Fw: Voyage of the Vikings , home again

From: Ellen Servis
Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2013 2:29 PM
Subject: Voyage of the Vikings , home again

Hi all,
We have docked in Boston this am for our journey back home.
This was an amazing adventure , we missed only one port in Greenland due to the ice floe, otherwise it went well.
After Greenland , we sailed into Labrador the ports of st. Anthony and St. John . 
St. Anthony was a lovely and picturesque town




St. John was a larger city and it was very rainy, as I had been there before and climbed signal hill , I opted to stay on the ship.
We next came into the USA in Maine at Bar Harbor, a beautiful seaside town near Acadia national park and mt desert island.  Very scenic, a beautiful summer day to enjoy lobster roll, clam chowder and blueberry pie and a stroll along the beach. 
We were in port with the Maasdam, Bruce was in town, for those of you that did the world cruise.
The sunset was beautiful as we made our way to Boston

Hope to hear from you on all your adventures please keep in touch, til the next time.
Love
Ellen
Sent from my iPad

Djupvigor and westman islands Iceland

From: Ellen Servis
Subject: Djupvigor and westman islands Iceland

Hi all,
Just a brief update from Iceland .  We are in our 2nd tender port on the return journey .  Iceland is truly beautiful and rugged.  We have been very lucky as the weather and seas have cooperated.
Yesterday sport was a tiny village of about 360 people it was cute and eg to walk around.
A bit rocky on the ride in but lovely.


Today we are in the westman islands in the town of heimaey, this is a small group of 15 islands off the coast of Iceland .

A rather large town, the captain was able to get the ship between the cliffs so we are protected from winds and have a shorter tender ride.  The weather has again been lovely. Lots of walking and self touring. 
This city was partially covered in volcanic ash and lava in 1972 as the volcanos in the background erupted.


Not much else to say, went to the captains VIP party last night and tonight there is a sommelier dinner in the Italian restaurant on board, Rod, the cellar master is a friend from several previous cruises.
As we cruise toward Greenland I hope to see whales and am I'm the lookout for puffins, may have to do a tour.
Sent from my iPad

Until the next port.
Love
Ellen
Janice, Alice says hi she is now on our floor in a veranda, beautiful scenery.
Fran, Lynn says hoo Roo as does Charlie
Knitters,
Really great wool but scratchy....

Ireland ,Cork, Dublin ,Belfast

From: Ellen Servis
Subject: Ireland ,Cork, Dublin ,Belfast

Hi all,
Just a quick note before we head back across the North Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean on the voyage homeward.
We have spent the last 3 days in Ireland .  We had mostly beautiful weather.  The ship was to go into Waterford but it was a tender port and rough seas were expected, so we diverted to Cork and Cobh.  It was a lovely day walking thru town and doing some shopping revisiting sights.  After that just took the shuttle bus into Cobh and back.
Next, was Dublin , again there was a free bus into town leaving us at trinity college.  I did a quick tour about town and some shopping enjoying a pot of tea and scone.
The afternoon was very special as I met 7 members of my family for lunch at the Bull and Castle.  It was so great to visit even for a few hours and catch up on news. Everyone was so loving and welcomed my cabinmate  Kathy, who joined us.
A special thanks to Seamus, Margaret, Mary , Michael and baby Kelsey from driving in from Ballinalee and to Muriel and Allan for finding a great place to eat and driving us back to the ship, in the pouring rain.  Also, thanks to Allan and Michael for making a quick stop at jamieson's.
We spent the next day in Northern Ireland , docking in Belfast but taking a tour north along the coast to the giants causeway, a magnificent rock formation part of the national trust.  Then the bus drove through many small villages and country on the return to the ship.as I had been to both Cork and Dublin several times I have no photos to share but enjoy the countryside .
Til next time
Love
Ellen

Voyage of the vikings , Amsterdam , Rotterdam

From: Ellen Servis
Subject: Voyage of the vikings , Amsterdam , Rotterdam

Hi to all,
We are on the last of our 2 day stay in Amsterdam . It has been a busy few days.  We took a tour to Rotterdam to tour the flagship the Rotterdam that has been restored to its style in the 1950's.
Many of the ships have the same names as their predecessor .
We got to see dikes and windmills enroute.
In the evening we took a candlelight canal ride with wine and a walking tour of the famous red light district,  in the rain the tour boat left us so we ended walking back but were given another tour today for free and were dropped off at the ship dock.
The city has many sights and things to do, but as my last stay was for 4 days I opted not to do the museums again.
I had never taken a canal tour so spent most of today doing same it was fun as it  was sunny and the top was opened so the views were wonderful.
Our next port will be Ireland , Waterford , Dublin for a visit with family  then Belfast as we begin the journey homeward.
Some pics for you.

from my iPad

hope all are well.
Until our next port.
Ellen
Kathy says hi to all those that know her.

Stavangar, Norway

From: Ellen Servis
Subject: Stavangar, Norway

Hi,
This is our last port in Norway . It is drizzling and cool but nice to walk around as there are few people.  The city is old with the oldest cathedral in Norway .  Most of the shops are closed which is fine with my pocketbook.
Scenic cruising this afternoon on lisadjford, hope it stays clear.

Barbecue tonight aboard then off to Amsterdam .

Sent from my iPadtil next time
Ellen

Voyage of the Vikings; Issafjordur, Iceland

Not my trip but someone I met on the World Voyage.   She and several others are already back on a ship for another long trip.  Not me.  I am glad to be home.

From: Ellen   Subject: Voyage of the Vikings; Issafjordur, Iceland

Hi all,
Just a brief update of my travels so far.
This is a lovely way to beat the heat.  Today is to be in the low50's and clear.  This is the first port in Iceland , snow is visible on the mountain tops from the deck of the ship.
We spent the last few days at sea as we were not able to get into our first port in Greenland due to the ice floe which was 3 1/2 miles wide off the coast, plus numerous icebergs and fog, we heard the fog horn frequently and saw very little scenery.

The mountains were about 6 1/2 miles away with the ice between us.  The captain tried getting around it but no go.  We will try on our homeward journey.  It was a chilly damp 39 degrees or 3 c. As the captain said Greenland was on his bucket list we may yet get there.

We have 6 ports in Iceland, 3 on each leg of the journey.
Sent from my iPad

Beautiful day lovely city.
Just to follow up, today we are in the gorgeous city of Akureyri, it is sunny and warm the ship is leaving early today as there is an arctic swim on deck.
The ship crossed into the arctic circle last night for several hours last night and we will probably do so as we leave it is about 20 miles to the sea thru the fjord. Scenery magnificent.  Anyone that cruises should put this on their bucket list.

Luv ya
Ellen