Viking Cruise to the British Isle  Day3

      After sailing all day yesterday, we put into our next port at Invergordon,  and very small town on the coast and immediately got on the bus to Inverness.  The scenery along the way was quite beautiful - lots of rolling hills with large pastures for goats, cattle and sheep as well as fields of hay and barley (the better to make Scotch with).  Huge clumps of fireweed line the roadway which is actually rather pretty. Kind of like our Scotch broom.  

Inverness is a very old town with mostly stone and brick buildings.  I doubt that their history is written in fire as was Bergen's.  We were not in the mood to buy anything, but did some window shopping.  They had two interesting ice cream stores, but with the gelato on the ship, I have had enough ice cream.  The weather is in the high 50s, low 60s, overcast but no rain.  Lots of wind. I can tell you, neither of the places we have been so far look appealing for retirement! Tomorrow is Edinburgh which should be amazing.  

    Dinner last night was grilled salmon with a crab crust while Dean had lambchops. We tried the more formal dining room, but I am partial to the buffet.  There you don't have to get dressed up and that is where the gelato is.  Had pizza for lunch today and I have to say, we make better.  The bottom of theirs was a little soggy. 

    Hope all are well  

 Statue of Ibsen

Kind a creepy

The Harbor in Bergen

Sushi  selection

DAY at SEA  August 17

Well today was supposed to be visiting the Shetlands, but the seas are too rough to safely get into the harbor, so we are sailing all day to the Scottish Highland and Inverness .  I so wanted to see the Shetland ponies, but no such luck.  The North Sea has lots of big swells and thanks to Scopolamine Patches, they are tolerable.  The weather is cool and windy, so I am debating whether I should go out on the promenade deck. 

Last night's dinner was amazing.  Venison tenderloin Wellington, Cauliflower Gratin in Aquavit, Norwegian Potato dumplings and Krumkake for dessert.  They had Norwegian style hot dogs wrapped in Lefsa. Passed on that one. 

Have attended several lectures on the history of these places.  Kind of confusing, but helpful. 

Well, it's time to brave the wind 

 Viking Cruise from Bergen to the British Isles

August 16, 2024    

We flew in from Seattle yesterday - a long day indeed.  The flight left at 6PM on August 14 on Delta to Amsterdam, 9.5 hours.  Luckily we were on a wide body with 2 seats by the window.  The food was remarkably good.  I had a chicken curry and Dean had manicotti.  They even had Bombay gin to drink - unlike the bar at the airport which only had Tanguerey.  The airport in Amsterdam is HUGE.  We had to walk over a mile to our departure gate.  There was not enough seating and the air conditioner wasn't working well.  We got on a small plane for a 1.5 hour flight to Bergen.  When we arrived here, it was raining and cool.  Looks and feels like home.  There are huge block letters on a cliff outside the airport that read BERGEN?  Apparently it was some sort of art installation. After a half hour bus ride through some of the longest tunnels ever, we arrived at the ship.  It is big and beautiful.  It doesn't seem very crowded.  We opted for the casual dining restaurant last night and it was amazing.  I had sushi and some of the best bouillabaisse ever.  There are 9 flavors of gelato and a huge dessert bar.   Got settled into our stateroom which is spacious as far as boats go.  

This morning we went on a bus tour of Bergen.  This is the second largest city in Norway, about 400K people.  No homeless that I could tell.  The town is clean and beautiful.  The weather, not so much.  It's even cooler and rainier than Port Angeles. It has the most rain of any European city, over 280 days worth.  There are some quaint old buildings as well as some impressive stone forts and churches.  Apparently there have been a lot of fires over the centuries.  Now the leading cause of fires are university students who buy cheap pizza, put it in the oven to heat and pass out dead drunk. Looking forward to dinner tonight - a taste of Norway. Hope it is not Lutefisk.  

I can't figure out how to transfer photos from my phone to the lap top, so they will have to wait.  I have been trying to do work from here, but the Internet connection is painfully slow and it randomly kicked me off.  Took over 1/2 hour to order an antibiotic for a patient with a bladder infection.  Ugh.  

Portugal Days 5-10

 So I was very negligent at doing this blog, but in my defense, it wasn’t always easy to get on to Wi-Fi.  

Day 5 we went to Braga.  Another one hour bus ride from our river boat home,  Another pretty Medieval town with an ornate church.  Very beautiful tile work on the building facades.  Great Super Bock beer at the sidewalk cafes.  Wish we had room for more dessert.  Spent the night back in Porto.  

Day 6 in Guimaraes another 1 hour bus ride from Porto.  Quirky ceramics of the nativity (one of the holy family on a Vespa).  Found a sidewalk cafe with 20 kinds of gin and a dashing on the menu that read “I don’t know what time it is, but it is gin o’clock”.  

Day 7.  Off the bus and on to Lisbon.  Stopped at a highway rest stop where they had the inevitable bachalhaul or salt cod. Yah, that’s my idea of highway snacks! There was a bus with it’s hood up, drying soccer jerseys.  Then stopped for lunch at Obidos.  A very charming small town more geared to tourists, booth foreign and local.  I had clams and pork which sounds weird, but it works. They have a lovely liquor made with sour cherries they serve in a dark chocolate shot glass called Gina.  Yum.   The countryside is rolling hills, lush and green.  The trees are mostly eucalyptus which were introduced in the 1700s.  THey are over half of the trees in this area and burn like crazy during forest fires, but recover due to their deep roots at the expense of the oaks and pines.  

Lisbon is a big city, again very hilly with interesting neighborhoods.  We went on a “foodie” out of tapas restaurants in Miseracordia (the party part of town). One bar advertises free shots for your bra.  We had the most delicious grilled chicken with a peanut butter, ginger and coconut oil sauce.  Another place with a charcuterie plate and a third with sardines.  Yes I tried them (they are as ubiquitous as the salt cod) and equally nasty,   

Day 8 a bus tour of Lisbon to the Belem neighborhood on the river.  Monuments to the navigators and sailors abound.  Very upscale homes and the factory where they makes Natas - the famous custard tart with 12 egg yolks and a pound of sugar.  Amazing fresh from the oven with a cappucino. In the afternoon we walked to a large plaza by the river, enjoyed more beer and charcuterie and just soaked up the sights.  Dinner was at a meh seafood restaurant where I had shrimp with potatoes and egg.  OK but not the best meal.

Day 9.  We are staying at the Tivoli Hotel in the swanky part of town,  Fantastic breakfast buffet, comparable to what we were having on the boat.  What will I do without my morning smoked salmon? We took a cab to the Castle of St Jorge, but the line for tickets was too,one, so we walked around and enjoyed the view.  There was a guy outside of a church playing an accordion with a chihuahua perched on his shoulder.  Wished I had gotten a photo.  Then to the flea market - lots of typical flea market junk and then to the food market.  Beautiful fish and produce.  The strawberries smelled like strawberries.  Around the sides of the market, many Lisbon chefs have little windows and sell food to be eaten at the communal tables inside.  Had wonderful tuna with a sweet sauce and mashed sweet potatoes and Dean had a pulled pork sandwich which he pronounced delicious.  I walked home and did a little shopping.

Tonight we are off to a nice neighborhood seafood restaurant that has pickled lamprey and whole roasted lamprey on the menu.  Um No.  

Tomorrow an early trip to the airport, then home.  will try to add photos ex post facto.  

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Portugal Day 3and 4

 Well, got thrown a curve ball.  The river is too high for us to go all the way to Spain as planned (can’t fit under the bridges).  So our trip to Salamanca was cancelled.  On day 3 we went to a winery in Adorigo which is a beautiful winery on the mid Duoro. Tasted a white and tawny port.  We came back to the boat and watched a sabering of a Champaigne bottle, then another dinner (I had squid ink pasta with dried fruit and nuts which worked really well with a side of salmon).  Then we watched the opening of a vintage port bottle using the “fire and ice” technique.  In all, my alcohol count for the day was 1. Mimosa, 2. White and tawny port tasting at the winery 3. Paper plane at happy hour , 4 Champagne at the sabering., 5. Red wine at dinner. 6. Vintage port tasting after dinner.  Enough!

Today, we went to Viseu, a city about 1 hour’s drive south of the River in the middle of the country.  It is an old medieval town built on Roman ruins.  This was as far Southeast as the Romans came in Europe. There was a museum dedicated to an artist who was the first Renaissance painter in Portugal.  We also went to a very ornate church, walked around the town a bit then went to lunch at an old hospital that has been converted into a hotel.  Duck confit on the menu and another famous Portuguese dessert.  Overall, a good day.  

Portugal Day 2 2024

 Interesting day on the river.  First stop Peso de Regis Par Museum where we had an introductory lecture on the flora, geography and history of the Duoro River.  The gift shop was mostly bottles of wine and port.  In the afternoon we went to Lemego where there is a large cathedral to the Virgin Des Remedios.  Dean unable to go due to knee pain, so I walked down the 400+ stairs from the church to the little town where we drank more port and had little had little cheese sandwiches (Bolas).  In the evening we went to Quinta de Pacheco, a local winery where we had port, wine and a lovely dinner with a huge dessert selection. The weather was intermittent showers but not an issue for this northwesterener.  On up river tomorrow.

Portugal 2024

 Here we are on our long postponed due to Covid cruise on the Douro River in Portugal,  We flew in on Lufthansa from SEA to Frankfurt, then to Porto.  The overseas portion of the flight was miserable as we were in the bulkhead seats and could not access our carryon luggage. My feet didn’t reach the floor and the foot rest really didn’t provide much help. And then there is the misery of Frankfurt Airport with the shuttle busses from the plane to the terminal.  The flight from Frankfurt to Porto was only 3 hours and much more pleasant, 

First impression of Porto was - WOW what a lot of graffiti!  There is a stunning mix of old and new buildings and some of the old ones are in horrible shape.  Overall though, a charming city on the Atlantic. Our boat is very nice and the staff is wonderful,  Our cabin is tiny with a small upper window so we spend most of our tine in the lounge.  Dinner was fabulous.  I had gyozia with”Chinese sweet chilly sauce”.  As Matt would say, you know what they meant.  Desserts are a forte and the Portuguese love their bread.   The bar is wonderful with anything you can imagine.  I had a port Negroni which was yummy.  

The next day (Monday) we did a brief tour of Porto with a guided tour of the ornate Chamber of Commerce building, a trip to the seashore and a ride around town with it’s multiple bridges.  Porto is on one side of the Duoro and Gaia on the other.  In the afternoon we cruised up the river and saw a lot of homes, small farms but very few birds.  It is quite green here but the weather is in the 50s and overcast with occasional rain showers.  A lot like Port Angeles.  Dinner was lamb shank with was huge with red cabbage and crisp polenta.  Dessert banana splits.  Went through 2 locks on the river.  Tomorrow is Caldas de Aregos.