Last night, the seas were pretty rough and we bounced around quite a bit. Because of that, the captain had to take it much slower through the night and so we arrived in the Akureyri port much later than expected.

Akureyri is set at the foot of the mountains and is nicknamed the “Capital of the North”. They had to cancel some of the tours due to our late arrival, but fortunately our Northern Iceland’s Natural Treasures tour was a go, albeit a few hours later.

And what a tour it was! We had a wonderful guide who originally hailed from Hong Kong, met and married a man from Iceland, and became a tour guide.

We boarded our motor coach and journeyed along the coast and saw the beautiful scenery along the the Myvatn volcanic lake area, named after ‘midges’, little flying insects that are usually found all over the region. They don’t bite and our guide said if they happen to fly into the bus, please don’t kill them, they are perfectly harmless. We didn’t see any midges since the wind was blowing.

Our next stop was the Godafoss waterfall. What a powerful and majestic site. The waters of the river fall from a height of 39 feet and over a width of 100 feet. We were able to take photos from many viewing platforms and our photos hopefully captured the awe of this beautiful place.

Next stop on our tour was the Namaskard & Hverarond Geothermal area – a geothermal region with boiling sulfuric mud springs and steam vents. The hot springs, mud pools, and mud pots looks like a desert and because of the hot surface, no vegetation can grow there. The area was where one season of Game of Thrones was filmed. Interestingly, they filmed in winter and the steam from the springs made it seem like snow was falling. The smell of the sulfur was very strong and our guide said it might stay in our hair for awhile.

We then visited Dimmuborgir and its towering lava castles, that were formed in an eruption that occurred in the area 2,300 years ago. As lava flowed across the area, it passed over a lake, causing it to boil. The lake cooled the lava quickly, causing pillars of rock to form.

I am so glad we decided to tour Iceland in the early autumn, because the fall colors are absolutely beautiful. The lava castles were unbelievably stunning, with sheep tucked into the niches, autumnal colors of yellow and red flora surrounding them, and the different lava configurations so unique.

According to folk lore, this area is known for horrible little trolls, Yule Lads as they are called, who dwell there. These lads were known to terrorize Icelanders 13 days before Christmas Eve. According to ‘The Guide to Iceland’ site, “like most frightening Icelandic stories, the Yule Lads were most likely created to keep children from going out into the cold Icelandic winter nights, where many disappeared without a trace for centuries. As the nation modernised, they became mischievous tricksters rather than devilish monsters. Now, they have been ‘Americanised’; rather than traditional Icelandic garb, they wear Santa costumes, and although they still steal ‘skyr’, they now also bring gifts.”

We went to a hotel, and had a lunch of salmon, boiled potatoes, and slaw, as well as a glass of wine, and then we went to see Skutustadagigar, where the pseudo craters are. The craters themselves are not magma-producing volcanic vents, but rather were formed by gas explosions when boiling lava flowed over the cool, wet surfaces about 2,300 years ago.

Iceland’s terrain and weather is so unique and diverse, that many movie studios film movies here. And incidentally, many of NASA’s astronauts, including Neil Armstrong, first came to Iceland as part of the Apollo geology field exercises to study the country’s geology, the idea being that it would help them understand the Moon’s geology when they visited.

The weather here can change on a dime and many Icelanders say, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes!” And it is so true.

Then it was back to our ship for a quick dinner and to bed. It was a wonderful day and even though rain had originally been predicted, it was another day of sunshine.

Myvatn lake area

Godafoss waterfall

Namaskard & Hverarond Geothermal area

Dimmuborgir and its towering lava Castles

Skutustadagigar Pseudo craters

This morning we sailed into Isafjordur, iceland. Fishing is one of the main industries, trout and salmon being the most popular catches, and the town has one of the largest fisheries in Iceland. Tourism is also a major contributor to the economy as well as ferry boat companies, that transfer people over to Vigur Island.

We had breakfast and then went by the pool to lounge and watch about 20 guests on The Saturn, who took the plunge into a pool filled with ice cubes, in order to become a member of the Blue Nose club. I can think of a million other ways to spend the morning, but I do applaud those brave souls dunking themselves amid the ice cubes. Brrrrr!

We have officially crossed over into the Arctic circle and we received a certificate to that effect. When we were in Antarctica, we received a similar certificate stating we had crossed into the Antarctic circle, so now we can say in one year we traversed both poles!

Our tour today was taking a ferry boat over to Vigur Island, which was absolutely a wonderful tour. We bundled up with our cold weather gear, putting on my Holebrook windproof sweater made in Sweden, and off we went on a half hour boat ride to the Island. It was a little breezy and chilly in the boat, but the guide on the boat was very entertaining and told us that her village had only about 400 people a few years ago, because many were killed or moved away after a terrible avalanche devastated their homes, as well as their lives.

She said in order to bring the population back, they instituted “Sex Week” and she was proud to say that she was the first child born in the first year of “sex week” bringing the total population to 401. Her father received a trophy, the only one he ever received, for his “sex week” efforts. Too funny! Her dad was the captain of the boat and she was his first mate on our voyage today.

Another guide met us when we arrived on the island, a young Frenchman, who signed up to go to the island to learn about and help with eiderdown collection and to give tours. He was charming and funny and we enjoyed his talk immensely.

A woman named Felicity Aston and her husband purchased this tiny island a few years ago, and now she is the sole resident along with her husband Gizli and their six-year-old son, Thrainn.  Interestingly, Felicity was the first woman to cross Antarctica on skis, so it is no surprise that she and her family can survive the harsh winters on Vigur Island.

When we arrived on the island for our tour, we were given long sticks with a small flag on top. Our guide said that sometimes the Arctic terns who are flying overhead will dive bomb people if they feel threatened. The sticks therefore could be waved, not to injure the birds, but to keep them from pecking on your head.

One source of income for Felicity and her family is collecting eiderdown from the eider ducks that reside on the island. Our guide explained to us how eiderdown is collected. The mother duck, before laying her eggs, sloughs off the eiderdown from her chest on to the nest. She then lays her eggs and adds more eider to keep the eggs warm as she sits on them.

The family hired our guide to help with the down collection. They go to each nest where the mother is sitting. Sometimes the mother pretends she is a statue and doesn’t move, thinking this makes her invisible. The person collecting the down carefully removes the mother duck and then removes the eggs. They harvest the eiderdown and then add hay to the nest. They carefully place the eggs back in the nest, add more hay, and then they replace the mother duck. They have to do this because if they waited until the little ducks hatched and left the nest with the mother, the eiderdown would blow away with the wind and could not be harvested.

Ducks live a long time, about 30 years, and the same ducks return year after year to the same nest. We saw some ducks in the water and we were surprised because most of the birds should have migrated during the second week in August. Our guide told us that there was a terrible storm and the mothers fled the nest with their ducklings that were ready to fly. Unfortunately, some of the babies weren’t strong enough, so they remained and they are now swimming in the waters. Our guide says they will probably not make it thru the harsh winter.

After the down is collected, it has to be cleaned of debris, pebbles, poop, and other foreign matter. Antique machines do the first part of the cleaning, but then the finishing part is done by hand. The down they collect could weigh over 300 kilos, but by the time the cleaning process is over, they are left with maybe 60 kilos. That’s why the down is so expensive. Most of the down is sold to Germany and the Germans make winter clothing for scientists who go to the coldest parts of the earth to do research. Eiderdown is one of the warmest feathers, far surpassing goose down.

We saw the oldest working windmill in Iceland and also a boat that was made out of driftwood that was many, many years old.

During the tour, we were treated to some rhubarb cake called happy marriage cake, and we drank the most delicious coffee I’ve ever tasted. The rhubarb was grown right there in the island.

After our snack, we toured the two story Victoria House built in 1860, and is one of the oldest timber buildings in Iceland and a part of The Historical Buildings Collection. The family live in the house not too far from the Victoria House.

We were so lucky with the day. Not a drop of rain and the sun was shining thru the whole tour. We even saw a few rainbows.

We arrived back to our ship and has a delicious dinner of mussels. J.P. the manager, who we have befriended again since he was on our Antarctica cruise, asked if we would like a second helping to which we both answered yes!!!

After the meal, Allan ordered the apple streusel and I didn’t order anything. Chef Clifford, the executive chef (who remember took us on a tour of his kitchen), stopped by and asked why I wasn’t having dessert. I told him the only dessert I really love is chocolate mousse. He took out his pen and wrote down my cabin number, and told me that tomorrow night, he was making me chocolate mousse. I couldn’t believe it. I told him, no…please don’t make it since he was busy enough. He said no…tomorrow you will have it! Unbelievable!!

So all in all, the day was amazing!

Vigur Island

The boat made out of driftwood.

The rainbow

Rhubarb pie

The smallest post office resides in Vigur Island

The historical home.

Eiderdown being processed

Remember my blog yesterday about sailing through the majestic Prince Christian Sound? Well the cruise director today mentioned that we are only the second ship this year that was able to go thru the passage, because the other ships were thwarted passage because of icebergs! We were so lucky because it truly was magnificent!

We had a lovely sea day. Enjoyed breakfast with Lisa and John and then spent the day relaxing in the little comfy niches that are all over the ship, and read our books. We had lunch at the pasta bar, then a drink before dinner, and then we joined Lisa and John for dinner.

The show tonight featured the Saturn vocalists in a tribute to Old Time Rock & Roll singing songs by the Beatles, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, and other iconic groups. It was a fabulous show.

Before the show started, we were on the line to enter the theater, and we got to talking with a couple behind us. They mentioned they lived in Jersey, and when we told them we lived in Bethlehem, PA, they said they just met a couple from that area and they were the former owners of the Josh Early candy stores. Say what now???? Josh Early where we buy all of our delicious chocolates???? We love their candies!!!

And, as luck would have it, when we got into the theater, the couple pointed out the former owners to us and we ran over to introduce ourselves and we told them how much we loved their candies. They have turned the business over to their kids, and I told them how much my grandchildren loved the chocolate crayons they used to sell. Marcie Early (whose father started the company) said she’d talk to her children and she’d ask them to reintroduce the crayons!

Then Barry, her husband, gave me his business card and wrote on it that we were to ask for Alyssa, and she was to give us the big box of candies filled with our choice of candies, the next time we go to the store. Wowser! What a treat! It certainly is a small world.

Tonight, we set our clocks ahead another hour and tomorrow we will be in Isafjordur, Iceland. Just two weeks ago on the Saturn’s previous voyage, they saw the Northern Lights. We hope we will be as lucky!

This morning after breakfasting in our cabin, we tendered into the little town of Nanortalik, for a walking tour. With 1,185 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the 11th largest town in Greenland. The name means “Place Where the Polar Bears Go” and our guide said that sometimes they do come into the town, but it is rare. Crab fishing and hunting for hooded seals and fishing from small boats are the main sources of income for the area’s inhabitants.

There is not much going on in the town and we asked about where the children go to school and for how long. Our guide said the kids are schooled from first grade until the 10th and then they have to pass a test to graduate. If they don’t pass the exam, they have the option to go to another school for free tuition and they would also receive a stipend. Our guide has been to this school three times as he has not been able to pass the exam. Some of the kids who do pass the 10th grade exam will go on to high school which is for three more years and a few, after graduation from high school, will go to Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, for college.

We walked through the town, (where the cars speed by you and you have to practically leap out of the way), and saw the fish market, the grocery store, the church, and the cemetery. We were supposed to visit the home of a resident and enjoy the Greenlandic tradition of kaffemik – sampling local cakes and buns, plus dried fish and seal meat, while sipping on a coffee or tea while conversing with our host. Unfortunately, that never happened. I don’t know whether our guide didn’t know that was part of the tour or whether he just forgot. He said he hadn’t done tours in awhile. To tell the truth, Allan and I could have done the tour by ourselves and saved the $99 per person. The guide didn’t have anything to impart as far as history, life of the Greenlanders, or any insight into the area. He only gave us information when someone asked him a question, and many times, he didn’t know the answer. I would have spoken up after the tour and asked him why we weren’t visiting a home, but then I was thinking…maybe I read the shore excursion blurb incorrectly. So when I had the chance on the way back to the ship, I pulled it up and realized I was in fact correct. One of the crew from our ship was stationed at the road back to the ship and she asked how our tour was. I told her what happened and I said I didn’t want to get the young tour guide in trouble, but $99 a person for basically nothing wasn’t the greatest use of our money. She agreed and apologized and took our cabin number, so we will see if we are reimbursed.

Despite it all, I think I did capture some nice pics of Nanortalik.

This afternoon we cruised through the magnificent Prince Christian Sound, enjoying the scenery as we sailed between the mountains. It truly was breath-taking. The only human habitation in this frozen landscape is the Inuit village of Aappilattoq, home to about 100 people. Aappilattoq sits perched at the edge of the water with towering mountains all around, making the village virtually inaccessible by land. These rugged individuals mostly fish and hunt the harsh terrain as they live isolated from the outside world (except for the occasional arrival of a boat or helicopter).

After dinner, we enjoyed a phenomenal performance by the cruise director Damian Sollesse. Damien has performed in theater stages across the UK including the famed West End, London’s equivalent to Broadway, and he has performed on cruise ships around the world. He performed songs from modern day pop, opera, and musical theater with favorites from Les Miserables, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Frankie Valli. He also sang The Prayer with a member of the crew and he did a solo performance of Nessun Dorma from the opera Turandot. He is such a talented singer and the performance ended much too soon.

Tomorrow is a day at sea and we forward our clocks ahead one hour once again.

The cemetery

Love the laundry drying in the breeze

Fish market

Sailing thru Prince Christian Sound

Inuit village of Aappilattoq

We sailed into Greenland, the world’s largest island, and we were welcomed by some large and beautiful icebergs that were floating in the waters.  It reminded us of our trip to Antarctica. We had breakfast and then we tendered over to our port of call, the municipality of Qaqortoq, to do a walking tour on our own.  

It was raining slightly and damp when we disembarked the tender, but then the sun came out and we were ready to start taking off our outer layers. Thank goodness we didn’t, since while we were waiting for the tender to return us to the ship, it was once again damp, cloudy and chilly. 

We meandered all through the small town, and we enjoyed seeing the brightly colored homes of red, yellow, green, orange, purple, and blue tucked into the hillside, which made for some picture perfect shots. I can’t wait to get home and try painting them in watercolor.

Qaqortoq is a seaport best known for fish processing, tourism, tanning, fur production, and ship maintenance and repair. The Great Greenland Furhouse is the only tannery in Greenland and the primary sealskin purchaser on the island; it remains one of the major employers in the town.

We were curious as to how the houses were heated and a local guide told us that the larger buildings are heated by steam generated at a central plant and the smaller buildings and homes are heated by oil. 

We walked to the little church where a choir usually performs during the day, but unfortunately, they were not performing today. We walked up the hill to see the cemetery and then went down to the waters edge to look at the boats.  On the way, two Greenlanders were sitting on a bench and I asked if I could take their picture. They nodded yes and after I snapped the pic, I showed it to them, much to their delight.

We enjoyed dinner at the World Cafe, played some games, and then it was off to the Star Theater to hear the Stage Door singers perform the songs from some much loved musicals – Oliver, Rent, Singing in the Rain, Cabaret, to mention a few. And they ended the show with songs from Les Mis. It was a stellar performance.

Since we have an early morning tour, we arranged to have breakfast delivered to our room, as we sail into Nanortalik, Greenland.

After a nice breakfast, we decided to do a little laundry. It’s free on the ship…including the laundry soap, and as luck would have it, on our second trek to the launderette, we were provided with a free washer. After 40 minutes, we returned and put the clothes in the dryer for about 40 minutes, and when we returned, our laundry was still sopping wet. Whaaaa???? So we started the dryer again and went back early to retrieve the clothes and sure enough, our wash was only partially dry. We think someone was inadvertently turning off our dryer since the buttons for both the washer and dryer are together. Fortunately, the third time was a charm and we took our finally dried laundry back to the cabin.

We took a brisk walk around the outside deck after the fun at the launderette. Four times around is a mile so we did a mile and a 1/2 and then went in for lunch as it was getting a little breezy and cold. They were serving all kinds of soups today and I had the minestrone vegetable which was served in a bread bowl. Yummy!

We had a delicious dinner at Manfredi’s. I had the beef tartare, the carbonara, and the pork chop and Allan had the salmon. We had a fun time chatting with the servers and learning about where home was for them, etc.

Allan saw the executive chef go by and called him over. We told him how delicious the meal was and Allan mentioned that he saw a sign on the door across the hall that said ‘kitchen’ and he asked where it went to. The chef said it is where the cooking classes are held.” And then he said, “Come with me and I will take you on a tour of the cooking class area and the galley”. So off we went with the chef while everyone in the restaurant looked at us and wondered what celebrities we could possibly be to merit a tour by the executive chef.

As he introduced us to the line chefs who were preparing the food, we sang their praises and told them how wonderful the meal was. They all beamed with pride. (I think they were all a bit surprised to see us, and I guess they were also wondering who we could possibly be.)

Then the chef took us to the other side of the galley and we met those line chefs as well. What a treat to have a personal tour. He insisted we come back again another night to enjoy dinner and we told him that we would definitely make it a priority.

After dinner we went to the theater to hear the singer, Madison Benton, who hails from Brooklyn, NY, and has been the standby for Princess Anna in Broadway’s musical ‘Frozen’. Tonight she sang the music that celebrated Liza Minelli, Barbra Streisand, and Judy Garland. It was a great way to end the day.

Tomorrow we’ll be in Greenland.

We have moved our clocks so far during our cruise two hours ahead, as we sail to our destination – Greenland.
It was another sunny day with temps in the low 60’s. The waves were a comfortable 5’ and we once again mounted in our favorite spot by the pool. We had breakfast and lunch in The Restaurant and it was nice to be served at a table instead of perusing the buffet options in the World Cafe. The nice thing about the World Cafe however is…they have sushi, which The Restaurant does not offer.

In the afternoon we listened to a guest lecture given by Corey Sandler entitled “The Beatles Decoded – Rene Magritte, Khalil Gibran & “Sexy Sadie”’. The talk was very interesting as Corey told us the meaning behind many of the Beatles songs. Before the lecture started, he showed some rare recorded footage of the Beatles while they were performing and he delved into the meaning behind the lyrics. There were a few songs I was not familiar with, and I learned a few things I never knew about the Beatles, and it made for a very enjoyable afternoon.

We had dinner in the Restaurant, and as usual, it was an excellent cuisine. We both had a duck and chicken liver parfait and for the main course, lamb chops that were done to perfection.
The manager of The Restaurant, J.P., we knew from our Antarctic excursion, and he has been very helpful procuring dinner reservations for us and doing anything he can to make our cruise memorable.

The young lady who arranges the reservations at the specialty restaurants is also very accommodating, as is Allan’s favorite crew member, the sweet girl who serves the gelato. They are on a first name basis now after only three days.

After dinner I went to hear the taped performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. I stayed through the first act but I was not a fan of the music. Give me La Boheme or Madam Butterfly instead.

Then it was off to bed. Tomorrow is another sea day.

Instead of having a day at sea and then visiting Newfoundland the day after, we are in the port of Sydney in Nova Scotia for the day, and the next two days will be at sea en route to Greenland. Because of the change in itinerary, no shore excursions were offered today, since we arrived last minute.

Allan and I went to the little cafe on the ship called Mamsen’s for breakfast, and we ordered the famous waffles. I didn’t get the fruit and the pure peanut butter rolls, but Allan got the works!

After a nice morning relaxing at the pool area, we waited to go on shore to investigate the town of Sydney. Sydney was once one of the main producers of steel in North America and during both the First and Second World Wars, it was a major staging area for England-bound convoys. Today its main industries are tourism and, interestingly enough, customer support call centers.

When the ship docked, Lisa, John, Allan and I walked into town along the boardwalk, and passed the world’s largest fiddle, a tribute to the folk music and traditions of the province’s Celtic community, and then we stopped at an arts and crafts boutique. We then walked over to the memorial for the merchant marines, which tells the heroic story of the sailors on merchant ships who carried equipment and supplies to the Allied forces in Europe during WWII.

Since nothing much was going on except a lot of construction, we walked back to the ship and had lunch. I had a delicious Asian beef noodle soup and I finished the meal with vegetables on a skewer, as well as some steamed veggies.

At 8 pm, we went to the Chef’s Table restaurant for an Asian cuisine. The selections were stellar, and thankfully, there was not a cumin spice to be found like what was in our meal the other night.

The wines that were paired with each course complemented them perfectly and the courses that were presented were absolutely wonderful. We were thinking we should come back and enjoy the entire meal once again. The Chef’s Table changes cuisine every third day, so in actuality, we could be there tomorrow, but alas, we will find another venue for dinner tomorrow evening, which I’m sure will be equally enjoyable.

We finished the evening at the pool lounging on the chaises, to read and then it was to bed.

A lovely place to relax and read

At Sydney, Nova Scotia

The merchant marine memorial

Our ship, the Viking Saturn

When we woke up this morning and looked out onto our veranda, we were greeted with the remnants of the sunrise, with the almost full moon shining above the horizon. Such a lovely way to start the day.

At 9:20, after a hearty breakfast, we embarked on a shore excursion that took us to the Citadel, Peggy’s Cove, The Fairview Lawn Cemetery, (where some of the people who perished in the Titanic disaster are buried). and finished the day with a visit to the Halifax public gardens.

The Citadel has 4 fortifications that were constructed after the city was founded in 1749. There is a 30′ wide moat around the Citadel that has prevented any attacks during the wars. The Citadel was strategically important, as it guarded the Halifax Harbor and the Royal Navy Dockyards.

We boarded our bus again and off we went to visit Peggy’s Cove, which is nestled along the shores of St. Margaret’s Bay. The cove is a small fishing community and is one of Canada’s most popular tourist spots.

Only 35 residents live in the cove during the summer with 30 residing there during the winter months. The cove has everything needed to support their lives..a church, a school, a general store, and of course, fish and lobsters!!

The lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove is the most photographed of lighthouses, and it truly makes for a beautiful photo with the rocks that have been smoothed by the winds and the sea crashing below. Many people have perished on the black rocks below the lighthouse because a rogue wave can arise suddenly and sweep anyone who is foolish enough to try to navigate the rocks, to their death. Our guide reiterated many times… Don’t go on the black rocks!!!

One thought as to how the name Peggy’s Cove came about, was when a young child, the only survivor of a ship wreck, was rescued. She was subsequently adopted by a family living at the cove and they named her Peggy, and thus, the area became known as Peggy’s Cove. Others think the cove got its name because it is right off St Margaret’s Bay, and Peggy is a nickname for Margaret. Who knows what the true story is.

(Sadly, right near Peggy’s Cove in the entrance to St. Margaret’s Bay, was where on September 2, 1998, Swiss Air flight 111 crash landed killing all 229 souls onboard. The flight took off from JFK – its final destination being Geneva, Switzerland, when an onboard fire caused the plane to plunge into the sea. Ships, warships, aircraft, and submarines came from all over the world to aid in the retrieval of bodies and plane parts. The largest plane part that was discovered was the size of a dinner plate. That’s how enormous the devastation was. Additionally, two paintings by Picasso were on the plane and were never found. There is a monument marking the tragedy on the shore nearby.)

The Cove houses many artists and a famous one, William deGarth, not only painted beautiful watercolors of the sea, but he decided at the age of 70 to become a sculptor, and he created a mural carved in the huge granite stone that was in front of his home.

The work depicts thirty-two fishermen and their wives and children with the wings of St. Elmo, the patron saint of fisherman, protecting them. It also features the image of little Peggy, who deGarthe believed gave her name to the village.

We had a nice bowl of chowder at the Sou’Wester, a restaurant in Peggy’s cove that overlooks the water. The chowder was hearty, but the bowl was rather small and we would have enjoyed having a bit more. The meal ended with a slice of gingerbread cake doused with a generous spoonful of lemon sauce.

Walking around the cove on this beautiful day was wonderful, with the sun shining on our faces, the balmy winds at our backs, and the beauty of the sea right in front of us. It was a lovely place to visit.

The next stop on the tour wasn’t as joyful. The Fairview Lawn Cemetery holds the graves of 121 victims of the Titanic. The graves are arranged in four lines on a sloping hillside within the cemetery. The majority of headstones are small black-granite grave markers with the name of the person buried there and the date…April 15, 1912. Also inscribed on the grave markers is the number assigned to the victim when their body was recovered from the sea.

Some of the graves were nameless as the bodies were never identified, but recently, with the help of DNA, a few bodies were able to be identified and their names were inscribed on the front side of the marker. There was also a larger grave marker for the tomb of an unknown child who perished. It was a somber visit.

We then went to the Halifax Botanical Gardens, established in 1867. The garden is an example of a Victorian garden and most all of the plants and flowers were in bloom, including the dahlia and rose gardens. It was pleasant to stroll around and see the beautiful niches and flower beds that had been created.

Then it was back to the ship where, as we set sail, our captain told us that because of circumstances beyond anyone’s control, we would not be having a day at sea tomorrow but instead would be visiting Sydney in Nova Scotia, instead of visiting L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland on the following day. There was a problem that arose with the pier in L’Anse aux Meadows and we would not be able to dock there.

We finished the day eating at the World Cafe with Lisa, John and a new friend Barbara, dining on sushi and surf and turf. Afterwards Allan and I decided to go to the show Duets in the theater, and were entertained by four singers serenading us with famous songs that became hits when two iconic singers sang them like… I’ve Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher, Streisand and Diamond’s rendition of You Don’t Bring Me Flowers Anymore, and Travolta and Olivia Newton John singing You’re the One That I Want. It was a little chilly in the theater, but cozy blankets were provided, so I snuggled under one of them and enjoyed the show.

It was a lovely day!

The guard at the Citadel

The lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove

The mural carved in granite

Fairview Lawn cemetery

The grave of an unknown child

The botanical garden

The day started out early with a rocking ship. I was a tad queasy so wasn’t interested in breakfast, but I rested on a chaise at the pool and after awhile I went for a bowl of congee and felt much better. (Chi…I didn’t put yogurt in it😂.). The waves were quite something all day, but after my initial queasiness, I was fine.

We read for awhile and then had lunch watching the dolphins that were following our ship. What a sight to see as they dove in pairs along side us.

In the afternoon we went to a port talk about Halifax, where we will be touring tomorrow. The port of Halifax was very important during many wars.

December 6, 1917 saw one of the greatest disasters in Canadian history, when the ship the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship carrying explosives, collided with the the SS Imo, a Belgian Relief vessel outside the Halifax harbor. The resulting explosion, devastated the north end of Halifax, killing approximately 2,000 people and injuring about 9,000. It was the largest artificial explosion before the use of nuclear weapons.

Interestingly,  significant aid came from Boston, Massachusetts in an effort to help revive the devastation of the homes and businesses as well as to help the families who lost loved ones. To this day, every Christmas, the government of Halifax sends a lighted Christmas tree to Boston to be erected in the town square, as a thank you to for all the aid they sent.

We had drinks with Lisa and John and then went to the Chef’s Table for dinner (menu below). This restaurant pairs wine with each course and the meal was…interesting. The ahi tuna appetizer was delicious, but I wasn’t a fan of the beef dish, as the chef served it roasted with cumin and other herbs. The cumin was overpowering and I just don’t think cumin and beef go well together, so I didn’t eat it. The wines however were very nice.

We again watched a beautiful sunset and all in all, it was a very relaxing day.

We are looking forward to touring Halifax tomorrow.