Not too bad. Two checked bags and my carry on for a total of 23 days! \240I'll tell you about my trip to England after the cruise later

Big storm approaching Miami Beach- as it does most evenings. I love looking out at the bay and watching the yachts and fishing boats. I spend most afternoons at the beach reading and drinking frozen margaritas 😳😁

I'll continue from Copenhagen. Please feel free to delete the emails. No quiz will be given. \240It's a fun way to document my trip and have my photos in one place. \240 Much love. Stay safe and healthy.

So, after 30 minutes at the baggage center we decided get heck out of there. Cynthia said let's make one more pass by baggage carousel 6 before leaving. Thinking that was a waste of time I agreed. Low and behold there was my bag looping around the carousel! \240I have never been so happy to see a suitcase 🧳!

Hallelujah. I still haven't let them know that I got my bag. Let them search for a while. But our drama wasn't over. We got a cab quick enough but he only spoke danish. He also ripped us off driving miles out of our way. To make along story shorter (after many phone calls back and forth to the concierge) the cabbie unceremoniously dropped us and our bags on a street corner 30 minutes from our hotel! In the rain!

Cynthia trying to keep a smile on her face in light of our dilemma.

Well, our wonderful hotel, The D'ANGLETERRE, said they would send a couple of bellmen with carts to rescue us. Wow, what a relief 😅 William and Mikey arrived via the subway about 20 minutes later. They loaded up our bags, guided us back through the subways all the way back to the hotel. The entire city center was closed to traffic but if the cab driver had known what he was doing we could have been dropped within a 5 minute walk of our hotel.

William, my hero! Adorable.

Mikey, short for Michael Angelo. No kidding, gorgeous. Look at that guy checking him out!

We made it! \240After tipping the boys heavily for rescuing 2 old bats in distress we headed into the hotel bar for a much deserved cocktail! We landed at 11:30am and it was now 3:30pm.

Once we had calmed down we started to appreciate the excitement in the city for the Tour de France time trials going on right outside the hotel doors!

Pouring rain!

From my hotel room window. The crowds were wild as each cyclist came in!

So after a good hot shower and change of clothes it was back to the bar to meet up with a few of Cynthia's friends that just happened to also be in Copenhagen. Such fun. Should have taken a picture. At 7 the gang left for a local restaurant and I remained to wait for Pam and Ed Bliss's arrival. Fortunately, their bags weren't as slow and their driver didn't leave them stranded so they had an uneventful trip in. However, my adventures weren't quite over for the day. Oh no. As I sat in the bar waiting for Pam to come meet me this extremely drunk man plopped down in the seat across from me.....

And promptly fell fast asleep!

It was kinda hysterical, not really a big deal. When Pam came down I mentioned to the bartender that I had know idea who this guy was. He thought he was with me!! Horrors. Anyway he tried to get him up but eventually called security. As they lifted him up he knocked over my glass of wine directly into my lap soaking my pants and my only nice black jacket I brought on this trip!

That's it.... I give up. Time for bed. Hoping for a better day tomorrow

Xoxo

Four of Cynthia's friends just happened to be in Copenhagen this week so we had some fun times with them. One of our excursions was a 2 hour canal trip. Very informative.

Cocktails pre dinner.

We spent Sunday morning walking around Tivoli Gardens. Really amazing landscaping and old fashion carnival atmosphere. Very pleasant.

Some of my better photography skills!

We ended our visit with lunch at an authentic danish bistro. Cynthia went for the exotic sampler plate with herring and other unidentifiable things. Pam B and I stuck with potato and bacon soup. Delicious 😋

On Monday we did a tour of Rosenberg castle. Quite interesting but a bit gloomy in my opinion.

I think Ed had the right idea by finding a quiet bench in the garden rather than taking the tour.

Yesterday afternoon Pam, Cynthia and I hiked a couple miles around the canals to go the the Freetown of Christiania. Founded in 1971 as a anarchist district. We were expecting a super hippie community with lots of tie dye shirts and flowing hippie dresses but alas it was extremely run down and kinda dirty commune. We did manage to find a good chicken sandwich. The community of 900 has lots of unofficial rules one of which is do not take pictures thus no pictures except of us eating lunch at cafe Nemo.

Well we just had our PCR Covid tests done and will soon be boarding the Silver Moon. After a day at sea our first port of call is Bergen, Norway.

More soon.

For you George! I found the perfect boat for you. The Captain Hook 😁

Look at that yurt 🛖. Hysterical

I almost fainted when the the tech said he was terribly sorry to say I was positive!! \240WTF 😳. I literally had to sit down to keep from passing out. We were all in total disbelief. I was feeling fabulous. No symptoms at all. The tech checked the machine to make sure it was working properly and to determine my viral numbers. You are positive if you show a score of under 3600. I was at 3450. That meant that I was at the very tail end of the contagion. The tech said I would probably test negative the next day but that wasn't an option. That would mean I would miss the first 2 days on the ship and have to fly up to Bergen Norway. He agreed to retest me in 4 hours.

I went back and this time I requested an antigen test instead of a PCR test (which we should have all done in the first place) The ship would accept either. Well, just like my lost bag miraculously showing up at the airport, this second test came out negative and all was right with the world. Hallelujah!

We were all ecstatic and had much to celebrate on boarding our beautiful ship. I guess I'll never know if I really had Covid or if it was just a false positive. I certainly wasn't sick 🤒

A few shots below of my great suite, with walk in closet and large bathroom.

Today was a full day at sea! \240It started out sunny (at 4am) but is very miserable out there now.

We went to our first lecture on Viking culture. Off to a great start.

More soon!

The captain said he would take a scenic route to our next destination, Olden, \240and stay in the fjords as much as possible. We will have to be out to open seas for a couple hours and the 10 to 15 foot swells still persist. So, more dramamine for me.

Backing up a bit. 1st port of call after leaving Copenhagen was Bergen, Norway's second largest city. Population about 250,000. The entire country is only 5 million. Norway is one of the richest countries in the world due to oil and natural gas resources. \240But more on that later.

Bow of the Silver Moon.

Bergen is a charming town. We are heading out to take a coach and walking tour of some of Bergen's best sights. Bergen has burned to the ground dozens of times over the centuries (all wood construction) the last time in 1955 when they finally banned any wood construction... duh 🙄

First stop was a stavkirke church, an elaborately carved pine church that is \240entirely covered in tar, for fire and weather protection. The thick tar on the pine creates a stunning finish.

The interior is all beautiful pine.

Can't resist adding this hysterical picture of Pam and Cynthia- an optical illusion of the finest order 😁

Ed stayed on board this morning but us ladies had a lovely day.

Norway is on the same latitude as Siberia but due to the fact that the Gulf of Mexico waters that pass up the coastline it is a moderate climate with mild weather on the coastal towns. Very little snow in the winter. Like the temporate rainforests in Alaska it is lusciously green with mosses and ferns. It would be an ideal place to live If it weren’t for the 18 hours a day of darkness in the winter.

Next stop was the home of Norway's most famous composer, Edvard Grieg. Think "To Spring"... you know it! Amazing spot that would inspire anyone to be creative.

This was his composers hut on the lake.

Anyone know this bird? It was a baby, still little baby feathers on legs, but the size of a chicken. It looked totally lost and confused 😐

Back on board after a very full day of sightseeing we all enjoyed a delicious hot stone meal by the pool. Bibs required for the splatter.

After a rocky night of sailing to Flam we had a perfect day for our excursion to Gudvangen on a smaller vessel. We did an arm of the Sognefjord that was over 4000 feet deep!

Small village of Flam in the background.

Pam and I are raring to go! BTW, we were informed by our captain last night that 4 crew and 2 guests have tested positive for Covid. Masks required in all enclosed spaces like the tour buses, tenders but not on ship...... yet

Pam and Ed enjoying our cool but fine weather.

Good shot of our ship as we pull away from Flam in the tour boat. We agree it's the nicest we have seen on the waters.

All along the 2 hour trip we passed dozens of pristine villages like this one.

Hundreds of stunning waterfalls along the way.

Weather was starting to change as we approached Gudvagen.

We then boarded coaches to take us back to Flam, Pam, Ed and Cynthia missed our bus because they were eating Norwegian pastries 🙄 and didn't notice the cafe had cleared out. They had to take the second bus back.😆

A couple of photo ops along the way.

On my coach we had an excellent guide who talked climate change and politics of Norway all the way back. I will include the highlights in next Journo as this one has gotten way to long.

Pam and Cynthia took a train ride through the mountains after we got back but I opted to shop for sweaters since I packed for Miami instead of Norway. Dumb.

We had a fabulous dinner at Kaseki, the ship's wonderful Japanese restaurant. Cynthia has lost her designation as trip photographer after taking this horrible shot of me!!!

Bad news from the captain. We now have 7 passengers and 4 crew with Covid 😳.

More soon.

After smooth cruising overnight, we arrived at our next destination, Olden. Yet another spectacular village at the base of Norways lowest glacier.

Cynthia went to challenge herself with a kayaking trip while Pam, Ed and I took the coach ride to Briksal glacier.

Cynthia… always looking for adventure!

Along the drive to the glacier. \240BTW - Norways glaciers are melting at a horrifying speed. Our guide thinks his new grand babies will only be able to see them in picture books. Not to mention what all that melting ice and rising waters will do to all these picturesque villages. We are such idiots.

After arriving at the base of the glacier we all piled into “Troll Cars” otherwise known as John Deer ATV’s and took a 15 minute ride to the trail leading to the glacier.

It was a strenuous 2 mile hike up the trail to get a close view of the ice. \240Little video below taken on arrival. Just 5 years ago the ice came all the way down to the rocky shore of this lake.

After the trek back down to our tour buses the guides had a lovely set up for us with 20 different kinds of homemade cakes and coffee. \240Much appreciated.

At 6pm our ship pulled off from Olden for the start of our 36 hour sail to Kristiansand. \240What a great experience - what a grand country.

A few facts that I have learned about Norway, if anyone interested. \240I certainly had no idea!

-Norway is the 2nd richest country in the world (after only Luxembourg) due to it’s vast oil and natural gas reserves. \240Only discovered in the 70’s, it transformed this nation from a poor fishing and farming country to a seriously rich one by mid 80’s. They wisely decided to not privatize the rights and made the leasing of the oil rights a state controlled enterprise. \240They invested these money wisely in stocks and real estate throughout the world.. and man has it paid off.

-in 1986 they voted in the national pension plan and national healthcare system. \240All education, kindergarten \240through university is 100% free. Average income is about $300K per year. Every employed person is guaranteed 5 weeks paid vacation (6 weeks after you are 60 - they call it the senile week) plus a small amount is deducted from your check every week (mandatory) so that when you take your vacation they give you all that money back in a lump sum so you can enjoy your holiday! Brilliant! \240A guide the other day told me that an American said that it all sounded like communism to him. \240The guide said he told him he could call it what he liked but it worked very well for the people of Norway indeed!

-95% of Norwegians own their home or apartments. \240It is more expensive to rent than to get a bank loan for a property.

-during 24 months of COVID, while Norway was completely closed to the world, the government subsidized every business and employee for the full amount of their annual income.

-many of the smaller villages farther up the western coast will give individuals and young couples free land and subsidize the building of a house so that the populations in these rural communities remains stable or even grow slightly. \240They have a strong satellite internet system in even the most remote areas so it makes it easy to work from home anywhere!

I could go on and on. The Norwegians seem very very happy with their government and lifestyle. Everyone flies the Norwegian flag. A breath of fresh air for an American for sure. \240However, remember that Norway has a population of only 5 million. They are also living in darkness 18 hours a day for about 6 months of the year!

Our next day is spent at sea. This is the pool area where we optimisticly hoped for sun!

A mimosa, a couple of blankets and my book. Happy as a clam.

Every afternoon at 4:45 we meet to play a trivia quiz with the cruise director. \240It is really fun and gets competitive with some of the other groups of guests on the ship. \240You get point cards if you are in the top 3 with most correct answers. We are pretty darn good.

Sunrise as we enter our next harbor at Kristiansand.

Cynthia went river rafting, Pam and Ed went sailing around the dozens of small islands and I took the guided tour of a smaller town called Lilliansand.

Cynthia is that little head in the middle.

Ed finds a buddy.

Lilliansand was a lovely old harbor where sail boats from around the world come in the summer months.

Tonight we dined at our favorite restaurant, La Dame. Exceptional French food. \240Dress code applies and Ed was chastised for not having a tie when we ate there last. \240This time he cleverly created a stunning bolo tie from a couple of sets of ear plugs! \240Went over well.

I think Cynthia is trying to make up for her horrible photo of me!

Onward to Oslo tonight and our last 3 days on the Silver Moon.

Xoxo

Cynthia with the great explorer!

On Thursday morning Pam, Ed and Cynthia (not sure why I wasn’t on the same excursion) did the best of Oslo tour and enjoyed Museum Island and Folk Museum. \240Sorry I missed it. Some phots below.

All the statues were done by the same sculptor, Gustav Vigeland, \240over the course of his life.

I was supposed to be on the Oslo Opera house tour but canceled and just walked around the city on my own for a couple hours. spectacular.

The opera house and Munch museum.

It was finally warm enough to sit outside for cocktails!

Glass sculpture of a sailboat was better in person than this picture..

All along the waterfront there were these small sauna huts for rent. You sweat than dive in the fjord. Hmmmm, I think not.

Pam and Ed at the sculpture museum.

Main Street Oslo

Our ship departed Oslo for our last overnight trip back to Copenhagen. \240We went to the ships final night extravaganza (really quite talented team of singers and musicians). It was super entertaining and we couldn’t believe that our cruise director/trivia master could play the coronet!

Friday morning, July 15th. \240Sadly, our cruise is over. Cynthia and I say adiós to Pam & Ed. \240What an amazing trip with amazing special friends. \240So many great memories made.

I loved the Norwegian cities and countryside. \240I am more than impressed with how they have developed their democracy with intelligence and empathy for each person. Bravo Norway.

Saturday, July 16th. Cynthia and I spent the night in Copenhagen and leave early for our flight to London. \240Another adventure as we visit Vic and Jen in Norfolk this week!

Beautiful \240Copenhagen at dawn.

Low tide.

We had dinner with Vic and Jen on Saturday evening and on Sunday we went to their house for an afternoon of relaxing under a 350 year old oak tree in their backyard and a scrumptious dinner served by Jen. \240Their daughter Jane and her husband Garrett were there and I didn’t take one stupid damn picture. Too bad.

When we returned to our hotel I received a text from Pam and Ed saying that they both just tested positive for Covid😱!. \240They were isolating in a hotel in Connecticut where they had gone to attend a family wedding! Horrors. Well since I had had a very bad sore throat for a couple days I assumed I was positive for covid too. \240Both Cyn and I had tested on Saturday morning and were negative. We retested Monday morning and were still negative. \240However, since I had some symptoms and felt very tired I decided to stay behind from Mondays planned activities. \240Terrified that i would expose Vic and Jen… although the horse had already left the barn since we had already been together for two days! \240Cynthia accompanied them on a full day of sightseeing. \240

I did get talked into going out to dinner with them at Vic’s insistence.

We were treated to this brilliant sunset at the crossroads in Wiverton where we dined.

Beautiful from our hotel too.

Tuesday will be a day I will NOT EVER \240forget. \240It was the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK..ever. \240Now, I have experienced 104 a million times in the states but never without acces to air conditioning! \240The hotel has no AC, the restaurants have no AC nor do the shops. \240Sweltering. \240We just stayed in all day, only leaving to go drink heavily in the bar for lunch and dinner. \240Sleeping was impossible last night. \240Climate change in all it’s glory. People are going to die in droves if this continues to plague these old towns that have never needed AC so have no relief from this heat. \240Fortunately, Wednesday dawned much cooler and we were able to get out to visit a few wonderful churches and of course, make our tea with the queen at Sandringham.

The painted angels on the ceiling were magnificent but the needlepoint kneeling pillows were my favorite.

One of these days I will master the art of the selfie!

Touring Sandringham is incredible. \240I can’t believe they allow you to wander through the downstairs living spaces that are actually used by the Royal family when they are in residence - from mid December to mid February. It feels very personal and endearing.

We are going for an Indian curry tonight in Holt. Tomorrow the high temperature should only be 60! \240Cynthia and I going to take a long walk on the marshes and get ourselves ready for our departure on Friday. Fish and chip dinner tomorrow! Yay.

I retested this afternoon since my sore throat persists but still negative. \240I feel good and my energy is up so I guess I dodged the bullet again… or maybe not. \240You can trust those test kits. \240We assume that most of our ship was positive by the time we docked back in Copenhagen since the captain stopped announcing the cases reported half way through our cruise. Of course no one was reporting or testing because they didn’t want to get isolated in their cabins! \240Everyone survived so really, what’s the big deal by this point!

So adios my friends till my next Journo adventure, yet to be decided. \240This was one of the best trips ever and I look forward to trying to top it.

❌⭕️❌

Parting shot of 2 local Norfolkians crabbing on the dock!🙂