18 years. Don't get me wrong my husband, Denny, and I love to cruise. However, I avoid roller coasters for the same reason. You see, I'm certain I'll be seasick.   After all there was that time we suffered a bit of rough water on a Mediterranean crossing from the toe of Italy to Majorca , Spain.  The Norwegian Cruise Line's ship the Epic is a large, stable ship. Yet my queasiness spoiled dinner, and I disliked grabbing railings, chair backs, and walls as I careened across the deck like a drunken sailor.  Then there were all those carnival rides when I was a teenager. I'd exit the Scrambler or The Wild Mouse with the skin color of Kermit the Frog. "That was awesome"  I'd tell my friends. No one wants to look like a loser to their friends, right? Anyway I was sitting on the couch one day this summer, doing my morning Duolingo Spanish lesson, Denny stopped surfing the Internet to sa