Random thoughts from the sea
Days 25-26, 2025 European Odyssey Wednesday and Thursday, July 23-24, 2025; Faroe Islands and Shetland Islands. For the past couple of years, I’ve flown the flag of each country we visit on my cabin door frame. It’s a fun ritual to change the flag when we head to a new
Continue reading
Days 21-23, 2025 European Odyssey Saturday-Monday, July 19-21, 2025; Grundarfjørdur and Reykjavik, Iceland. The trope that Eskimos have many words for snow is debated among linguists, but it does illustrate the belief that those whose life is filled with snow probably understand its nuances better than people who’ve never seen
Continue reading
Days 17-18, 2025 European Odyssey Tuesday and Wednesday, July 15-16, 2025; Paamiut and Qaqortoq, Greenland. For only the second time since cruising, I was glad I had brought my bug head net ashore. Our visit to the lovely fishing hamlet of Paamiut on the southwest coast of Greenland was marred
Continue reading
Days 12-14, 2025 European Odyssey Saturday-Monday, July 12-14, 2025; At Sea (Greenland and Labrador Seas, Prins Christian Sund). Greenland is the world’s largest island, at 836,330 square miles. On most maps it looks much larger than it is, due to the distortion of Mercator maps. (If you want to go
Continue reading
Days 11-13, 2025 European Odyssey Wednesday-Friday, July 9-11, 2025; Húsavík, Akureyri and Ísafjörður, Iceland. When Norse explorers established the first Icelandic settlement in what is now Húsavík in around 860, I’m sure they never would have dreamed that more than a millennium later, the town would be known for its
Continue reading
Days 6-8, 2025 European Odyssey Friday-Sunday, July 4-6, 2025; Honningsvag, Hammerfest and Alta, Norway. Years ago some guys in a bar in Breckenridge, Colo., asked me where my condo was, and I said, “at the end of the circle.” They proceeded to argue that a circle has no end. I
Continue reading
Days 4-5, 2025 European Odyssey Wednesday and Thursday, July 2-3, 2025; Trondheim, Norway, and Norwegian Sea. I was late to the game in signing up for a walking tour of Trondheim, Norway. A fellow cruiser on our Cruise Critic roll call (social media threads for each and every cruise) put
Continue reading
Day 3, 2025 European Odyssey Tuesday, July 1, 2025; Åndalsnes, Norway I’m gearing myself up for a marathon of cruise ports for the next few months. I’m used to long cruises with lots of sea days as we sail across oceans. This summer and fall will consist mainly of two-week
Continue reading
Day -1, 2025 European Odyssey Saturday, June 28, 2025; Amsterdam, Netherlands I pondered what to call this journey. Previous cruises came with a name — Grand World Voyage, Ultimate Mediterranean, Majestic Japan, Voyage of the Vikings. This time I’m not embarking on a single cruise, but on 10 back-to-back cruises
Continue reading
Days 42 and 43, 2023 North Atlantic Adventure Thursday and Friday, June 22 and 23, 2023; Seydisfjordur and Akureyri, Iceland. Perhaps there is something about the weather in Iceland that makes the flowers look stunning. I spent much of today with the blooms at the Akureyri Botanical Garden. The garden
Continue reading
Recent Comments