Norway: Sailing the Fjords

July 4, 2012

What better way for an American to spend the Fouth of July, than to be sailing through the beautiful fjords of Norway right?

Okay, so my independence day may have been a little short of fireworks, but what I lacked in pyrotechnics, God more than provided for with incredible displays of his majesty.

Norway, in the summer, is something that I sincerely wish everyone could see.  When I look back at my time in the fjords one word continually pops into my head: magnitude.

First of all, you're sailing in water that is at sea level and on both sides of you are cliffs, often sheer.  And they keep going up!  You are better off lying down and watching Norway go by above you.  At least that way you won't need your chiropractor at the end of the day.

Okay, I know, I know...enough talk.  Here are the pictures.  I have to say though that these pictures fail to capture the feeling of being overwhelmed by nature.  There's nothing I can do about that, other than saying that you owe it to yourself to experience a place like this in person one day.

Best way to see Norway: Summer and Ship.

Marcy shows us how to enjoy Norway from the comfort of the observation deck.

What's a fjord?

"Geologically, a fjord (/ˈfjɔərd/ or ⁱ/ˈfiːɔərd/; also spelt fiord) is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. The word comes to English from Norwegian, but related words are used in several Scandinavian languages, in many cases to refer to any long narrow body of water other than the more specific meaning it has in English. Both the whole coast of Norway and the island of Greenland have many fjords.<sup>[1]"

Thanks wikipedia.</sup> 

Just a little bit further to Hogwarts.

 I know, what you're thinking.  I was thinking the same thing.  Is this the lake from Harry Potter?  Let's just have our moment and say that it is.  Don't look it up.

This is much bigger than it looks.  That's not moss.  Those are trees.  Big trees.

The cliffs of Norway are always crying.  Waterfalls are everywhere.
The picture on the right is a close up on the top section of the waterfall on the left.
The angle changed a little as we were sailing by.

Goats!

Can you see the goats?

These next pictures were brought to you by my Nikon 18x zoom lens.

You're looking at a mansion on a cliff.  It's owned by an American and he rents it out for tens of thousands of dollars.  The waiting list is over a year long.  To access this mansion there is a little red boat house at the bottom and a zig zaggy trail up to the top.

Mansion 4 Rent

The little red boat house that I posted above is in this picture.  Can you find it?

Answer

Having lived on a ship for over five months now, I've grown an appreciation for them.  It was this trip to Norway though that showed me how invaluable ships have been to cultures throughout history.  In this case, these people could not live here without them.  For most of the history of our world, water meant access.  The same way you and I look at a freeway, they look at the sea.  Here are a few places allowed to exist by our mastering of the waters.

People live here.

Could you handle living in the shadow of this awesome?

In the few places there is enough room by the water for a town, they make one.

Little town, little quiet village.

This is a church, those were it's people.

 

Awww...

Next time, MORE NORWAY!

Motown on the Ocean

The whole reason I am able to write this blog and talk about all the amazing places that I've been is because of the opportunity given to me by Choozi Entertainment to work as an Artist of Silversea on board the Silver Whisper with the six star luxury cruise line Silversea.

Our voyages vary in length, but typically they are about ten days long.  Almost every night, we are providing some sort of high production value entertainment to our guests.  To get things kicked off we open with a show that is a tribute to Motown that we call Signed, Sealed, Delivered!

Here are a few behind the scenes shots of that show and of what it's like to be performing on the Ocean:

In Motown, mike stand placement is key.

"Hey Vince, I think you placed that stand very well."

Synchronized back scratching.  Harder than it looks.

What would Motown be without feather boas?

"Ooooh, Baaabuh baaabuh."

This isn't actually a song.  We're summoning Captain Planet.

We look so good!  (Backstage right)

Come here, I want to show you something.... (Still backstage right)

Want to cross behind the stage?  Here's one way you can go.  (The Baltic Sea)

Hairbrush microphones and gang signs.

Yes, we are really going to put those on when we do our ABBA show.

That's all for now!  You've already seen too much!

Please Subscribe... my next installment is NORWAY!  So stay tuned...

Stockholm - Viking Museum, Royal Armory, and IKEA!

June 28, 2012

In the beginning of my contract, Stockholm wasn't always an embarkation day.  That meant that I was free to run around the town and even take a few excursions.  Today started in the Viking Museum, then we traveled to the Royal Palace (which is the biggest palace in Europe btw) to visit the armory underneath.  Later that day, I met up with Marcy and we had an adventure taking the public transportation to IKEA, which was awesome.

Our first artifact is actually an example of ancient graffiti.  If you look closely, you'll notice runes on the shoulder of the lion.  My guide is telling me that they are not by the same hand as the person who made the statue.

Okay, so lesson one: Vikings were taggers.

Inside the museum was a room that was originally a bunker.  This round underground room was called the gold room, and for good reason.  Every artifact in this room was made out of solid gold.  In this room, photography was strictly prohibited...

That's why this one is so out of focus.

Anglo-Saxon Runes!

If you recognize the writing above, then congratulations!  You are as big a dork as I am.  Yes, go ahead and grab your J. R. R. Tolkien books and compare all of his elvish and dwarvish runes to these.  You will find them quite similar.  In fact, if you're looking at the illustrations from his first book, The Hobbit, you'll notice that they're exact copies because at the time of his writing The Hobbit he had yet to develop his own runes, so he just took these.

The upper story was completely devoted to the history of the church in Sweden.

A Runestone for "The White Christ."

When Christianity was brought to Sweden, he was easily accepted by the population as simply another God of the Norse pantheon.  Here we have a runestone dedicated to that new god The White Christ.  It wouldn't be until many years later that Christ would be fully understood as the one and only true God.

Viking Weapons!  Ooooh!  Sharp.

More Viking Weapons!  Awesome.

Next Stop: The Royal Armory underneath the Swedish Royal Palace.

Yes, the horse is real!

Above, that is King Gustav's horse.  Two things: just about every king of Sweden was named Gustav, and yes, that's his actual original horse.  No, that's not a copy or a model.  That is King Gustav's original horse thanks to the wonders of taxidermy.  What a thing to keep.

The royal armory is peculiar in that it is a museum that keeps all of the sets of clothes that each individual king of Sweden was assassinated in.  Morbid?

This get up to the right was worn by king Gustav the something or other (probably) when he was assassinated at the opera house.  I was told that the Swedish men point to this king as their example of why they should never have to take their wives to the opera.

Armor and Weapons.  What more could you want from a museum?

In Sweden, the royal treasury would splurge for Weddings, Coronations, and Funerals.  This suit of armor was commissioned for the funeral procession of another King Gustav (why not?).  It is made out of solid gold.

C3PO meets Bed-nobs and Broomsticks

Checkers - invented by the Swedish

Oh, and upstairs somewhere in the armory was this little display.  Apparently, the Swedish invented Checkers.

You don't even have to know Swedish to know how to play checkers.  The language clearly states, "Om du kan hoppa över en bricka."  I mean, I could have told you that.

After my morning excursion was over, I met up with Marcy and we set out on a whole new adventure.  We spent the whole afternoon and early evening traveling to Ikea and looking for a chair for the room.

Subway in Stockholm

You know how Ikea is a pretty big deal in the states?  Well, it's an even bigger deal in its homeland.  Not only is it the giant furniture store that we know and love, but it's a full scale buffet restaurant as well.  People bring their families just to eat at Ikea.  And why not?  The price is right, and it tastes great.

Swedish Meatballs, lingonberry, and mashed potatoes.

Mmm, so good.

Somehow, we manage to get furniture back to the ship.

"Look at me with my Allen wrench!"

Okay, we'll let her try it out first.

"Look at me, I made a chair!"

We may not have any room to walk around, but at least there's a chair.

First time in Helsinki, Finland.

June 27, 2012

Helsinki, Finland.

Again, another place I never expected to find myself.  Helsinki to me had always been a city that was worth trivia points, and not even for tough questions.  You can beat the game simply by answering, “What’s the capitol of Finland?”  This is the vast amount of knowledge I had about this city before stepping off the boat.

Of all the quays, of all the ports, of all the world, Helsinki probably does it best.  The ships pull right up to the market, which is right next to the capitol building, which is right next to the main square, which is right next to the mall.  No tender.  No shuttle.  You don’t even need public transportation.  Yes, Helsinki wins.  I’m a big fan.

Market next to the quay in front of the Russian Orthodox Church.

He moved to Finland and became that guy from Reno 911

Unfortunately named plus size store

It rained a little my first day in Helsinki.

Bottle Man, plays every day, rain or shine.

Alexander Nevsky

The Finish don't trust the Russians.  In fact, they have a standing army who's sole purpose is to be ready for the next time Russia invades.  Russia is Finland's bordering country on the east and there has always been tension.  Actually, there's been more than tension, there has been occupation.  In fact, this year, 2012, Finland is celebrating 100 years of independence.  In 1912, they threw off their last Russian occupation.  And yet, despite all of this, they proudly keep the statue of Alexander Nevsky in the middle of their Senate Square.  (They won't so readily admit it, but Russia did some good to the city.  Architecturally, Helsinki looks like a mini St. Petersburg.)

The Lutheran Church in Senate Square

 

In Finland, the state church is Lutheran.  This means that you can elect to pay your tithe through your taxes.  It’s completely voluntary and don’t worry, you don’t have to be Lutheran.  After all, Finland spent over 100 years under Russian control so the Orthodox Church is also strong.  It’s just a nice change to see a government endorsement of religion that’s NOT Islam.

Unlike many of the churches throughout Europe, this one is simple in it's decorations, and more importantly: it's still in use.