FUN-travel: Keiser Franz-Joseph Fjord, Greenland – A&K Arctic Cruise Day 8
September 22, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Keiser Franz-Joseph Fjord, Greenland – A&K Arctic Cruise Day 8
Day 46 – Friday, August 15 – Keiser Franz-Joseph Fjord, Greenland – A&K Cruise Day 8 – full sun w/clouds in distance – mid 40’s
Margeriedal
What I LIKE
- 6:45 – wake up
- 11:00 – 1st expedition in 2nd group
- – wet landing @ Margeriedal
- – nice walk up steep hill w/grand view
- – really incredible rock formations and types on beach shore line
- – every color from butter toffee to adobe red, slate & grays some w/sparkles!
- 1:00 – lunch – Indian – cooked by French & Phillipino’s so not very authentic
- 2:00 – open bridge policy – get to go up & check out the captain’s domain
All the Pretty Rocks
- 5:00 – 2nd expedition in 1st group – wet landing @ Holm Bugt
- – more nice walk up hill
- – really pretty teeny tiny flowers in clusters
- – yellow, red, pink, gold, cream purple & cottony white
- – even some miniature mushrooms & cactus looking plants
- 8:00 – dinner – asked for grilled salmon & got swordfish
- 9:30 – lounge Deck 3 for singer
- 10:15 – shows over
Margeriedal
What I DON’T LIKE
- no satellite coverage & internet
FUN-fact – Greenland is the largest island in the world and 80% is covered in ice. 80% of the island is within the Arctic Circle. You think there’s a pattern here?
Holm Bugt
FUN-travel: Day at Sea – A&K Arctic Cruise Day 7
September 19, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Day at Sea – A&K Arctic Cruise Day 7
Day 45 – Thursday, August 14 – Sea Day – A&K Cruise Day 7 – full sun w/clouds in distance – mid 40’s – Another typical Sea Day
What I LIKE
- 7:30 – typical wake up
- 9:30 – enrichment lecture – Greenland: Exploration & Transformation
- – watch on TV instead going to theatre
- 11:00 – finally get satellite coverage & internet!
- 12:30 – typical lunch
- 2:00 – CNN works!
Ny Alesund, Svalbard
- 2:15 – spa day – steam sauna w/body scrub, hot rocks massage!
- 5:00 – enrichment lecture – sea birds of the arctic
- – watch on TV instead going to theatre
- 6:30 – typical happy hour
- 7:00 – typical expedition recap & briefing on birds theatre Deck 4
- 8:00 – Special Chef’s Dinner – all his favorites
- – feel sleepy from massage – go to deck 6 – more casual
- – get window table & fog rolls in!
- 9:00 – in bed to watch another nature documentary
- Fall asleep early
Monacobreen, Svalbard,
What I DON’T LIKE
- Takes 30 mins just to get emails to come in
- – can’t even respond because it’s
- – really, really slow
- – which makes it really, really expensive!
- All we do is sleep!
FUN-fact – Greenland has the second largest ice cap and contains 7% of the earth’s ice.
More FF – Antarctica has the largest ice cap containing 90% of the earth’s ice.
FUN-photos: Northern Europe, Baltic & Arctic – Summer 2014 – Movie Trailer
September 12, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: Northern Europe, Baltic & Arctic – Summer 2014 – Movie Trailer
The editing of the video that we shot has begun. Here’s a little snippet. Enjoy!
FUN-photos: A&K Arctic Expedition
September 11, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: A&K Arctic Expedition
On August 6th we flew from Amsterdam to Oslo. Our A&K trip started on the 7th with a city walking tour and a cocktail reception at the Polar Ship Fram Museum. It houses the original arctic expedition ship and considered the world´s strongest wooden ship. On June 24th 1893 the Fram set out on her first expedition to reach the North Pole. The expedition ended in 1896 and in 1898 the 2nd expedition sailed to survey northern Greenland and to explore and survey the unknown northeastern coast. They were supposed to return in 1901 but were surrounded by ice that never melted and finally returned in September 1902. The Fram made 2 remarkable pioneering expeditions.
We boarded Le Boreal in Longyearbyen, Svalbard and spent the first 4 days on excursions cruising around the archipelago in search of polar bears and wild life. And we got lucky! We found a mother and her cub on 2 different days. From there we cruised to Greenland spending 3 days of excursions and landings and ended in Iceland for 2 day stops touring on land before disembarking in Reykjavik.
Then we spent 4 days in Reykjavik which included taking the Golden Circle tour and dipping in the world famous Blue Lagoon. The Golden Circle is a 300 km loop that covers three main attractions; Pingvellir National Park, the waterfall Gullfoss (Golden Falls) & the erupting geyser Strokkur. And lucky for us we got out of Reykjavik just before the Bardarbunga volcano erupted! We ended in London where we spent our last full day at the Tower of London.
This trip lasted 57 days and included 12 countries, 11 zodiac excursions, 7 airline flights, 3 cruises and 2 car rentals covering 1330 miles. We are so glad to be home, and in our opinion, the best place in the whole world!
FUN-travel: Day at Sea – A&K Arctic Cruise Day 6
September 8, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Day at Sea – A&K Arctic Cruise Day 6
Day 44 – Wednesday, August 13 – Sea Day – A&K Arctic Cruise Day 6 – full sun w/clouds in distance – mid 40’s
What I LIKE
- Typical Sea Day
- 8:00 – typical morning routine
- 9:30 – enrichment lecture – the bear essentials
- – watch on TV instead going to theatre
- 10:30 – quiche snack in room from breakfast buffet – pretty good!
Totally Forgot to Tell You About Seeing Mr. Fox in Alkjefellet!
- 11:15 – enrichment lecture – sea birds of the arctic
- – watch on TV instead going to theatre
- 1:30 – typical lunch
- 2:30 – typical nap
- 5:00 – typical happy hour – martini’s this time
- 7:00 – typical expedition recap & briefing theatre Deck 4
- 9:30 – Variety Show – singing & dancing Lounge Deck 3
- – room packed and glad we got there early for good seats
- 10:15 – show ends – hang out
- 11:30 – night night
- No satellite coverage – no internet
- – just enjoy being in present w/o distraction
- Get another hour back
What I DON’T LIKE
- middle of night jolt – either heard thunder or we hit ice
- Starts raining @ lunch
- No satellite coverage – no internet
FUN-fact – The North Pole is water covered with ice surrounded by land and the South Pole is land covered with ice surrounded by water.
More FF – The mean annual temperature at the North Pole is -0 degrees and the South Pole is -58 degrees.
Arctic Terns