Three Days in Reykjavik, Iceland and Four Days in Britain

From a first time visit to Copenhagen, to a first time visit to Reykjavik -- out of the frying pan and into the fire -- not...

Our flight from Copenhagen (CPH) to Reykjavik was also our first flight aboard Scandinavian Airways System (SAS), a non-stop flight of about 3.5 hours aboard a 737-800 in SAS Business Class.  The seating was a bit unusual - essentially what I would consider "Premier Economy" seating -- three seats across with a little more leg room and free food/booze.  On the CPH to Keflavik (KEF -- Reykjavik's international airport), leg we had all three seats to ourselves -- which was not the case when we flew SAS to LHR (London Heathrow) via Oslo (OSL) -- we had aisle seat mates on both segments.  I would rate our SAS experience as competent and efficient but would definitely not pay (in $ or in points) for SAS Business Class again.

Our arrival at KEF was gray and rainy - we'd rented through Auto Europe (our continuing "Go To" for European car rentals) - lots of people sitting around the terminal, most looking like they were getting ready for an expedition of some sort.  Was this a harbinger of things to come?  Yep...

The drive from KEF to our hotel - the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica - took about 35 minutes.  Our Co-Pilot Live navigation program got us there with one slight navigation fault - getting off on an exit to have us go straight back on the same road - perhaps this is an "Anti-Spy" feature or something to ensure we can shake a tail - need to check out the settings...

The hotel is conveniently located at the intersection of two major thoroughfares a bit up the hill from the traditional downtown area along the waterfront.  We greatly appreciated three things at the Hilton.  First, we had free parking for our rental (rental cars are essential to get out and see things if you want to do it on your -- vice tour operator's schedule).  Next, our room rate included free breakfast -- which was an amazing spread and considering the prices of food in Iceland in general, a real money saver if you are a dedicated breakfast person. Our seventh floor room had a beautiful view of the Reykjavik harbor and the mountains (snow capped) north and east of downtown.  Overall, we were very pleased with our hotel choice in Reykjavik.

We were even more pleased with our choice for dinner that evening at Resto.  Highly recommended on Trip Advisor, it was the best and most memorable meal we've had in years.  Focused primarily on sea food, Resto had plenty of atmosphere, great service, and wonderful food.  Price-wise, our dinner for two (starter and main each) with a decent bottle of wine was about $150 US -- not cheap but in this instance and comparatively speaking, it was a great value.  Especially when compared to trying to satisfy our craving for Mexican food the following evening at Red Chili.  Our starter at Red Chile was an order of Chips and Salsa - $23 US - followed by two burritos at $25 each (without beans and rice) and two glasses of wine that totaled about $100 US.  The only redeeming feature of our Red Chili meal was that we could walk to the restaurant from our hotel.

The other meal we had away from our hotel was Happy Hour (weekdays from 3-5pm) Fish and Chips at Icelandic Fish and Chips on the waterfront in downtown Reykjavik.  For $15 US, we each got three beautifully fried pieces of fish (Cod, Ling, and one other white fish) delicious chips, 6 different tartar sauces, and a draft beer.  We would highly recommend making your way to Icelandic Fish and Chips for their happy hour special.

Iceland is the land of unusual sights - so what did we see?  We started with the Golden Circle - a loop of roads east of Reykjavik that take you past a variety of natural wonders - waterfalls, azure lakes, snow capped mountains, spouting geysers, Icelandic horses, and lichen covered lava fields that look like moonscape.  The vistas were very beautiful, the roads were decent (including the gravel segment we traveled on for 10 miles after taking a less traveled shortcut) and for the most part, our iPhone GPS kept us headed in the right direction.  You do notice though that since you are pretty far north (almost 65 degrees north) it takes longer for your GPS to synch up and you get more frequent location hiccups due to loss of GPS satellite signal.

Highlights along the Golden Circle?  Lots and lots of Icelandic horses - in just about each of their reputed 42 distinctive colors.  The Strokkur geyser at Geysir which erupts about about 5 minutes or so was fun because it erupts so frequently - Strokkur, while not quite as large as Old Faithful, is quite close to Geysir geyser which erupts during earthquakes and reaches almost twice as high as Old Faithful.  https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-iceland/drive/strokkur  While this might have been fun to see, I wouldn't look forward to an earthquake in such an active geothermal area.

One thing that struck us during our two days of driving around Iceland was the lack of visible 4-legged critters (other than Icelandic horses) on the trackless expanse of volcanic landscape.  Maybe there is a lot going on in the cracks and crevices but we kept thinking we were going to see deer or elk like we would in Montana or Wyoming but apart from a few reindeer in eastern Iceland, there aren't any large, non-domesticated animals in Iceland.

We had our first Icelandic geothermal bath experience about midway on our Golden Circle tour at Laugarvatn Fontana Geothermal Baths.  https://www.fontana.is/  When compared to our visit at the world famous Blue Lagoon geothermal baths the following day, Laugarvatn Fontana was far more intimate and less crowded though less visually stunning than the contrast of black volcanic stone with aqua waters at Blue Lagoon.  Price-wise, there isn't any comparison either -- Blue Lagoon is about an order of magnitude more expensive.  Ultimately, the geo-thermally heated water in both spots is equally relaxing - your choice of none, one, or both will be based on personal preference, how long you have in Iceland, and whether or not the water is a destination - Blue Lagoon - or a stop along the way on a larger route - Laugarvatn on the Golden Circle.

On our Blue Lagoon sight seeing day, we headed out first to take a look at one of Iceland's nicest golf courses, the Keilir Country Club.  http://english.keilir.is/ Just a few minutes south from downtown Reykjavik, the course sits all by itself on a peninsula that juts out into a harbor.  Looking like a prototypical "links" style course, we wish we'd had the time (and weather) to play rather than just visit the course.  When we entered the club house, there was a lively group of men doing what golfers do - talking about their golf swing and what they'd done on their last round - or at least that is what it seemed like they were talking about since we don't speak a word of Icelandic.  What they weren't doing though was playing golf or waiting to tee off - did I mention the temperature was about 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit), winds in the mid-40mph range, and driving rain making for a wind chill factor of about 27 degrees F - which stands for FuhFuhFuhFuhfreezing - one hardy (foolhardy) soul was actually out on the course playing in a cart with canvas sides fully down (and probably a heater going full blast inside too).  Our next stop on the Reykjanes Peninsula after Keiler was the aforementioned Blue Lagoon. http://www.bluelagoon.com/

Located in a moonscape of black volcanic rock and aqua tinted geothermal pools, the location is visually stunning.  Even on a day with monumentally foul weather, there were tons of people waiting their turn to get in.  The Blue Lagoon is so popular that they recommend reserving your place ahead of time - and if you are price sensitive, plan on visiting in the off hours since their pricing is based on time slot demand.  If you want to visit between 11am and 2pm, you are going to pay a lot more than if you show up at opening (8am) or around closing (10pm) when it will not only be cheaper but a lot less crowded.  There are also several options ranging from your basic entry fee (bring your own towel/robe but you do get your Mel Gibson Braveheart mud mask) to a VIP option - with a (non time adjusted) price range of $54 to $530 USD.  One thing we found in common between Blue Lagoon and Laugarvatn Fontana was the availability of very nice Icelandic draft beer on tap at each venue.  After Blue Lagoon, we headed farther south and east along the main road on the Reykjanes Peninsula ultimately arriving at the windswept shores of lake Kliefarvatn https://www.visitreykjanes.is/en/travel/places/nature/kleifarvatn by way of a stop at Krysuvik-Seltun geothermal area. https://iceland.nordicvisitor.com/travel-guide/attractions/reykjanes-peninsula/krysuvik/

On the next morn, we headed back out to KEF, turning in our rental car before catching the Avis shuttle to the terminal.  Conveniently, there is a gas station located at the airport to refill your rental before turning it in.  Fuel prices are more than we're used to but not out of line with many other European countries - filling our car's tank after driving around 500km was about $70 US.  Another item of note had to do with our entry and exit from Iceland...

**** Travel Alert **** - when you cross the Atlantic on a cruise ship (and this has happened to us twice now - maybe we'll remember next time) and disembark, they don't stamp your passport - in fact, there are no Immigration formalities what so ever (sample size of two - in Civitavecchia, Italy and Copenhagen, Denmark) and thus you will end up explaining to Immigration officials at an airport in some country how you got to where you're explaining yourself, without any official records of your journey to get there...  Last time, this was in Germany -- this time, after flying from Iceland on what amounts to a local flight to Oslo (no immigration formalities on departure and thus no passport stamp) we were explaining ourselves in Oslo.  Fortunately, the immigration folks were understanding but think about it...  We arrived in Denmark, flew to Iceland, and are transiting to UK in Norway before anyone acknowledges -- officially -- that two American citizens are in Europe.  Moral of the story - when you get off a Trans-Atlantic cruise, make a point of finding someone in the terminal and getting your passport stamped.  Why the cruise ships don't bother to mention this is beyond me...

Other than our Immigration issue, the flights from Iceland to Norway to UK were smooth but unremarkable.  Best of all, there was no line at London Heathrow Passport control which has hosted several of my longest waits in the past - although I think San Jose, Costa Rica may have wrested the title for longest wait ever from LHR on our arrival there this past December.  So with no waiting in Immigration, and towing our carry-on luggage, we were out of the terminal within 15 minutes of arriving at our gate and being whisked away to the Cotswolds for a country weekend by my brother Paul.

Paul and our sister in law Selina had planned a fully packed weekend in the countryside north and west of London.  Staying at The Wild Rabbit -- a beautiful and quaint countryside inn with a newly awarded Michelin Star -- was a real treat. https://thewildrabbit.co.uk/  We stayed in the Hedge Hog room located above the Inn's kitchen/dining room area.  We had breakfast at the Inn each morning and dinner on two of our three Cotswold nights.  The evening menu is English countryside - beef, fowl, and fish - including use of a "Green Egg" for cooking your meat.

Our first day in the Cotswolds was reserved for Daylesford Cooking School http://daylesford.com/cookeryschool/our-courses/ with Jason as our head chef ably assisted by James as sous chef.  Unlike a couple of other cooking classes we've attended, this was a 5 course, hands-on class, given by a real restaurant experienced chef who ensured we learned the techniques chefs use to handle knives, accomplish food preparation, and plating presentation.  Everything Jason or James walked us through was clearly presented and with none of the "attitude" that sometimes accompanies cooking classes.  These are folks who are clearly interested in your enjoying the process of learning what they are teaching.  The food we prepared was simple in concept and really tasty -- something we're sure we'll be able to replicate here at home.  Along with the cooking techniques we learned, we also learned a lot about the Slow Food movement and responsible agriculture.  Daylesford Farms is centered on sustainable organic farming and our menu was organized on the concept of using seasonal herbs, vegetables, fruits, and dairy.  Knowing the pedigree of your food is perhaps more important to the final product than actual preparation of the food.  All in all, The Cookery School at Daylesford was simply excellent -- something you should absolutely consider doing if you spend time in the Cotswolds.

The next morning, we set out for Oxford and a private two hour walking tour of the Oxford campus hosted by Elizabeth from "Walking Tours of Oxford" http://www.walkingtoursofoxford.com/.  Over the course of our tour, we found out how differently Oxford is run/organized from just about any other university of the world - truly fascinating - and luckily enough, we got to see a number of graduates queueing up to receive their degrees on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning.  From the hallowed and ancient gates of Oxford, we traveled next to the nearby Blenheim Palace http://www.blenheimpalace.com/ a relative youngster (1820's vs 1100's) by comparison.  Still maintained as the country home of the Duke and Duchess of Marlboro, we were accorded a private "bespoke" tour of the magnificent residence and grounds.  The combination of Oxford and Blenheim Palace as a morning/afternoon was perfect - enough time to see both places with relatively short drives between each attraction.

Ultimately though, our vacation was coming to an end.  One last night spent at Paul and Selina's home in London and dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant, Il Trillo, within walking distance of their home http://www.iltrillo.net/en/ristorante-2/   We were joined for dinner by Bob and Jules Thurston, long time friends, who live in London and are preparing for a summer move to San Diego, California.  An evening across the dinner table with family and friends you don't get to see often enough is the perfect way to end your vacation because it motivates you to begin planning your next get together.

A smooth Uber ride to the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Wing gave us time to eat a remarkable breakfast in the VA Club House before our 11:35am departure.  Our flight, VS 005, was aboard a relatively new 787-8 Dreamliner.  Beautiful aircraft and love the Upper Class seating arrangements but the aisles and seats are way narrower than equivalent aisles/seats in Lufthansa or United Business Class on a 747.  Yes, I know that 747's are going the way of the dinosaurs, but I don't think their replacements, conceptualized and built during the era of squeezing every ounce of profit out of the flying experience, can hold a candle to an aircraft envisioned and built when flying was less of a bus ride than it is these days.  I'm generally not about nostalgia and am all in for new techo-gizmo things - but this is one instance where I don't think we're making progress towards improving the customer's experience.

Arrival at MIA 9 hours or so later was uneventful.  I am still trying to figure out our (USA) new arrival procedures...  We've been Global Entry folks for about 4 years now - but with the new Mobile Passport App on our phone, we're left confused about what part the app plays (if anything) when you are Global Entry travelers.  For sure, the various signs pointing this way and that if you are "This and That" are not straight forward and left a lot of foreign visitors dazed and confused.  Regardless of which line you are in, plan on a long walk (> 1/2 mile) from plane to curb or the MIA rental car center (which requires an additional people mover trip) -- all in all, with carry-on only, Global Entry Passport control short cuts, and being among the first off our plane, it still took us an hour from door opening on the airplane to getting into our Hertz rental car for the two hour ride home to Naples.

In summary, we were gone from home for 26 days, visited 7 countries (transited 8), sailed 5030 nautical miles, flew 6615 nautical miles, and drove another 650 miles or so.  We covered a lot of "ground" along the way and learned once again, why we love to travel and see new places and people; at the same time though, why we love returning to our little Treviso Bay home here in Naples.

Amsterdam, Disembarkation, and Copenhagen

First off, leaving Zeebrugge and about 11 days into our cruise, the constant creaking in the ceiling of our cabin suddenly disappeared!  Why was this?  Did they take a body out of the ceiling or something?  It wasn’t like the seas were suddenly smoother or the wind had abated.  Regardless of how or why, the continuing, loud creaking in our cabin was gone…  Our nightly slumber greatly improved.

Approaching Amsterdam on a cruise ship is a trip.  There are locks that keep the Atlantic out and a very long inland passage through rolling countryside an industrial complexes to get to Amsterdam’s docks.  According to the Captain, it took more than 3 hours to get from Sea to Dock and considering this is about what it took us when we left to get back to the Atlantic, I have no reason to disbelieve him since I wasn’t getting up at 3:30am to check our in-bound passage.

Amsterdam is one of our favorite cities - and we had a mission to accomplish while we there.  The mission?  Buy some seriously aged Gouda cheese.  We got off the ship about 10:30 - our dock was at the Convention Center - great location from which to walk into town.  The walk into downtown took about 15 minutes - weather was a bit breezy and cool but we’d bundled up and brought light gloves along.

To price things, we visited three separate cheese stores - letting us a set an upper range for the cheese we were looking for.  The cheese stores were remarkably consistent - 11.99 Euro for a chunk of our aged Gouda.  So with this in mind, we went looking for a local supermarket to actually buy the cheese.  Location-wise, the supermarket was just off Dam Square where Madame Tussauds Wax Museum is located.  By way of comparison, buying the same cheese in the supermarket was 8.99 Euro for each chunk of 2 year aged Gouda - so we bought all we thought we could get home in our bags, probably saving about 30% overall compared to the specialty cheese stores.  With our cheese booty, it was time for the pirates to mosey back to the ship for lunch and meet up with Uncle Jack and Aunt Sarah.  We chose to walk back a slightly different direction (which in Amsterdam means along a different canal).  Found really small cross alleys here and there that offered interesting pictures before turning onto our target canal and “ladies on display”.  Even at 11am or so, there were working girls in the windows but it looked like they were attracting more lookie loos than paying customers.  

About 100 yards farther along, we were back to the place we’d started — once you’ve been to Amsterdam a few times, you stop getting lost within the first or second canal ring (this - canal ring) is my way of describing what you see on a map showing how things evolve from the Central Station which is directly adjacent to the Cruise Passenger Terminal (separated by about 400 yards along the water).  All the streets and canals from the water front run generally parallel — about a mile or so from the Central Station to the first “Ring” Canal (the floating flower market is here).  Then a bit further on, is a second “Ring” canal - and so forth.

Back on the ship with a night and sea day to reach Copenhagen, it was a chance to catch up on things aboard Zuiderdam.  First off, WiFi in our room started getting flaky in the strangest way.  We couldn’t log on in our cabin, but if I was willing to walk down to Guest Services on deck 1, I could get logged on immediately.  Then I could walk back up to our cabin on deck 6, and everything was fine.  Pretty random, right?  Don’t have a clue why this was, perhaps the router closest to our cabin had some kind of login issue but once logged in, would route packets back and forth.  Being an engineer type, I found that it didn’t matter what device or browser we used - because I tried them all.  This was not how things started on our cruise, but it is how it turned out our last 5 or 6 days.  We purchased the 1000 minute package for $250 which turned out to be enough for our 16 day cruise since we didn’t have internet for a couple of days — until I figured out the login trick.

Since we had an afternoon, and an entire sea day/night, we filled up our second Laundry bag to get clothes washed.  Left this on our bed when we went down for dinner, expecting we’d see clean clothes in 24 hours.  Well, perhaps not…  There was an un-announced laundry cut-off so we now have a full bag of dirty garments.  Holland America should have announced a Laundry “No Later than Date/Time” to prevent this.  Perceptions are colored by little things - enough little things add up,  and you move the dial to the good or to the not so good. 

So how do you help leave a really bad taste in your mouth when you get off a cruise?  Have a disembarkation process just as bad or worse than the Embarkation process…  The waiting was fine, and we did get off the ship at our scheduled time, including the two wheel chairs for Auntie and Uncle.  Our bags were waiting as expected and we did find a porter for Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jack’s bags.  So far so good - smooth as silk.  Then we saw a long, long, long (did I say it was LONG?) line - oh Crud, Customs must be really slow…  Nope as it turns out.  There are neither Immigration or Customs to clear when you get off in Copenhagen.  The long, long, long (LONG) line is for a taxi - bloody hell…  

So here’s a really importation TRAVEL TIP for Cruise ship arrivals in Copenhagen - find the number for a taxi or driver service and have a taxi or driver waiting for you when you get off.  Then you walk straight out of the terminal with your bags and you are gone 2 minutes after picking up your bags.  We waited for 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to the front of the taxi line.  We got a small Mercedes van for the the four of us and our bags - trip to our hotel along the waterfront downtown took about 20 minutes and cost $40.40 — all the cabs we used in Copenhagen took credit cards and we used our American Express Platinum for all of them.

Our hotel, Copenhagen Island, was directly adjacent to the Fisketorvit Copenhagen Mall - a 4 story mall with multiple retail stores, an Imax theater, a supermarket, and tons of restaurants.  My first impression of Copenhagen Island was good - if our ship was a hotel on the water, our hotel was a ship on the water - surrounded on all four sides by water with small bridges to get to and fro.  The hotel staff were super professional and managed to accommodate everything we needed or asked for and could give accurate directions to any place we were heading.  Our room was clean, well laid out, and had a really nice patio opening out onto the water - what a great view….  Our bathroom was a single sink bathtub/shower combination.

Our room also included breakfast (served 0630 to 1000) which was really good.  Excellent danish (my first Danish danish), yogurts, juices, cheeses, meats, scrambled eggs, bacon, and baked beans.

Over all, a very solid hotel choice, in a great location too since we were to find out that the walking distance to the Hop on Hop off bus was within 250 yards for the “Mermaid” Tour Bus and 50 yards for the “Christianshaven” Tour Bus - same company, different routes - but all included if you buy the “All Lines” card at a Tourist Office.  The Tourist Office we used was just across the street from Tivoli Gardens - one of the most popular attractions in Copenhagen - kind of a combination kid rides, beautiful lush gardens, and restaurant place - approximately 2 city blocks by 2 city blocks in size.  We didn’t go into Tivoli Gardens since we aren’t Disneyland kinda’ people anymore but if you are a family with kids, you shouldn’t miss it.  The All Lines Bus card price was $31 US for a 48 hour pass - since we took all three tours over two days, we felt this was a good value and gave you a great overview of the main areas of Central Copenhagen and close in suburbs.

Copenhagen is a city renowned for its cuisine - Michelin Stars in abundance.  My brother and sister in law visit Copenhagen often and love the city - and within the city, one restaurant in particular, “Geist” which is in Nyhaven (center of downtown).  Our dining experience there was decidedly “interesting”…  What else do you call an experience that features an incredibly eclectic menu with dishes/combinations you have never heard or even though about.  The items on the left side of the menu are “appetizer sized”; the ones on the right are almost “main portioned sized”.  The star?  Shitaki mushrooms with a carmelized sauce including Arabica coffee beans - absolutely outstanding - innovative and tasty.  The duds? Everything else…  I chose to follow an asparagus theme - white asparagus with shaved black truffles for starter, green asparagus with jalapeno and grape leaves, and an asparagus crisps dessert.  The dessert was interesting and tasted pretty good. They should have paid me to eat the other two dishes.  What a major disappointment  - at least it didn’t cost us what a 2 or 3 star would have cost but it was sure way more than we generally pay at a fine dining establishment back in the USA.

I guess while we are talking about prices, we should give you a general comparison between the three northern European cities we visited in sequence.  Brugge was the most expensive of the three, Copenhagen was in the middle, Amsterdam the cheapest.  Compared to home, even Amsterdam would be considered pricey, but we are talking about major cities and Value Added Taxes of 20-25%.  But it seems like you are getting your money’s worth in Amsterdam and especially in Copenhagen.  Lots of building on-going, fabulous architecture, bike lanes, great local transportation (which is pretty cheap).  Prices in the supermarkets for food and wine in both Amsterdam and Copenhagen was pretty much in line with what we’d expect in Naples.   The things that are expensive seem to be entertainment or clothing related.

A blurb on the Hop on Hop off bus..  First off, there are two different companies running Hop on Hop off.  This is not readily apparent and wasn’t an issue until we got to stop #2 in Nyhavn and found out when we tried to board a “Red” Bus that our ticket wasn’t good for this “Red Bus”.  I guess you are supposed to know the difference according to the tourist office lady who was indignant rather than helpful - only nasty person we met in Copenhagen and she didn’t work for our Red Bus line.  There is a subtle difference in where the flags are located on the side of the bus - our flags (indicating the 10 or so languages the tour is given in) is on the second deck of the bus; the “other” company’s flags are on the street level of the bus.  

So on our Red Bus Line - hereafter known as the “nice” bus line there are red (Mermaid), purple (Christianshavn), and green (Carlsburg) lines.  Green turns into Purple; cross-lining from Red, Green or Purple is at stop 13 - 2 blocks from Stroget street. For reference, we got onto the Mermaid tour at stop 14 - Tivoli Hotel and Convention Center and stop 38 - Fisketorvet Mall - for the Christianshavn tour.  The favorite area we saw on our tours was Fredericksburg - would live here in a heartbeat.  Beautiful streets, restaurants, 3-4 story apartment buildings, looks so invitingly livable.  On the green bus we met Alfio, our bus driver and of course, Valerie in her beautiful fashion found out right away that he has a cousin that works in a restaurant in downtown Naples that we frequent.  So we are now carrying a message to Luca from his cousin Alfio.  In the meantime, we had Alfio pointing out all the hard to see highlights along the way.  

Other highlights of Copenhagen?  Our second day in Copenhagen, the sun came out, and the people of Copenhagen, like a sun flower, turned to the sun to catch the rays.  Everywhere you looked, people were sitting out on sidewalks looking up to the sun, pants legs and shirt sleeves rolled up.  For us, the sun meant that the colors and refractions built into the buildings were in all their glory.  Copenhagen is pretty in the gray; stunning in the sun with green blue water surrounding round and triangular office buildings in marble, granite, and glass.

We were sitting out on our hotel room’s patio looking across the water where small motor boats moved back and forth when we noticed a very large swan, swimming rapidly back and forth…  You are now in the lair of the Killer Swan of Copenhagen…  He doesn’t bother motor boats, but Poseidon help you if you are in a kayak - he’s going to attack and drive you away.  We watched this happen a half dozen times with varying reactions by the kayakers.  One guy didn’t know he was being attacked because he was paddling pretty fast to start with so the swan couldn’t keep up but once he fell behind by about 20 yards, he went into flight mode and dived on the guy who now understood what was going on and exited rapidly stage left.

The next victim came from left to right - once it was apparent the kayak was entering the patrolled zone, the Swan swam to intercept and the guy say him coming and could tell by the puffed up wings that he meant business.  So he stopped - paddled a bit - splashed water at the swan with his paddle who back off about a yard.  The the kayaker backed away - still splashing water with his paddle on opposite strokes.  Kayaker #2 vanquished…  #3 was a pair of girls - they got one look at our scary killer swan, and they hightailed it before he could give them the full Monty.

So why you ask?  Was this swan abused by a kayaker when he was young?  Or was there a more mundane reason - like a nest nearby?  Turns out he was guarding his mate’s nest - built on a ramp into the river alongside a swimming facility.  The nest appears to have started with a fishing net and was about 3 feet in diameter - big enough it turns out for Mom (who was sitting on eggs) and Dad (aka Killer Swan) to curl up in for the evenings.  But once daylight comes, Dad is out patrolling his 100 or so yard stretch of water to keep them kayakers away.

We ate our second and third dinners in Copenhagen in more convention settings.  Our second evening, we enjoyed a very nice and reasonably priced dinner on the Mall’s third floor at a table with a great view of the river that runs by our hotel and the Mall (and the one patrolled by none other than our Killer Swan)  Food was reasonable, price was better, and once again, great service.  In fact, service in all three restaurants we ate in for dinner was very good - efficient and professional.  

On our last night, Valerie and I were on our own so we walked out into town to search up a place to eat.  On a very nice side street about 3/4 a mile away from our hotel, we found Mama Lubda’s Italian restaurant.  Great ambience and very good food.  Best marinated olives we’ve ever had - we had to get a second portion of them and spent several minutes talking with the manager to learn about their home made marinade.  Something we are going to do for ourselves at home…  Our server was a really nice young lady from Bulgaria - she has clearly been schooled in the European tradition and undoubtedly has a degree in hotel and restaurant management.  Two very nice pasta dishes accompanied by a great Italian Primitivo.  The walk back to the hotel - with the late Danish Sun appearing once again - was wonderful - people in the streets meeting for dinner or drinks - bicycle riders everywhere - something we wish we’d see more of in the US - bikes and bike lanes that allow you to navigate downtown areas of major cities - keeping you fit and the air cleaner…

Checked out of our hotel, Copenhagen Island, this morning - a hotel we’d highly recommend - great location - reasonable rates, and very nice room.  If you stay there, make sure to ask for a ground floor room with a patio; especially in summer - it is so nice to sit out in the sun and watch the world sail, walk, and fly (swans :)) by.  The hotel called a taxi for us - took about 5 minutes to get there and the ride to the airport was about 20 minutes and $40 away.  Everything was smooth until we got to the airport which brings us to our next cautionary tale.

Based on our experience, getting wheel chairs for Uncle Jack and Aunt Sarah was easy - but the wheel chairs don’t come with attendants - so how does this work with bags etc? Oh - did I say there weren’t any porters either?  Now maybe this is because it was 0700 in the am and they don’t show up until 08 or 09 - but if you are flying early on a Monday - you ain’t gettin’ no help whether you need it or not.  So we left our carry on bags and hoofed both wheel chairs and their bags over to the SAS Bag Check in.  Once we had them where they needed to be, Val and I had to hustle to security and our flight which was about an hour later by this point.  Security was a goat rope to say the least - we had all the appropriate sizes but in Copenhagen, they also really really care that what ever liquid you have in the appropriate size fits in a single 1 liter zip lock bag.  Since Val had about a two liter bag’s worth of appropriately sized liquids, she had to cull a liter’s worth of expensive shampoo and makeup stuff - not a happy time to say the least.

Once through security, everything went well - flying in business class means you get a row of three seats with no one in the middle in the front of the cabin, free box food and free beer/wine.  The flight from Copenhagen to Reykjavik is about three hours and really smooth.  We have just started descending so time to wrap things up to make room for our next episode which will cover our first ever visit to Reykjavik…

Cherbourg/Zeebrugge - May 2nd

Cherbourg and Zeebrugge

Well, I guess you could say I called it in our last episode.  The Allies had to cancel and reschedule Operation Overlord (Invasion of Normandy) due to weather and that, with some help from a dazed and confused tour provider, is pretty much what happened to Uncle Jack and I in Cherbourg.

We awakened earlier than usual, excited to be seeing the beaches of Normandy and some of the history associated with our invasion 74 years ago.  Woke right up to driving rain and temperatures that would be right at home in Oregon in the winter — did I mention we live in SW Florida?  Cold wind and cold rain don’t exist in our vocabulary any more, but just to ensure we remember why we don’t live in the climes we were born in any more, Cherbourg thought she’d greet us properly.

Uncle Jack and I had a tour planned and I had checked with our operator two days before hand to double check when and where we would meet them - Check, Double Check…  So at ten after 8 in 15-20 mph winds and consistent rain showers, we got off the ship to wait for our private tour, and wait and wait…  We had of course contingency plan #1 - turn on my cell phone and call the tour operator.  “Yes, we have your names, our driver is enroute, not to worry, they will be there as planned at 0830…”  8:30 rolls around, still not there - call again.  They are almost there - not to worry.  So I don’t bore you with every thing we did do, I can cut to the chase and say what we didn’t do, which was do our planned Normandy tour…  

Why?  The tour operator had two ships arriving on May 1st, our ship and Viking Star.  Viking Star was supposed to arrive first; they ended up docking after we did - so all the tour vans were waiting at the Viking Star dock — while all of us on Zuiderdam - about 10 or 15 people, waited in the rain for more than an hour.  Two hours after we were supposed to have left, the vans finally showed up - already 3/4’s full with folks from the other ship.  Two hours late for an 8 hour tour, sopping wet and chilled to the bone, aboard a van full of folks who didn’t need to be back to their ship until 9:30pm; our departure was 5:30pm.  Uncle Jack said, “Let’s bag it” and we did.

I spent an hour writing a pretty dispirited letter to the tour operator — we were so looking forward to seeing the ground our Greatest Generation had consecrated and now we had missed our chance.  Later that evening, I received what I will consider one of the more moving apologies I’ve ever seen from the owner of the tour company.  Rather than worry about how things had gone, he cut to the chase and apologized, almost (well, actually he did) making me feel bad for him.  In these days of Risk Manager/Lawyer written apologies that are designed to limit liability while making it sound like you are sorry something unfortunate happened, this gentleman took it on the chin.  So my hat is off to Andy - a true gentleman.  I didn’t get to take his tour but having taken his measure as a person, I’d recommend him and his company in a second.

So Cherbourg was a hot mess — well, perhaps a cold, wet mess, but having a bathtub for a warm bath is not too bad a way to deal with a chill.  Next up, Zeebrugge…

Right on time again, Zuiderdam pulled into the harbor of Zeebrugge, Belgium - to, sunshine, yeah!  Hold on there cowboy, you aren’t off the ship yet…  By the time we got off the ship with Aunt Sarah; Uncle Jack having decided to stay aboard, around 1pm, things were a little bit less sunny - but at least not wet - yet…

Zeebrugge is pretty much just a port facility - the closet town, Blankenberge, is about 4 or 5 kilometers away, and the city of Brugge is probably about 15 kilometers away.  These aren’t exact distances on the map — I am judging distance based on how long we had to travel to get there, so how did we get there?

First, there was a shuttle bus that picked us up from the ship and took us to the port’s gate about 400 yards as the crow flies - it isn’t the distance but the fact that the port is a super busy cargo port and they don’t want tourist/passengers walking around amidst the cargo containers getting moved hither and yon.  From the port’s front gate, there are two ways to go - Left and Right - with right being the direction we wanted to go in order to walk to the closest tram stop to head towards Blankenberge.  It was about a 1/2 mile walk on a good side walk to get to the tram stop - passing a maritime museum (old coastguard/light house boat painted red on the shore and what I think is a post WW-II Soviet submarine in the water) along the way.  Inquiring minds might want to know how to catch the tram?  On the same side of the street you are walking on from the port is a small market.  In this market, you can buy a “Tages Kart”.  Now, I don’t know a word in Belgian, but this looked to me like the German words for a “Days Card” so I bought three of them since I’d read we would be taking both tram and bus to get to Brugge city.  The card was 6 Euros each for all the buses and trams you could ride in 24 hours.

We took the tram from the stop directly across from the market heading the same direction we’d headed to get to the market in the first place - the stop is right across the street from a church (“Kerk”) so it is a good reference point.  Once aboard the tram (clean and modern looking) we could see that the next stop was on a lighted sign at the front of the tram and the tram routes were depicted in maps on the left and ride side of the ceiling (the one we needed was on our left heading into town).  We got off at the aptly named “Station” which was where we waited to catch bus #33, that said “Brugge” on the electronic sign which was where we were going.

We rode the bus - once again, modern and clean, for the 7 or 8 mile trip into the center of Brugge.  Along the way, we were reminded again of one of the reasons we love Europe, namely, city and country co-exist side by side.  One second you are in city (Blankenberge) - homes and businesses, the next second, you are in the countryside with cows, horses, crops, sheep and farm houses.  This goes on for about 5 or 6 miles and then you are immediately back into the outskirts of Brugge city - the transition from one (countryside agriculture) to the other (city urbanscape) is so smooth it is actually kind of jarring when you are used to the distinctions we make in the USA.  At home, “Farm to Table” seems like a really big deal; here it is just the way it is…

Brugge is a modern city of brick fascias - real and appliqué - the older buildings really are built of brick, the newer are concrete block construction with brick appliqué - the overall effect is esthetically pleasing.  We got off at what we were told was the “Center” - not quite true it turned out - where we got off was right across the street from what appears to be a new urban transportation center - currently under construction.  Even though it wasn’t the historical “Center” of town, it was a nice entrance to walk into the town’s historical center.  It was a nice walk even though a cold rain was now starting to fall and we’d left our umbrella back on the ship (%^&@#$!!!).  We were at least bundled up for the weather, even if we may have looked a bit “humid” so to speak.  The town center was an easy 10 minute walk along great pedestrian streets punctuated by stores and churches (Bless me Father for I have sinned - first the American Express and then the Visa Card) - that is why they are side by side, right???

The town center was true Market Platz (German speak) - the town’s largest cathedral on one side with the other three sides taken by a historical museum and charming side walk restaurants and cafe’s.  There was also a decent line of horse drawn carriages for hire - think I saw 50Euro as the fare on one of the carriages as it clip clopped by pulled by a very beautiful sorrel horse.

Having seen downtown Brugge, and contemplating our return journey back to the ship, we caught a bus and headed back to the “Station” in Brugge - in this case meaning the train station.  At the train station, I could see a sign for Blankengberge, so walked up to the window and asked for 3 adult fares (in English) - each ticket was 3.1 Euros - and the actual time via train was 13 minutes from station to station (we hit 65mph along the way) non-stop.  We had to wait 40 minutes for the 4:05pm train but we spent it in Starbucks with a White Chocolate Mocha and internet…

Once back in Blankenberge, we walked from the Train Station across the street to the Tram/Bus station we’d departed from 2 hours previously, and caught a tram back to our Zeebruge Kerk stop.  

So what did we learn about Zeebrugge, Blankenberge, and Brugge?  Easy and economical to get around — food prices on menus are super expensive - twice what we’d pay in the States - same thing in the store window displays - I don’t think I saw a pair of shoes under 130 Euros and a bunch more than 500 Euros.  And with a limited sample size - e.g. one day on a couple of buses, trams, and trains in three small cities,  I can tell you that Belgium is a lot more like Italy than it is like Germany or Switzerland when it comes to lines and public transportation.  In Germany or Switzerland, people queue up properly and get on a bus or tram in an orderly fashion.  In Italy, it is a free for all, although elders and pretty women get some slack.  Belgium is pretty much like Italy except the pretty women and old guys are elbowing their way ahead of you to get on the bus or tram.  Local customs never bother me - I just need to know how things are done and then I will follow suit.  So after a old guy half my size elbowed his way past me the first time, I hip checked his buddy to let Aunt Sarah and Valerie get on without getting run over…  You gotta’ learn from the locals… Our overall impression of Belgians is that they aren’t the warmest and fuzziest bunch of people we’ve encountered in Europe.  But then you have to understand we think we’re half Italian (at least) and think Germans are warm, loving people with a great sense of humor (truth!)

So - all in all, a great but once again, rainy, visit ashore in Belgium.  Tomorrow is Amsterdam - one of our favorite cities in the world.  Even if it rains, we are scoring some seriously aged Gouda cheese…