Lady Liberty.
Ground Zero.
Crystal Symphony docked in NYC.
Our Newest Member of the Family, Gracie!
14 years ago
Sunday, November 12
Proof of Greenland, Conclusion
And now it's almost over. After two weeks, we finally sailed into NYC before dawn. Despite the amazing places we'd visited and things we'd seen, we were very glad to be going home. Since I've already written about the arrival into NY, I'll just post the pictures. It was a really fantastic vacation. Apologies for the many grammatical and spelling errors I've made in these posts. I have been doing all of this very quickly and with two glasses of wine in my empty belly. Hope you liked!
Lady Liberty.
Ground Zero.
Crystal Symphony docked in NYC.
Lady Liberty.
Ground Zero.
Crystal Symphony docked in NYC.
Proof of Greenland, Part 6
We left Nuuk around 5PM. I think, despite expectations, I liked Nuuk the best of the places we visited. The culture was so different than what I'm used to. The seal skins in the store were real, not faux. The whale meat for sale at the market, and the friendliness of the people (even the drunk man who helped point us in the right direction). Nuuk was small and isolated, but illustrated quite clearly the old and new coexisting in harmony. People did speak some English because there used to be a US military base that employed many of them years ago. We also visited the National Museum that housed a small but informative exhibit about the natural and cultural history of Greenland. The main attraction were some mummies that had been perfectly preserved, including a baby. We also saw the tourist trap in the city - a gigantic mailbox that is Santa's mailbox. Supposedly, this is the "North Pole" when letters are addressed to Santa. When we left Nuuk, a whale saw us off. He repeatedly tail slapped the surface as we sailed away. Very cool.
I've also included a few life-aboard-the-ship pictures. Unfortunately, most of these revolve around food. There was plenty of other things to do besides eat, but the eating pictures lent themselves to photography more than just sitting around working puzzles or listening to lectures about opera. (Which were very good by the way!)
There aren't the typical cruise-line buffets around the clock on Crystal. But they do pull out all the stops for a luncheon Grand Buffet, which consists mostly of seafood. This is just the dessert table. There were also tables full of lobster, shrimp, and oysters.
This is after we picked through the Grand Buffet for lunch. We're seated in the main dining room sipping our complimentary mimosas. Yum.
Every sea day at noon, mom and I, and frequently dad, went to the Palm Court - all the way forward above the bridge - to play team trivia. Only we couldn't technically play since dad is an employee of the company, but we went to listen and play on our own. We also liked the Palm Lounge for reading (admittedly, I did very little reading), working the crosswords, and just looking at the water. We had many Perrier's with lime here.
A shot of the sea as we were coming down the coast of Canada. This is actually when we were passing to the west of a hurricane that had just come up the East Coast. I can't remember the name of the hurricane now, but we were all quite concerned about it on board. Luckily, this was about as rough as it got the entire time. Later that night, we did have a few really strong rolls, one that knocked dad off his bar stool, but nothing too bad. I wore a anti-motion sickness patch the entire cruise so I didn't get sick. But after I took the patch off on land, I got sick. Go figure.
I've also included a few life-aboard-the-ship pictures. Unfortunately, most of these revolve around food. There was plenty of other things to do besides eat, but the eating pictures lent themselves to photography more than just sitting around working puzzles or listening to lectures about opera. (Which were very good by the way!)
There aren't the typical cruise-line buffets around the clock on Crystal. But they do pull out all the stops for a luncheon Grand Buffet, which consists mostly of seafood. This is just the dessert table. There were also tables full of lobster, shrimp, and oysters.
This is after we picked through the Grand Buffet for lunch. We're seated in the main dining room sipping our complimentary mimosas. Yum.
Every sea day at noon, mom and I, and frequently dad, went to the Palm Court - all the way forward above the bridge - to play team trivia. Only we couldn't technically play since dad is an employee of the company, but we went to listen and play on our own. We also liked the Palm Lounge for reading (admittedly, I did very little reading), working the crosswords, and just looking at the water. We had many Perrier's with lime here.
A shot of the sea as we were coming down the coast of Canada. This is actually when we were passing to the west of a hurricane that had just come up the East Coast. I can't remember the name of the hurricane now, but we were all quite concerned about it on board. Luckily, this was about as rough as it got the entire time. Later that night, we did have a few really strong rolls, one that knocked dad off his bar stool, but nothing too bad. I wore a anti-motion sickness patch the entire cruise so I didn't get sick. But after I took the patch off on land, I got sick. Go figure.
Proof of Greenland, Part 5B
More of Nuuk.
This is inside the big cultural center of Greenland. This building has two theaters for performing arts and the country's only movie theater - which is a single screen. I can't remember what was playing, but I think it was a family film. They had posters for coming attractions that were both American and European. We were in Nuuk on a Saturday, and the cultural center was a the heart of the shopping area. As in every other part of the world, Saturday is the day when people in Nuuk do their shopping. Also, since the weather was cold but gorgeous, it seemed like the entire town was outside walking about taking care of their chores or just enjoying the sunshine. We went into about three shops. All of them carry a mish-mash of goods. One carried gardening supplies, chocolate truffles, jewelry, yarn, seal skins, and fox pelts. We were also in a grocery store that was sort of like a super Wal-Mart, only not as big. The groceries were all downstairs and the goods upstairs. The book section included translations of The Da Vinci Code, Harry Potter books, and Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.
According to the sign on the building, this is the office of Greenland Publishers. I have no idea what they publish, but goes to show that you never know what you're gonna find! :)
The fish market. This was one of my favorite things about Nuuk. It was so gross with fish guts on the ground and bloody meat, but very, very interesting. The big white bins have fresh fish in them.
Inside the fish market. The fish market sold more than just fish. There was also reindeer and/or caribou meat for sale (you can see legs on the tables behind the fish), and whale or seal meat. This place was busy.
This is inside the big cultural center of Greenland. This building has two theaters for performing arts and the country's only movie theater - which is a single screen. I can't remember what was playing, but I think it was a family film. They had posters for coming attractions that were both American and European. We were in Nuuk on a Saturday, and the cultural center was a the heart of the shopping area. As in every other part of the world, Saturday is the day when people in Nuuk do their shopping. Also, since the weather was cold but gorgeous, it seemed like the entire town was outside walking about taking care of their chores or just enjoying the sunshine. We went into about three shops. All of them carry a mish-mash of goods. One carried gardening supplies, chocolate truffles, jewelry, yarn, seal skins, and fox pelts. We were also in a grocery store that was sort of like a super Wal-Mart, only not as big. The groceries were all downstairs and the goods upstairs. The book section included translations of The Da Vinci Code, Harry Potter books, and Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.
According to the sign on the building, this is the office of Greenland Publishers. I have no idea what they publish, but goes to show that you never know what you're gonna find! :)
The fish market. This was one of my favorite things about Nuuk. It was so gross with fish guts on the ground and bloody meat, but very, very interesting. The big white bins have fresh fish in them.
Inside the fish market. The fish market sold more than just fish. There was also reindeer and/or caribou meat for sale (you can see legs on the tables behind the fish), and whale or seal meat. This place was busy.
Proof of Greenland, Part 5
More from Prince Christians Sound and Nuuk.
Crazy dad in the jacuzzi. Mom and I didn't let him stay in too long because he was turning bright lobster red.
The weather had turned by the time we were coming out of the pass back into the Atlantic. It was extremely windy and even my stocking cap was in danger of being plucked from my head. It also suddenly sleeted - or very small hail - when we were on deck during this photo. We exited the pass around noon and continued up the west coast of Greenland to Nuuk, where we woke up the next morning.
Nuuk, Greenland. Capital city. Population approx. 20,000. I think boats outnumberd cars in this town. We were dropped off on the other side of town than the ship in the "old town" part. It was a very walkable, small place, so we also ventured into the new part where the shopping centers were. More on that with another picture. Mom and I are the two figures to the right of the flagpole.
Mom and I looking out at the other harbor of Nuuk. The old town is behind us. Most of the buildings in Nuuk were very brightly painted. Almost everything was very well maintained, too. On our way up to this hill, we passed some locals who were sitting at a picnic table. They asked mom where we were from and so forth. The people in Nuuk seemed very friendly and glad to have us visiting. Later, when we were back on ship, I saw boats pulling up along side our ship yelling up to the people asking where the ship was from, where we'd been, and where we're going. Very curious people who I don't think see many international visitors.
Crazy dad in the jacuzzi. Mom and I didn't let him stay in too long because he was turning bright lobster red.
The weather had turned by the time we were coming out of the pass back into the Atlantic. It was extremely windy and even my stocking cap was in danger of being plucked from my head. It also suddenly sleeted - or very small hail - when we were on deck during this photo. We exited the pass around noon and continued up the west coast of Greenland to Nuuk, where we woke up the next morning.
Nuuk, Greenland. Capital city. Population approx. 20,000. I think boats outnumberd cars in this town. We were dropped off on the other side of town than the ship in the "old town" part. It was a very walkable, small place, so we also ventured into the new part where the shopping centers were. More on that with another picture. Mom and I are the two figures to the right of the flagpole.
Mom and I looking out at the other harbor of Nuuk. The old town is behind us. Most of the buildings in Nuuk were very brightly painted. Almost everything was very well maintained, too. On our way up to this hill, we passed some locals who were sitting at a picnic table. They asked mom where we were from and so forth. The people in Nuuk seemed very friendly and glad to have us visiting. Later, when we were back on ship, I saw boats pulling up along side our ship yelling up to the people asking where the ship was from, where we'd been, and where we're going. Very curious people who I don't think see many international visitors.
Proof of Greenland, Part 4
After a day at sea, we entered Prince Christians Sound. The sound is at the very tippy tip of Greenland. We sailed through this narrow passage for about four hours. It was chock full of icebergs, several glaciers, towering ragged snow-dusted mountains, and the most remote village I've ever seen. Again, we had excellent weather but it was cold. Very cold. Dad called and woke me up at dawn. I literally rolled out of bed, threw on clothes and my hat and met him up on the bridge for the best view in town. We spent quite a bit of time up on the bridge until our bellies demanded some food. We spent the rest of the pass up on deck in the cold because it was just too beautiful to see from behind glass. I've picked out what I think are some of the highlights from this, but it will probably spill over into two posts.
Me out on the starboard wing of the bridge with a big iceberg. The icebergs were plentiful. Most were smaller than this one. All of them were brilliant white from a distance, but when you got right up to them, they were actually very light blue-turquoise. They also changed shape. From a distance it was impossible to tell that this one was horseshoe shaped. They are very deceiving. I think this picture was taken between 6-7AM.
Mom and me after eating some breakfast. The pass opened up about midway. As you can see, it was a beautiful morning but cold.
Can you see the village behind the rock at the foot of this mountain? We actually saw a single person in a zodiac quite away from this village earlier in the morning, and presume this is the only place he could have come from. I looked at this village through binoculars, and saw that many people were standing outside their homes watching us. I couldn't imagine living here where the only way in or out is by boat or seaplane.
Oooh, pretty.
Me out on the starboard wing of the bridge with a big iceberg. The icebergs were plentiful. Most were smaller than this one. All of them were brilliant white from a distance, but when you got right up to them, they were actually very light blue-turquoise. They also changed shape. From a distance it was impossible to tell that this one was horseshoe shaped. They are very deceiving. I think this picture was taken between 6-7AM.
Mom and me after eating some breakfast. The pass opened up about midway. As you can see, it was a beautiful morning but cold.
Can you see the village behind the rock at the foot of this mountain? We actually saw a single person in a zodiac quite away from this village earlier in the morning, and presume this is the only place he could have come from. I looked at this village through binoculars, and saw that many people were standing outside their homes watching us. I couldn't imagine living here where the only way in or out is by boat or seaplane.
Oooh, pretty.
Proof of Greenland, Part 3B
More from Iceland.
This is at a national park where the two continental plates are splitting apart. The cliff on the left side of the picture is the European plate. This spot was also used by the Vikings as a meeting ground for governmental purposes.
Between the plates is a valley. This is the land that is actually widening and sinking as the plates move apart. As you can see, there are no trees. After we left Scotland, we visited countries with no natural trees. Any trees in the Faeroes, Iceland, and Greenland have been planted. Our guide in Iceland told us two jokes about Icelandic forests. Wanna hear them? Okay. Joke #1: What do you call two trees standing together in Iceland? A forest! Joke #2, which isn't much better than joke #1: What do you do if you're lost in an Icelandic forest? Stand up! (The trees that are in Iceland aren't very big.)
It may be hard to see in this picture, but if you look carefully, you can see the American plate in the background. It's the dark streak on the distant hills.
This is at a national park where the two continental plates are splitting apart. The cliff on the left side of the picture is the European plate. This spot was also used by the Vikings as a meeting ground for governmental purposes.
Between the plates is a valley. This is the land that is actually widening and sinking as the plates move apart. As you can see, there are no trees. After we left Scotland, we visited countries with no natural trees. Any trees in the Faeroes, Iceland, and Greenland have been planted. Our guide in Iceland told us two jokes about Icelandic forests. Wanna hear them? Okay. Joke #1: What do you call two trees standing together in Iceland? A forest! Joke #2, which isn't much better than joke #1: What do you do if you're lost in an Icelandic forest? Stand up! (The trees that are in Iceland aren't very big.)
It may be hard to see in this picture, but if you look carefully, you can see the American plate in the background. It's the dark streak on the distant hills.
Proof of Greenland, Part 3
These are all photos from our Iceland leg.
Pretty scenery as we sailed into Reykjavic in the early morning hours.
Mom and me at the top of the world overlooking Reykjavic in one direction and Icelandic landscape the other. Notice the low clouds behind us.
This is how we got to the top of the world. We were part of a three vehicle tour and we rode in this jacked up Ford Excursion. Our tour guide, named Gummi - see the license plate? - had this shipped over from a dealer in Norfolk, Viriginia. Mom and I are inside the truck and I'm waving.
One of the power plants that converts the geothermal energy into electricity. This engineering was very impressive. The entire country has a network of giant steam pipes that run to and from these powerplants to homes & businesses. Almost, but not all, of the homes in Iceland get their heat and power from geothermal sources.
This is me at an overlook with several thermal vents behind me. You can also see some of the steam pipes going up the mountain.
Pretty scenery as we sailed into Reykjavic in the early morning hours.
Mom and me at the top of the world overlooking Reykjavic in one direction and Icelandic landscape the other. Notice the low clouds behind us.
This is how we got to the top of the world. We were part of a three vehicle tour and we rode in this jacked up Ford Excursion. Our tour guide, named Gummi - see the license plate? - had this shipped over from a dealer in Norfolk, Viriginia. Mom and I are inside the truck and I'm waving.
One of the power plants that converts the geothermal energy into electricity. This engineering was very impressive. The entire country has a network of giant steam pipes that run to and from these powerplants to homes & businesses. Almost, but not all, of the homes in Iceland get their heat and power from geothermal sources.
This is me at an overlook with several thermal vents behind me. You can also see some of the steam pipes going up the mountain.
Proof of Greenland, Part 2
More pictures! These are all from the Faeroe Islands.
This is one of many historic black churches through the Faeroes. They are all teeny, black painted, have the grass on the roof. Our guide is the blond woman opening the door. As you can see from the other people in the picture, mom, dad, and I were some of the younger people on the cruise.
The Faeroe Islands are a volcanic island group, like Hawaii. I actually thought the islands looked like Hawaii but without the trees & tropical vegetation. The islands have many, many streams/waterfalls like this one. We have stopped at a "farm" that really consists of a few buildings. These two small buildings are smokehouses. We were told by our guide that the islands get rain almost all year round but we were lucky to have arrived on one of the few sunny days.
If you look up "bleak" in the dictionary, I believe this is the photo that accompanies the definition. Very pretty but so isolated. It was wind and cold on this side of the island.
Here is our ship behind the capital city of Torshavn. Our tour was in the afternoon, so that morning, we walked around the city.
This is one of many historic black churches through the Faeroes. They are all teeny, black painted, have the grass on the roof. Our guide is the blond woman opening the door. As you can see from the other people in the picture, mom, dad, and I were some of the younger people on the cruise.
The Faeroe Islands are a volcanic island group, like Hawaii. I actually thought the islands looked like Hawaii but without the trees & tropical vegetation. The islands have many, many streams/waterfalls like this one. We have stopped at a "farm" that really consists of a few buildings. These two small buildings are smokehouses. We were told by our guide that the islands get rain almost all year round but we were lucky to have arrived on one of the few sunny days.
If you look up "bleak" in the dictionary, I believe this is the photo that accompanies the definition. Very pretty but so isolated. It was wind and cold on this side of the island.
Here is our ship behind the capital city of Torshavn. Our tour was in the afternoon, so that morning, we walked around the city.
Finally, proof of Greenland
Howdy folks. In case you've given up on this blog getting updated, I disappoint you by posting some pictures from my vacation. Since blogger only lets me post a few pics at a time, I'll spread these out in several posts. I'll cover Scotland in this post. Grab your passports, let's get started.
Day 1. Me at Edinburgh Castle's port cullis before the rain started. We actually had pretty good weather the entire vacation. We only had rain in Edinburgh, a little at sea, and in NY. Those cobblestones I'm standing on are original and date back to Robert the Bruce's day, which I think was about the 12th century.
Day 2. This is the ruins of Castle Urquardt (sp?) on Loch Ness. You can't see us, but Mom and I are at the top of the tower. It was very windy.
The castle, Loch Ness, et moi. Can you believe some guy blew up the castle on purpose just so no one else could steal it from him?
Day 2, continued. My Scottish friends. These are the native Highland cows. Obviously, I dig their hairdos.
Day 1. Me at Edinburgh Castle's port cullis before the rain started. We actually had pretty good weather the entire vacation. We only had rain in Edinburgh, a little at sea, and in NY. Those cobblestones I'm standing on are original and date back to Robert the Bruce's day, which I think was about the 12th century.
Day 2. This is the ruins of Castle Urquardt (sp?) on Loch Ness. You can't see us, but Mom and I are at the top of the tower. It was very windy.
The castle, Loch Ness, et moi. Can you believe some guy blew up the castle on purpose just so no one else could steal it from him?
Day 2, continued. My Scottish friends. These are the native Highland cows. Obviously, I dig their hairdos.
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