The Joys of Retirement Production Company

Today we rented a car and drove to Porto with a stop on Fatima to visit the shrine

Our Sintra visit with our guide, Nuno Sophiatours. Our first stop was Peña Palace. The Palace was built in the 19th C, so not “old”, but it was built to reflect the ages of Portugal over history. The yellow parts reflect the moorish period, the grey represents the medieval, the blue is for the maritime history and the Red is a restored Monestery of St Jerome.

Between raindrops,  we visited Quinta de Regaliere to see the Initiation Well, from KnightsTemplar times,  thought to be a part of their Initiation ritual.

The village of Sintra is a small mountain village,  a retreat from the heart of summer for Portugese royalty, exiled foreign kings, and wealthy foreign national too. The white Palace, the National Palace of Sintra,  is the first royal Palace in Sintra.  We enjoyed a lunch in the village at 1 of the oldest restaurants,  watched men make Pastel de Natas, and wandered a few small shops and mosaic’d walking streets.

After our Palace tours we enjoyed a drive to the Capo de Roca, the rugged coast when the most Western location of Europe looks out to the New World

Our last tour of the day was of the old fishing town of Cascais, which is evolved into the Riviera of Portugal.   The 3 things need to define a classic resort,  5 star hotel,  casino,  and elite beach,  are all there.

Our first full day in Lisbon,  we met the cousins at the airport,  arriving within a few minutes of each other,  1 from Michigan and 1 from California!  Then off to discover our new temporary apartment!  Right across from the cathedral of Lisbon!

We are just a few meters from the famous 28 tram,  right beside the cathedral,   and tuk tuks gather by the cathedral entrance to pick up tours.   For 20€ each (plus a tip)  we had a great hour+  ride with Sha, to see some of the highlights and views of Graça and Alfama, our neighborhood!

Alfama neighborhood itself is a jumble of tiny streets.   I loved walking around it.  The center and heart of the oldest part of the city

Emmett and I walked a bit while the jetlagged new travelers rested a couple hours before dinner

Lunch of tapas and dinner, of course was seafood!

All in all,  I have to admit,  our quest for the northern lights cruise was disappointing and frustrating. 

I’m ready for this part to end and go on to our next adventure in Portugal. I must say this has been the most discouraging trip so far, but with very little we could have done to change that.

First you already know we missed 2 days at the beginning due to a Luftansa strike. When we got to Oslo it was very cold but we did get out a little to explore. I had a migraine the 1st full day, so Emmett Adventured without me to the sculpture gardens.

Then you already know about the weather, snow mostly for the first 3-4 days in the Arctic. Then in Tromso, the excursions were canceled due to avalanche danger, so no Northern lights there either. After Narvik we saw a glimpse of green between the clouds but nothing like we had hoped to see.

Traveling south thru the Norwegian sea and then North sea, the swells were high as was the wind, so our Capt slowed down a bit. Consequently we will make it to Amsterdam late….too late to catch our original flight so we had to rebook ( of course at a higher price) on a later flight.

So, you see why I’m ready to move on to the next adventure.

I’m sorry I didn’t ever hear of all the troubles this particular itinerary had had this season, before we joined it, or I might have planned differently.

According to the cruise director, none of the cruises had made the route exactly as planned. A couple cruises were caught in Tromso or Alta for 4-5 days, a couple missed at least 1 port, Narvik & Amsterdam 2x, for instance. One missed the embarkation port and folks were flown to their intended port. This 1 is only late for Amsterdam but all the time excursions have missed their appointments so people are just getting 2 hours to visit Amsterdam on their own. We just missed our intended flight to our next destination, so just an extra expense.

Had I known of all these troubles, however, I think I’d just have down to an Arctic city, like Alta or even Fairbanks, and stayed for a week! Or so. The North Atlantic weather was quite against us this trip. However we planned the right year, even the right month, top of the solar Max 11 year cycle and at the spring equinox when sightings are usually great.

“The best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go awry”

Our last Norwegian port,  Narvik,  an important WWII site for Norway.   We had seen the movie about the Nazi invasion there a few months back,  so we did an excursion which we thought would talk more about that.   We visited their WWII museum

After that,  we went to a cemetery for the war dead

Influential politicians during that period sided with the Nazis, while the king and royal family fled to England until the end of the war.

During our drive thru the countryside, we saw a small herd of reindeer and a NATO convoy.   They have been doing an exercise,  I assume in support of Sweden and Finland joining NATO

Our first day in Tromso was raining snow…. slush in the making, with temperatures just above freezing.   We scheduled a northern lights chase for later and then did a walking tour of the old town.  Tromso was incorporated as a town in the 1790s, and many of the 200+ year old buildings remain since the city escaped damage by the Germans in WWII by just a few minutes.   They were advancing toward they city but were turned back by the allies.   They had brought the damaged Tirpitz, the last of Hitler’s prize battle ships, to Tromso where the Allies sunk it..  Scenes from the city walk

Our second day in Tromso we had a tour of the whole island,  10k x 4k, with 45k inhabitants,  and a short drive on Whale Island,  a bigger island between Tromso and the sea,  where there is a herd of reindeer walking among the houses!  Every reindeer belongs legally to the Sami people,  even those walking free.  We visited the planetarium for a wonderful northern lights movie,  then a drive around the Arctic cathedral on the mainland side of the fjord, however no visit inside since there was a funeral there today.   After our tour, we chose a delicatessen for a wonderful lunch of goat cheese panini with sautéed mushrooms on top with a delicious salad,  and then a bakery for a Pastry of cranberries and cheese

Our sightseeing in Alta today, the City of the Northern Lights! They have built a Lutheran cathedral, the cathedral of the Northern lights, designed to be a monument to the lights as well as to God.  The concrete structure, spiraling up,  with long lights rising like the Aurora,  the bronze statute of Christ looking up to a sky (light), the 18,000 pipes and concrete cylinder all make your eyes rise up to God.  The outside is covered in titanium plates that reflect the weather outside, dull grey in the shade and  clouds,  gleaming in the sun.

We visited the Alta museum,  sheltering a few of the over 6000 rock carvings found in the area from prehistoric times.  Outside, in nature where they are found,  the carvings are allowed to remained covered by snow fall to protect them against harsh weather,  so in winter these inside are the only ones visible

The weather was sunny and bright for our drive and the city is beautifully situated among mountains and forest,  beside the beautiful Alta River and Fjord. 

We treated ourselves to a delightful evening off the ship in this lovely Swedish design cabin.  

We enjoyed a great dinner at the local Sami restaurant,  with local indigenous food specialities,  reindeer stew.  

We returned “home” to enjoy a soak in the hot tub before relaxing in a great adjustable bed… but the skies are still closed, so there no Northern lights tonight! 

This video says it all…..

The northernmost city in the world,  known for its great views of the Aurora…. but it’s snowing.   Pray for a break in the weather before we leave tomorrow night

This morning, March 14, we awake as the ship entered into the Norwegian archipelago,  the islands along the coast!  It is the Norwegian Inside Passage.   The sun was just rising, hitting the tops of the Coastal mountains.  The skies are gorgeous…. at the moment, sunny and beautiful.

Farther north,  more snow and cooler,  but Beautiful today, March 15, the ides of March, the 49th anniversary of the day we moved from Michigan to California