Poor Steve, it was a really rough night last night. The Captain reported this morning that the wind was blowing 60-70 MPH and the seas were 30 feet. I almost got bounced out of bed. Twice. Steve called guest services in the middle of the night because of a loud, repetitive banging below us, almost as if a door had come loose and slammed repeatedly. They couldn’t find anything, so it was fitful sleep for both of us, but especially him as I had my earplugs in. We finally made it into an inside passage near Bergen and things calmed down, so he slept in. But I fear he is awake now as we just went back into the rocking and rolling open-ocean. Oh, well.
Last night we listened to a naturalist talk about what might be in store for us on the trip. He mentioned some sea birds, certainly reindeer, and even orcas! After the lecture I shared my phone’s screen saver with him, a pic of an orca I took in the straits of Gibraltar. We had a lively chat about the tuna fishermen and their fight with the orca over their catch.
The food and beverages have been delightful, as we would expect on any Viking cruise. When we took our last one in Bordeaux we met Chris and Sarah Manning, and Sarah delightfully would say to the waiters, “We all have the beverage package, bring us the good stuff.” I’m channeling Sarah. And my new best friend Alexsander was working the restaurant last night and played personal sommelier for us, pairing wines with our courses. Steve’s been enjoying lots of fish, and I thought I’d be doing the same, but the first night there was calf’s liver on the menu which was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, and last night I had duck. And of course my after dinner Aquavit.
On to Tronheim!
