May 31- Belfast

We got up early this morning and had room service breakfast in preparation for our day of exploring in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We met in the Voyager Lounge with the other travelers for this special Virtuoso Voyager Club. As they said at a Virtuoso cocktail party the other evening, we were here because we had a terrific travel agent…and we know that is true. Thanks to Leigh Berghane for all the excellent arrangements and the extra good stuff she provides.

The ship was about 30 minutes late docking and we backed into our place for a very long time. We departed Belfast with Charles as our guide and Sam as our driver. We drove north along the Antrim Road. There were spectacular view as of bays, headlands, and cliffs. We visited the picturesque villages of Ballygally, Glenarm, and Cushengall- known as the “Capital of the Glens” and Ballycastle, host of the annual Oul’ Lammas Fair, one of Ireland’s oldest traditional market fairs. We stopped at Ballygally Castle for tea, coffee and fresh baked scones. We learned that the word “Bally” means “town of” and we saw that word Bally…. something on almost every road sign. The coffee and scones stop was lovely! The elevator in the hotel was labeled “Rising Room.”

We also learned from Charles that the town of Belfast only began to flourish when the

technology to put wooden pilings into the ground as a foundation for buildings was developed. The name means “bell fearst” which means “sound of the river bank.” It it’s heyday, the shipyard had 40 different shipyards building ships. The Titanic was built and sailed from here. Sail making was important as was hemp rope making- until nylon began to be used for both of these. During WWII 38,000 people were employed in the shipyards. Now they make windmills.

The people came here from Scotland when the Ice Age ended about 12,000 years ago During the Ice Age the weight of the ice pushed the land into the earth’s crust. As the ice melted the sea receded and the island rose creating raised beaches. We saw lots of raised beaches and some even had sand and people swimming in the Irish Sea or the Atlantic Ocean.

Charles gave us as he called it, useless information- 58 million slices of processed cheese was exported to Europe last year. We did see lots of cows, sheep and horses- some even sharing the same pasture. The yellow flower covering the hills here and also on the Isle of Skye is called whim.

We continued on to The Giants Causeway with its 40,000 stone columns, mostly hexagonal,

formed millions of years ago as the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. The columns were almost exactly alike and uniform as if they had been carved by human hands or perhaps by a Giant. We did hear the legend of Finn McCool, the Irish giant who built this causeway as a challenge to a giant in Scotland. Legend has it that the Irish warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpartBenandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over him so he could pretend that he was actually their baby son. In a variation, Fionn fled after seeing Benandonner's great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as the baby. In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the 'infant', he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed so he quickly returned to Scotland. The Giant’s Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Lunch was enjoyed at the Royal Court Hotel in the harbor town of Portrush.. From the hotel there were sweeping views of the ocean, the beach and of County Donegal. It was just beautiful!

After lunch we climbed back on the bus and were off to see the ruins of Dunlace Castle which dates back to the 13^th century. It was a great tour but we were disappointed not to see

more of the city of Belfast itself. We’d have liked to have had 2 days in Belfast and skipped one of the islands in Scotland.

We got back to the Voyager and decided to cancel our reservation at Prime 7. Didn’t need all that food after the wonderful lunch we had.

Charles did say the dust has not totally settled after the their religious wars but the country is commitment to moving ahead in peace. Belfast is now on our list of places we never thought we'd ever see....and we saw only a small portion of it.

May 30- Portee- Isle of Skye

The Isle of Skye is a popular destination for tourists. The romance of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, and the misty Cullin Hills help this be true. Portee is the population center of the island and is a pleasant place clustered around a small and sheltered bay. We anchored in the bay and tenders transported people ashore to the charming town.

Bonnie Prince Charlie had a sad history as the “prince in the heather” and the pretender to the British throne. At the disastrous Battle of Culloden, George II’s army outnumbered and destroyed Charles’ Jacobite forces. After the battle, Bonnie Prince Charlie wandered over the highlands, a passive object, handed like a bail of contraband from one smuggler to another, numbered with constant applications of whiskey- the beginnings of the alcoholism that finally killed him.

He then escaped to the isles where he met Flora Macdonald, the woman who took

him, disguised as her maid, “over to the sea to Skye” and then back to the mainland

. His Scottish exploits were the stuff of legend. Having spent three years of my college life at Flora Macdonald College in Red Springs, NC I have always been fascinated by this s

tory. We even had to learn to do the Highland Fling to graduate and Flora Macdonald is buried on what was that campus. I sure didn’t realize poor Charlie had such a sad life with such personal challenges with alcohol. Maybe as good Presbyterian young women our history professor wanted to spare us all that stuff.

The Royal Hotel is the site of McNab’s Inn, the last meeting place of Flora Macdonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1746.

Castle Dunvegan, home of Chiefs of MacLeod for 800 years, features a lochside setting and dramatic scenery. Dunvegan's Fairy Flag is reputed to have magical powers. Legend

says a MacLeod married a fairy, and, when she returned to her people, she left behind the flag to protect the family from harm. The castle featured clan mementos, ancestral portraits, and a dungeon. Flora MacDonald lived here at one time.

From the ship we saw Kilt Rock. Columns of two types of rocks- and thus two colors- create a folded, pleated effect like a kilt.

Around the harbor were many cages from fish farms dotting the water. The tender had to navigate through these cages carefully. As the day at Skye was coming to an end the sun came out and being on our balcony was really wonderful- good ending to a perfect day….and dinner is still ahead.

Sailing away offered this great view of the misty Cullin Hills

We shared dinner with friends from the San Francisco area who have lived in so many locations abroad and their friends from Spartanburg, SC who have also had some

great experiences. The evening ended with Jack from Spartanburg doing some amazing card tricks. What a great day!

May 29- Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands

Orkney is a group of islands situated a few miles off the north-east tip of mainland Scotland. With its green fields and hills, stone pinnacles rising out of the sea, rugged cliffs and sandy beaches, it is the

ideal place for getting away from it all. A Scandinavian heritage gives the Orkney islands an ambience different from other regions of Scotland. Orkney, the southern archipelago is greener than its companion set of islands known as the Shetland islands. Orkney is rich in artifacts that testify to the many centuries of continuous settlement here.

The people of Orkney (some 15,000 in total), with their unique accent, do not see themselves as Scottish so much as Orcadian. For a long time the islands were owned by Norway, so they have a very mixed culture. The main attraction for visitors to Orkney is its ancient history. From the Stone Age to the Picts and Vikings, the islands have so many sites of archaeological interest.

On the southern shore of the Bay o’ Skaill, in the West Mainland parish of Sandwick, is the Neolithic

village of Skara Brae- one of Orkney’s most visited ancient sites and regarded by many as one of the most remarkable monuments in Europe.

In the winter of 1850, a great storm battered Orkney. There was nothing particularly unusual about that, but on this occasion, the combination of wind and extremely high tides stripped the grass from a large mound, then known as "Skerrabra". This revealed the outline of a number of stone buildings - something that intrigued the local laird, William Watt of Skaill, who embarked on an excavation of the site.

Skara Brae (pronounced /ˈskɑrə ˈbreɪ/) is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3180 BC–2500 BC. It is Europe's most complete Neolithic village and the level of preservation is such that it has gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status, and been called the "Scottish Pompeii".

Kirkwall, where we were docked, is the largest town and is the capital of Orkney. The name is derived from the Norse name Kirkjuvagr (Church Bay), which was later corrupted to Kirkvoe, then Kirkwa. English mapmakers mistook the later part “waa” as the Scots “wa” (meaning wall); hence the town became Kirkwall.

The Kirkwall “Ba Game, simply called “ba” , is one of the main annual events held in the town. The two sides are the Uppies and the Doonies, or more correctly. “Up-the-Gates” and “Doon-the-Gates” from path or gate. The side any individual plays on was decided by whether the person was born up or doon the gate. The Doonies have the benefit of a flat push to Albert Street while the Uppies have a hard push up to the top of Tankerness Lane. The game takes a long time to complete. I guess there isn’t really much going on in this community so this game becomes something really important and entertaining.

The Ring of Blodgar is a huge circle of 36 Neolithic stones surrounded by a hedge or deep ditch. The site dates back to 2500 – 2000 BC and the original use of the stones is unclear. Reminds us of the standing stones we have seen also in Ireland and England.

In port we were docked beside the Polar Star- an expedition ship whose deck was filled with six Zodiacs. All the passengers were off almost as soon as they docked. Each wore a red jacket and were bundled up warmly. This looks truly like an adventure cruise. You could see passengers from both ships looking at each other and no doubt wondering, “Why would anyone want to cruise like that?” Cruising does mean different things to different people.

May 28-Tórshavn

We had a night of rocking and rolling seas as we moved toward the Faroe Islands. Made for great sleeping although some stuff in the bathroom fell into the sink! The Captain told us we’d had a pretty strong headwind and therefore we would be about 45 minutes late arriving in Tórshavn, but we managed to sail into port at 12:10…only 10 minutes late. We were escorted into port by a tug boat, but the tug didn’t tug and wasn’t connected to us in any way…we decided it must be some union or rule or something.

Before we docked we went to another lecture. This time the topic was the history and culture of Ireland. She believed the root of all the fighting that has gone on in Northern Ireland tracks back to Henry VIII and his break with the Roman Catholic Church. She explained the flag- the green for the Catholics, the orange for the Protestants, and the white stripe in the middle for peace. The three leaf clover- the shamrock- became the national symbol because St. Patrick so often used it to explain to the people the significance of the Trinity.

Tórshavn, located midway between Scotland and Norway, is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands and these islands are part of Denmark. The city was founded in the 10^th century and may well be the oldest capital in Northern Europe. The name of the city means Thor’s Harbor, named after the god of thunder and lightening in Norse mythology.

The city’s coat of arms shows Thor’s hammer.

The Vikings established their parliament on the Tingenes peninsula in Tórshavn in 825AD. All through the Middle Ages the narrow peninsula jutting out into the sea made up the main part of the town. The town didn’t really begin to build up until after the Reformation in 1539. Now it is the undisputed administrative, economic and cultural center of the Faroes.

There are about 17,000 people living in Tórshavn. In the narrow streets of the older part of town were interesting shops and restaurants. They say the new trendy bars reflect a new-look image for this once strait-laced capital. What we saw right from our ship were the brightly painted houses, built to withstand the rigors of the North Atlantic winters. The colors of the houses reminded us of Bergen, Norway with the red, yellow and white. There were even some houses with traditional grass roofs.

There was a trade connection between Bergen and Tórshavn, according

to a document from 1271. There were two ships that sailed regularly back and forth with cargoes of salt, timber, and grain. So Tórshavn had more contact with the outside world than the other villages on the island.

It was a charming place with the Danish flag flapping proudly in the breeze on the Tingenes peninsula.

Today we are anchored on Heimaey, the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar cluster. We are about 4 nautical miles from the coast of Iceland and directly across from the volcano, Eyjafjallajökull. Yesterday evening the Captain announced that the volcano was beginning to spit out ash again and all folks going ashore today would be issued facemasks. It was hazy and smoky looking but that was all.

It was a beautiful day with warm sunshine. The balcony for reading was wonderful- at last!

Currently this island cluster is home to around two million puffins and many millions of

other birds. Not sure how they do a bird census but someone must have done one.

A shaping event for this island was a volcanic eruption of Eldfell with began on January 23, 1973 and lasted until July. As the situation deteriorated fissures closed up and the eruption became one concentrated lava flow, which headed toward the harbor. During the night 5000 inhabitants of the island were evacuated, mostly by fishing boats. The encroaching lava flow threatened to destroy the harbor that was the main source of the livelihood for most of the town. However, townspeople constantly sprayed the lava with cold seawater, causing some of it to solidify and much to be diverted, thus saving the harbor from destruction.

Before we anchored we heard a great lecture about the history and customs of Scotland in

preparation for docking there in a couple of days.

Sandra Bowern explained the Union Jack

the British flag. The first piece is based on the flag of Scotland- blue background with white St. Andrew’s cross. Next layer is the English symbol of a white background with a red s

ideways t-shaped St. George’s cross. Third layer is a white background with a St. Patrick’s cross for Ireland. Put them together and you get the British flag.

The last part of her talk was about plaids and kilts. Her closing comment was, “People always wonder what a man wear under his kilt. When a woman asked a Scot that questions he replied, “Madame, nothing under is worn, it is all in good working order.”

The Golden Circle in Reykjavik

Looks like another sunny day in Reykjavik. The guide said we were really lucky because this was the fourth nice day in a row. Room Service breakfast was delivered this morning right on time. This cruise line does a great job with room service. Each stateroom has a rectangular table top, stored in the closet, that it placed on top of the oval table in the seating area. The server gets, the table top, spreads a linen cloth, and sets the table with the tasty breakfast. Works good for us when we are leaving on a tour.

The ship is humming because 250 passengers are disembarking in Reykjavik and that many are getting on. The crew and staff work really hard on these days. We went to the theater and got our bus tickets and were off on an 8 hour tour called “The Golden Circle with Lunch.” This classic Reykjavik excursion

encompassed the "Big Three" geysers of Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir. They are collectively known as

the Golden Circle and provided a look at some of the scenic wonders for which Iceland is justly renowned. All in all it was the most unusual landscape we have ever seen.

Our first stop was at a geothermal plant built by Mitsibushi. Then we stopped to view Iceland's longest glacier.

Our guide Hildur gave us many facts about Iceland and the new things we learned were Iceland exports fish and horses.

They make wonderful chocolate flavored with licorice. There are more cell phones in Iceland than there are people- seeing the remote landscape you understand how important staying in touch really is.

In Rekjaviik roads are built on lava that is 1000 years old. Hildur said that in the east part of the country the roads are built on lava that is more than 16,000,000 years old. Downtown pavements are heated in the winter by hot water. She told us that hot water, cold water, and electricity for a family of cost about $55 a month.

Upon leaving Reykjavik, we headed across vast lava fields, passing by areas that were covered in brown moss which is normally green when there is enough rain…but such is not true not at this time. For me, today was the most illustrative example of global warming. We continued on to the hot spring community of Hveragerdi where geothermal water has been used to build up an extensive greenhouse industry where we learned they even grew bananas…but they weren’t very good.. We saw water pipes in a zig zag pattern to accommodate earthquakes. These pipes were on platforms that moved with the many quakes. Quakes always go east/west so the placement of moving north to south and not in a straight line is to keep the pipes

from breaking. Continuing on, we passed through the fertile farmland off Iceland's

south, to the Gullfoss waterfall,

a magnificient sight to behold. I asked if anybody had ever tried to go over the falls and Hildur said, “Oh No! That is against the law.” We told her about people in the US going over Niagara in barrels and she was amazed. Following a stop at the falls, we re-boarded our bus #4 and made the short journey to Haukadalur, where we stopped

at the Geyser geothermal area with its multitude of hot springs. The most active one, Strokkur, spouted every few minutes but the wind was so strong it wasn’t terribly impressive.

After lunch at Hotel Geyser, we made our final stop at the Thingvellir National Park. This

involved a very long- about 60 minutes- rough ride across a gravel/lava mountain road that was narrow and curvy

This wonderful Park is a UNESCO site as well as a place of tremendous interest as a primary location of both Iceland's geological and historical heritage.

The first Icelandic Parliament was convened here in 930AD. The Vikings did whatever they pleased until that time. Feuds between families for worse and worse and law and order

was needed. They took mostly laws from Norway to organize.

The park encompasses the Europe/North America tectonic plate- which has shifted

to create a tall ridge. Our guide says it shifts a slight bit every year. You could even walk between the plates. Quite a sight.

Trolls are a part of legend here and the landscape in the farming area was littered with round bales of hay that Icelanders call “Troll Toilet paper.” The hay is covered in plastic and some is white, some green (mint flavored and for children), and some even black (for the night trolls) or so Hildur said. We saw the

white ones all over Norway and they called them Troll Eggs.

It was a good tour but did convince us we weren’t likely to make anymore 8 hour bus trips. Got back in time to sip wine while the new passengers did the boat drill. Went to the block party and met our new neighbors. Went to dinner. Long but fun day was over as we sailed away from Reykjavik at 10:00PM in the bright sunlight.

Day One in Reykjavik, Iceland

We sailed into the harbor of Reykjavik at about 5:15 PM. The scenery on the way in was pretty barren, brown and treeless. We got ready and headed down to the Constellation Theater to get a bus number and head off for a brief tour. Most of the ship was already there and many were in line although tickets were not to be distributed until the ship cleared.

We were on bus # 12 for the City Tour. Our guide was Olie…or that is what he said to call him because his name was too hard to pronounce. Iceland has 320,000 people and slightly more than 200,000 of them live in the capital city, Reykjavik.

In this city all the heating and the water supply comes from natural sources. All heating of houses is done by geothermal hot water pumped to homes from hot springs outside of town. We visited a structure called The Pearl (Perlan) built in 1991 as a monument to Iceland’s geothermal water supplies. Above the 6 vast tanks there is a panoramic viewing platform. There is also a revolving restaurant under the glass dome.

Nearby the port we saw the Höfdi House where in 1986 Reagan and Gorbachev met. They say this meeting was the beginning of the end of the Cold War. The charming looking house had been the French Embassy.

We saw a lovely public outdoor swimming pool, Laugardalur, that is naturally heated and is open early to late for swimmers. The sun is to set tonight at 11:10PM and as I type at 10:22 PM it is very bright outside. The Arctic Golf Open tournament is played here and begins with t-off at midnight in the summer with the midnight sun shining bright.

The sun is low in the sky most of the time so people do not build tall buildings but rather short ones with space around each structure so the sun can get in. Most people are Lutheran. The language of Iceland is Old Norse almost exactly like what the first Vikings spoke.

The Surname of each person is different so people are listed in the phone book by first names.

We visited Heidmörk conservation area where there are pseudo-craters that are caused by hot water running over hot lava. People from NASA have studied this area because it looks like something seen by camera on Mars and would mean there has been and might be water on Mars. Olie said , “They didn’t wear their costumes.”

Icecaps cover 11% of the country and 50% is barren. The only native mammal is the Arctic Fox. There are many native birds. At one point Mink were imported for pelts but some escaped and became a pest in the area. Because Mink can swim the birds now had their first natural enemy.

May 25- At Sea

We are due to arrive in ICEland this afternoon at 5:00PM- which is 1:00 PM for the Eastern time zone folks. The Captain announced yesterday afternoon that because the seas were so rough we had slowed enough that our arrival would be delayed by about 2 hours. At least they are doing a great job of letting guests know, as best it can be known, what is to happen.

Moved the clock ahead another hour and went to bed. Ate breakfast in the dining room and then went to a terrific lecture about Great British Writers. Stayed for a cooking demonstration but it was terribly boring. It featured the Executive Chef of this ship as well as a French Chef who had been at Maxim's in Paris for many years. Both recipes were too complicated and most of the conversation was in French. Took them a lot of time and person-power to set it all up and there were less than 50 people present for that demonstration. I overheard a woman leaving saying to her friend, "If it takes 2 professional chefs an hour to prepare this recipe there is no chance of that happening in my house." How true for us too!

The newsletter proudly announced that the ship had been inspected by Health inspectors in New York City and in Halifax and received 97 and 99 as scores. I learned as I waited to leave the ship in Halifax a secret of the trade. There was an announcement on the PA "Assistant Cruise Director contact the Cruise Director." The Assistant Cruise Director stopped at my chair and said I have to act like I am calling someone on my cell phone because that announcement was code to alert all staff to the arrival of the Health Inspectors. Everyone needed to be in their "places." Interesting. Is nice to know the ship passed it all with flying colors. As a friend said, "Maybe that is why we like Regent so good...or maybe it is the bathroom, the walk-in closet or the King Size bed."

Today at noon the Captain announced that we probably noticed on the bright blue map at the beginning of this post a little zig and zag. It happened because at 1:00 this morning we encountered a fleet of 27 fishing vessels connected with about 25 miles of fishing net. He decided to make an adjustment and get around that obstacle. This ship last October, I think it was, ran over a long line or cable which got caught up in the pod engine. Damage was so great the ship had to go into dry dock and passengers sent home. That is the cruise that Jim and I-along with cruising friends- were booked on but had cancelled. So they didn't go to East Africa and neither did the cruise in April because of political unrest in Kenya and Tasmania. Guess we may not ever get there.

Thanks to Sue and others who were concerned about the rough seas. Today is so much better. Jim went to the 11th deck yesterday and could hardly stand up. We felt bad for the folks in those big bow (up front) suites.

We are now 80 nautical miles from Reykjavik and are off on a city tour the minute we dock this evening. It stays daylight for a long time so we should get to see a lot in Reykjavik.

May 24- Communication on another Sea Day

This age of communication makes traveling be a quite different experience than for the earlier sailors. We have heard lectures and read books recently about people leaving home, boarding small animal skin covered boats, and sailing away across the cold

Atlantic toward North America. We’ve seen where people lived settled and lived in underground huts and other rough dwellings. You wonder how the families felt as they waved good-bye to the adventurers and discoverers never knowing if they’d be in the same place at the same together again.

When we were first married and lived in Germany the long distance phone calling was all that could happen and those calls cost $12 a minute. So we had four phone calls the entire three years we were in Germany. My college roommate, Magie Fishburne, called to wish us happy 1^st anniversary and was shocked that the 3 minute call cost $36, Jim’s parents called to tell us Dad wasn’t going to have surgery, Jim’s brother Julian called because he wanted to say hello but didn’t know there was a time difference so it was 3:00 AM for us, and Jim’s parents called after Bill Barnett was born.

But this day and age it is not like that….it is amazing! To think that across the miles you can tell if someone is online or not, you can quickly click a button, and after a brief pause can be face to face for a conversation. Saturday evening we talked with son, Bill, in Sydney, Sunday afternoon we talked with Katherine and their three boys,

and later we talked with Bill and Lucy Kemp. All conversations were with pretty good connections and all for free. You can see the 2 snapshots that I took of iChats as we were chatting. Bill carried his computer around so we could see their new home in Sydney and we carried our computer around so Katherine and the boys could see our temporary home at sea-Stateroom 664. All of it does create a “sort of like being there” atmosphere.

This morning we are enjoying another day at sea, however the sea is rough. From our balcony on the 6^th deck the waves don’t look so big but from the windows in the dining

room on deck 4 the waves were as tall as those windows. Lots of motion, lots of staggering up the corridors, and not many people eating in the dining room. The fog horn is sounding about every 90 seconds and the view from the bridge camera is covered in rain drops. Haven’t seen another ship in ages.

The really blue screen shows the actual map of where we are at this moment- 10:45AM on Monday…plus the location and the other statistics. The celsius temperature converts to 40 degrees farenheidt- no matter what that feels chilly to me. Sure glad to be traveling in the comfort of this wonderful ship.

May 23- At Sea

We sailed away from L’anse aux Meadows about an hour earlier than announced. We were leaving the dining room having had lunch with a really, really conservative couple. He writes a political blog. His wife kept trying to get him to stop talking after Jim had made it clear our political views….but the guy kept on. Wasn’t in favor of much- just against what’s happening in our national scene.

So we were leaving the dining room when the Captain came on the speaker to say we were leaving and we’d be sailing through ice fields and rough seas. His words were “If you are affected my the motion of the sea, this would be a good time to take appropriate actions.” Loved it!

From our balcony we saw this beautiful iceberg. Saw lots of big icebergs and the shapes were very interesting. It became a game like watching clouds and identifying their shapes. Off in the distance we saw an iceberg that looked for all the world like a big white airplane had landed in the sea.

We went to a terrific pre-dinner concert by one of the singers in the cast and then had a nice dinner with a couple that live in St. Pete. After dinner we went to the Atrium, got a couple bar stools from the casino and watched the folks gather for the Beetles Pub Night Party.

This party featured a lively performance by the cast including the wonderful cruise director, Lorraine Weimerskirch. Music, dancing, arm waving and cheers filled

the space for more than an hour. The cast danced with guests. Jim accepted the invitation of Lorraine, the cruise director, to dance. People were dancing on the stairs. People rode the glass elevators up and down and danced in the elevators. This is the 2^nd time we’ve been aboard when this happened and it is too fun!

Got back to our cabin and were able to have an iChat with Bill Barnett….from Sydney to the sea. The connection wasn’t bad and we were able to “see” their house as he walked through with his computer and showed us the beautiful and cool place they will be living in about 6 weeks.

After we set the clocks ahead 30 minutes- still strange to me- we went to bed at about midnight.

As we were leaving for breakfast this morning I looked out the door and it was snowing- nice small flakes falling into the sea. If you look closely at the rail in the first photo you will see the snow. In the Coffee Connection where we went for a roll and coffee there was a server from Manila who was so thrilled. It was his first time seeing snow.

Went to a lecture by David Lee, the Executive Producer/Writer and Director of the TV series Frasier. Using clips from the pilot of that series he illustrated decisions made by the creators- some decisions out of art, some out of panic, and some out of sheer luck. The series ran for 11 years. The filled Constellation Theater audience regaled in laughter. The PTV at Sea has added an interesting dimension to the cruise.

Next we heard a lecture on the history and culture of Iceland that was also quite interesting. Iceland is called The Land of Fire and Ice and you could certainly see why that is true. Soon we’ll be there- actually in another day and a half at sea we’ll arrive.

May 22- L'anse aux Meadows or Vikingville

The end of last evening was filled with two amazing pieces of communication. As we were sailing away from Corner Brook, Newfoundland I noticed that our friend Bill Kemp was online so I sent a “want to video chat” message to him and he answered. We had a great “conversation” with Bill and Lucy- from Corner Brook, Newfoundland as we sailed along toward Iceland. Imagine seeing and hearing across the many miles and from the middle of the ocean for a “chat” with folks in Bradenton, Florida. Now isn’t the world an amazing place!?!

At dinner tonight the Captain announced that we would be slowing down at about 1:00AM because of reported icebergs and ice flows in the area. We don’t think we’ll sleep on the deck to watch but Jim thinks he might sleep in his life jacket- JUST KIDDING!

We awoke this morning to our anchor spot and discovered there were many icebergs around us. The sky was clear and the view stunning. The tenders were out and ready to go. We arrived right on time.

L'Anse aux Meadows (pronounced /ˈlænsi ˈmɛdoʊz/; from the French L'Anse-aux-Méduses or "Jellyfish Cove") is an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the only known site of a Norse village in North America outside of Greenland. The UNESCO World Heritage Site remains the only widely-accepted instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact, and is notable for possible connections with the attempted colony of Vinland established by Leif Ericsson around 1003, or more broadly with Norse exploration of the Americas.

In the 1960s Norse ruins were found here by the Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine Ingstad, an archaeologist. Archaeologists determined the site is of Norse origin due to definitive similarities between the characteristics of structures and artifacts found at the site compared to sites in Greenland and Iceland. They found a bronze pin used to secure the tunic, which confirmed the presence of people of the Norse.

This discovery led scholars to believe this was the site described by Norsemen (Vikings) after they visited a portion of the North American coast around 1000AD.

The Viking voyages were recorded in a book called the Greenlanders' Saga (1200AD). Norwegian-born Leif Ericsson (c.970–c.1020) is generally credited with having been the first European to set foot on North American soil. Ericsson was the son of navigator Erik the Red who founded a Norse settlement in Greenland, where he moved his family in 985 or 986AD. About the same time another Norseman, Bjarni Herjolfsson, who was driven off course on his way from Iceland to Greenland, became the first European to see North America, but he did not go ashore. It is believed that Ericsson decided he would follow up on this discovery, and about 1001 he set out from Greenland with a crew of 35 men and probably landed on the southern end of Baffin Island (north of the province of Quebec). The expedition likely reached Labrador, Canada, and later landed on the coast of what is today Nova Scotia or Newfoundland, Canada. This landfall may have been L'Anse aux Meadows. Ericsson and his crew spent the winter of 1001-02 at a place he called Vinland, which was described as well wooded and abounding in fruit, especially grapes. He returned to Greenland in the spring of 1002.

The first authenticated European landing in North America was in 1500AD when Portuguese navigator Gaspar de Corte-Real (1450?–1501?) explored the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland.

The UNESCO World Heritage site contains the remains of eight buildings believed to have been constructed of sod placed over a wooden frame. Based on associated artifacts, the buildings were variously identified as dwellings or workshops. The largest dwelling measured 94.5 by 51 ft and consisted of several rooms. Workshops were identified as an iron smithy containing a forge and iron slag, a carpentry workshop, which generated wood debris, and a specialized boat repair area containing worn rivets. Besides those related to iron working, carpentry, and boat repair, other artifacts found at the site consisted of common everyday Norse items, including a stone oil lamp, a whetstone, a bronze fastening pin, a bone knitting needle, and part of a spindle. The presence of the spindle and needle suggest that women were present as well as men. Food remains included butternuts, which are significant because they do not grow naturally north of New Brunswick, and their presence probably indicates the Norse inhabitants traveled farther south to obtain them. Archaeologists concluded that the Norse inhabited the site for a relatively short period of time-probably no more than 4 years.

The UNESCO site itself was closed because of current digging going on, but the reconstructed village was interesting. AND to think we have spent all these years celebrating Christopher Columbus when he was really late to the discovery party in North America.