Thick fog set in and the ship horn blew many times as we heading into the dock.
We were able to see the cliffs through some very thick fog.

Today, we tour on our own.  As long as we are back by 6:30pm, we will be fine.

Off the ship by 9am to catch the local shuttle bus.

First stop the castle, which opens at 10 am. After a harrowing bus ride through very narrow streets, we arrived at the castle at just 15 minutes before we could enter.

WOW! If there were ever a castle that looks just like you would expect with Medieval Knights.  Right out of an old movie.  For the last 100 years, it has been used almost every year in movies and tv shows.

​At one point, we could look back at the ship.  The fog was even thicker in the port.

Inside and out this castle is amazing.

We walked down the lane inside toward the WW2 secret tunnels. We had a guided tour of the WW1 and WW2 tunnels that were part of major events in both wars.   The tunnels were 16 meters 7 below the surface.  Later additional features were installed as a Cold War nuclear shelter, which we were not able to tour.

The interior castle structure is just as impressive as the walls.  The castle is high above the city. The Castle was huge and amazing.  Lots of furnished rooms.  The main hall, banquet hall, … kitchen. Several chapels. We went up on the roof and then back down long circular stairs down to the courtyard.

Inside the castle, there are restored rooms and even some reenactors who answered questions.  The flooring is the original wood.  It was so worn down.  The Grand Hall, Banquet Hall, Chapel, and Kitchen were amazing.  So much history for so many hundreds of years.

Impressive. From the outside, inside, and even the roof.

Not only were there areas used during WW1 WW2.  Great tour.

The Roman tower. Medieval church.  ​​

Back to the highway to catch the bus to town.

​We were dropped off in the middle of town and walked to the museum where they have a 3000 year old seagoing boat which is thought to be the oldest in the world.  Some interesting exhibits.

The Roman painted house was next.  That was amazing.  So much detail and the painted surfaces were colorful.

Back to the ship by 2pm for something to eat and a nap. I still need to recover from my cold. 

This evening, we will start our trip back across the Channel to Rotterdam.

​

Today, we head south toward Dover.

​During this sea day, we will pass an enormous offshore wind turbine "farm".

Later in the day, the ship Lido had a "Cake-Me-Away".  They had a lot of cakes and soon started serving.

We had a talk on Dover and its historical significance.

Of course, the cliffs of Dover are known worldwide for the bright white chalk cliffs that can be seen from the shores of France.

The Strait of Dover is the shortest distance between England and mainland Europe which became the primary source of ship traffic between the island and mainland.

During the Stone Age, it is known that this was used as a port because the remains of the world’s oldest sea-going boat from that time period was found in an excavation.

Roman influence was shown to have started before 56 AD and in that year a lighthouse was built to guide ships from Europe to reach the port.

A castle was built during the Napoleonic Wars in 1180 and later the Leeds Castle

Medieval Period
During the medieval period, Dover continued to thrive as a key trading hub. Its strategic position made it a target for invasions, including attempts by Julius Caesar and later by William the Conqueror. The port's defenses were strengthened, leading to the construction of Dover Castle, which has stood as a guardian of the town for centuries. 
dovermuseum.co.uk

In the 1500s, improvements were made to the harbor by Henry VIII, who funded the expansion of the port to improve shipping.

More improvements were made in the late 1800s to support larger ships and cargo.

The port has been a primary site for the British military for wars with France and Spain then later with Germany during World War One and Two.

Near the end of World War II, the castle was used to plan and execute the D-Day Invasion.

I felt pretty bad this morning after a night of coughing.  My lungs have not recovered.  So, Shawna will be going on our excursion without me to Dryburgh Abbey, Doors Castle, and Edinburgh.

The ship is not able to dock so she had to take a tender to shore.

The wind was blowing hard, and the waves were high crossing to the dock. One wave crashed so high that it went over the whole tender. The pilot of our tender had the top hatch open to see better while leaving the ship. When we hit the wave, the water came in and soaked the pilot, and nearby passengers got wet. Finally, we arrived at Hawes tender dock in South Queensbury.

Andy was our tour guide and Luke our driver. It will take 90 minutes to reach Dryburgh Abbey. During the drive, Andy told us about history and surrounding areas of interest. Such as, Queen Margaret, Saint Margaret is the same person. She married King Malcolm and had 8 children.

​History was made in this port, just across the Firth of Forth from Rosyth, when the future Queen Margaret of Scotland arrived around 1071. Her devout religious attitude established "Queen's Ferry" as the place for pilgrims from abroad to alight on their way to St. Andrews—Scotland's ecclesiastical capital in the Middle Ages. Margaret's legacy continues less than a dozen miles away at Edinburgh Castle. A key attraction up on the castle's rock is St. Margaret's Chapel, believed to be the oldest section of the fortifications and the place where she worshipped.
There's more to Scotland's capital than the Castle, though. Edinburgh proudly displays multiple exhibits on national and international scientific achievement at the National Museum of Scotland, as well as some fantastic works of visual art at the National Galleries of Scotland. South Queensferry's moorings are also within easy striking distance of Scotland's largest metropolis: the city of Glasgow. Transformed in many ways since the post–WWII days when it had a reputation for grime and crime, the city is among the most vibrant in the U.K.: It is Scotland's de-facto capital of modern culture, with the hippest DJs and most accomplished conceptual artists.

On the drive, a Red Deer crossed the road from the hills towards Edinburgh. They have done well in Scotland. Only man controls population, there are no wolves or bears in Scotland to prey on them.

Arthur's seat, an old volcano, can be seen in Edinburgh.

​Sir Walter Scott loved this middle area. Wrote many poems and stories from here. He stopped every time to look at this view, so that his horses would stop on their own when taking this road.  When they were taking his body to be buried at Dryburgh Abbey, the horse as usual stopped on their own at his view.

First stop was Dryburgh Abbey.

Sir Walter Scott tomb is here. 

As is David Steuart Erskine 11th Earl of Buchan. 

The Abbey was nearly destroyed after England split from Catholicism.

The Abby was an interesting place to visit. I tried to imagine what was like to live there.

Next, Floors Castle in Roxburghshire, south-east Scotland, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. It really is a grand estate not a castle. The family still resides in the buildings so no inside pictures are allowed. So, all pictures are of the outside and the gardens.  All the gardens and all the spring flowers were beautiful. At the time of my visit, the grounds were being set up for a huge concert by SkerryVore, a Scottish Celtic rock band.

Last stop in Edinburgh. The bus parked near the Albert Memorial on Charlotte Square.

​ On the way there, I was able to get a photo of the Edinburgh Castle on top of the hill.

I walked a few blocks to see the Ross Fountain and to get a better picture of the castle.

Still had a half hour until meet the bus and head back to the ship. So enjoyed a beer at Whighams Wine Cellars. The bar tender had a good recommendation for local beer.

​Boarded the bus on time and had a 30-minute ride back to South Queensferry dock. When I arrived back, there was an extremely long line for the tender. The weather had worsened and the tenders had to stop going between the dock and the ship. I texted Mike to let him know I was at the dock and was waiting for the tenders. I was supposed to be back on ship by 9pm, instead it was 11pm. Oh, it was raining the whole time, and the sun had not set yet.

The crew from the ship were being very careful as people were boarding the ship from the tender. My raincoat held up very well. The outside looked very wet, but I was dry underneath. It was a very long day but so interesting.​

Today, we visit the Shetland Islands. 
​
The one large island has several small communities, but Lerwick is the only one large enough to be called a city.  Most of the islands are small and no one lives on those.  Our guide later tells us that Lerwick has a "rush hour" which lasts 10 minutes.

The inhabitants are primarily of Norse heritage has influenced the names of roads and towns.  Scandinavian influenced home design.

The islands have huge peat bogs, and many are up to 90 feet thick.  As a result, construction is kept to raw rock if possible.  Anything built on a bog will eventually settle or even sink.

The weather is harsh but not as cold as you might think. Wind is the worst part of weather here.  It is not unusual to have gusts over 100 mph, and 198 mph is the estimated highest gale, but it is not official because the equipment blew away at just below that reading. Being north of the southern portion of Norway, it would be easy to think cold would be a big problem but the remnants of the Gulf Stream pushes warmer water even this far north. As a result, winters are just below freezing most days. With only 100 days of farming per year, they use every hour of light to their advantage, but they are very long days with some only having 3 hours of darkness. Of course, that means that that most of the other 265 days are dark or near dark all day.

The Atlantic and the North Sea meet at the south tip of the island.  Maelstroms are common and frequently include whirlpools making that area one of the most dangerous areas of sea in the world.

As we pull into the port, we pass a light house.  They are common here and working as the shoreline is very rocky with lots of wind which is dangerous for any boat.

We had an excursion scheduled to take a boat to a small island that has very old ruins, but the weather is not cooperating, and it was canceled.  Instead, we have a bus tour which is pretty fantastic.

The ride through Lerwick and into the countryside was very nice.  Lerwick is the largest city of just over 7000.  Only 16 of the Shetland Islands has permeant residents.  
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Shetland ponies!​ Shetland ponies are common as are Shetland sheep both are smaller than other breeds.  They both have an extra coat to protect them during winter. The current count is 8 sheep per person.

Our drive will take us past several ruins of old building are scattered around the island, but we are visiting a very important ruin called the Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement.  This is on the most southern part of the Shetlands, and we will have to drive across the runway of the only airport on the islands.  Yes, the only two-lane road on the island crosses a runway to access the rest of the island.

When the Neolithic people arrived, the islands had large forests.  Over the next several hundred years all the trees were cutdown to be used for construction or firewood.  None of the original species of trees exists today.

The broch would once have been a massive round stone tower, with several floors above ground level.  One surviving broch on a nearby island is from the same time period and is over 40 feet tall.  The iron age settlement failed long before the next group arrived.

Vikings from Norway settled at Jarlshof in the 800s. The traditional longhouse was built. 

Next a medieval farmhouse was built here in the 1200s but it was just an improvement on the Viking long houses.  For 300 years, a small community lived on the site.

Later Earl Patrick Stewart's son of Robert ruled the area.  In 1608, Robert Bruce was a tenet of the home but after a quarrel Patrick sacked the building to drive Robert Bruce out.

Sir Walter Scott visited the site in the 1800s and it inspired him to use the site in the novel he was writing at the time called "The Pirate".  He then named the site after the ‘Jarlshof’ or earl’s house in the novel. Its proper name is Sumburgh, from the Old Norse ‘Borg’, meaning ‘fort’.

The site is very large and has lots of history.  With close access to the sea and the many large rocks along the shore it was easy to see where the building materials were found.

We stopped into a small village for a toilet break, shopping, and possibly a hot tea or chocolate.  They even had an electric car charging station.

Lots of nice views of the countryside on our return trip.

As the bus got back to Lerwick, it started a very cold rain.  Soon we were back on the ship warming up and watching the city as we pulled away.

We arrive in port and are greeted by rain, lots and lots of blowing rain.  We were glad we did not have an excursion planned. The weather did not clear until late afternoon and all aboard was 5:30pm. 

We relaxed and watched the rain and the wet people walking on the pier.

Rant Warning: 
Personally, I think wind turbines are a horrible idea.  Land based turbines are bad for the environment and offshore they are worse.  Yes, I said it.  Just a small amount of research will teach you about the massive amount of pollution produced to make each turbine and that does not include the birds killed along with insects.  I know some insects are annoying but that includes lots of dead butterflies and who doesn't like butterflies. 

Don't get me started on the impact of ocean wind turbines on sea wildlife.  These things are loud on land.  Stand under one you will find out they put off a very low frequency "womp" as each blade passes. You can feel it in your chest. Imagine an undersea mammal trying to navigate by sonar and call out to others with 100s of turbines nearby creating noise.  A passing ship may be a noisy annoyance, but these never stop and the ship will eventually leave.  Countries are installing 1000s each year creating huge swaths of ocean near shore that must be to marine mammals like an enormous rock concert in the ocean.

It is nearly impossible for an individual wind turbine to generate enough green electricity to offset the amount of electricity used to make it. It is impossible to overcome the amount of pollution generated to make a turbine into "green" electricity.

​All of the material used in the construction was mined.  
Iron, Coal, Limestone, Manganese, silica sand, soda ash, kaolin, feldspar, alumina, Quartz, calcite, micas, tourmaline, copper ore, Bornite, Malachite, Azurite, calcium, clay, gypsum, .....  ALL mining is done with huge equipment that operates on diesel.

Then all that material is transported (diesel trains and trucks) to a forge that processes it into raw materials like large blocks of aluminum, copper,  steel, ....  Then that is transported to the manufacturing site that makes the different parts.  Generators, Steal structure, blades, cables, liquid concrete, ....

Once parts are made, they must be transported to the installation site along with 40 or more concrete trucks.  All operating on diesel.

The standard land-based turbine uses:
More than 250 tons of forged Steel and offshore turbines each use more than 1,000 tons.
Copper 4 to 5 tons in the generator and wire to transmit to the base.
1,200 tons of concrete for the base dug in the ground. 100 ft steel columns offshore.
The aluminum, carbon, or graphene blades are environmentally "expensive" to create.
Of course, there are the transmission lines between the towers and the substation.

That does not include the diesel used to transport all the parts and the enormous diesel crane that lifts it into place.

Wind turbine service life is hoped to be 20 to 25 years. The blades rarely survive 20 years.  Most will never reach that because of damage or becoming obsolete as new more efficient systems are discovered.

Don't get me started on solar panels.

Sometimes it is just better to be blissfully ignorant.

End Rant.

A huge offshore grid connection system derrick was near us in the port.  It was nearly ready to be installed offshore to manage power from the enormous wind turbine installation.  There are 1000s of offshore wind turbines around the world and more installed every year.  Off the shores of Europe, there are huge swaths of turbines.

We did plug into shore power at this port.  This will become common in the future. 

We enjoyed the day.  One of the displays on ship were beaded shoes, purse, camera, books and glasses.  There are a lot of art displays on ship.

Tonight was a fancy dress evening.

When we got back to our cabin we were greeted with a towel animal and chocolate.

Loften/Leknes is an island. This is a port where we have to tender.   Later this will be a bit of a problem. Hint Rain.

Our excursion tour in this port will take us to a Viking Long house, beach, and an overlook.

It is a pretty island with some really creative architects. One building was just bazar looking.

First stop is the Viking Long House. We will take a guided tour, see the museum, and visit the gift shop.

The original house was built in around 500 AD and was modified several times. Final version was the largest long house that has ever been found. The reconstruction is based on the final house built in the year 900 AD.

As we enter the Long House, we are greeted by our Viking guide.  Women commonly managed the houses and kept the oral history of the clan.  She had us pick a seat on one of the benches which were covered by reindeer fur.

After her presentation and answering lots of questions, we were able to look around the house.  It is huge.  This is a reconstruction of the remains of the real house that is a nearby archeological site. The house was enormous and it measured over 270 feet long, 30 feet wide and tall.  This reconstruction was constructed to exactly what they found. 

These houses contained everything of the village chief, from his home, meeting hall, kitchen, horses, armory, and treasury.

As we leave, we walked through the museum of items found here.  There was an actual Viking ax head.

The view from the parking lot of the long house was impressive and I am sure that was the point.  Anyone approaching the house was to think. Power!

The next stop was a beach.  Very different from our beaches in Pensacola.  These are surrounded by mountains.

Shells

Back toward the port but first a stop for an overlook.

Back in the port we are getting some rain and with the bay getting rough the tenders are slowed some.  There are some huge cod fish here.  Examples were hanging to dry near our dock.

Being Norway, a long company name is normal.

We should have a sunset today as we will pass south of the arctic circle.  Four days of sunlight with no darkness is a weird thing to experience.  I cannot imagine living long term in a place that goes through "endless' nights or days

We arrived at the port and it looks like we will have a chilly and cloudy day.

Tromso has the nickname of the "Gateway to the Arctic".  A long skiing and hiking season attracts students to the University.

We went to the local university to see a science museum on the area and Northern Lights planetarium.  It was down two levels below ground.  It is common for the majority of a building to be below ground.

There are lots of older buildings here.

As we drove through town we passed the most northern Burger King, and Hard Rock Cafe.

Next, we crossed the bridge to the other side of town to see the cathedral.

​The Arctic Cathedral which has a cold war bomb shelter in the basement and is currently used as classrooms for the church. The big shelter doors are still in place.

It may be a surprise but somewhere in the world almost every flower grows wild and may even be considered a weed.  These grow everywhere.  Even in ditches on the side of the road.

Pulling away from port gave us mountains.

Today, we visit the most northern point we have ever been on Earth.   Nordkapp is the most northern town in Norway or Europe, and we are just over 1300 miles from the north pole.  That sounds like a lot but there are very few towns or even villages north of 71.1 degrees latitude.  The most northern city in Alaska is Barrow is only 15 miles north of here and the most northern point of the US is 20 miles closer to the North Pole.

The ship has lookouts for icebergs and did make small course changes to avoid a few of them.  Cruise ships try to give icebergs a wide berth for obvious reasons.  Lucky for us we have beautiful weather and clear seas.

Amazingly the Gulf Stream has an impact even this far north.   The current splits and a portion flows up between Iceland and the UK.  Because of this the lows here are only -6 degrees.  I know that still sounds cold but considering the record low for Barrow Alaska is -49. OUCH! That's cold.  We will a high of 44 and Sunny.  This is Spring here. 

The weather is a bit interesting:
   1 month of Spring
   3 months of summer,
   1 month of fall
   7 months of winter.

We will pass North of Nordkapp as we head into Honningsvag port.  Lots of snow and glaciers.

The port makes it look like the mountains are right off the stern.  We will be wearing our coats and puffy jackets along with gloves and knit caps.  It is easy to take off something but really hard to wear something you don't have with you.

Once in port, we take a bus to Nordkapp.  We will pass several Reindeer, snow banks, and frozen lakes. Yes, in May the lakes inland are almost completely frozen over.  Only the few near the coast are thawed.

In the 1980s, the Nordkapphallen visitor centre was built.  The building is impressive considering the difficulty in building anything here.  There is a sphere at the cliff overlooking the Arctic ocean, a theater with a panoramic film on the wildlife and history of the area, a museum of the native people and wildlife. All of these are below ground level in basements going down three floors into solid rock.   At ground level there is a restaurant, cafe, and of course a gift shop.

The sea is over 1000 feet below us.

As we exited the bus, we were near a gift shop, another troll, and a statue to a saint bernard. 

The dog was famous for helping during WWII.  Bamse (means teddy bear) was loved by children because he would let them ride him like a horse and pull carts but was also helpful during the war.  

Time to walk back to the ship.​

As we leave the port the Captain stopped the ship just off Nordkapp and had the ship spin 360 degrees several times before heading south to our next port.

Looking out our balcony it is hard to think it is real and not a picture.

Dinner tonight is at Nami Sushi.  The Sushi was fantastic.

Off to tonight's show and then bed.  We have had two days with no sunset.  It makes sleeping interesting but with cabins blackout curtains it is dark enough to sleep.

Breakfast. Relaxing.  Playing cards. Beautiful skies but a bit cold.

They had a "Polar Bear" plunge in the rear pool which had lots of ice added.  There were quite a few who were willing to get very cold.