Russia is a land of contrasts. In the Solovetsky Islands, six islands in the forbidding waters of the White Sea, just 100 miles from the Arctic Circle, the Solovetsky Monastery was founded in the 15th century as one of Russia’s most famous and holy monasteries and became a major pilgrimage destination. Conversely, in the 20th…
Continue reading →Our dear friend, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, told us about her time stationed in Iceland, when they were occasionally on alert for Russian military planes flying out of Murmansk, Russia. The largest city north of the Arctic Circle, this port remains ice free year-round due to the warm North Atlantic drift ocean current…
Continue reading →The Midnight Sun, when day and night are blurred, is a bit unsettling for those not accustomed to it. There is no darkness from mid-May to mid-July. The sun never drops below the horizon, but hovers there for a couple of hours, then begins to rise again. This is midsummer at sea, above the Arctic…
Continue reading →Hammerfest, Norway claims to be the northernmost city in the world, although the title is disputed by the same country’s city of Honningsvag. I think the validity of the claim depends on the definition of a city, which by Norwegian law requires a population of 5,000 to achieve town status. Though Hammerfest qualifies, to most,…
Continue reading →In Norway, it is said the locals believe that “Without Trondheim, all that would be left of the history book of Norway is the cover.” My longtime, dear friend once gave me a book she thought I would enjoy about medieval history set around the Trondheim region. It has since become, arguably, my favorite novel….
Continue reading →I was back in Norway again, seeing it from the sea this time, with many more years and experiences from which to renew my impressions of the “North Road”, as it’s name translates. It was an overcast and cool morning when we arrived at our first port, the Norwegian city of Ålesund, which means “urban…
Continue reading →The airlines held us hostage. Then, they tossed us around, and threw us out in Copenhagen, exactly one day late. But when we finally arrived, a little beat up, the city was surprisingly sunny and warm…actually unseasonably hot. We were now down to just a half day to see the sights before we boarded our…
Continue reading →We are packed…finally. Ready to leave for Copenhagen, the starting point for our cruise up the west coast of Norway, which has always held a special place in my heart. Norway is the homeland of my father’s ancestors. As young college coeds touring a summer in Europe, my sister and I were hosted on a…
Continue reading →There is all kinds of advice out there about what to pack when you travel, and I am not suggesting that my way is the right way….it’s just mine. Everyone has their favorite shirt/dress/sweater/jacket/accessory that they just cannot leave home without. But, here are a few of my pared down tried-and-true items that go with…
Continue reading →My travel bucket list has mostly included places that are foreign, exotic, distant, unfamiliar. Places that have names I cannot pronounce or languages I do not speak. But, curiously, in our cruising experiences, we have met fellow passengers from all over the globe, some from those very places I find so alluring, and many of…
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