July 20th-22nd
Sea Day/Sea Day/Gdynia, Poland
There really isn’t much to talk about for any of these three days. I had In Port Manning for Gdynia, so I didn’t get off the ship. Probably the only somewhat exciting thing happened on the 21st.
I had woken up early on the 21st to go up to the gym for a spinning class, an idea the tenor player had. We both knew the instructor and Ben had been told he could go up and sit in on the class without paying the $18 fee. So we showed up at 9 am, pulled out a couple bikes, and joined the class. I’ve never done a spinning class before and considering I like biking, I thought it’d be fun. Thankfully, for once, I wasn’t dead wrong. I did enjoy the class and can certainly see its benefits – but that’s not the exciting part. The exciting part was when, after about 25 minutes into the class, the middle-aged woman ahead of me fainted. I had overheard at the beginning of the class that she was new to cycling as the lady next to her was giving tips (obviously to no avail), and right as we got into the more difficult part of the course, she started swaying and feel backwards off the right side of the bike, pretty much into my spinning wheel. I didn’t even really notice what was happening until her neighbor let out a cry of concern as the lady fell in my direction, at which point I stopped the wheel and got out of the way as she laid on the ground with slight shaking movements. The instructor rushed over and helped her as she came around while some other spa staff were notified, and within a few minutes, she was helped out of the gym and into a room where she could lie down. Last I heard she was alright, but falling off a bike never did anyone any favors (probably like tripping over cobblestones, a running theme for this cruise?). Anyways, I figured it was just another blog worthy story, thanks for reading!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Southampton/Bruges
July 18th-19th
Southampton/Bruges
Southampton was a much needed internet day. After getting off the ship around noon, I made my way to one of my usual internet cafés and got to work. Following that I simply hung out in the city at the market sampling cheeses and buying bread (a really nice Mediterranean style loaf). Then it was off to the grocery store and followed by the bookstore, which left us just enough time to get confused about the bus pickup point and make it back to the ship just late enough that we didn’t get in trouble. The rest of the day went as usual.
For Belgium, I was really excited for a beer tasting tour that I was first on the list to escort for, but then found out the day before that the tour was cancelled. So instead of what would have been an awesome tour, I ended up going on a tour to Bruges which was only kind of awesome. Bruges is a lovely city, which became accented in our minds by the chocolate distributed to us in the bus on the way into town. The tour was mostly a walking tour with a boat ride through the canals thrown in, which was great. I saved some of my chocolate especially for the canal trip, I figured what could be more appropriate on a canal in Belgium than eating chocolate?
Anyways, the tour was all going according to plan until the last hour where we began walking towards the bus pickup point. We were going to have about an hour to shop around on our own before being taken back to the ship, something I was looking forward to, that is until someone had something else in mind. With about an hour left, as the group followed along behind the tour guide, I noticed an older couple slowly getting left behind. I slowed my pace to keep an eye on them, when suddenly, the elderly man flat out fell on the road. Concerned, I ran over to see that everything was ok, and as the man stood up with some assistance from his walking cane, told me “yeah, this happens all the time.” Yeah right that happens all the time and he’s ok! Like an 85 year old man walking with a cane who just collapsed onto a cobblestone road is going to be just fine. So I told the couple to wait there and that I’d be back, at which point I ran ahead to catch the guide and inform her of the situation. Seeing as I had a map of the city on me, I told the guide I’d walk the couple to the bus while she went ahead with the group, then returned to my “OK” old dude.
It was pretty obvious he was shaken up by the fall as he’d lost the color in his face and now walked with a concerning uneasiness – but at least he was walking. I honestly can’t believe he got up and kept walking after that fall, and considering his slight embarrassment, it seems the only thing injured was his pride, of which he was determined to regain by making the trip (haha, a pun) to the bus. So we started walking, slowly, and I navigated my way through a city I’d never visited with a map I’d never studied, and with a couple that never should have gone on that tour. They were really a nice pair though. The wife, who was younger and in better shape, was supportive and patient with her husband, and each were pleasant to talk with. We had a nice walk back to the bus, considering the circumstances, though I was in a state of nervousness just waiting for what seemed to be his next inevitable fall. But after a few stops, many shuffled steps, the city, park, and a bridge, we arrived at the terminal where we were to be picked up. They then thanked me for my help and I ran off to enjoy what little time I had left to explore.
In this small amount of time I happened to run into my friend Patrick who had taken the train into the city. I believe I’ve written about him before, the piano player, I probably described him as a bit weird. Anyways, we run into each other just as the rain starts; I have a broken umbrella I found on a bus a few tours ago, he has a hood. A sudden gust of wind comes up and blows an open umbrella from a shop door right to Patrick’s feet. We look at it and consider the oddity of this rogue umbrella landing at his feet, and after a look around for witnesses, Patrick picks it up and puts it over his head. I then directed him into the city and he walked off with his new accessory. I thought it was hilarious, mostly just because my friend is such a character, but also just out of the coincidence that this open umbrella flew right to his feet. It was time for me to get back to the bus though, so I turned and headed back.
Nothing more really happened with the tour from that point out. The old man was alright for the trip back and everything else went smoothly. Back at the ship, I met up with the tenor player, Ben, and decided to get off the ship again to make a quick trip to Zeebrugge. After being disappointed about not getting on my beer tasting tour, I had talked Ben into taking a trip into the city with me to buy some beer of our own (because I wasn’t leaving Belgium without some authentic beer). We bought about $30 of various beers, all of which will be enjoyed slowly over the next month.
At the set that night, I asked Patrick about the umbrella he walked off with. In true Patrick fashion, he expressed “I hate umbrellas” and let me know that he had left it randomly somewhere in the city. I guess, it was the zen thing to do, leave it where it came from for someone else to find, like an umbrella that is now just one with it’s community. I guess I’m satisfied with that answer.
Lastly, we had a nice treat in port today. We shared the dock with the Queen Elizabeth II, for what would be the last time the ships met. It was a bit of a historic moment, celebrated with huge water guns, a band, and a long exchange of whistle blows at sail away. I stood at the front of the ship on deck 9 to see the farewells, which was surprisingly sentimental to someone indifferent to which cruise company he works for. I guess that’s just the romantic in me. Anyways, it was a lovely sail away and great experience being there to wish the QE2 farewell before it’s retired toward the end of this year and sent to Dubai to become a floating hotel. So that’s about it for Belgium, thanks!
Southampton/Bruges
Southampton was a much needed internet day. After getting off the ship around noon, I made my way to one of my usual internet cafés and got to work. Following that I simply hung out in the city at the market sampling cheeses and buying bread (a really nice Mediterranean style loaf). Then it was off to the grocery store and followed by the bookstore, which left us just enough time to get confused about the bus pickup point and make it back to the ship just late enough that we didn’t get in trouble. The rest of the day went as usual.
For Belgium, I was really excited for a beer tasting tour that I was first on the list to escort for, but then found out the day before that the tour was cancelled. So instead of what would have been an awesome tour, I ended up going on a tour to Bruges which was only kind of awesome. Bruges is a lovely city, which became accented in our minds by the chocolate distributed to us in the bus on the way into town. The tour was mostly a walking tour with a boat ride through the canals thrown in, which was great. I saved some of my chocolate especially for the canal trip, I figured what could be more appropriate on a canal in Belgium than eating chocolate?
Anyways, the tour was all going according to plan until the last hour where we began walking towards the bus pickup point. We were going to have about an hour to shop around on our own before being taken back to the ship, something I was looking forward to, that is until someone had something else in mind. With about an hour left, as the group followed along behind the tour guide, I noticed an older couple slowly getting left behind. I slowed my pace to keep an eye on them, when suddenly, the elderly man flat out fell on the road. Concerned, I ran over to see that everything was ok, and as the man stood up with some assistance from his walking cane, told me “yeah, this happens all the time.” Yeah right that happens all the time and he’s ok! Like an 85 year old man walking with a cane who just collapsed onto a cobblestone road is going to be just fine. So I told the couple to wait there and that I’d be back, at which point I ran ahead to catch the guide and inform her of the situation. Seeing as I had a map of the city on me, I told the guide I’d walk the couple to the bus while she went ahead with the group, then returned to my “OK” old dude.
It was pretty obvious he was shaken up by the fall as he’d lost the color in his face and now walked with a concerning uneasiness – but at least he was walking. I honestly can’t believe he got up and kept walking after that fall, and considering his slight embarrassment, it seems the only thing injured was his pride, of which he was determined to regain by making the trip (haha, a pun) to the bus. So we started walking, slowly, and I navigated my way through a city I’d never visited with a map I’d never studied, and with a couple that never should have gone on that tour. They were really a nice pair though. The wife, who was younger and in better shape, was supportive and patient with her husband, and each were pleasant to talk with. We had a nice walk back to the bus, considering the circumstances, though I was in a state of nervousness just waiting for what seemed to be his next inevitable fall. But after a few stops, many shuffled steps, the city, park, and a bridge, we arrived at the terminal where we were to be picked up. They then thanked me for my help and I ran off to enjoy what little time I had left to explore.
In this small amount of time I happened to run into my friend Patrick who had taken the train into the city. I believe I’ve written about him before, the piano player, I probably described him as a bit weird. Anyways, we run into each other just as the rain starts; I have a broken umbrella I found on a bus a few tours ago, he has a hood. A sudden gust of wind comes up and blows an open umbrella from a shop door right to Patrick’s feet. We look at it and consider the oddity of this rogue umbrella landing at his feet, and after a look around for witnesses, Patrick picks it up and puts it over his head. I then directed him into the city and he walked off with his new accessory. I thought it was hilarious, mostly just because my friend is such a character, but also just out of the coincidence that this open umbrella flew right to his feet. It was time for me to get back to the bus though, so I turned and headed back.
Nothing more really happened with the tour from that point out. The old man was alright for the trip back and everything else went smoothly. Back at the ship, I met up with the tenor player, Ben, and decided to get off the ship again to make a quick trip to Zeebrugge. After being disappointed about not getting on my beer tasting tour, I had talked Ben into taking a trip into the city with me to buy some beer of our own (because I wasn’t leaving Belgium without some authentic beer). We bought about $30 of various beers, all of which will be enjoyed slowly over the next month.
At the set that night, I asked Patrick about the umbrella he walked off with. In true Patrick fashion, he expressed “I hate umbrellas” and let me know that he had left it randomly somewhere in the city. I guess, it was the zen thing to do, leave it where it came from for someone else to find, like an umbrella that is now just one with it’s community. I guess I’m satisfied with that answer.
Lastly, we had a nice treat in port today. We shared the dock with the Queen Elizabeth II, for what would be the last time the ships met. It was a bit of a historic moment, celebrated with huge water guns, a band, and a long exchange of whistle blows at sail away. I stood at the front of the ship on deck 9 to see the farewells, which was surprisingly sentimental to someone indifferent to which cruise company he works for. I guess that’s just the romantic in me. Anyways, it was a lovely sail away and great experience being there to wish the QE2 farewell before it’s retired toward the end of this year and sent to Dubai to become a floating hotel. So that’s about it for Belgium, thanks!
Friday, July 18, 2008
1 year!!!
I'm currently sitting in a cafe in Southampton and had to take the opportunity to inform everyone that today, July 18th 2008, is my 1 Year anniversary of working on ships. It was exactly a year ago today that I first signed onto the Navigator in Barcelona and where this blog first began. I'm not sure if that's exactly a good thing or not, but at least my blog is proof that over the past year I've certainly had my fair share of stories, adventures, and just great times. Thanks to everyone who's been reading consistently and be sure to look forward to many more posts as I make my way into my second year at sea!
Mike
Mike
Bergen/Sea Day
July 16th-17th
Bergen/Sea Day
I had another tour on the 16th in the town of Bergen, widely known for being the home town of Edvard Grieg, the famous pianist/composer. My tour went to his estate and museum. The tour was decent, after a stop at a really old church, the group drove to the Grieg estate where we walked through a museum, saw his cabin where he composed his music, walked through his house, and even heard a 30 minute piano recital of his music. Nothing was all that spectacular or memorable, but it was nice to appreciate the composer who’s music I have enjoyed for many years now. After the tour, I got dropped off in the city center where I went to the fish market. This market was great because everywhere you go, the vendors are slicing up free samples of there fish, all of which are amazing. I had so much good salmon and even whale, among other things, that I can’t even remember it all. The only bad part was the rain that we were again stuck in. I then made my way through the city to the shuttle drop off point and caught a ride back to the ship.
The 17th was a usual final sea day with a farewell show. I ended the day playing euchre with some friends in my band. Tomorrow is Southampton where I’ll be able to make my posts and stock up on a few more supplies. Thanks for reading and keep looking for me to make updates during the next cruise, another Russian Rendezvous!
Bergen/Sea Day
I had another tour on the 16th in the town of Bergen, widely known for being the home town of Edvard Grieg, the famous pianist/composer. My tour went to his estate and museum. The tour was decent, after a stop at a really old church, the group drove to the Grieg estate where we walked through a museum, saw his cabin where he composed his music, walked through his house, and even heard a 30 minute piano recital of his music. Nothing was all that spectacular or memorable, but it was nice to appreciate the composer who’s music I have enjoyed for many years now. After the tour, I got dropped off in the city center where I went to the fish market. This market was great because everywhere you go, the vendors are slicing up free samples of there fish, all of which are amazing. I had so much good salmon and even whale, among other things, that I can’t even remember it all. The only bad part was the rain that we were again stuck in. I then made my way through the city to the shuttle drop off point and caught a ride back to the ship.
The 17th was a usual final sea day with a farewell show. I ended the day playing euchre with some friends in my band. Tomorrow is Southampton where I’ll be able to make my posts and stock up on a few more supplies. Thanks for reading and keep looking for me to make updates during the next cruise, another Russian Rendezvous!
Geiranger
July 15th
Geiranger
Well, I’m pushing the envelope yet again. Instead of staying out of trouble, it looks as if I continue to do everything to invite it my way. Today in Geiranger, I was scheduled for an all day tour that drove from a drop off point in Hellesylt through the fjords and mountains to where the ship would meet us in Geiranger. The problem was that I had both a department meeting and a meeting with the MD to turn in my time card (which I had forgotten to do the previous day and had received a note about) in the middle of the tour. I had decided to take a chance and go on the tour anyways, certainly more fulfilling than what was sure to be a pointless meeting. I had filled out my time card as well and left it on Gordon’s bed so that he could turn it in for me. Hopefully it would all work out fine.
So I went on the tour. The weather was less than pleasant - getting rained on in Norwegian mountains is about the furthest thing from warm and comfortable you can experience – but the tour was gorgeous. The terrain we traveled was unbelievable and despite the cloudy skies, it wasn’t hard to appreciate the natural beauty we were surrounded by. We stopped at 10 different sites on our overland tour, including a stop at the deepest lake in northern Europe, a drive to the top of a mountain, and a lunch consisting of the best salmon I’ve ever had. There was even a ski slope at the top of one of these fjords for summer skiing! It’s too bad we fought the rain all day and that I came back to the ship soaked and freezing, but it was still a great tour.
I got back to the ship around 4:00, way after the meetings had taken place expecting some note informing me of my absence. Guess what? No note! At the rehearsal the MD didn’t say a word to me about missing the meeting, and even asked me if I saw the trombone player there. I’m really confused about how this guy is missing so much stuff, but hey, who’s complaining?
The night I decided to push my luck even a little further. I don’t usually try to get myself in trouble on these ships, it’s the absolute last thing in the world I want to do, but sometimes you have to break a couple rules. This time involved me wanting to get a chessboard for my cabin. The best place to pick one up is in the Golden Lion Pub on the ship, where they have about 10 of them in a pile. I figured they really didn’t need all 10 and decided to borrow one for the rest of my contract. So late at night, I snuck up to the pub, nonchalantly walked by the passengers to the chess game, grabbed it and walked back to my cabin. I guess it’s no mission impossible or anything, but it was still slightly nerve-racking taking the game. But I think that’s going to be it for my career as a thief for the rest of the contract, let’s just hope I can stay out of trouble for a while now. Thanks for reading!
Geiranger
Well, I’m pushing the envelope yet again. Instead of staying out of trouble, it looks as if I continue to do everything to invite it my way. Today in Geiranger, I was scheduled for an all day tour that drove from a drop off point in Hellesylt through the fjords and mountains to where the ship would meet us in Geiranger. The problem was that I had both a department meeting and a meeting with the MD to turn in my time card (which I had forgotten to do the previous day and had received a note about) in the middle of the tour. I had decided to take a chance and go on the tour anyways, certainly more fulfilling than what was sure to be a pointless meeting. I had filled out my time card as well and left it on Gordon’s bed so that he could turn it in for me. Hopefully it would all work out fine.
So I went on the tour. The weather was less than pleasant - getting rained on in Norwegian mountains is about the furthest thing from warm and comfortable you can experience – but the tour was gorgeous. The terrain we traveled was unbelievable and despite the cloudy skies, it wasn’t hard to appreciate the natural beauty we were surrounded by. We stopped at 10 different sites on our overland tour, including a stop at the deepest lake in northern Europe, a drive to the top of a mountain, and a lunch consisting of the best salmon I’ve ever had. There was even a ski slope at the top of one of these fjords for summer skiing! It’s too bad we fought the rain all day and that I came back to the ship soaked and freezing, but it was still a great tour.
I got back to the ship around 4:00, way after the meetings had taken place expecting some note informing me of my absence. Guess what? No note! At the rehearsal the MD didn’t say a word to me about missing the meeting, and even asked me if I saw the trombone player there. I’m really confused about how this guy is missing so much stuff, but hey, who’s complaining?
The night I decided to push my luck even a little further. I don’t usually try to get myself in trouble on these ships, it’s the absolute last thing in the world I want to do, but sometimes you have to break a couple rules. This time involved me wanting to get a chessboard for my cabin. The best place to pick one up is in the Golden Lion Pub on the ship, where they have about 10 of them in a pile. I figured they really didn’t need all 10 and decided to borrow one for the rest of my contract. So late at night, I snuck up to the pub, nonchalantly walked by the passengers to the chess game, grabbed it and walked back to my cabin. I guess it’s no mission impossible or anything, but it was still slightly nerve-racking taking the game. But I think that’s going to be it for my career as a thief for the rest of the contract, let’s just hope I can stay out of trouble for a while now. Thanks for reading!
Sea Day/Trondheim
July 13th-14th
Sea Day/Trondheim
The 13th was a usual sea day, except that night was a little different from the usual guest performance. Instead, both bands on the ship were combined to make a big band (or close to) and we played a couple hours of big band dance music. I was excited simply because it’d be something different and I haven’t played in a big band for a while, so I was looking forward to hearing that sound again. Unfortunately, it got off to a bad start. The music director has a communication method here on the ship which involves placing memos on your door when something changes. There was a memo for tonight’s show to be there 30 minutes early…that I didn’t get. Gordon had been working hard all day putting together charts for the evening show, and among the piles of charts around the room, he had misplaced the memo. So I show up to the set all excited for something new only to find out I’m 15 minutes late for set up and have a whole pile of tunes to sort through and put in order, not to mention assembling my sax, flute and clarinet. I was able to get my horns out and a few of the tunes in order before we started, and then found more during long rests, and though I never did actually hold up the band, it wasn’t exactly preferred playing conditions. Then, as I expected, the music director had to ask me why I was so late, to which he doesn’t understand that it’s possible for memos on door handles to get misplaced. Let’s just say it wasn’t exactly how I wanted the night to go. But seeing as I didn’t mess anything up for the band, I’m not going to worry about it
The 14th in Trondheim was a little more fun. I was able to get on a tour today that took me to the Lokken Mine and for a train ride on a “vintage railway.” The mine was interesting – a copper mine over 300 years old and just closed down in 1987. For the tour, everyone in the group got to put on hard hats and then proceeded into the mine where we had a short violin concert before making our way out. The concert was where a huge copper deposit had been dug out, leaving a perfect place for a concert hall (if you disregard the near freezing temperature and ubiquitous sound of dripping water). Anyways, the violinist played a few tunes on the makeshift stage and then the group slowly made it’s way out into sunlight again. It was actually a fun excursion, but then again, that’s probably just because I like the novelty of wearing a hard hat, regardless of where you put me.
The mine was followed by a vintage train ride through the area. I was excited for the train ride, but after 50 minutes of less than choice scenery observed from hard wooden benches in a crowded wooden box, I guess I changed my mind (sorry Uncle Steve). I did take a lot of pictures for all my train fanatic relatives, but I just simply can’t patronize the whole vintage train thing…maybe because they took my hard hat away.
But there was yet another problem that I was worried was going to get me in trouble. Trondheim was my in port manning day, meaning in order to get off the ship, I had to switch duties with a friend, which I did. It’s not like switching duties is hard, the only thing you have to do is stay on the ship, and my friend had no problem doing that. The only problem was that while I was gone, they had a surprise IPM drill in the morning, something they haven’t done once since I’d been on the ship. My buddy didn’t wake up for it. Now, the whole IPM thing is kind of ridiculous to begin with, but the ship takes it seriously and I wasn’t looking forward to the trouble I was about to get in when the music director found out my friend didn’t show up in my place. When I got back to my room, curiously, there was no note. Surely the word didn’t get out yet, so waited in anxious anticipation (maybe I’m over dramatizing this). Then came the schedule for tomorrow with a note at the bottom of it, “congratulations entertainment division for 100% IPM attendance.” Could it be he just never found out? Could I get that lucky? Then he knocked on my door, this was it… “Hey Mike, is Gordon around?” he asks. I say that he isn’t which he follows with, “Hey, you had IPM today, right? You showed up this morning, didn’t you?” Moment of truth. “Yeah, I was there,” I answer, obviously a flat out lie. He thanks me for my participation and leaves. I can’t figure out how I dodged that bullet, it really doesn’t make any sense at all because I know for a fact my friend slept through the drill, but somehow everything worked out – sweet.
Anyways, there’s a melodramatic account of my day in Trondheim, thanks for hanging in there through my attempt at a suspense post. Hopefully I can keep myself out of trouble from here on out! Thanks!
Sea Day/Trondheim
The 13th was a usual sea day, except that night was a little different from the usual guest performance. Instead, both bands on the ship were combined to make a big band (or close to) and we played a couple hours of big band dance music. I was excited simply because it’d be something different and I haven’t played in a big band for a while, so I was looking forward to hearing that sound again. Unfortunately, it got off to a bad start. The music director has a communication method here on the ship which involves placing memos on your door when something changes. There was a memo for tonight’s show to be there 30 minutes early…that I didn’t get. Gordon had been working hard all day putting together charts for the evening show, and among the piles of charts around the room, he had misplaced the memo. So I show up to the set all excited for something new only to find out I’m 15 minutes late for set up and have a whole pile of tunes to sort through and put in order, not to mention assembling my sax, flute and clarinet. I was able to get my horns out and a few of the tunes in order before we started, and then found more during long rests, and though I never did actually hold up the band, it wasn’t exactly preferred playing conditions. Then, as I expected, the music director had to ask me why I was so late, to which he doesn’t understand that it’s possible for memos on door handles to get misplaced. Let’s just say it wasn’t exactly how I wanted the night to go. But seeing as I didn’t mess anything up for the band, I’m not going to worry about it
The 14th in Trondheim was a little more fun. I was able to get on a tour today that took me to the Lokken Mine and for a train ride on a “vintage railway.” The mine was interesting – a copper mine over 300 years old and just closed down in 1987. For the tour, everyone in the group got to put on hard hats and then proceeded into the mine where we had a short violin concert before making our way out. The concert was where a huge copper deposit had been dug out, leaving a perfect place for a concert hall (if you disregard the near freezing temperature and ubiquitous sound of dripping water). Anyways, the violinist played a few tunes on the makeshift stage and then the group slowly made it’s way out into sunlight again. It was actually a fun excursion, but then again, that’s probably just because I like the novelty of wearing a hard hat, regardless of where you put me.
The mine was followed by a vintage train ride through the area. I was excited for the train ride, but after 50 minutes of less than choice scenery observed from hard wooden benches in a crowded wooden box, I guess I changed my mind (sorry Uncle Steve). I did take a lot of pictures for all my train fanatic relatives, but I just simply can’t patronize the whole vintage train thing…maybe because they took my hard hat away.
But there was yet another problem that I was worried was going to get me in trouble. Trondheim was my in port manning day, meaning in order to get off the ship, I had to switch duties with a friend, which I did. It’s not like switching duties is hard, the only thing you have to do is stay on the ship, and my friend had no problem doing that. The only problem was that while I was gone, they had a surprise IPM drill in the morning, something they haven’t done once since I’d been on the ship. My buddy didn’t wake up for it. Now, the whole IPM thing is kind of ridiculous to begin with, but the ship takes it seriously and I wasn’t looking forward to the trouble I was about to get in when the music director found out my friend didn’t show up in my place. When I got back to my room, curiously, there was no note. Surely the word didn’t get out yet, so waited in anxious anticipation (maybe I’m over dramatizing this). Then came the schedule for tomorrow with a note at the bottom of it, “congratulations entertainment division for 100% IPM attendance.” Could it be he just never found out? Could I get that lucky? Then he knocked on my door, this was it… “Hey Mike, is Gordon around?” he asks. I say that he isn’t which he follows with, “Hey, you had IPM today, right? You showed up this morning, didn’t you?” Moment of truth. “Yeah, I was there,” I answer, obviously a flat out lie. He thanks me for my participation and leaves. I can’t figure out how I dodged that bullet, it really doesn’t make any sense at all because I know for a fact my friend slept through the drill, but somehow everything worked out – sweet.
Anyways, there’s a melodramatic account of my day in Trondheim, thanks for hanging in there through my attempt at a suspense post. Hopefully I can keep myself out of trouble from here on out! Thanks!
Honningsvag
July 12th
Honningsvag
Today was my return to the Honningsvag, a day I’ve been looking forward to for the past 4 weeks. If you recall from my previous post from this port, this was the day I climbed the mountain and met the old man at the top, the one I called the “keeper of the list.” If you didn’t read that post, go back 4 weeks and find it, it’s worth the read.
Anyways, I was excited about today and taking my old man friend up on his offer for tea when I returned to the city. I got off the ship a bit after noon to make my way through the city to the address I had written in my note pad a month earlier. I had no problem remembering my way through the tiny city and soon found my self at his door, 5 Prestevannsvein (yeah, that’s be the street name). I rang the doorbell, slightly nervous about just showing up, and after a few moments…nothing. I rang again, knocked on the door, still nothing. I started walking around the front of the house looking in the windows for a sign of life, but to my dismay, still nothing. A neighbor of his saw me checking out the house, and considering how suspicious I looked, came outside to ask me something in Norwegian. I let him know I was looking for Basse Larrson, and the neighbor let me know he’d gone into the city and would be back in 10 minutes. I thanked him and took a seat on the front steps of the house to wait for my host. I waited 10 minutes, nothing…30 minutes…an hour…still nothing. After over an hour of sitting there doing nothing but watching the occasional person walk by, I decided to write him a note and walk around for a bit before I lost the entire day to a tea party that might not happen. I tore a sheet of paper from my note pad, wrote him a greeting and reminded him of who I was, left an email address, and said I’d stop back again a couple more times before I left port. I walked one direction toward the mountain I’d originally met him on, enjoyed the view, then returned to his house…still nothing. I walked the other direction towards this peninsula that jutted out toward the ship, enjoyed the scenery and returned…again, nothing. By this point, I was out of time to sit down with him to have tea and began walking back to the ship while keeping an eye out for my friend. I stayed on land as long as possible looking but to no avail, my hyped up return to Honningsvag had culminated in an anticlimactic day of unfruitful waiting. Thankfully, the waiting was accompanied by an absolutely gorgeous day, likely the warmest of the year, and I enjoyed listening to the birds and passively observing the city, but that wasn’t at all the outcome I was expecting. I returned to the ship, and disappointed by the falling through of a plan built up with 4 weeks of anticipation, made my way to the theater for the usual rehearsal with a usual guest entertainer.
Unfortunately, that’s about all I have to say about my day in Honningsvag. I’ll be sure to let you know if I do indeed receive an email from my friend. But till then, I guess I’ll just continue sailing out of northern Norway looking for my next opportunity for a good adventure and great story to write home about.
One last thing – I did see the north cape as we sailed out of port. The North Cape, a huge seaside cliff, is the northernmost point of continental Europe, and has a majesty certainly worthy of the prestigious location. It was a gorgeous site and nice treat as I left northern Norway for what may likely be the last time. Thanks for reading!
Honningsvag
Today was my return to the Honningsvag, a day I’ve been looking forward to for the past 4 weeks. If you recall from my previous post from this port, this was the day I climbed the mountain and met the old man at the top, the one I called the “keeper of the list.” If you didn’t read that post, go back 4 weeks and find it, it’s worth the read.
Anyways, I was excited about today and taking my old man friend up on his offer for tea when I returned to the city. I got off the ship a bit after noon to make my way through the city to the address I had written in my note pad a month earlier. I had no problem remembering my way through the tiny city and soon found my self at his door, 5 Prestevannsvein (yeah, that’s be the street name). I rang the doorbell, slightly nervous about just showing up, and after a few moments…nothing. I rang again, knocked on the door, still nothing. I started walking around the front of the house looking in the windows for a sign of life, but to my dismay, still nothing. A neighbor of his saw me checking out the house, and considering how suspicious I looked, came outside to ask me something in Norwegian. I let him know I was looking for Basse Larrson, and the neighbor let me know he’d gone into the city and would be back in 10 minutes. I thanked him and took a seat on the front steps of the house to wait for my host. I waited 10 minutes, nothing…30 minutes…an hour…still nothing. After over an hour of sitting there doing nothing but watching the occasional person walk by, I decided to write him a note and walk around for a bit before I lost the entire day to a tea party that might not happen. I tore a sheet of paper from my note pad, wrote him a greeting and reminded him of who I was, left an email address, and said I’d stop back again a couple more times before I left port. I walked one direction toward the mountain I’d originally met him on, enjoyed the view, then returned to his house…still nothing. I walked the other direction towards this peninsula that jutted out toward the ship, enjoyed the scenery and returned…again, nothing. By this point, I was out of time to sit down with him to have tea and began walking back to the ship while keeping an eye out for my friend. I stayed on land as long as possible looking but to no avail, my hyped up return to Honningsvag had culminated in an anticlimactic day of unfruitful waiting. Thankfully, the waiting was accompanied by an absolutely gorgeous day, likely the warmest of the year, and I enjoyed listening to the birds and passively observing the city, but that wasn’t at all the outcome I was expecting. I returned to the ship, and disappointed by the falling through of a plan built up with 4 weeks of anticipation, made my way to the theater for the usual rehearsal with a usual guest entertainer.
Unfortunately, that’s about all I have to say about my day in Honningsvag. I’ll be sure to let you know if I do indeed receive an email from my friend. But till then, I guess I’ll just continue sailing out of northern Norway looking for my next opportunity for a good adventure and great story to write home about.
One last thing – I did see the north cape as we sailed out of port. The North Cape, a huge seaside cliff, is the northernmost point of continental Europe, and has a majesty certainly worthy of the prestigious location. It was a gorgeous site and nice treat as I left northern Norway for what may likely be the last time. Thanks for reading!
Sea Day/Tromso
July 10th/11th
Sea Day/Tromso
The 10th was a sea day and was more of an organizational day for me than anything. I basically sat in my room most of the day going through my computer and external hard drive files. So nothing too exciting to tell you about there.
The 11th was my second time in Tromso, but this time I didn’t sleep through most of the time at port and I found the shuttle into the city. I went into the city with a friend from the spa and pretty much just walked around. It’s a usual Norwegian city, small and charming. It actually had a nice downtown shopping area as well, but when they’re selling strawberries there for $10 per case (like the small case you find at grocery stores at home), it was obvious I wasn’t going to be doing any shopping. But regardless, it was a gorgeous day and even slightly warm, rare for a Norwegian town so far north as Tromso. After a few hours in town, I had to catch a bus back for a rehearsal.
The show tonight was with Doug Cameron, a jazz violinist (I probably shouldn’t be saying names simply because of what happened with Mac a couple weeks back, but like Mac, I only have good things to say). Doug’s show was one of the few that I think the band actually enjoyed. I was slightly worried going into the rehearsal because there was an afternoon rhythm section rehearsal, something I’ve never seen a guest do in preparation for a full band rehearsal. I went in expecting a long rehearsal going over unnecessarily complex charts you’d have to be crazy to enjoy, and came out after a long rehearsal with complex charts you’d have to be crazy NOT to enjoy. It’s always nice getting difficult music that is challenging because it’s written well, not challenging because the arranger is a moron (big difference). Doug also brought in the string qurtet for the show, which I never get tired of hearing. My only complaint was that I had to play clarinet solo’s again, one of which was a Dixie solo where I had to stand up and go to the front of the stage and improvise something, another new one for me with that less than agreeable instrument. Anyways, the shows both went well and I’m disappointed he’s not coming back anytime soon.
Following the shows, Doug was nice enough to take the entire band out for drinks in the pub upstairs. It’s not the first time guests have bought drinks for the band, but it’s the first time one actually took us up in a guest area, bought good drinks, and conversed with us for over an hour. I have a lot of respect for a guest that can do that simply because it shows a lot of respect for the band. So from 12:15 to 1:45 we all hung out talking about whatever and looking out the window at a Norwegian coastline that at this time of the year, doesn’t see sunsets. You have no idea how weird it is getting a drink after a long day (relatively speaking) and looking out the window to see the night time sky lit up just as brightly as if it were noon. Anyways, it was a nice night and another one of those ship experiences I live for. Thanks for reading!
Sea Day/Tromso
The 10th was a sea day and was more of an organizational day for me than anything. I basically sat in my room most of the day going through my computer and external hard drive files. So nothing too exciting to tell you about there.
The 11th was my second time in Tromso, but this time I didn’t sleep through most of the time at port and I found the shuttle into the city. I went into the city with a friend from the spa and pretty much just walked around. It’s a usual Norwegian city, small and charming. It actually had a nice downtown shopping area as well, but when they’re selling strawberries there for $10 per case (like the small case you find at grocery stores at home), it was obvious I wasn’t going to be doing any shopping. But regardless, it was a gorgeous day and even slightly warm, rare for a Norwegian town so far north as Tromso. After a few hours in town, I had to catch a bus back for a rehearsal.
The show tonight was with Doug Cameron, a jazz violinist (I probably shouldn’t be saying names simply because of what happened with Mac a couple weeks back, but like Mac, I only have good things to say). Doug’s show was one of the few that I think the band actually enjoyed. I was slightly worried going into the rehearsal because there was an afternoon rhythm section rehearsal, something I’ve never seen a guest do in preparation for a full band rehearsal. I went in expecting a long rehearsal going over unnecessarily complex charts you’d have to be crazy to enjoy, and came out after a long rehearsal with complex charts you’d have to be crazy NOT to enjoy. It’s always nice getting difficult music that is challenging because it’s written well, not challenging because the arranger is a moron (big difference). Doug also brought in the string qurtet for the show, which I never get tired of hearing. My only complaint was that I had to play clarinet solo’s again, one of which was a Dixie solo where I had to stand up and go to the front of the stage and improvise something, another new one for me with that less than agreeable instrument. Anyways, the shows both went well and I’m disappointed he’s not coming back anytime soon.
Following the shows, Doug was nice enough to take the entire band out for drinks in the pub upstairs. It’s not the first time guests have bought drinks for the band, but it’s the first time one actually took us up in a guest area, bought good drinks, and conversed with us for over an hour. I have a lot of respect for a guest that can do that simply because it shows a lot of respect for the band. So from 12:15 to 1:45 we all hung out talking about whatever and looking out the window at a Norwegian coastline that at this time of the year, doesn’t see sunsets. You have no idea how weird it is getting a drink after a long day (relatively speaking) and looking out the window to see the night time sky lit up just as brightly as if it were noon. Anyways, it was a nice night and another one of those ship experiences I live for. Thanks for reading!
Olden
July 9th
Olden
I had another tour set up for today, but one that unfortunately fell through. When I signed up for the tour, I wasn’t aware there were two different departure times. I got put on the later time, meaning I had a conflict with a 4:30 rehearsal, meaning I had to wake up early to let the tour people know that I couldn’t make it. The back up plan was to rent bikes with the tenor player and go riding, but after a morning of trying to hunt down the new guy in charge of bike rentals, we found out he had been out of rentals since yesterday and that he’s a total jerk. Whatever, time to make a plan c.
Olden is this tiny little town built in the fjords, wedged between huge mountains. There’s almost nothing to do in the city but look at the breath taking views, and it really is beautiful there. It literally feels like you got sucked into a post card, and that you should be eating chocolate…though I’m not entirely sure why. Anyways, plan c ended up being my usual plan for any other place with mountains – climb them, and it was obvious this was to be my hardest challenge yet.
I got off the ship with the tenor player Ben and the pianist Patrick. Ben is a cool guy that I get along with well and enjoy playing with. He’s from Austin Texas, in his late 20’s, and really trying to get himself in shape during this contract, so he was certainly up for a climb. Patrick, as I often tell him, is one of the weirdest guys I know. He’s a character to say the least, with a very strange style of communication. He speaks in very short phrases, usually about very odd things, and I think has a talent for completely changing the rhythm of any usual conversation. Also in his late 20’s, he’s balding, quirky, and everyone loves him. He’s been getting into yoga, which is one of the funniest things I’ve seen, and was also interested in a good climb. Now I had my team.
It’s actually the first time I’ve ever climbed with a team like that. Usually I can’t find anyone who seems daring enough to go, or in shape enough to keep pace, so I was excited when we set out. As a joke, I set out wearing the bright yellow “Guide” hat we have to wear in case of emergency on the ship – I just felt like wearing a hat. We walked through the city to the other side of the valley so that we wouldn’t have to climb with the sun in our eyes. After picking our route, our first challenge was going to be to get through a cattle farm. Oddly enough, this seemed to be the hardest and most debated part of the hike, how to navigate through the farm. We thought we found a way, then saw how over grown it was, then found a steep slope with a barbed wire fence at the top. After much discussion and jokes about our ambitious goal being thwarted by cows, we sucked it up, made it up the slope and jumped the fence. The climb was on.
The mountainside where we started wasn’t especially steep, but it was very overgrown and was littered with holes and rocks. After a ways of climbing, we came to out first stream. Patrick, being Patrick, quickly ran over and started drinking the water and throwing it on his head. I’ve seen enough survival shows to know that drinking stream water is dangerous and warned him of dysentery, of which he held no concern. It didn’t take long though before the contagious nature of his enjoyment had Ben and myself drinking and playing in the fresh mountain spring water, it just looked too good to pass up. After the short break, we pressed on.
A lot of our climbing was up the rocky bed the stream flowed down. Though it was probably more dangerous, we didn’t have to deal with weird plants or the animals they may house. Also, following the stream made every second picture perfect, it was gorgeous. We had made another stop later for water and a bag of Norwegian strawberries Ben had brought along. Man were those things good, not to mention it’s just really cool sitting on a mountain, overlooking the fjord, wet with mountain spring water, and eating Norwegian strawberries. I enjoyed that moment. The next part of the hike was to take us to where our stream formed a huge waterfall, a goal we had set when we first scouted the mountain. As expected, it was gorgeous when we reached it and we took time to appreciate the scenery. We were quickly running out of time though, and the terrain was making a drastic change from hike-able slopes to rock faces. With out any gear, decent clothing, or even basic instruction…we decided not to push our luck. Sorry all you guys that would have loved to hear me say I went for it, but to climb a rock face that was wet from the water fall and at an angle that made good holds impossible, it just wasn’t going to happen. We spent the rest of our time enjoying the area and exploring the different waterfalls we could find before beginning the decent I had made sure to allow over 2 hours for.
The walk back down was nice, not to mention funny when I got to watch my friends slipping on the loose stone. Going down is always the hardest part of climbing simply because of gravity being with you. All it takes is a single slip to turn your modest descent speed into a human avalanche. Luckily, any falls my friends took were less than dangerous areas, no one got hurt.
At the bottom, we had one more challenge, the cattle farm. As we got close to one of the pastures the cows were grazing in, it became blatantly obvious these cows were extremely territorial. As we approached, the cows all turned, walked to the bottom of the hill we were descending, and mooed their angry moos. It doesn’t sound that bad, but I can honestly say I’ve never been so intimidated by a farm animal in my life. I had no doubt these things wanted to maim me, and as dumb as the thought of an intimidating moo may sound, it was obvious to all of us these were cattle war cries directed toward us. Well, we retreated, we’re not dumb, and Ben being from Texas lead the retreat. I was laughing the whole time just because I never thought a cow could be so scary. As we got scared back up the mountain, we relocated that original barbed wire fence we had to jump, jumped it, and descended the remainder of the way on the safe side of the fence. The cows watched the whole thing.
Well, we had done it, kind of. We made a climb, though not quite reaching the top, we got some marvelous views, good stories, and no injuries. We walked back around the city as to get a perspective from the ground as to how successful we were with our climb. Well, after what was 2 hours of climbing and our fair share of scrapes, we could now see we climbed nearly 1/3 of the mountain….woohoo….not. Man, I thought we did fairly we climbing this thing, and there was a lot of effort that went into it, and then to get to the bottom and see that we weren’t even close was kind of depressing. Sure, you have to appreciate it for what it is, and we didn’t exactly have a lot of time to make the climb, but after our jokes about pushing snowmen from the top of the mountain, I would have liked to have seen a little more progress than that. But hey, it was still a great day, still on of the most beautiful ports ever, and the cows weren’t successful in making meat patties out of any of us…it was a great day.
We returned to the ship just barely before rehearsal and then the day progressed in usual fashion. I was glad to have spent the day as I did and had a great time with my friends and a wonderful hike. Not to mention, it just reaffirms in my mind that the real joy of traveling comes from the friends you make, not the sites you see. Anyways, thanks for reading this long post about relatively little and have a great day. Seeya!
Olden
I had another tour set up for today, but one that unfortunately fell through. When I signed up for the tour, I wasn’t aware there were two different departure times. I got put on the later time, meaning I had a conflict with a 4:30 rehearsal, meaning I had to wake up early to let the tour people know that I couldn’t make it. The back up plan was to rent bikes with the tenor player and go riding, but after a morning of trying to hunt down the new guy in charge of bike rentals, we found out he had been out of rentals since yesterday and that he’s a total jerk. Whatever, time to make a plan c.
Olden is this tiny little town built in the fjords, wedged between huge mountains. There’s almost nothing to do in the city but look at the breath taking views, and it really is beautiful there. It literally feels like you got sucked into a post card, and that you should be eating chocolate…though I’m not entirely sure why. Anyways, plan c ended up being my usual plan for any other place with mountains – climb them, and it was obvious this was to be my hardest challenge yet.
I got off the ship with the tenor player Ben and the pianist Patrick. Ben is a cool guy that I get along with well and enjoy playing with. He’s from Austin Texas, in his late 20’s, and really trying to get himself in shape during this contract, so he was certainly up for a climb. Patrick, as I often tell him, is one of the weirdest guys I know. He’s a character to say the least, with a very strange style of communication. He speaks in very short phrases, usually about very odd things, and I think has a talent for completely changing the rhythm of any usual conversation. Also in his late 20’s, he’s balding, quirky, and everyone loves him. He’s been getting into yoga, which is one of the funniest things I’ve seen, and was also interested in a good climb. Now I had my team.
It’s actually the first time I’ve ever climbed with a team like that. Usually I can’t find anyone who seems daring enough to go, or in shape enough to keep pace, so I was excited when we set out. As a joke, I set out wearing the bright yellow “Guide” hat we have to wear in case of emergency on the ship – I just felt like wearing a hat. We walked through the city to the other side of the valley so that we wouldn’t have to climb with the sun in our eyes. After picking our route, our first challenge was going to be to get through a cattle farm. Oddly enough, this seemed to be the hardest and most debated part of the hike, how to navigate through the farm. We thought we found a way, then saw how over grown it was, then found a steep slope with a barbed wire fence at the top. After much discussion and jokes about our ambitious goal being thwarted by cows, we sucked it up, made it up the slope and jumped the fence. The climb was on.
The mountainside where we started wasn’t especially steep, but it was very overgrown and was littered with holes and rocks. After a ways of climbing, we came to out first stream. Patrick, being Patrick, quickly ran over and started drinking the water and throwing it on his head. I’ve seen enough survival shows to know that drinking stream water is dangerous and warned him of dysentery, of which he held no concern. It didn’t take long though before the contagious nature of his enjoyment had Ben and myself drinking and playing in the fresh mountain spring water, it just looked too good to pass up. After the short break, we pressed on.
A lot of our climbing was up the rocky bed the stream flowed down. Though it was probably more dangerous, we didn’t have to deal with weird plants or the animals they may house. Also, following the stream made every second picture perfect, it was gorgeous. We had made another stop later for water and a bag of Norwegian strawberries Ben had brought along. Man were those things good, not to mention it’s just really cool sitting on a mountain, overlooking the fjord, wet with mountain spring water, and eating Norwegian strawberries. I enjoyed that moment. The next part of the hike was to take us to where our stream formed a huge waterfall, a goal we had set when we first scouted the mountain. As expected, it was gorgeous when we reached it and we took time to appreciate the scenery. We were quickly running out of time though, and the terrain was making a drastic change from hike-able slopes to rock faces. With out any gear, decent clothing, or even basic instruction…we decided not to push our luck. Sorry all you guys that would have loved to hear me say I went for it, but to climb a rock face that was wet from the water fall and at an angle that made good holds impossible, it just wasn’t going to happen. We spent the rest of our time enjoying the area and exploring the different waterfalls we could find before beginning the decent I had made sure to allow over 2 hours for.
The walk back down was nice, not to mention funny when I got to watch my friends slipping on the loose stone. Going down is always the hardest part of climbing simply because of gravity being with you. All it takes is a single slip to turn your modest descent speed into a human avalanche. Luckily, any falls my friends took were less than dangerous areas, no one got hurt.
At the bottom, we had one more challenge, the cattle farm. As we got close to one of the pastures the cows were grazing in, it became blatantly obvious these cows were extremely territorial. As we approached, the cows all turned, walked to the bottom of the hill we were descending, and mooed their angry moos. It doesn’t sound that bad, but I can honestly say I’ve never been so intimidated by a farm animal in my life. I had no doubt these things wanted to maim me, and as dumb as the thought of an intimidating moo may sound, it was obvious to all of us these were cattle war cries directed toward us. Well, we retreated, we’re not dumb, and Ben being from Texas lead the retreat. I was laughing the whole time just because I never thought a cow could be so scary. As we got scared back up the mountain, we relocated that original barbed wire fence we had to jump, jumped it, and descended the remainder of the way on the safe side of the fence. The cows watched the whole thing.
Well, we had done it, kind of. We made a climb, though not quite reaching the top, we got some marvelous views, good stories, and no injuries. We walked back around the city as to get a perspective from the ground as to how successful we were with our climb. Well, after what was 2 hours of climbing and our fair share of scrapes, we could now see we climbed nearly 1/3 of the mountain….woohoo….not. Man, I thought we did fairly we climbing this thing, and there was a lot of effort that went into it, and then to get to the bottom and see that we weren’t even close was kind of depressing. Sure, you have to appreciate it for what it is, and we didn’t exactly have a lot of time to make the climb, but after our jokes about pushing snowmen from the top of the mountain, I would have liked to have seen a little more progress than that. But hey, it was still a great day, still on of the most beautiful ports ever, and the cows weren’t successful in making meat patties out of any of us…it was a great day.
We returned to the ship just barely before rehearsal and then the day progressed in usual fashion. I was glad to have spent the day as I did and had a great time with my friends and a wonderful hike. Not to mention, it just reaffirms in my mind that the real joy of traveling comes from the friends you make, not the sites you see. Anyways, thanks for reading this long post about relatively little and have a great day. Seeya!
Stavanger
July 8th
Stavanger, Norway
I had a tour set up for today entitled “Introduction to Stavanger,” which had me off the ship early in the morning. Our first stop was at some long houses that were inhabited 1500 years ago, where we were shown how the people used to live and farm. It was an interesting stop and I think I even learned a little something. Our guide showed us how they made fire, clothes, food, and explained the design of the houses, all very interesting. And at the end, I even saw some sheep roaming the farm area. Yep, sheep, I find that exciting. After a couple less interesting stops we returned for a city for an overview, also not as exciting as the sheep.
The tours are kind of getting a little annoying at times. I always feel like I have to heard these people around and watch after them as if they don’t know how to take care of themselves or follow simple directions. This tour was no exception. Aside from the various people asking me detailed questions about Norwegian culture, of which I had no answer for, I had one woman in particular who stood out above, or I guess below, the class. This lady comes up to me asking if there’s water anywhere…while we’re stopped at a closed down TV tower to look at the city. Well, there isn’t any in the bus and the tower has nothing go on inside it, so I say no, not at this moment. She gets upset and tells me that if she doesn’t get water in 30 minutes so that she can take her medication “we’re going to have problems”. Now really, you would think that a middle aged woman with a condition that will cause “problems” would have enough sense to bring a water bottle with her on a tour that obviously extends through her scheduled pill time. So a couple stops later and well past her half hour time limit, I ask if she found any water, just because I’m a thoughtful guy and all. She says yes, asks where she can find Coffee at our current stop, and because she can see the ship, eventually breaks off from the group and doesn’t return. I just don’t understand what’s with some of these people, and why I have such a talent of finding them. Anyways, the tour ended with a walk through the town and I got back on the ship for the day. There wasn’t much more for me to see off the ship, and considering the prices of everything in Norway, I just couldn’t justify getting off for a coffee or tea. We had a show that night and that’s about all. Seeya!
Stavanger, Norway
I had a tour set up for today entitled “Introduction to Stavanger,” which had me off the ship early in the morning. Our first stop was at some long houses that were inhabited 1500 years ago, where we were shown how the people used to live and farm. It was an interesting stop and I think I even learned a little something. Our guide showed us how they made fire, clothes, food, and explained the design of the houses, all very interesting. And at the end, I even saw some sheep roaming the farm area. Yep, sheep, I find that exciting. After a couple less interesting stops we returned for a city for an overview, also not as exciting as the sheep.
The tours are kind of getting a little annoying at times. I always feel like I have to heard these people around and watch after them as if they don’t know how to take care of themselves or follow simple directions. This tour was no exception. Aside from the various people asking me detailed questions about Norwegian culture, of which I had no answer for, I had one woman in particular who stood out above, or I guess below, the class. This lady comes up to me asking if there’s water anywhere…while we’re stopped at a closed down TV tower to look at the city. Well, there isn’t any in the bus and the tower has nothing go on inside it, so I say no, not at this moment. She gets upset and tells me that if she doesn’t get water in 30 minutes so that she can take her medication “we’re going to have problems”. Now really, you would think that a middle aged woman with a condition that will cause “problems” would have enough sense to bring a water bottle with her on a tour that obviously extends through her scheduled pill time. So a couple stops later and well past her half hour time limit, I ask if she found any water, just because I’m a thoughtful guy and all. She says yes, asks where she can find Coffee at our current stop, and because she can see the ship, eventually breaks off from the group and doesn’t return. I just don’t understand what’s with some of these people, and why I have such a talent of finding them. Anyways, the tour ended with a walk through the town and I got back on the ship for the day. There wasn’t much more for me to see off the ship, and considering the prices of everything in Norway, I just couldn’t justify getting off for a coffee or tea. We had a show that night and that’s about all. Seeya!
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