Introduction

This is a blog of the Jazzbeaux British Isles Explorer cruise from August 8 to September 4, 2018. We flew to Oslo via London on British Airways, spent two nights in Oslo, took the scenic Norwegian train ride from Oslo to Bergen, and boarded Viking Sun for a 15-day cruise through the British Isles.  After disembarking in Greenwich we spent four nights in London then rented a car and drove to Devon, Cornwall, Wales, and the Cotswolds before returning the car at Heathrow and flying home.

During the trip, Jazzbelle kept detailed notes and I [Jazzbeau] took lots of pictures.  After returning home, I revised the notes to remove names [to protect the guilty, as they say…] and put it in my voice to avoid confusion.  Jazzbelle became ‘DW’ in internet parlance [‘Dear Wife’].

In planning for this trip I used several Rick Steves books:  Snapshot Edinburgh [2018], England [2018], Great Britain [2018], Ireland [2018], London [2018], Snapshot Norway [2015], and Scotland [2018], as well as Trip Advisor [www.tripadvisor.com] and, of course, Cruise Critic [www.cruisecritic.com].

What follows is a day-by-day account of the trip with lots of pictures. If there is too much detail for you [or too many pictures], skip to the last post [Conclusion] where I have added a small set of highlights pictures.

Enjoy!

[Update Oct. 15, 2018:  photos uploaded, blog complete!]

Wednesday August 8, 2018 – Smooth Travels

The local limo company picked us up and we headed to JFK at 2:45 pm. We made it out there by 3:30.  We were supposed to have access to the Alaska Air Lounge, but it turned out that Priority Pass members couldn’t enter until 4:30.  After the wait, the lounge was somewhat disappointing.  There was salad, soup, rolls and a DIY pancake machine. And free drinks.  And the place was freezing, but certainly not overcrowded.

Our World Traveller Plus seats on British Air were fine and we had ample opportunities for drinks.  The chicken dinner was fine, but breakfast was just a Kellogg’s cereal bar.  The flight was on time at Heathrow and so was our connecting one to Oslo, Norway.  We only had an hour to make it from one terminal to another but it went smoothly.  The second flight was one-class, but we were allowed the increased luggage allowance throughout – and our luggage arrived along with us.

I think we have found the sweet spot with “premium economy” – enough room, early-ish boarding into a separate cabin with lots of overhead storage, free drinks and a decent meal.  We actually prefer the reclining seats to business class lie-flats, and we certainly prefer the lower fares!

Thursday August 9, 2018 – Welcome to Oslo

We took the Flytoget connecting rail into the city and walked a few hundred yards to the Hotel Continental, our home for the next two nights.  It was right across from the National Theater.

We enjoyed the beautiful weather and made our way around Oslo by tram [having bought 48 hour senior tram passes] and foot.  Before heading out we had a delicious lunch in our hotel’s Café Boman.  I had the best Eggs Benedict ever and DW had an avocado, tomato, shrimp salad.

We hopped on the #19 and changed to the #12 and passed by the waterfront on our way to the free and expansive Vigeland Park filled with sculpture done by Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) in granite and bronze.  We saw his 300’ bridge of sculptures (studies of the human body), the fountain with six giant human forms holding it on high, and onto the Monolith, the centerpiece of the park: 121 human figures filling a block of stone which reaches to the skies. It is a 50’ tall obelisk of bodies that took 14 years to construct.

We boarded a tram back towards downtown, stopped by the flower market and popped into the Lutheran cathedral, Domkirke.  Thus began our Rick Steves Welcome to Oslo Walk. We passed the Parliament building before visiting the National Gallery [all on one floor] for which we had free admission with our tram pass.  We viewed landscapes by Johan Christian Dahl, empathetic works by Christian Krohg, impressionistic works by Degas, Manet, Renoir…, the unappealing works of Edvard Munch [including one of his versions of The Scream].  DW fell in love with a painting by Harriet Backer entitled Servants’ Hall.

We continued our walk to the City Hall built in the 1930s.  City halls, rather than churches, are the main buildings in Scandinavian capitals. In the exterior courtyard are larger than life wood carvings of scenes from Norse mythology.  On the outside of the rear façade are statues of people at work. This faces the harbor front where ferries cruise to museums and the outer islands.  Nearby is the Nobel Peace Center.  [You thought the Nobel Prizes were awarded in Stockholm?  Yes – all but the Peace Prize, which Oslo proudly claims for its own.]

We took a short break at our hotel before leaving for our dinner reservation at Festningen (= sunset) restaurant. It had been recommended by my seat mate on our flight from London to Oslo.

Dining in Norway is expensive!  And they hit you with 25% VAT on top of it!  [Non-refundable, because you aren’t bringing it out of the country – although I can feel some of it around my waist 😉]

We opted not to go with the five-course chef’s menu and shared a scallop & pumpkin risotto starter.  There was one large scallop cut in three atop the rice. Tasty, but only one?

I chose lamb and DW duck leg for our entrees.  They were nicely prepared but very rich so we declined dessert and walked back to our hotel.

Friday August 10, 2018 – Oslo Museum Island

Rain most of the morning.  We slept in and had breakfast at 9:30 in the hotel’s Charlotte Café.  Fresh strawberries for DW, and their croissants (for me) were delicious!  And wisely DW made sandwiches for later.

After noon we walked to the harbor and took the strange little ferry with tattered seats and a leaky top to the Museum Island.  We opted to disembark at the second stop for the 3 sites there:  the Polar Ship Fram, the Kon-Tiki Museum and Norwegian Maritime Museum.  We spent lots of time at the Fram as we had heard about it on our fjords cruise in ’16. We enjoyed the Kon-Tiki, especially since we had both read the book in high school.  The movie at the Maritime was disappointing.  Not wanting to wait for the bus, we walked almost a mile to the Viking Ship Museum.  I was particularly interested in this one as I am giving a lecture on The Viking Saga for our Learning in Retirement group this fall.  There were three ships there to admire.  [We had free admission to all of these museums with our Oslo tram pass.]

We had a good hike down to the ferry terminal, only to be told it probably had stopped running because of bad weather [it was a very windy day].  We trekked back up the hill, where lots of others waited and waited for the bus.  One passed in the other direction, and we think it said out of service.  We had been chatting with a couple from Maine [Linda, an attorney, and her husband Steve, a forester].  After waiting awhile longer we decided to try to get a cab.  A couple of them approached so DW waved one down and the four of us shared it back to the National Theatre [cost less than $35 for 4 of us].

We regrouped and then took the #19 tram to Ekeberg, climbed up through the public modern sculpture garden [no thanks] and dined at Ekebergrestauranten, which had something of a view [another recommendation from my seatmate].  DW had dry-aged beef which was cooked well beyond medium rare and had lots of fat to trim off; it was not tender despite the aging. When she asked the waiter if she might order a salad, he replied they didn’t make salads.  [Same as last night!]  I had Arctic Char which was wonderful, and then the beef.

We took the #19 back to the hotel.

DW’s Observations:  Norwegians are not big smokers, dog owners, or bicyclists.  Some graffiti.  Oslo is clean, but not a pretty town.

Saturday August 11, 2018 – Scenic Train Ride to Bergen

Up at 6.  Sunny, cool. 50s.  Taxi to station for 8:25 am train to Bergen.  We sat in Comfort Class to make sure there would be room for our luggage in the coach. There was a nice couple from Alberta across from us.  The six and a half hour ride provided great scenery and opportunities to nap.  Lots of hills, mountains, trees, rocks (scree), waterfalls, lakes, lichen, sheep, cattle, snow (and accompanying snow sheds, guards, rail plows).  Small chalets in red, mustard… with steeply sloped scalloped slate roofs nestled on the hillsides.

We got to Bergen at 3 pm and it was sunny!!! [This is rare for Bergen.] Cool 50s.  We took a taxi to the Viking Sun and boarded in no time.  We found our cabin, 5082 [PV1 category]. Spacious, bright, well appointed. The Sun is like that.  A welcoming ship.  Soft, unobtrusive music in the background in public areas.  Our bags arrived and we were unpacking when our cabin attendant Jover came by to show us how everything worked, e.g., the self opening drapes [which would have remained a voodoo mystery without his help…]  We took time to explore the ship [entirely stunning!], rest a bit and head for dinner in the main dining room, which is called The Restaurant.  Lovely, but noisy.  We chatted with the couple at the table next to us, Maria and Charles from Austin, TX.

I had Caesar Salad with anchovies, linguine with clams (almost Alfredo), and a somewhat disappointing filet mignon.  DW had white bean soup (tasty and chock full of beans…), farmer’s market Parmesan salad, and scallops.  All very nice.  We both had the special dessert which was a spicy apple jam Napoleon.

We hurried to the Star Theater to hear Sounds of Norway with classical violinist Tor Jaran Apold playing selections from Edvard Grieg and Ole Bull [we knew about him from our previous trip to Bergen – a famous violinist and idol, who filled concert halls and fathered uncounted illegitimate children: ah, the days when classical musicians got the acclaim they deserve!].  It was lovely, but there were only about 50 in attendance.

DW walked six laps around our corridor [she finds it smoother and with a more predicable climate than the promenade deck] and got cup of tea from the World Café. The tea was awful!  And the mattress was hard! [But there were so few things to complain about that these stood out…]

Sunday August 12, 2018 – Bergen, Norway

Sunny, cool.  50s. We walked to the 11:00 English language Anglican communion service at Mariakirken [St. Mary’s Church], led by Rev. Kirk Weisz.  There is a Catholic church in Bergen, but it isn’t near the ship terminal and the Mass times don’t work well.  We were glad to find this service on our previous trip to Bergen, and felt happily ecumenical.

Back to the Sun for a light lunch before our tour: A Taste of Norwegian Farm Life at Ovre Eide.  This was an enjoyable excursion to a nearby farm, starting with a 10-minute bus ride with narration from one of the farm’s employees, Christina.  She introduced us to the owner, Ole, who was very personable and humorous in giving his presentation about his estate, which has been in his family for 5 generations.  The property runs from the water to the mountain top.  He has a small herd of sheep, raised for meat rather than wool as those prices were way down.  [We learned that a ewe can only suckle 2 lambs, so when a ewe births 3 lambs they would take one to a single-birth mom to see if she will adopt it; if not, they bottle feed it.]  He also has a few horses, the favorite of all being the beautiful Felina, beige with cropped two toned mane and sweet face.  He said she does no work, but he loves her anyway.  He gave us raspberry or apple fruit juice which they produce and bottle on site [no exports], and then led us into his living house where we enjoyed pastries baked by him [farms near Bergen are so small that every farmer has to have a second occupation to produce enough money: this is his] and hot beverages.  He played Grieg on piano for us.  He and two female employees dressed in traditional Norwegian attire.  Altogether a nice glimpse of farm life near Bergen.

We returned to the Sun just in time for the muster drill, and sat with Maria and Charles from last night’s dinner.  Then we went on to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle in the Winter Garden.  Everyone was looking for Jazzbeau, as I had been active on the roll call and also had organized several of the roll call shore excursions – so this was partly a social event and partly business [check and check].  DW had fun talking to Barbara & Quentin from southern Australia.

We dined in Manfredi’s.  DW had mussels with crabmeat in vermouth saffron sauce (Yum!), Mercato salad (also good), a small portion of lasagna in pink sauce, and Amaretto chocolate cake (Wow!). I had fried calamari & shrimp, duck breast and spinach filled tortellini, and grapefruit gelato. [The duck breast was too dry and desperately needed sauce – as Groucho Marx said, “What good’s a duck without source?” nyuk, nyuk]

We got in for the end of the Captain’s Welcome & Entertainment Preview, an intro to the production shows.

Then DW walked two miles inside.

Monday August 13, 2018 – Shetland Islands [My Little Pony]

We forgot to set our clocks back so DW got up hour early [I never get up early…].  We were in plenty of time to check through UK Immigration onboard and meet tour guide Grant out on the pier.

Accompanying us were Ann & Ron (Ann Arbor), and Janet & Diryan (Phila.).  We popped in and out of the van for photo ops of Lerwick [the only town] and the villages beyond (Whiteness, Weisdale and Kergord).  We then went to Mavis Grind, the Shetlands’ narrowest point where we had the opportunity to throw a stone from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea. [Or rather, an NFL quarterback could have done…]

The Shetlands were once part of Scandinavia and their dialect still reflects that.  There are very few trees [so the houses are never made of wood] but there were sheep everywhere [no natural predators].  We also saw cattle, goats, Shetland ponies [somewhat grotesque in their wide bellied, dwarfish physique], a few pigs, and mussel and salmon farms.  We passed green fields tinged with purple heather and lots of peat still used for fuel.  It was odd to see the peat fields in front of the oil tanks which are a boon to the Scottish economy [and Norwegian as well].  There are occasional wind turbines and there is debate re investing in a wind farm; the consensus seems to be split – one problem is that gale force winds regularly blow across the Shetlands, so the turbines would have to be shut off or suffer damage.  Temperatures only vary about 20 degrees between summer and winter but the wind always blows!

One of the stops we made was at The Cake Fridge where a homeowner has set up a glass-door refrigerator with homemade desserts and an honor system cash box.  We passed a brock, a stone fort-like structure which is pre-Viking in age so no one really knows what it was used for.  Lots of speculation!

We lunched at the Braewick Café.  Fish and chips was their specialty but DW opted for crab salad.

Afterwards we stopped at Esha Ness lighthouse [which may be rented for an interesting holiday cottage] and walked along the cliff edge, finally spotting a few puffins in flight.

One of our final stops was to get up close and personal with ten Shetland ponies and their two owners.

Back on the Sun, DW went to a short talk on Invergordon [our next stop].

We both napped and woke up just in time for our reservation at the Chef’s Table.  Tonight’s theme was Asian Panorama.  The five courses included:  chilled King Crab for the amuse bouche; Lobster & chicken Shu Mai; granite of lemon grass and red chili; Peking Duck and Mandarin pancake with Hoisin sauce; and a dessert trilogy of green tea cheesecake, crème brûlée (Japanese citrus flavoring), and deep fried spring roll with chocolate and banana.  The duck was again too well cooked and dry. Otherwise, the menu was adventuresome and tasty.

DW doesn’t like tasting menus because she feels there is too much food. Those on Viking Ocean suited her fine because two of the ‘five’ courses are the amuse bouche and the granite [=palate cleanser], so it’s really only the usual three courses.  Viking Ocean also includes wine pairings.  If you didn’t buy the beverage package, these are from the very pedestrian wines available at meals which doesn’t give the sommelier much to work with; if you bought the package [or pay an upgrade for this meal] you get a nicely chosen selection of better wines.  When I pointed out that DW doesn’t drink at all, the sommelier very kindly comped my upgrade.  [How do I love you, let me count the ways…]

Then to the show in the Star Theater with power tenor, Lee Bradley.

DW walked 8 laps.

Tuesday August 14, 2018 – Invergordon [Can You See Me Now?]

We descended the gangplank to the sounds of a bagpiper.  After a bit of confusion, we all met our guide, Bill, and driver, Ian, for a day of sightseeing out of Invergordon (gateway to the sparsely populated Scottish highlands and harbor to so many oil rigs/platforms).

Our first stop was the city of Inverness, where we got thoroughly drenched walking around in heavy rain. We did get to see the City Hall and the old Clock Tower looming 130 feet above all that remains of a Tollbooth building. It is the highest point in town. We walked down Church Street with its Earthquake street art, popped into the Victorian Market, crossed the Bouncy Bridge and finished at Inverness Cathedral.  Inverness is a city with service industries, not manufacturing, e.g., Johnson and Johnson do diabetes testing there.

Back on our van for a rainy ride north to Loch Ness.  It was great to see all the trees and mountains after the barrenness of the Shetlands.  There were fields of barley used for the famous Scotch whisky.  Sheep were ever-present and again raised only for their meat [where does all the wool in my clothes come from?].  We hung out in the van to keep dry until our tour boat pulled in to take us on an hour-long scenic ride on the famous lake.  We could barely see out the windows for the first portion as they were wet and foggy [the guide assured us he had a good view of the Loch Ness monster, too bad our windows were so opaque…].  Halfway through, the weather cleared – but Nessie evidently cleared off so we still never got a peek.

We disembarked at Urquhart Castle and had time to tour the ruins on our own.  We regrouped, ate our box lunches and were off to Cawdor Castle which is still the residence of the Dowager Countess of Cawdor.  We were able to tour many of the public rooms that she and her guests still use, and the dungeon [now out of favor unless you criticize the haggis…].  Then we walked through the two lovely large gardens. This widow enjoys collecting some interesting modern art including sculptures for the outdoors.

We had a long drive back to the ship during which we had another storm, but we all got to sample a dram of single malt [no thanks] and some homemade shortbread courtesy of Bill’s wife [thank you very much!].

We went to the 6:15 pm performance in the Star Theater called The Sound of the Sixties.  Our four young and very talented singers brought us back to the ‘60s and had us singing, clapping and moving for an hour.  [They also shared that it had been a treat for them to learn these ‘old’ songs and about this ‘historical’ era – it would have made me feel old, if I actually remembered the ‘60s!  Bad trip, man!]

We had a bit of a wait for dinner in The Restaurant.  We both had spinach salad, I had chanterelle risotto and DW creamy pumpkin soup.  We enjoyed the prime rib [after he sent my scallops back].  Dessert was not a hit for either of us: DW had the special vanilla/rhubarb parfait [undercooked, unsweetened rhubarb] and I had a lemon tart [blah – lemon tart should have some zing].

DW walked only 4 laps, as we had done a fair share on our tour.

Wednesday August 15, 2018 – Edinburgh [Smellin’ Good]

As we were on our own today, we slept in until 8:30 am [say what? I don’t like to get up until all the digits on my clock are lit…].  Edinburgh is a tender port and most of the passengers had to disembark early for their bus tours.  By the time we boarded, we practically had a private boat [except for one other man].

We got a cab to take us to Edinburgh Castle and spent quite a bit of time exploring there.  One of their main attractions up on that hill is the Scottish National War Memorial.  We poked into the tiny St. Margaret’s Chapel with stained glass windows of her [she died in 1093], St. Peter and St. Columba.  We stood on a long line to view the crown jewels, scepter, sword and the Stone of Scone [pronounced scoon].  [I knew from Rick Steves that there would be a line, so when we saw a long one we jumped on it.  After a while I saw an employee of the castle walking by and asked her what the line was for – just to make sure we were in the right place.  She said, “Have you gone British, now: you see a queue and just get on it!”]  We ended our castle tour with the royal apartments and the Great Hall.

We headed downhill to continue the Rick Steves Royal Mile Walking Tour. We popped into Gladstone’s Land (a tenement) and visited St. Giles Cathedral [now Presbyterian but taken from the Catholics]. We were in the midst of the famous Edinburgh Festival [including the Fringe Festival and Tattoo], so there were street performers everywhere showing off their talents: jugglers, singers, musicians, fire throwers…

We walked down Advocate’s Close to a pub called the Devil’s Advocate for a pulled lamb lunch.  It came with wilted greens…

We switched to Rick Steves Bonnie Wee New Town Walk and visited St. Andrew’s and St. George’s Church [they share] and Penhaligon’s perfumery [where I got some cologne that you can’t get in the US].  We ended up at Charlotte Square, which was bustling with activity as it was the site of a major book fair.  We walked around the circumference of this park in hopes of finding the shuttle bus back to the Viking tender.  No luck!  We hiked down to Princes Street and walked quite a distance looking for the VAT refund shop [but they wouldn’t process our purchase], so we took a cab back to the dock.

Our tender had great difficulty as it approached the Sun as the sea had gotten very rough.  After many attempts he finally got close enough for the lines to be thrown to secure the lifeboat.

A week away and it was time to do some laundry.  Viking Ocean ships have very nice laundromats which are free – even the soap is dispensed for free, once you figure out the location of the soap machine button!

We returned to the Chef’s Table for La Route des Indes. Tonight’s five-course menu included: carrot and cardamom cream amuse bouche; spicy tuna tataki; ginger and tarragon granite; beef tenderloin with four warm spices; and apple délice façon tarte tatin.  A very nice meal with excellent service by the wine steward.

We hurried to Star Theater for the very silly Liars Club.

DW walked 6 laps.

Thursday August 16, 2018 – Orkneys [WWII and Neolithic Sites]

Surprise!  Good weather! Clear skies, cool, breezy.  David Hamilton of Red’s Orkney Tours met us at the dock and whisked us (and Ann and Ron) through Kirkwall [pop. 8,000] and told us about the Orkney Islands [total pop. 20,000].  There are 70 islands in the Orkneys, but only 20 are inhabited and their numbers continue to decrease – local schools are closing, their economies are in decline. As in the Shetlands, youngsters from the tiny outer isles who wish to go to high school must ferry in on Sunday night and board at school hostels all week.

The name Kirkwall was Viking and meant “church on the bay.”  The original church of St. Olaf no longer exists but there is the huge Presbyterian St. Magnus Cathedral, which was built in 1137.  [It even had a dungeon for witches.]  The city is also home to five distilleries: three for gin and two for whisky.

Dry walls line the main road out of town.  The fields are dotted with some sheep but mostly cattle [the highest density in all of Europe].  Over 90,000 cows are raised here, mostly for meat.  We spotted many herds of Black Angus, but there are other breeds as well. It is not cost effective to raise dairy cattle except to make ice cream.

We drove around part of the bay called Scapa Flow and learned of its strategic importance in WWII and the Churchill Barriers built to keep German U-boats from making a short-cut from the North Sea to the Atlantic .  Then we saw the Italian Chapel built in 1943 by Italian POWs.  Amazing what they created in a few short months with very limited resources, but still treasured today.  [They were particularly well treated at this POW camp, so the original artist came back voluntarily to restore his paintings.]

We passed a totem pole, a gift from the Micmac tribe in Canada in thanks for all the Orkney men who worked so hard there.

David then drove us out to all the amazing Neolithic sites for which the Orkneys are known, including Standing Stones older than the Pyramids and Stonehenge.

We toured the Stones of Stenness (three and a half survive from the original 12), the active archaeological dig at the Ness of Brodgar, the Ring of Brodgar (originally 60 standing stones), Skara Brae (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and Skaill House.

Skara Brae means “village under hills” so it gave us a glimpse of how these people lived in what seemed to be rabbit warrens [or Hobbit houses]. We had a bite to eat at its café before continuing onto Yesnaby where we stood on the cliffs and looked out to sea, almost being swept away by the fierce winds.  The remains of an old anti-aircraft artillery battery from WWII can be seen here.

Since we had a bit of time, David took us for a peek at Stromness, Orkney’s “second city” which is a fishing town and tourist depot.

Our last stop had been reserved.  We took the 3 pm bus from the visitor center for a walking tour of Maeshowe Chambered Cairn, the finest chambered tomb north of the Alps, was built over 5,500 years ago.  From outside, it looks like yet another big mound.  But inside, the burial chamber is still intact.

The day was packed and the four of us loved it.  But thanks to the extras David packed into the itinerary, we had a close call at the ship:  we were just on time, but we were the last to board [DW was “passenger 0.”]

Back onboard and time for another load of wash.  [DW has become the laundry room guru, instructing newcomers in the programming of the washers.]

We ate in The Restaurant.  DW had Thai vegetable curry, paella and cherry streusel with vanilla ice cream. I tried cullen skink [cream soup of smoked haddock and potatoes], grouper, and the cherry streusel.  We both enjoyed every bite.  I ordered a bottle of wine as the white offered was tasteless; then it became a problem of finding the bottle for my second glassful, and then stopping them from pouring more into the glass when I wanted to save the rest for another night. Very slapstick!

We got in for most of operatic tenor Lee Bradley’s final show onboard.

DW walked for a half hour.

Seas were rough.