EUROPE – PART 2 

We’d been told that Oslo is a world-class city but, walking along the dock in 1-degree C facing a stiff head wind just after sunrise, we weren’t so sure. Google Maps directed us to the tourist information office after a 40-minute walk through the very modern waterfront section, past the cathedral and the parliament buildings, and into the old part of the city. Oslo is the capital of Norway and is home to 700,000 people. Norway is one of the richest countries in the world and its capital offers many demonstrations of the country’s wealth.

The friendly agent gave us the maps we needed and instructions to get to all the places we wanted to see using the metro and the tram. We took her advice and bought two all-day tickets for $15.

We rode the metro to the end of the line at Frognersteren which is 478 meters above the Central Station, making it the highest elevation difference within a metro network in the world (today’s factoid). A skiff of the year’s first snow covered the ground. Then we rode back down to Holmenkollen, got off and walked up to the ski jump. The views around this area and of the city below were incredible. And the thought of athletes skiing down that ramp and flying through the air is mind blowing! The Holmenkollen ski jump was used for the 1994 Winter Olympics, and the area next to the base of the jump is the finish line for cross-country ski and biathlon. We chuckled as our fellow Princess passengers got off buses, walked shivering through the parking lot, went to the washrooms, snapped a few photos, and got back on.

We took the metro to the stop nearest to Frogner Park, had a bite to eat, and walked to the park. It covers 45 hectares and is home to a unique collection of 212 bronze and granite sculptures, all by the same artist, Gustav Vigeland. The autumn leaves were spectacular and the sculptures very interesting. I’m not sure what these two are doing but it sure looks like fun!

Next stop on the metro was the National Theatre and the Royal Palace, home to Harald V, King of Norway since 1991, and Queen Sonja. Both were born in 1937, so they’re no spring chickens! We walked up to the front of the Palace and watched the Royal Guards pace back and forth before heading back to the Theatre. From there, we took a couple of trams to get closer to where our ship was docked. After more than 20,000 steps and 50 stories of climbing, we figured we’d had enough for one day. What would have cost $840 had we taken Princess excursions cost us $35. And we sure worked up an appetite for supper!

Our next stop, Rotterdam, is the second largest city in The Netherlands, with a population of 700,000 or so, and is Europe’s busiest seaport. Much of the city center was destroyed by German bombers during World War II. The result today is an open and modern city featuring many different architectural styles, some we liked and some we didn’t. The photo below shows one of these strange structures, the Cube House, an apartment block near the Market.

After getting some good advice from a friendly gentleman at the tourist information center, we bought one-day public transit passes and took the metro to the Central Station. From there, we boarded a bus to Delft, home of the famous earthenware by the same name. Delft is to earthenware as Waterford is to crystal. Again, we got our bearings from the local tourist information center and walked from the bus station to the Delft factory, following Google Maps on my iPhone. Along the way, we watched scullers practice their stroke on the canal and were careful not to get run over by the steady stream of bicycles.

We bought a few souvenirs at the Delft factory and Google Maps directed us to the central square where City Hall stands opposite the massive New Church. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get good photos in the steady rain and we’d have liked to just sit on a bench in the square just to take it all in..

Back on the bus, we returned to Rotterdam Central Station and took the metro to the Market Hall, a magnificent structure which dwarfs everything around it. The walls and ceiling are too big to capture with our antique iPhone 8s but we did our best. After having a bite there, we took the metro back to the cruise terminal and rested our weary bones.

The Netherlands is an interesting country; very modern, very clean, very organized, and the people seem quite well off. The Dutch began reclaiming land from the sea in the 14^th century and, today, 26% of the country lies below sea level, protected by a complex system of dams, sluice gates, storm surge barriers, drainage ditches, dikes, canals, and pumps. One source states that as much as 90% of Rotterdam lies below sea level.

The photos below show the interior of the Rotterdam City Market and the Erasmus Bridge taken on a very rainy day.

We’d been to Bruges once before in October 2017. We’d stayed there two nights and explored the city on a very rainy day. This time, from the cruise terminal in Zeebrugge, we left the ship before sunrise, rode the tram and the train to Bruges and walked twenty minutes to the main town square, as nice as we’ve seen anywhere in Europe. The whole center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is certainly worthy of the designation. Horse-drawn carriages clip-clop through the cobblestone streets and, on a Saturday morning, there’s music everywhere! A bench in the main square is a great spot to people-watch and listen to the carillon play a few classic tunes in the imposing Belfry. The carillon is comprised of forty-seven bells, ranging in weight from two to eleven thousand pounds and the sound is positively enchanting.

After relaxing in a café ($18 for a coffee and a tea!), we took a thirty-minute canal cruise that gave us a different perspective of the medieval town. We’ve been to this part of Europe twice now and feel most at home in Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. There is much to see, it’s super easy to get around, it’s clean and safe, and the locals are very friendly. Our only complaint is how expensive everything is, but that’s becoming the way of the world, I guess… We headed back to the Island Princess after a restful day, very satisfied with our visit.

I took it easy on the last day of our cruise. We took our first Princess excursion to visit the Canadian D-Day landings in Normandy, a two-hour bus ride away from our dock in the city of Le Havre. I’d wanted to see Juno Beach, the place where Canadian troops landed on June 6, 1944, as part of a 24,000-strong contingent of Allied soldiers and began the arduous task of taking back Europe from the Nazis. Our excellent guide gave us a history lesson, beginning with the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, the conditions of which generated German anger and led eventually to the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich. There followed the invasion of Poland in 1939, and the capture of the northern part of France and its neighbours, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Norway.

We began our tour at the Juno Beach Center in Courseulles-sur-Mer before taking a walk to the beach at the very spot where the Canadians first breached the German lines. 

Then, we drove to the town of Arromanches-les-Bains where we had lunch. Elva and I took a stroll through town to stretch our legs and ran across this pretty cat on our way back to the bus. From Arromanches, we drove to Gold Beach, site of one of the British landings, and learned about the German artillery battery that pounded Allied landing craft. Seeing the size of the cannons made us wonder how any of the landing craft made it ashore. By June 7, British troops had silenced them all, capturing the 180 survivors of the German garrison.

The last stop on our Normandy Beaches tour was the Canadian War Cemetery in Bény-sur-Mer. The final resting place of more than 2,000 Allied soldiers, the majority of them Canadian, the site is located in the beautiful and peaceful French countryside, surrounded by farm fields. Like all of the Commonwealth War Graves site we’ve visited, as far away as Myanmar, it is immaculately kept; the gravestones line up flawlessly, the grass is trimmed to perfection, and the place projects an air of calm and peace. It wasn’t hard to spot the Acadian soldiers’ final resting places since each featured our flag at the base of its headstone. I shed a few tears as I paid my respects before the graves marked Arsenault, Gallant, Gaudet, and Cormier, none of them known to me but all of them distant cousins. Finally, it was time to return to the Island Princess for our last evening. We dined in style at the Italian specialty restaurant.

We really enjoyed our “COVID Cruise”. The places we’ll remember most are the two world-class cities we visited, Copenhagen and Oslo, and the equally charming smaller cities, Haarlem, Delft, and Bruges. The Normandy Beaches visit was a highlight as well. I learned to navigate and use public transit in most all the places we visited and really don’t understand why more cruise passengers don’t do the same. Today, we’ll take the National Express bus to Heathrow and fly to Zagreb, Croatia, to begin the second part of our European adventure. Stay tuned!

 EUROPE – PART 1

We’ve decided to christen this one the “COVID Cruise”. Last September, we sailed on the Island Princess on what was to be a 21-day voyage through the Baltic, the North Sea, around Iceland, and back to Southampton along the coasts of Scotland and England. Halfway through the cruise, we took a mandatory rapid test and were told we had the dreaded COVID. “You’re confined to your cabin for six days. If you test positive again, you’ll have to stay another four days”, the nurse told us. Whether we had COVID shall remain a mystery since we never experienced any symptoms during our long six-day confinement. Princess gave us a six-day credit to be used before the end of 2023, hence the COVID Cruise.

So, we flew to Heathrow, took the National Express bus to Southampton, and settled into our hotel, minus one of Elva’s bags, her expensive Osprey knapsack stuffed with many essentials. Fortunately, two of our bags made it to Heathrow, so we were OK. With the help of our very competent travel agent, Brett Tabor of Maritime Travel, we were able to arrange to have the bag delivered to the ship in Copenhagen. As I’ve written before in these travel blogs, never book a long trip without the help of a travel agent.

I’m fortunate to have been raised Acadian since we find humour where others don’t. Elva captured such a moment in describing our trek to the ship:

Une rencontre inattendue

Le mercredi 18 octobre notre aventure commençait. Selon Google, l’hôtel Moxy à Southampton était environ 30 minutes de marche du bateau Island Princess. C’était une journée nuageuse et il ne faisait pas froid. Alors on s’est habillé pour marcher. Tout allait bien et Jean-Paul m’a dit qu’il voyait le bateau. Alors il nous a emmené dans cette direction. Je lui ai dit: « Ça pas pris longtemps ». Mais il y avait une barrière! Cependant, ici nous avons rencontré un couple très gentil d’Halifax. Ils avaient eux aussi décidé de se rendre à pied au bateau. Bruce connaissait le numéro de l’entrée et naturellement les hommes ont marché ensemble.

Moi j’étais avec Elaine. Elle tirait une immense valise et portait un sac à dos en plus de sa sacoche. Elle portait un beau chandail en laine, un manteau, et de belles petites bottes. On parlait comme si on se connaissait. Puis elle m’a dit: « I’m going to kill him. I’m so mad. I wanted to take an Uber. I’m so so hot. » Tout à coup je me suis mise à rire. « I’m sorry I shouldn’t be laughing! ». Puis je lui ai expliqué que c’était le sens d’humour des acadiens.

Peu de temps après, les hommes ont réalisé qu’ils marchaient vite et ils ont fini par nous attendre. Alors Jean-Paul a pris sa valise et il lui a donné la sienne (grandeur “carry-on”). Après ce long détour, nos hommes nous attendaient souriants prêt d’où se trouvait l’enregistrement. Ma marche était faite et cette situation m’a rappelé des raisons pour lesquelles je m’entraîne. Comme nous transportons nous-mêmes nos bagages à notre chambre, « See you on the ship » fut notre au revoir. Nous ne sommes qu’au début de la croisière et nous souhaitons les croiser de nouveau.

Comfortably settled into our spacious cabin, we wandered around the Island Princess, expecting that she’d sail out of Southampton at 5:00 pm on Tuesday. The captain announced that, because of high winds, we’d stay overnight in the sheltered harbour before venturing out into the stormy North Sea. The next morning, he came on again to tell us that our first port of call, Hamburg, Germany, had been cancelled and he wasn’t sure where we’d go next, just that we were leaving. Yours truly had had a bad first night, a case of the dreaded Montezuma’s Revenge! Long story short, we missed out on Hamburg and Aarhus, Denmark, and called instead at IJmuiden, The Netherlands, arriving there on Saturday.

There being nothing much to do or see in IJmuiden, we followed the Princess location guide’s advice and rode local transit into Haarlem. A short walk from the bus station found us at the charming, cobblestoned square in the heart of the old city. Getting to our destination early paid off, as merchants in the market were just opening their impressive stalls. Everything on offer was top quality, but the cheeses were by far the most impressive. We walked the streets under cloudy skies, covering up from the occasional shower, and took these photos of the features we saw along the way. Instead of paying a fortune for a ship’s excursion ($300 to drop us off and pick us up), we spent an enjoyable six hours in a beautiful place for less than $50 Canadian, including bus fare, lunch, and our entry fee to St. Bova’s Cathedral, home to a magnificent organ with pipes 30 meters high.

After another sea day, we docked in Copenhagen, the city we’d missed in 2022, confined to our cabin, looking out through our porthole…. We took the location guide’s advice and rode the metro into the center of the city. After getting our bearings at City Hall (Radhuspladsen) square, we figured out how to get to the statue of The Little Mermaid, made famous by Hans Christian Andersen’s story of the same name. The sun had just come up over the horizon when we got there. She’s cute but no more impressive really than the fisherman’s statue in North Rustico harbour!

We walked along the seawall, past the sprawling Kastellet Fortress, stopped at the magnificent Gefion Fountain, and wandered through the grounds of the Amalienborg Palace, home to the Danish Royal Family. In front of us loomed the magnificent dome of the Marble Church and, behind us, across the canal, the massive Copenhagen Opera House. We hadn’t expected to see so many attractions in such a compact area and, just as we turned a corner, there was Nyhavn, another of the city’s iconic sites.

Elva mentioned that she’d like to shop at the Magasin du Nord, Copenhagen’s premier department store. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than it appeared, right beside another city landmark, the Hôtel D’Angleterre. After an hour of power shopping, we took the metro to Tivoli Gardens, a twenty-acre amusement park in the heart of the city. Tivoli has been in operation since 1843; it inspired Walt Disney and welcomes 5 million visitors a year. As you can see, the Gardens are lavishly decorated for Halloween.

Not satisfied that we’d seen all there was to see, we had a bite to eat and got back on the metro, headed for Christiania, a commune founded in 1971 on the grounds of a former military base. The commune operates independently from the city administration, setting its own rules, and its Pusher Street is famous for the open trade in cannabis, supposedly illegal in Denmark. As we strolled through the commune, the telltale smell was quite evident, and we watched two city police officers in a friendly exchange with one of the sellers. Christiana has a seedy charm to it and is definitely worth a visit.

On our way back to the metro station, we visited another beautiful church, this one called Our Saviours. Six hours and 20,000 steps later, we were back onboard the Island Princess, satisfied with our day and having seen all of Copenhagen’s major tourist attractions. And Elva’s lost knapsack was sitting on our bed. Oh, the stories it could have told! Best gift ever!!

Our next stop, Gothenburg, Sweden, is quintessentially Scandinavian, an industrial and university city with a rather drab feel to it. We took the shuttle to the central square and spent the morning wandering the streets and parks. We’d been told that the Haga district was an interesting place to visit for quaint cafés and boutiques. It might have been in the summer or on a weekend, but it was as dead as Victoria Row in December the day we were there. And having to pay to use public toilets was a turnoff. Not every place you visit on a cruise leaves you feeling WOW!

Our ship docked next to the Volvo Museum. Gothenburg is the home of Volvo. I’ve never owned one but wanted to when I was younger. The urge passed as I got older and realized that I was not a ‘car guy’ and that the darn things are nothing but depreciable necessities. The museum has a very nice collection of cars, trucks, tractors, service vehicles, and construction equipment. It’s scheduled to move into a brand-new location later this year in the center of the city. The photo below shows Roger Moore’s iconic Volvo 1800, not the one he used in the TV series The Saint but one he owned himself. I loved that show!

Today, I begin my eighth decade on this little green planet, third from the sun, and I sure hope it won’t be my last. I’m having too much fun! I’m not sure how I feel about turning 70. It’s different from 60 for sure. Mentally, I’m as good as ever, maybe even better, but physically, the years are beginning to weigh on me. I do my best to balance a few medical conditions and keep as active as I can. Although my weight hasn’t changed much in the past 20 years, it’s been redistributed thanks to that inescapable and cruelest universal force, gravity. There’s even a name for this: furniture disease. That’s when your chest falls into your drawers! But the motor still works!

Thankfully, Elva hasn’t been tempted to trade me, not so far anyway. “Why would I?”, she asks. “I couldn’t get anything for you!”.