June 2: Shetland
We arrived this morning in Lerwick,
Shetland, and the boat stayed “alongside” (at dock) all day until the
afternoon.
I saw some of the usual regulars in the
Fitness Center this morning before Mom and I had breakfast and headed off for
our morning excursion.
At this pier, we were able to
disembark via gangplank again rather than tender ashore, which made the
leave-taking process a bit easier. Our guide for the day was Pat, a native
Shetlander who had left the Islands only to complete her post-secondary education
and then returned to Shetland as a teacher. We began the day with a brief tour
around Lerwick, the capital of Shetland. I recently finished reading Raven Black by Jane Cleeves, which is
set in Shetland, and Pat pointed out a cluster of people near one of the
building in central Lerwick who turned out to be part of the crew filming a
movie or series based on this author’s works.
Our scenic drive to the southern
site of Jarlshof provided some lovely views of the Shetland landscape and local
animal inhabitants, including seals lolling about on the beach:
Jarlshof is another
archeological site, right on the coast, that includes remains of buildings from
several different time periods. Unlike at Skara Brae, we were able to walk in
and among the structures at Jarlshof to get a closer look:
One particular corner apparently helped
to shelter a local aviary resident:
The field next to Jarlshof
contained some of the indigenous Shetland ponies, including several young
foals:
Being here in the spring means that we’ve seen the
early flowers in bloom throughout our tours along with lots and lots of young
animal offspring of sheep, horses, and cows. I think I’m getting obsessed with
the adorable baby lambs, even with they don’t present their best view to
spectators!
When we returned to the ship, I
took advantage of our being alongside for several hours to go for a 30-minute
run around Lerwick before joining Mom for lunch. I then still had about an hour
to spend walking around the nearby shops, and I got a great photo of our ship
at dock, including a close-up of our cabin window (middle window in the bottom image):
At the same pier was docked a very distinctive black and white ship, which turned out to be a floating hotel, aka floatel, that
typically serves as housing for workers associated with the various energy
companies on Shetland.
Once I got back to the ship, I
went to the second of three lectures. This was about the Wilson Cycle of the
Proto-Atlantic Ocean (e.g. the shifting configuration of the oceans and
continents) by Markes Johnson of Williams College. Mom had attended the first
lecture on climate change by Caroline Karp of Brown University while I was out
exploring and shopping, but she opted to nap afterwards. We both then went to
the third and final lecture of the day, which was about the Northern Lights and
their significance, presented by Mark Moldwin of the University of Michigan,
whom we had actually met the very first day at the Glasgow Airport when we were
waiting in the Arrivals Hall for our group transfer.
At this point in the day, the ship
had left Lerwick and entered the North Sea for the open water crossing to
Norway, and I was basically completely out of it from about 6:15pm at the end
of the lecture until 6:15am the next morning once we were safely cruising
smoother waters. Major seasickness for me the entire time, and I could barely
left my head off the pillow while we made that passage. Luckily, Mom wasn’t
similarly affected, so she was still able to move about despite the rolling
waves – very carefully, however, given the unsteadiness of the ship! She was
very solicitous in trying to take care of me, but the only true cure for such a
condition is to wait it out until the water is calmer, which didn’t happen
until the next morning when we got closer to Norway and entered the fjords.
Despite the unhappy ending, this
was my favorite portion of the trip so far. There was just something that I
really loved about Shetland, at least the parts that we got to see. I’m sure
the gorgeous weather was part of the appeal, along with all of the baby animals
and lovely scenery along the way.
June 3: Bergen, Norway
I woke up feeling much better and
eked out some time on the treadmill, enjoying the scenic views as we navigated
into the Norwegian fjords on the way to docking at Bergen.
Once again, we used
the gangplank to leave the ship, but the weather wasn’t as cooperative as it
had been, and our guide indicated that even the natives were starting to get
fed up with the unusually cold and wet weather that had been lingering in May
and now June.
We had a short tour through the
downtown and historic area of Bergen and made a stop to visit the Stavekirk, a
church made through stave construction that includes interlocking planks to
form the walls with no nails necessary:
Interestingly, even though this was a Christian church, the ornamentation includes some rather pagan figured and sculptures, such as the dragons featured above. Our guide explained that this was likely a way of "hedging your bets" as folks started to adopt Christianity but didn't complete give up their previous beliefs and objects of worship.
Our main destination for the
morning was Troldhaugen, home of famous composer Edvard Grieg and his wife,
Nina. Our guide took us on a short informational tour through the house, and we
also had a chance to listen to some of his music in the Visitor’s Center. Mom
and I stayed in the warm café for coffee, and she told me about her long-time
affinity for Grieg’s music, particularly his dances and operas, which started
back when she was 13 and her sister took her to the old Opera House in Boston
for a performance of Grieg’s “The Song of Norway.” This outing left a lasting
impression on her, especially the music, and she later bought sheet music for
some of his works and learned to play them on the piano. For Mom, this shore
excursion was certainly one of the highlights of the trip, and she purchased a
CD and a few mother mementos at the gift store to take home.
Once we were back in Bergen, our
guide led a short walking tour in Bryggen, the restored port section near the
old Fishmarket.
Mom and I opted to do a bit of souvenir
shopping instead, since it was still quite rainy and chilly and the cobblestone
streets were a bit tricky to navigate. We then joined the group back on the bus
to return to the ship for lunch, where I had a very unpleasant garlic incident
and had to hurriedly leave La Boussole on Deck 6. Mom and one of the staff
followed me back to the cabin, where we had a rather impromptu lunch.
At that point, it looked as though
the rain had stopped, so I decided to bundle up and brave the cold temperatures
to take a 30-minute run through downtown Bergen while Mom relaxed back in the
cabin. I had just enough time afterwards to shower and change and return to the
touristy area for a bit more shopping, and Mom took care of our VAT refund
through the service offered onboard in the afternoon.
The ship was due to depart at 5pm,
which was also the time for a wine-tasting gathering for which I had
registered. In the meantime, Mom and I headed to the Main Lounge on Deck 3 for
some coffee and snacks, and Mom got to watch the boat leave port during the
time that I was in La Licorne with about 20 other passengers to experience the dégustation
led by the ship’s wine steward, Raphael. Mom also attended the evening lecture
on Vikings by John Meffert, the National Trust study leader, which she really
enjoyed.
My wine event started with a blind
tasting of two Sauvignons. One was a Sancerre Blanc “Les Caillottes” by Pascal
Jolivet, and the other was Frontera “Concha y Toro” from Chile. Not
surprisingly, I preferred the latter (Mr. E and I have often found that I
prefer wines from the New World whereas he has the more classical Old World
palate and enjoys the French offerings instead). Our third white was a Premier
Cru “Fourchaumes” from Domaine Laroche in Chablis. We then had two reds, “Les
Fées brunes” by J.L. Colombo of Crozes Hermitage (100% Syrah), and “Clos
Bernarde” by Famille Meulnart from Cotes de Provence (blend of Syrah, Grenache,
Mourvedre). According to Raphael, the latter included some grapes from the
Bandol region, which Mr. E and I visited during our wine tour adventure with
Pat when we spent Thanksgiving week in Provence several years ago. The tasting
concluded with a rose (Cinsault) “Les Conviviales” by Château Mas Neuf from
Languedoc Rousillon.
The wines were accompanied by some
small bites, specially prepared by the chef in consultation with the wine
stewards. When I arrived and saw the platters, I of course asked about the
contents, starting to explain about my food allergies. The gentleman greeting
and seating folks immediately mentioned garlic and then referenced the lunch
incident from earlier in the afternoon, so apparently I’m now a somewhat
infamous passenger, at least among the restaurant staff!
After the wine-tasting, I met up
with Mom again for dinner in La Boussole, where we enjoyed a lovely conversation
with two other Smithsonian folks whom we had not really met before. We then
turned in for the evening, hoping that the whole night and next day entirely at
sea would be relatively calm and tolerable.
