Troldhaugen, Bergen

Tags

Bergen, cruise, Grieg, Music, Norway, ship, Stave Church, troldhaugen

The visit during our cruise of the Western Coast of Norway that made the greatest impression on me was to the home of composer Edvard Grieg and his wife Nina.

Troldhaugen is a suburb of Bergen, the hill on which the house stand was named by Grieg and it means in Old Norse, Knoll of the Troll. I would say a well to do neighbourhood with expensive homes surrounded by forests and lakes. When the house was built it was by the standard of the time an expensive house. It is wonderful to see how well preserve it is and gives the impression that the owners have just stepped away for a few minutes.

as you walk towards the house you will see this grassy mound which in fact is the roof of the small concert hall, said to be one of the best in Europe for acoustics.

Here is an old photo taken from a framed photo inside the house. It shows a gathering at the front of the house with Grieg in the middle, he is the little man in the light suit. He was about 1.5 meter talls and had one lung. He died at 61 from respiratory complications.

The house has remained as it was when Grieg and his wife Nina lived there. After his death in 1907 she moved to Denmark but the house remained in the family and both of them are buried in a rock face below the cliff by the lake.  The house became a Museum in 1928 while Nina was still alive. The house built by Grieg’s cousin Schak Bull had no electricity nor indoor plumbing. Also on the property just a few steps away is the composing chalet where Grieg worked, a simple hut really with a work table and a piano with a beautiful view of the lake.

the house toilet or out house, also preserved.

Here is Grieg in a dark coat on the walk towards the house with playwright Henrik Ibsen, today you can stand on the same spot nothing has changed.

Grieg’s piano a gift from admiring fans brought into the house one morning as a surprise, notice how the legs are short, made so to accommodate Grieg’s short stature. A beautiful instrument still in perfect working order. The house is all wood, plain wood floors, walls etc, rustic and charming.

The view from the living room of lake Nordasvannet and surrounding area.

The composer’s hut at the bottom of a short flight of stairs. It is not open to the public being quite small, but you can look through the door window.

His working table the piano not seen here is to the left of the desk.

inside the concert hall, with the window looking unto the composer’s hut and the lake. We had a wonderful concert with pianist Rune Alver who played Morgenstemning from Peer Gynt, Rigaudon from Holberg Suite, Rotnamsknut from Norwegian Peasant dances, and selected Lyric pieces that Nina Grieg, soprano would sing at recital with Grieg accompanying her on the piano. It was quite beautiful and evocative.

We walked down to the Lake to visit the tomb of Grieg and Nina, a very peaceful place.

Though you come down and it is indicated, it is somewhat hidden from view. On the funeral stele his inscribed simply Edvard and Nina.

During our visit to Bergen we also visited an old church which had to be extensively renovated and rebuilt.

The old stave church at Fantoft, originally built in Fortun in Sogn in 1150 and moved to Fantoft in 1883, burnt down on 6 June 1992. Fantoft Stave Church has been rebuilt exactly as it was before the fire.

 

The church was originally built in Fortun in Sogn, a village near inner or eastern end of Sognefjord around the year 1150. In the 19th century the church was threatened by demolition, as were hundreds of other stave churches in Norway. The church was bought by consul Fredrik Georg Gade and saved by moving it in pieces to Fantoft near (now in) Bergen in 1883. Outside the church stands a stone cross from Tjora in Sola.

On 6 June 1992, the church was destroyed by arson; the first in a string of church burnings by members of the early Norwegian black metal scene. At first, the fire was thought to have been caused by lightning or an electrical failure. In 1994, Varg Vikernes of the one-man band Burzum was found guilty of murder and of burning Åsane Church and Storetveit Church in Bergen, the burning of Skjold Church in Vindafjord, and the burning of Holmenkollen Chapel in Oslo. He was also charged with the burning of Fantoft stave church.

After the fire, re-building was soon begun and was finished in 1997.

 

It is an all wood construction and the roof is covered with tar to repel the water.

The quality of the photos I took inside are not very good due to the very poor light, the little church has no electricity and no windows. The day light comes in from the open door. It is quite beautiful and gives an insight in early Christianity in Norway in the age of Vikings.

 

The Church stands in a forested grove.

 

First Fjord

Tags

cruise, Eidfjord, Food, Norway, Pinnacle grill, Sea, ship, voyage

We arrived in Eidfjord around 7am, this means we enter the Fjord and sail down about 58 Km. stopping in this little village of Eidfjord. A very quiet place, surrounded by very high mountains, our guide said 7000 feet and the depth of the water is about 800 feet. All of it created thousands of years ago by the retreating ice shield that covered the Earth.

This picture gives you an idea of the size and how rugged the mountains are. With our ship docked.

Now what I did not know was how important Trolls are in Norwegian culture and mythical history. They are everywhere, they are nasty and smelly and under 4 feet, Evil little creatures. They mostly have jobs with Facebook now or on social media.

Eidfjord, 956 pop, is a place for camping, kayaking, hiking and bicycling. Perfect in the Summer for families and located within an National Park, with great scenic views. If you have time you can visit Hardangervidda (mountain plateau) the Hardangerjokulen glacier, and other sights in the area, which would require at least 2 days. We had only 8 hours and the weather was not cooperating. On the day we visited, it was cold, rainy and damp. I did a little walk around in this very quiet village, only saw a dog looking at me through a living room window. The house are pretty and everything is neat, no troll in sight except for this one, made of wood.

I returned to the ship, and was looking forward to our return to the sea where we could admire on our way out the panorama of the Fjord and its many waterfalls.

The  Hardanger Bridge, longer than the Golden Gate bridge by 20 meters, we passed under it with a clearance of just 2 meters.

During our travel through Norway we heard a lot from the Norwegians about climate change and how very concerned they are about the warming of the climate, which has melted the glaciers, you can still see them but they are now remote at high altitude. Norway has around 60% electric car fleet  and hope that by 2023 it will be 100% as no fossil fuel cars will be sold in the country. The incentives to buy an electric car in Norway are generous, no tax on purchase, free parking everywhere, no cost on recharging your battery which take minutes, no toll on roads, tunnels or bridges. Given that gas is $7 a litre + 35% tax, you do the math easy to see why it is a good deal to buy electric. But there are also other measures I noticed in the grocery store, no plastic wrapping, lots of recycling everywhere, it is all very progressive.

Dinner in one of the specialty restaurant Pinnacle Grill, very nice menu, beef is the main item.

 

 

To Norway

Tags

champagne, cruise, dining, Holland, North Sea, Norway, ship

We boarded our ship in Amsterdam at the Zouthaven Passenger Terminal  next door to the Centraal Train Station.

We were scheduled to visit the Fjords, Eidfjord, Alesund, Geiranger and the city of Bergen. First we sailed up into the North Sea passing Germany and Denmark it takes about 14 hours to do this. We left at 5PM and for the first hour we slowly made our way in the Canal that brought us to the great gate and lock which we have to cross in order for the ship to be lifted up the Sea Level, you understand why it is called the Low Countries, The Netherlands is under the sea level. The scenery as we cruise slowly along the canal to the Sea is heavy industry, shipping and cargo, The Netherlands is a trading nation with a long history of naval commerce from around the world.

Photo taken from our Stateroom at the front of the ship, here it is the gate and lock we will enter it and be lifted up and then continue into the North Sea just in front of us (top of photo) making a right turn to go North.

Our speed was depending on the winds (gale) and height of the waves between 9 to 15 Knots.

We had lunch by the pool area where they have a pizza and bar, you can also get a burger or hotdog and fries. It was a more quiet area than the Lido Market which was mostly a zoo with far too many people. At night the double tier dining room and the specialty restaurants.

So we enjoyed our pizza which was very good with a bottle of champagne of course.

The large pool and triple jacuzzi area was covered by a retractable roof which opens on sunny days. There is another pool at the rear of the ship.

The North Sea

This area of the ship on the 14 deck was called the retreat and was very nice and private.

The blue arrow indicates our location as we make our way North. A nice beginning to our trip.

 

 

Sea Cruise

Tags

cruise, sail, Ships

We have been on vacations taking a cruises for about 20 years now. We took cruises with Azamara, Holland America and Star Clippers . Will travelled on his own on Crystal Symphony. We loved each cruise and have wonderful memories of them with the exception of the Cunard, Queen Mary II (Carnival owned) crossing of the Atlantic which is not what is advertized, never again.

Our most memorable was Star Clipper around the Greek Islands and the Anatolian Coast.

A sail ship is something completely apart from any other cruise ship, there is a certain magic when the wind blows into the sails and the ship glides over the water.

Star Clipper 

Azamara also is a favourite of ours, they offer quality, distinction and very good cruise packages.

Yesterday we looked on YouTube a promotional video about all the new ships coming into service in 2019 and 2020. They all claim to be super luxurious, starting at 4500 passengers to upwards of 6500 passengers.

When we book a cruise our rule of thumb is less than 2500 passengers per ship is best. Usually around 1300 passengers on board is very pleasant. We are going on a cruise in September to Norway starting in Amsterdam on a very new ship, the Holland America, Nieuw Statendam.

The  new ship 2019-2020 video on YouTube was quite hilarious, companies like MSC who has had several accidents and mishaps in the last 10 years and Carnival are into gigantic ships with activities like rock face climbing, GoKart racing, a trampoline above the water on a moving ship, a glass walkway again above the water some 14 decks up in the air, daring water slide which gets you to slide yet again way up and over the ship’s side, it is all about thrills, chills and spills. On the new Carnival ship restaurant’s are franchises of known brands. Do you really need 17 restaurants on board?  As one commentator wrote; imagine an accident on a ship with 6000 people on 14 decks, it would make the Titanic look like a row boat accident on a pond.

The new gimmick in 2019 is offering dining on your stateroom balcony for certain larger and more expensive stateroom. Other new ship offer duplex suites with large terrace/balcony like the new Enchanted Princess cruise ship with 1500 sq. feet of space to entertain your friends, this would mean that you boarded with a very large group of people, otherwise what to do with such a huge outdoor space. As for dining on your balcony, let me tell you that on a Ocean crossing voyage, it would be too cold and or windy to do so, also at night the waters are black it can be quite sinister. Even on an inland sea like the Mediterranean,  the ship’s speed and movement makes it far too windy. But it is all about marketing and selling a dream. These promo films have a manic sense that there is so much to do on board that you will not have time to think. Words like luxurious, finest amenities, attention to detail comes back all the time, again trying desperately to tell you that you are getting the best, but are you? There are quite a few YouTube Channels doing a pretty good job of giving you the facts for each cruise ship, number of passengers and staff and what to look for and what to be aware of.

Often in the promos it is not about relaxing and enjoying the trip, it’s about being excited 24/7 which can be exhausting. One new cruise ship that looks appealing coming in 2020 is Virgin’s Red Lady with 850 passengers, selling the idea of a private yacht cruise, no kids, all adults and just quiet time.

All this to say that you have to do your research before you book a cruise and read various comments on what people liked and disliked. There are enough cruise companies to choose from and remember that the well priced cruises, those that offer a good drink/wine package, Free Internet, low service fees are the best ones. If a cruise is cheap look for the additional cost not mentioned, recently Norwegian which is now owned by a large Indonesian company offered reasonable cruise prices, however once paid in full usually within 30 days of booking it is non refundable, the daily service charge was several hundred dollars and the wine package price required that you drink at least 2 bottles of wine per person each day, this did not include any cocktails you might have during the day, something almost impossible to do if you want to remain sober.

For us so far in our cruises Azamara, Star Clipper, Holland America was the best choices overall.

 

The last week

Tags

Canada., Charlottetown, cruise, Montreal, PEI, Ships

We are having a beautiful Fall Season with temperatures well above normal. I heard this week that Winter in the Maritimes this year should be warmer than normal  and snow levels well below normal. Given that we have an Atlantic weather pattern this may mean more rain and fog and temperatures like those of Continental Europe in the 0 to +5 C. range, which is easy to take.

The cruise season is coming to an end this week on Friday. The Disney Ship is coming into port for the very first time and its arrival had been expected for some time. With the end of the cruise season usually most tourist related businesses close and quite a few have already closed. Some restaurants who cater usually to tourists will try remaining open until Xmas time. The whole idea now for some years has been to extend the tourism season to 9 months instead of the usual 4 months. In the long run many business owners would like to have a year round season with activities etc. But for this to happen we will need more direct flights to Charlottetown airport all year round. At the moment Halifax which is only 20 minutes away by air or 3 hours by car is an international hub, Montreal and Toronto are the other two major airports but in Winter flights to those two cities are cut down severely which creates a problem for our growing population and our link to the rest of the planet.

The cruise liner leaving as seen from the park behind our house.

Talking of which, PEI has now reached a total population of 152,000 people, with 49% of the entire population of the Island living in the greater Metropolitan area of Charlottetown, this according to statistics recently published. I had no idea I lived in what can be described as a Metro City area. Our population is still a majority of over +55 years old and growing. But then again in Canada the population is aging rapidly despite high level of immigration, which it turns out is not the solution to the aging demographic.

No 2 West street is for sale at $1.2 million, it is a Georgian style house and property on the water.

View from West street, Fanningbank the Official Residence of the Lieutenant Governor since 1834.

The City last night was very quiet, no cars in the street and almost no one about. It is a luxury to have this sort of quiet. The cold I had all last week is finally over, a lot of coughing, lack of sleep and discomfort.

I am also attending this Fall, courses at the Seniors College which is a program offered by Holland College. One course is on French painting in the period of 1830 to 1871, a troubled period in France and in Europe marked by emerging social movements due to the transformation of society in general with the industrial revolution. France is going through one Royalist regime to another and finally a return of the imperial regime with Napoleon III the nephew of the great Napoleon. How does painting and painters express themselves in this age.

Here the cruise ship turns to exit the harbour and enter the Strait before turning Westward.

The other course is given by the Head of the History dept at the University of PEI. Dr Ed MacDonald gives superb lectures and they are highly informative and entertaining. There is a lot of history to PEI and its Capital Charlottetown founded in 1765 by the British.  The old city is drawn like a Roman Military Camp and it has kept to this day the original plan. There is a lot of history in Charlottetown, a lot more than I suspected, it is complex and there are many actors. If Charlottetown at one time in the history of Canada occupied the 11th rank in terms of large cities in our country with Confederation it has been pushed to the margins and is now around 130th in the ranking. In 1867 with Ottawa as the new Capital of the Dominion everything shifts from the Atlantic to central Canada and Montreal becomes the Metropolis and big shipping port some 1000 km away.

This week our new Lieutenant Governor took Office, she was sworn in at Tignish which is an old Acadian settlement dating back to 1799. This is a first on the Island, since all Governors have always been sworn in at Charlottetown.  She is from Tighish which is on the Western tip of PEI about 2 hours by car from Charlottetown. The PEI Regiment also has a new Commander, Colonel Moriarty. Someone pointed out to me that when Antoinette Perry was named Lieutenant Governor, the first thing that came to mind was the person who gave her name to the Tony Awards, but that Antoinette Perry died in 1946 in NYC.

This week is also busy, we are having a visitor who is coming to look at houses as she is moving to PEI from Toronto. I also made an appointment to have the car serviced for the Winter, I always like to have this done before the rush.

 

 

 

Headers

Tags

Beach, Charlottetown, City Hall, cruise, Kent Street, PEI, Prince Street, Queen Street

As some of you may have noticed I do change my header on this blog quite often. I try to feature the Island Province, we do have a lot of beautiful scenery and I take advantage of it.

This morning I have this view of the corner of Kent Street and Queen Street where Charlottetown City Hall is located with its tower and large bay doors now windows, it use to be a Fire Hall. Queen street is a commercial street lots of small businesses, coffee shops, restaurants and at the bottom of it the Hillsborough river. In the distance you see the opening to the Straits of Northumberland, this is where the cruise ships come in to dock at the foot of Prince Street.

Winter on the Island is just as nice as Summer with different activities. So far if I compare Winter in Central Canada and here on the Atlantic there is a difference in the climate. I much prefer the cold Season here, it is easier to take.

Here is another scene but this one is of the beach at Brackley which is about 15 minutes from my home, easy to get too. The green vegetation has turned brown and a dusting of snow covers the ground. It has been noted by various tourism publication that PEI has some of the most beautiful beaches in North America.

L’Irlande

Tags

Anniversary, Atlantic, Belmond, cruise, Dublin, Ireland, leperchaun, London, Queen Mary 2, train

As you can tell from my new header photo, you are looking at Ireland and its dramatic scenery. In a few days we will fly from PEI to Dublin, the ancestral home of the O’Beaulieu clan of Limerick no less, but I won’t mention them again, they were all under four foot tall and called Leperchaun’s, spendthrift who wasted their pot of gold, the shame! However it is the home of Will’s family, they are not Leperchaun’s and well over four feet tall from Belfast.

We planned this Anniversary trip more than one year ago, well before we thought of moving to PEI, Will’s 70th and my 60th and our 40th with not a cross word in between, Ok maybe one to two cross words.

 

 EIRE

We will be in Dublin for a few days, I have not been in that city since 1969. I am looking forward to visiting the city again and see if I can remember anything of what I saw as a lad.

We will then proceed to travel around the Republic on train with Belmond see website belmond.com for all the details.

Train and crew

Bar on board

room cabin on the train

restaurant car one of two on the train

We will visit several cities and take part in excursions, it is described as a touring vacation, good walking shoes required and some rain gear, just in case.

The Key stops on this trip, but we are not going to Dundalk or Portrush

Then we fly to London to see friends and proceed to Southhampton to board the Queen Mary 2 for our return journey, which is 7 days at sea.

the Cunard line, Queen Mary 2

So this is our little excursion for the month of September. I am not planning to take my laptop with me on this trip, one less thing to carry. I will bring two books to read on the trip back by sea. So you will have to wait our return on the 28th September to read about our adventures.

 

EOLO

Tags

cruise, EOLO, Italy, Mauro Stoppa, Venice

Many of the vacations we have taken and are taking now are somewhat exotic in the sense that they are not what an average traveller would do, Will is always finding vacation options and ideas based on articles he has read in magazines like Gourmet or Condé Nast and I have to say in the last 40 years it has always been exciting and very different, never mundane. This exclusive cruise to unknown areas of the greater lagoon of Venice is just one example.

Eolo is the name of wind and air in ancient Latin and the symbol of the flat boat cruise on the larger Venice Lagoon. The owner Mauro Stoppa has been operating this cruise to the greater lagoon of Venice since 1998. The greater lagoon of Venice is rarely seen by tourists and few can even imagine it exist. Venice is a lot more than San Marco Square or the Rialto Bridge most people are satisfied in seeing on a day excursion. Little do they realize that they have seen nothing of the real or for that matter ancient Venice. How many go to Torcello or even know it exist? What about all the other islands and farms in this greater lagoon?

Mauro Stoppa who is a retired businessman from the Veneto region, has developed a cruise of 3 to 4 days over the greater lagoon of Venice, using one of the last Venetian flat bed fishing boat, called a Bragozzo and turned it into a cruise boat taking people around various islands and sites and presenting the story of La Serenissima, which is the name of Venice. The boat is used to bring you to various points and also to prepare wonderful meals always served in various ever changing dish ware with colours to go with the theme of the day, in other words very elegant. You do not sleep on the boat, at night we stop in various Palazzi, all truly in magical and exotic settings on the great lagoon.

The cruise we were only had us and another couple from California who were delightful well travelled people.  But groups of up to 6 people can be accommodated which makes for a unique and intimate experience.  On the first night we stopped in Torcello where the original city of Venice stood, nothing remains today except for the great Cathedral built in the year 1000 for the first millennium and everyone thought then that the world would end, funny we thought that in 2000, little changes obviously.

The Cathedral with its 1000 year old mosaics is impressive and one feels the legacy of the ages, of all those centuries of faithful who came to pray or seek sanctuary. That night we stayed in the great Villa of an Italian Senator who only comes to Torcello in August every year, the villa had wonderful gardens with roman ruins and its own vineyard. We tasted this wonderful wine slightly frizzante and a little salty, the vines drink the water of the lagoon, thus the taste. The house was filled with rare books, art works and beautiful furniture, in the morning Mauro’s mother had sent by boat fresh pastries stuffed with apricots from her garden, all of it her creation.

The previous evening we had dinner on the boat, at the back, moored to the dock of the villa on a quiet private little canal by candlelight. Mauro had invited two fellows, one was a surgeon and the other a professor who had jointly written a photo book of the great lagoon in Winter, with stunning photos, Giuseppe Frigo and Paolo Spigariol.

On another day we visited on a lonely little island, not open to the public and ancient monastery founded by Saint Francis of Assisi around 1200. One friar received us, this old fellow had been a missionary in China before 1949 and the communist take over. We also visited a hunting preserve and a fish farm, the farm house dated from the 14th century and had the most impressive stone kitchen where our food was cooked in the same way it would have been during the Renaissance, on a great stone table. Our meals were either fish or a variety of seafood. One day out of the blue a shipment of baby purple artichokes arrived, delivered by a friend of Mauro, who brought his boat alongside ours. Mauro made a tasty risotto with them.

We visited many islands and got the story of each, many stood no more than a foot above the water level. To the South of the lagoon is the City of Chioggia (pronounce KIO JIAH). There Mauro invited us to join him at 04:30am to visit the Fish market when the fisherman return and open the market. There was all manner of sea food, most I did not know the name, but Mauro explained the dishes he could prepare with this or that fish or sea food. He bought whatever we wanted and prepared dishes for us.

You can consult the site of EOLO at http://www.cruisingvenice.com/the-lagoon/

 

Eolo at the Island of Torcello in the great lagoon of Venice