I first fell in love with Copenhagen nine summers ago. Herb and I had spent two days here before a Baltic cruise, and I was immediately smitten with an impossible case of love at first sight. From the colorful canal-front houses in Nyhavn to the old-fashioned charm of Tivoli Gardens to a hidden 19th century … Read More
The red and blue tractor-pulled trolley was bumping along the Grenen sandbar at Skagen Odde, a peninsula that marks the northernmost point in Denmark. We had swapped our coach bus for the trolley at the Grenen Visitor Center, where the road begins its transition to gravel and sand. The trolley, officially known as the Sandormen … Read More
The sun was reflecting off buildings along the Farsund harbor, painting the water in patterns of pink and gold that looked like shimmering silk. It was our last day in Norway, and Herb and I were off the ship early, heading out on an excursion to Lista and Lindesnes, lighthouses on the country’s southern coast. … Read More
“If you came back, you wanted to leave again; if you went away, you longed to come back. Wherever you were, you could hear the call of the homeland, like the note of the herdsman’s horn far away in the hills.” ~Johan Bojer, The Emigrants Trying to correctly pronounce the names of Norway’s towns was starting … Read More
“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” ~Aristotle Llamas in Norway? I had no idea. Then again, I hadn’t heard of Skjolden, Norway, either. It turns out that the village of Skjolden (the “k” is pronounced like an “h”), with 300 people spread out along Norway’s longest fjord, also has a … Read More
“It’s the dream we carry in secret that something miraculous will happen… that one morning we will glide into some little harbour we didn’t know was there.” ~Olav H. Hauge, It’s the Dream (translated from Norwegian by Robin Fulton) In Norway, it seems, everyone has a favorite fjord. Whether it’s a “do not miss!” recommendation … Read More
“Here I am at Nordkapp, at the edge of Finnmark, and I dare say the very edge of the world, since there are no other places further north inhabited by man.” ~Francesco Negri, Viaggio Settentrionale (published posthumously), 1700 Nordkapp, Norway. I had been anticipating standing at the proverbial top of the world ever since seeing … Read More
In Tromsø, Norway, the phrase world’s northernmost gets quite a workout. There’s the world’s northernmost brewery (Mack Brewery), world’s northernmost university (Arctic University of Norway), world’s northernmost Protestant cathedral (Tromsø Cathedral) and the world’s northernmost botanical garden (Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden). Add to that Tromsø’s designation as the “world’s northernmost city of more than 50,000 people,” … Read More
“Behind the clouds, the sky is always blue.” ~Norwegian Proverb Distant red buildings were peeking through a fog-shrouded sky as the Seabourn Ovation made its way toward Norway’s Lofoten Islands. Our ship would be anchoring off the shores of Svolvaer, Lofoten’s largest town, and tenders would be needed to take us ashore. The misty morning … Read More
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Art Nouveau-designed Ålesund, Norway, reinvented and rebuilt its wooden-structured self after a devastating fire swept through the town in 1904. Romantic-looking pastel-painted buildings topped with turrets and towers line the harbor and are sprinkled throughout the city center. Stone and brick structures with decorative tile roofs call out … Read More