We approach Bergen.
A Viking rep. met us at the airport and put us on a bus for transport to the ship. We were greeted by these two young ladies in traditional clothing. We got our id's for the trip and were escorted to our room and our luggage showed up soon.
Each evening we would get our Viking Daily that had all of the next days activities inside.
Luggage being put onto the ship.
It's Wednesday, we have Martini's on the ship.
Bergen harbor from our ship. There were a lot of work boats for the offshore oilfields in the harbor as well as two other cruise ships.
Sunset.
A famous row of buildings from the Hanseatic League days. Oh, also our group of travelers.
Trade goods were hoisted to upper floors. This area from the Hanseatic days is known as Bryggen
A UNESCO site.
Nails? No.
A model of the building construction.
A typical traders house.
A model of the area in its busy hanseatic league days.
Norway has trolls.
A building with major reconstruction using the old assembly methods and new tools.
Bergen from above.
Another troll.
A flat street that doesn't look flat.
Grain elevators here are for importing grain. Not a lot of warm or flat areas for growing grains.
Nazi submarine pins. They proved difficult to tear down so they put them to use.
A traditional looking Viking ship touring the harbor but the Vikings didn't have motors.
Typical shoreline as we leave Bergen.
Sept 8. We sail the North Sea.
Morning about 9AM. On one announcement on the trip the captain said we were sailing at 17 knots.
Sept 9. Amsterdam.
A canal in Amsterdam.
Lots of live aboard boats.
We pass by the Anne Frank house.
A young couple just hanging out.
The ship Amsterdam.
A swimming spot along the canals.
Day Glow in the red light district.
Walking along a canal. Jan got into a bike lane and got yelled at by a bike rider who was moving very fast.
We circle back to the Anne Frank house but weren't able to go in.
Another canal scene.
Get your condoms here.
We saw several decorated bikes, not for riding.
Passing back through the red light district.
Waiting in a doorway for a customer.
Getting back to the ship.
Leaving the harbor, lots of windmills in the haze.
Sept 10. Bruges.
In Bruges, Flanders Belgium. The buses are waiting for us.
Along the walk into town from our bus.
The historical bathing area of the town.
This plaza reminds me of the movie "In Bruges".
We stop for a beer beside the plaza.
Get your Belgium chocolates here.
A lot of canals. We took a tour and our driver/guide asked which nationalities were on board and then proceeded to speak in German, French and English as that is who responded to his question.
He was a lot of fun.
Inside the Church of our Lady.
Three different relics inside the church.
We bought some lace from this shop. Yikes this looks complicated.
Linda and Ben in the brewery pub.
Zot beer.
Evening as we travel to Honfleur.
Sept 11. Honfleur France.
We follow our most delightful guide.
Outside of what had been a bucher shop. The panel in the wall would open to display the meat. Good meat was "above board and bad meat was below or under board."
Way back when houses were built on rented land. The house on the left could be taken apart and moved if a lease was not renewed. The areas between the timbers would have been filled with dung, dirt etc instead of the concrete here.
Houses were taxed by their size at street level so they would often extend the upper stories to gain untaxed space.
The small harbor with interesting houses across the street.
The bell tower for the church was built opposite the church. The builders were not certain their wooden church structure would withstand the movement of the bell.
Inside the church. After a fire burned the area the city fathers said it would be several years before a new church could be started. The populace had a large number of ship builders and access to timber so they built the church themselves. The people still take great pride in their church.
The ceiling looks a lot like an inverted ships hull. The lights are modern LED's that look out of place.
The choir loft banister was removed from a large house. Some of the fiqures aren't what you would normally see in a church but waste not want not.
Reversable pews so the congregation can watch choir events.
The street on the back side of the buildings along the quay. The buildings are "shorter" from this side. Because of being built on a hill you entered upper floors on this side.
A side street. This was about the only rain we had and it was very light.
Time for Linda and Emerson to have a drink. The zero alcohol beer was very tasty wherever we went. Exceptions were Heineken 0 and Guinness 0. Blah.
Another beautiful view of the harbor.
We visit the museum of Eugene Boudin, acclaimed as the first impressionist. Monet started working with Boudin as a young man and often visited Honfleur.
A nice park with a beautiful flower garden.
An old car with its owners using a map (the old way) to find their way.
On board we ate at Erling's Scandinavian Bistro. They must have noticed how much we were eating at the buffet and thought we needed to cut back. (first course)
Sept 12. Portsmouth.
Portsmouth from the parking lot where we stopped at and our bus broke down. We came back to the bus and brake fluid was running from under it. A second tour bus was close by and we were all able to fit into it.
A different view on the Falklands from the Argentinians view of the Malvinas we had seen on our trip to Patagonia.
A tribute to the Falklands soldier.
A few "bad people" become settlers. Prison ships left here for Australia.
HMS Victory being restored. You can see only the back and the masts.
The Spinnaker Tower as we leave the harbor.
Sept 13. Falmouth.
We have waffles the next morning on board. The rolled up cone shapes are made from carmalized goat cheese.
Going into Falmouth harbor.
The pilot boat led us in. There was a harbor pilot on board our ship.
We were the only cruise ship in this smallish harbor. With "only" 920 maximum passengers our ship could dock in harbors the larger ships had to bypass.
The Cornwall countryside. A lot of plants don't grow in the acidic soil but they do grow a lot of cabbages and flowers.
A really tight squeeze on some of these roads. Often the driver of the smaller vehicle would pull over as far as they could and wait for the bus to get by. Sometimes they had to back up a bit.
Mount St. Michael. People are walking across the causeway while the tide is out. It will be covered by water after the tide comes in.
More countryside.
One of the last mines to have opperated in Cornwall. There is still a lot of tin and other metals underground but they are not profitable to mine.
The kings pipe. Contraband tobacco was burned in it.
There was a lot of smuggleing of goods along this coast making some people rich.
Sitting on the dock of the bay
A typical street scene.
Scene part 2.
Scene part 3.
Walking up to the fortress castle.
English and Cornish written here. There is a revival going on of the Cornish language.
The Suitcase Singers give us a sendoff.
Wednesday
Heading back out to sea.
The trio.
The pilot leaves the ship.
Each deck had a free laundry.
Sept 14. At sea.
Linda plays corn hole (called Baggo on the boat) in the Atrium.
A cartoon version of the Bayeux tapistry next to Viking exhibits.
There was often music being played in the Atrium at the piano or a pair of string players.
Sept 15. Porto Portugal.
I've never seen so many sea gulls. Some shed roofs around the harbor were also covered with sea gulls.
A typical street near where our bus dropped us off.
A nice view of the city with the Ponte Luis I bridge in the background.
Ben road vespas as an MP.
The train station with the walls filled with pictures in tile.
They are famous for their tiles.
And they do have trains running from the station.
Linda checks out a sculpture at a restaurant we pass by.
Ben and Jerry, need we say more.
The Super Mercados.
Along the Douro River in front of Ponte Luis I.
A closer view of the bridge.
Replicas of the boats that were used to bring Port Wine into Porto.
From across the river where we had lunch.
Jan tasting some wine.
Some plaques in the street.
Jan, Ben, Nancy and Jerry on their room balcones. We had adjoining rooms.
The Captain getting ready to cast off.
A projection of an Edvard Munch painting in the atrium. They would occasionally have a rotating display of his work.
Sept 16. At sea.
Our day a sea agenda. Retake.....
Paella for lunch.
In the viking display.
Dinner in the......
Early morning transit through the Strait of Gibraltar.
Our location approaching Gibraltar which was 67 miles ahead of us.
Sept 17. Granada.
A larger port, our ship is not alone.
Cleaning, fueling and provisioning while in port.
The bull ring is still used.
A statue of Picasso in front of the apartment he grew up in.
A roman amphitheater.
A street performer getting ready and done.
A large church made from the remains of a Mosque. Granada was one of the last strongholds for Muslems in Spain falling in 1492.
A shop across from the Picasso museum.
Picasso at work. He was a good self promoter.
Click on the Picture to see more of the Picasso Museum.
Afternoon refreshments.
Anyone still feel like going to the bathroom behind the door.
We went into the fortress above the recovered ampetheatre. Some of the material from the amphitheatre was used in the fortress including these columns.
Rosie had been giving dance lessons that paid off.
Sept 18. Cartagena.
In
Cartagena.
An early steam engine.
Art work outside of the old fortification.
A brief history of Cartagena.
The Roman Theater of Cartagena built during the reign of Augustus (27BC-14AD). It was long forgotten and started to be uncovered in 1991.
A model of the theater.
On the way from the museum to the theater.
On our way.
In the theater.
Hard to imagine it's so inside the city but was buried and forgotten.
Our bus takes a drive outside the city through old mining areas and we come back and stop at this lighthouse, Faro Cabo de Palos. The buildings in the background are on a thin strip of land separating the sea from a fresh water lake.
The ship pushes away from the dock.
Sept 19-24. Barcelona.
We take a bus from Barcelona to the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey. Along the way on a winding narrow road we pass by a movie set getting ready to film.
Going into the church yard.
In the church yard.
Inside the church.
Worshipers pass by the Black Madonna.
We take the funiculer high above the abbey.
In front of some of the serrations that give the mountain its name.
Another view from up high.
We didn't have time to explore the Ermita (retreat) de Sant Joan. There are a couple of hotels at the abby and we were told it is very peaceful in the evenings.
The building on the right is a boarding school. Children have to have good voices and play at least two instruments.
Going back down we see a seldom seen sentiment.
Back in Barcelona we go to the Park Guell.
The park is a 40 acre housing development that didn't succeed but is a great park. Designed by Antonio Gaudi and funded by a rich patron. It is a UNESCO heritage site.
Columns supporting a roadway.
The main terrace.
A closer view of the benches around the main terrace made using pieces of broken pottery.
Sitting on the bench. They were quite comfortable for being so hard.
A covered passageway.
The columns holding up the main terrace. They are all set a angles as Gaudi wanted it more to mimic nature.
Looking toward the main entrance.
On either side of the salamander known as "el drac".
This was our last night on the boat, we had to be out of the room by 8AM the next morning. Our bus tour did not get us back to the boat until after 9:30 and the restaurants were already closed for the evening. A knock on our door and a steward left us these wraps, sandwiches and desserts. Viking did take good care of us.
We stayed in Barcelona for a few days after the Viking trip was completed. Jan had picked this hotel on Las Ramblas. A good choice. It was a short taxi ride from our boat and a easy walk or taxi to a lot of interesting areas.
In the lobby of our hotel there was an old telephone exchange similar to what Emerson's sister Ellen Kay operated for a part time job while in high school.
The six of us walked around. We found this statue interesting.
A walkway for priests to pass back and forth.
Colorful window display.
A row of rental bicycles.
Modernisme was the movement Gaudi was a part of. This was in the esplanade along Las Ramblas
Advertisement for the sex museum.
Inside the Mercat de la Boqueria. They are very proud of their cured hams.
They also had fresh vegetables.
Need some hot peppers?
In the Las Ramblas esplanade a design using small pieces of colored paper.
The top of a random building.
Street lights in the gothic section where we stayed were quite unique.
A Gaudi design, Casa Batllo.
We had tapas for dinner.
The outdoor area where we ate.
A thinking bull.
Wednesday, Martini Night. The Martini's were good but the plain olives, no pimento, were kind of bland.
Linda and Emerson did a hop on off bus tour. Linda did a bit more the next day as the ticket was still good whild Emerson rested. Here is the gate
A big fish sculpture along the water front.
In front of the Sagrada Familia Passion Facade.
Started in 1882 Gaudi took over the design in 1883. Expected completion is in the next few years. It is a masterpiece from the mind of the architect Antonio Gaudi.
Click on the picture above to see more of this great work of architecture.
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Another Gaudi building the Casa Mila.
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Our group in the loby of our hotel.
Arch de .
Christopher Colombus.
Our hotel lobby.
We didn't realize it at first but we were there during the Festa de La Merce.
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We didn't realize it at first but we were there during the Festa de La Merce. 12:41 AM
We didn't realize it at first but we were there during the Festa de La Merce. 2:19AM
We didn't realize it at first but we were there during the Festa de La Merce. 4:18
We didn't realize it at first but we were there during the Festa de La Merce. 4:48 AM
Waiting for a taxi to the airport. I think our wait was about 10 seconds once we raised our hand.