Bari to Lecce

Lecce, Italy October 3, 2022 Saturday in Bari was a do nothing day. Tim figured out how to take the train to the Bari airport the next day to pick up a rental car. Lynda worked on packing and R and R, resting and reading. She probably did more of the latter. We did go out in the evening for dinner. It was a beautiful night and the locals were out in force. In Italy, evening meals in restaurants don't usually begin until 7:30 at the earliest and 9:00 is more common. As always people watching was great fun. Fashion is so different for both men and women. We left Bari about 11:30 Sunday morning. Our plan was to drive through Alberobello. Alberobello is home to a World Heritage Site of truilli, a 14th century construction. Truilli are rectangular huts made of limestone with conical limestone roofs. There are over 1500 of these in the Alberobello region. They are very striking to see. Most now are used as homes but we saw many less elaborately constructed truilli in the fields. Many are used as tourist accomodations. Getting to our AirBnB in Lecce turned out to be an adventure. Lynda was giving Tim directions. Her directions finished with "find a place to park, we have to walk from here". Our apartment is in a neighborhood of centuries old buildings. Our host told us our building was 4 hundred years old. This is in stark contrast to our apartment in Bari that was in a post WW II building and very contempary in design. We would have not located our Lecce apartment without Google maps. While it has been modernized with up to date kitchen features and bathroom facilities, there is enough of the original to make it very interesting. Our host told Tim he needed to move the car to a nearby street where parking was free for as long as you like. As Tim's cell phone was low on charge he did not take it with him and got terribly lost trying to get back to the car. Our neighborhood is a warren of little streets where one wrong turn can get you terribly lost. Tim took 45 minutes to finally find the car. He spent 15-20 minutes looking for a parking space without any luck and ending up back where we originally parked. He got lost again trying to find the neighborhood. Tim slept well Sunday night. Today, Monday, we ventured out to visit churches. Lecce became infatuated with the Baroque style of architecture in the 16th century to the point of remodeling existing churches in that style. This resulted in Lecce being known as the "Baroque city of Italy". We visited three of the most famous of the Lecce churches, the Duomo, the Basilica of Santa Croce, and the Chiesa di Santa Chiara. All were different but equally striking in the ornate Baroque style. The Basilica of Santa Croce was hosting a wedding in the afternoon but we decided that crashing one wedding on this trip was enough. We returned to our apartment for nap time and then went out for a lovely evening meal. Tuesday we took a day trip to Ortanto at the very heel of the boot on the Mediterranean Sea. It was a beautiful cloudless day but with a cool, fresh wind. The sea was reasonably rough and a gorgeous blue. The waves crashing against the rocks were exciting. As is Lynda's want, we took two different routes going and coming back. In both directions we passed kilometer after kilometer of olive tree groves. It was fascinating to see some groves with very old but still healthy trees as opposed to some that were old but well cared for. We also saw several places where new trees had been planted. The harvest typically runs from October to December. There are many factors that affect the time of harvest, too many to enumerate. We saw no signs of the harvest being under way yet. No trip anywhere is complete until we visit a cemetary. Our trip is complete. Fortunately, it was an interesting one. There were only several sections what we would consider traditional gravesites. The rest were family mausoleums. Many of these mausoleums were very contemporary in design. Most were for individual families. We saw one that contained the remains of a 24 year, obviously leaving lots of space for the rest of the family. Tonight we are snacking in our apartment and then later, after dark, will go out and join the passeggiata and stop for a gelato. Passeggiata is an evening stroll that lots of people join. In a city like Lecce everyone strolls on the main street that is pretty much a pedestrian zone. If the weather is as good as last night it will be a wonderful paseggiata.

Lecce Duomo

The Roman Amphitheatre in Lecce

Our kitchen ceiling in Lecce

Our apartment in Lecce

Buon Giorgno from Bari, Italy

Bari, Italy, September 29 We are now luzuriating in the lovely city of Bari, located on the Adriatic coast at the top of the heel of Italy. We left Mason Tuesday morning, the 27th, on what turned out to be the most exhausting two days of travel in our memory. We were booked on a 2:05 p.m. flight on the 27th from Detroit to Atlanta with an overnight flight from Atlanta to Rome that would arrive a 11:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. Our plan was to arrive at Detroit Metro at noon. Our usual plan was to take the Michigan Flyer, a bus service from East Lansing to the airport. Unfortunately, to be at Metro at noon we needed to take the 9:15 bus from East Lansing. We were enjoying lunch around noon at the airport when we received notification on our cell phones that the Atlanta flight had been delayed by 30 minutes, only a minor nuisance at the time. However, 15 minutes later we received another notification that our flight had been canceled and Delta was in the process of rebooking us on later flight that would result in our missing the flight to Rome. The ever resourceful Lynda immediately got on her cell phone and rebooked us on a Delta flight departing Metro at 3:00 but would route us through Amsterdam and then on to Rome. Additionally this would get us to Rome at 9:30 instead of 11:00. Good news. We arrived in Amsterdam on time but encountered our first problem when we deplaned and discovered that our arrival gate was as far away from our departure gate as possible. Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport is one of the largest airports in the world consisting of 5 different terminals. It was a very long walk that included passing through passport control. Those experienced travelers reading this know that you can sleep during a 7 hour flight but it is not a particularly restful sleep. Your body, particularly old bodies like ours, are not prepared for the grueling traversing of an airport especially at 5:00 in the morning. Our 7:15 flight to Rome was on time and blah, just the way you like plane travel. Kudos to Delta Airlines because despite the change in itinerary our checked luggage arrived with us in Rome. We purchased our train tickets at the airport for the shuttle train into Rome and then the train to Bari. We had another hour and half layover at the train station in Rome before we left for Bari. In spite of our train being delayed by 30 minutes it was a smooth ride, albeit 4 hours, to Bari. Traveling by train all over Europe we have found to be an enjoyable experience... but not after 9 hours of flying and 6 hours of sitting in airports and train terminals. The next hiccup in our plan was our inability to get on the wifi on the train. We are pretty sure it was not our fault but poor wifi. Consequently, we were unable to communicate with the hostess of our Airbnb regarding our arrival time. As our apartment was only 4 blocks from the station we walked, only having to stop twice to ask(confirm!) that we were headed in the right direction. Still not sure how to contact our hostess, we fortunately arrived at the same time as a young couple who were residents in the same building. Bringing this long tale of woe to a merciful end, 20 minutes later we were finally in our apartment at 7:00 Wednesday night. We had spent almost 30 hours traveling. The evening did have a happy ending. We ate at an upscale pizzaria where we had a very friendly waiter. Italian pizza is much different from the excellent american pizza. We love it. Pizza, wine and a beautiful evening in Italy. Who can ask for more. This morning, Thursday, we did not stir from bed until 11:00. That is how tired we both were from 2 days of traveling. It is a 4 block walk to Bari Vecchia, the old town of Bari. We found a deli just at the entrance to old town. We had calzone type dishes with a glass of wine sitting outside. Heaven! We started to walk about old town but quickly discovered we were both too exhausted to do much exploring so returned to the apartment. We were so tired we had to stop half way back for another glass of wine. Once back to the apartment we both napped. We won't bore you with details but we had another wonderful meal tonight. One of our great joys in traveling is sampling local cuisine. Like the United States each region of Italy has its own particular cuisine. This is true of pasta as well. We are in the region of Puglia and this region specializes in orecchiette, also known as "little ear" because its shape somewhat resembles a, well, little ear. It is a small, round cup shaped pasta not often seen in the States. We memtion this because we went back to Bari Veccia this morning (Friday). Our first stop was Strada Arco Basso, a street that is not much wider then 5 yards. On a short section of this street women set at tables making the orrecchiette. The women roll the pasta into a solid tube then, useing a paring knife, slice a small section of dough off of the tube and with a quick flick of the wrist form the iconic shape of the orrecchiette. They are so fast at this process that it almost seems like a slight of hand. The street was overflowing with tourists mesmerized by the speed with which these women produced the distinctive shape of this particular pasta. We both have tried this pasta since arriving in Bari and have made two observations. 1. The cup like shape of orecchiette allows it to hold a bit more of the sauce that is put on the pasta. 2. Because it is a thicker pasta in comparision to noodles (spaghetti, fettucini, etc.) it has a different consistency, slightly chewy. We've both enjoyed the orecchiette dishes we have eaten. Our next stop was the Bari Cathedral. Compared to the many other Cathedrals we have visited in Europe this cathedral was quite plain. There was very little ornamentation in the design of the church and not much art work hung on the walls. Archetecturally, its most distinctive feature was its ceiling. We believe it is the original timber roof. From the Bari Cathedral we walked along another narrow street that consisted mostly of souvenier shops. Our destination was the Basilica of St. Nicola. Some believe that St. Nicola was the inspiration for Santa Claus. The Basilica was a bit fancier then the Cathedral, its most notable feature being the ornately painted ceiling. We were surprised when we entered the Basilica to find a wedding taking place. With time to kill before our luncheon reservations we discreetly sat at the back of the church and enjoyed the nuptuals of Daniella and Francesca. We were fascinated to watch tourists and tour groups visit the Basilica as if there was no wedding occuring. Not having an invitation to the wedding reception we went to the Osteria dei Arpie for lunch. Before our trip we happened onto a TV series on Amazon Prime entitled "A Taste of Italy". This restaurant was featured in one of the episodes. When we told the hostess this she became very excited and immediately yelled at the owner to come over to our table. The owner knew of the the visit by the TV program but was still thrilled to have a couple from the U.S. visit the restaurant because of seeing it on American television. Our meal lived up to the TV hype. Most all Italian shops close from 1:30 to 3:30 for siesta time so when we left the restaurant the streets were virtually deserted. We decided to join the rest in Bari in taking a nap. Tonight Tim will bring back some bruschetta from a nearby restaurant which we will enjoy on our balcony with a bottle of wine. Ciao.

December 17-20, 2021 The rest of the cruise

After dinner on Thursday night we were taken to a Coffee House in Rudesheim. The specialty of this Coffee House was strong coffee, brandy and whipped cream. A couple of cubes of sugar and brandy were put in a coffee mug and while mixing the sugar and brandy it was lit. While the brandy/sugar mixture was still aflame the coffee was poured in. Finally a dollop of whipped cream with chocolate sprinks was put on top. After we all raised a toast with this delicious coffee a pianist/singer was introduced who was going to lead us in some Christmas carols. Unfortunately, the first sing-a-long was Sweet Caroline (oh! oh! oh!). Not long after that we were singing YMCA. Fortunately, there was some dance music that we danced to. We were one of two couples on the dance floor. The final indignity was the "Chicken Dance". We keep reminding ourselves that the coffee was good. Friday we docked at Ludwigshafen with the intent to take an excursion to Romantic Heidelberg and Christmas Markets. Having been to Heidelberg previously our plan was to skip the Castle tour and just enjoy the Markets. Unfortunately, the day before we found out the Heidelberg Christmas Markets were cancelled. Instead we went to a large Mall that was right beside our dock. It was all high end goods and was very crowded. The people watching was outstanding. Strasbourg, France was the city besides Cologne that we were looking forward to visiting. The Christmas Markets in Strasbourg are among the best in Europe. There are four of the markets spread around Strasbourg, two of them surrounding the Cathedrale de Notre Dame. We enjoyed browsing and sampled our first mulled wine. The plan was to find a nice French cafe for lunch before returning to the ship. However, it was a cold damp day and the walk from our bus to the Cathedral had been long and tiring so we took the first bus back to the AmaLucia. Before leaving on this trip we had broached the possibilitiy of sometime in the future renting an AirBnB in Strasbourg for a couple of weeks. While Strasbourg is a wonderful city we decided it might be too big for what we want to do. Today, Monday, was our last port of call and turned out to be our favorite. Riquewihr is reputed to be one of the most beautiful small towns in France. It was the inspiration for the town in Disney's blockbuster movie, Frozen. Kelsey tell us if you recognize it. It was about a 45 minute bus ride to Riquewihr and we were immediately captivated with its beauty and charm. The whole town was like walking around in a fairy tale. There were Christman Markets that we enjoyed as well as many wonderful shops. We returned to the ship/boat at 1:00. At 2:45 we were bussed to a parking lot (!) where four nurses came out and gave us a rapid Covid test so we could get on our plane tomorrow. Good news. We were both negative. Bad news. We leave the boat at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow for the airport. Lynda is not happy but has our bags packed. While there were a few disappointments on the trip we still had a wonderful time. After all, we were traveling again. 1

Cologne, Germany - December 16, 2021

We have spent little time in Germany in all of our travels. Back in the early 70's we spent some brief time in the Black Forest and Stuttgard and then several years ago we cruised the Main River seeing several small cities including Hieldelberg. That is why we were excited about this cruise in northern Germany. We were particularly anxious to see Cologne as it is the home of one of the great Cathedrals of Europe. From where we docked we could look up a hill at the majestic twin spires of the Cathedral. We took a walking tour that went through the old town area of Cologne that surrounds the Cathedral. This tour took us through 3 different Christmas Markets. We did not stop at any of these markets but knew we had free time after our tour concluded. During World War II 93% of the buildings surrounding the Cathedral were destroyed by Allied Forces bombing, while only 10% of the Cathedral itself was damaged. There are several theories for this. 1.) There was a secret agreement between the warring parties not to damage these edifices. 2.) Divine intervention. 3.) and most plausible, these large Churches were navigational markers for the bombers. Most of the destroyed buildings were rebuilt to look as they did before the war. There was a large Romanesque church near the Cathedral that was destroyed but still returned to its previous grandeur. This took over 40 years. Cologne was the northern outpost of the Roman empire so we were shown many ruins from this time. Of interest was a Roman mosaic floor that was unearthed during the construction of bomb shelters during WW II. This floor was re-covered with dirt to preserve it and later uncovered again. The Cologne Cathedral is of Gothic design with the foundation stone being layed in 1243. It was another 600 years before it was completed. At one time the Cathedral was the tallest building in Europe. Even now it is the second tallest of the cathedrals in Europe. The outside facade of the building is awe inspiring, particularly its twin spires. That is why we were a bit disappointed when we went inside. While the shear size of the interior is overwhelming, from a decor standpoint it is pretty blah. Most of the Cathedrals we have visited have small side chapels along the walls of the entire building. These chapels are usually elaborately decorated with large paintings and alters that are also impressive with gold crosses and candle holders and the like. The Cologne Cathedral only has these chapels in the area behind the main alter, and, other then one or two, were not particularly impressive. But still we were thrilled to finally see it. Now, about the Christmas Markets, afterall that is why we chose this cruise. The markets consisted of sturdy wooden booths that abutted each other and were situated to create a small warren of short streets. There was a mix of quality goods as well as lots of food and drink booths. The food was not your typical county fair food. There were shops with very nice Christmas decorations from beautifully designed and constructed paper stars to elaborately carved decorations to fancy snow globes. A ceramic booth featuring many Christmas decorations. Tim found a ceramic treble clef sign painted a beautiful forest green with white trim that will fit perfectly on his "football tree". At one of the food shops we bought a traditional German snack similar to a latke, a shredded potato pancake, that is deep fried and served with applesauce. It was delicious. Our first Christmas Market experience was wonderful. If we weren't so tired from the hour and a half walking tour preceeding the Market visit we would have stayed longer. Thankfully we have more Christmas Markets to look forward to. It is late Friday afternoon as we write this post we are docked in Rudesheim. Unfortunetely, this towns Christmas Market was the only one cancelled on our tour. This morning we cruised through the Rhine Valley Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We saw ruins of castles build 1000 years ago. There were impressive 500 year old castles that are still inhabited. We probably should not have been surprised at the number of vineyards we saw on the sides of the steep hills that line the river. And, of course, there were many picturesque villages. Check Tim's facebook page for some pictures. A word or two about food. The food on board has been excellent. There is a decided German bent to the menu which is to be expected and which we have enjoyed. We had an excellent Wienerschizel last night and we both enjoyed a cheese spatzle at lunch. Today at lunch we had a stuffed egg, think deviled egg, topped with a small dollup of cavier. A note to our grandchildren who are in charge of deviled eggs for the winter picnic and Easter. Start looking for the cavier that we now expect on our deviled eggs. We had a notable meal on Wednesday night. The ship has a specialty restaurant called "the Chef's Table". It is a seven course tasting menu. The meal opened with an Heirloom tomato carapccio with eggplant caviar. This was followed by a beet root marinated salmon with avocado, egg cruble, caper berries and mustard-dill sauce. Next was Lemon Grass soup with shitake-pumpkin relish and a vegatable dumpling. A skin grilled Pike Perch with citrus sauce, celery mash and beluga lentil ragout was next. These four courses were all paired with a lovely German white wine. To clear our pallete for the main course we were served a Cassis Sorbet in sparkling wine. The main course was beef tenderloin with truffle jus, sweet potato, wild broccoli, radish, artichoke and green peas. For dessert we finished with lemon pie, yoghurt, and fresh forest berries. With the last three courses we were served a wonderful German red wine. Other meals have been nearly as fun.

Amsterdam, December 14-15, 2021

Our overnight flight from Detroit to Amsterdam landed at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, December 14. Amawaterways was there to greet us as we left baggage claim. We were transported to where our riverboat AmaLucia was docked. We were able to leave our luggage at the boat but could not board until noon. We knew this was going to happen so had a plan. We took a tram to Museum Square where the Van Gogh Museum is located. The plan was for Lynda to convince Van Gogh Museum personnel that we were unable to reserve our tickets online so could they let us buy tickets on location, something that Lynda is very good at. They would not let us do this but did direct us to a kiosk where we could purchase tickets. Because we had seen the "Van Gogh Experience" in Detroit last summmer, at the last minute we bought tickets for the Contempary Art Museum located next to the Van Gogh Museum. It was a good decision as we saw a wider variety of artworks in this museum. We saw several Picasso's and Calder's as well as a Matisse and a Van Gogh that managed to escape the next door museum. There were many other works by artists whose names we didn't recognize but enjoyed none the less. By the time we left the museum it was after noon so we took the tram back to our boat where we had a light lunch, settled into our cabin and took short naps. We were scheduled to start our cruise on Wednesday, setting sail at 1:00 p.m., so we were quite surprised when the boat left dock as we sat down to dinner on Tuesday evening. It turns out that the Netherlands instituded a 5:00 p.m. curfew on all restaurants and entertainment venues. The only way the cruise line could serve dinner was to be cruising on the river. We returned to our dock at 9:00 p.m. Today, Wednesday, lunch will not be served until we are underway at 1:00. Don't ask how we got away with breakfast Wednesday morning, but we noticed the curtains on all of the windows were closed. Wednesday morning after breakfast we took an hour long canal boat cruise. The architecture of the houses lining the canals was very unique to Amsterdam. When the system for taxing houses was begun in the 17th century the tax was determined by the amount of frontage the house measured, resulting in all the houses being very narrow but quite deep. The other feature of interest was the number of houseboats that were permanently moored in the canal. Many were actual boats that had been remodeled into houses. Many more looked like small houses that just happened to be located on the canal. All of these "canal houses" have sewer, electricty and running water. There are approximately 2500 of these canal houses. This reflects the housing shortage that Amsterdam faces. Fortunately Lynda expressed no interest in buying one of these canal houses. Another interesting fact about Amsterdam. There are about 850,000 residents in Amsterdam while there are an estimated one million bicycles. Crossing a bicycle lane is actually more difficult then crossing auto and tram lanes. A few words about Covid protocals. In Amsterdam every place we went into asked to see our passports and vaccination cards. Everyone was wearing facemasks. On board our ship we are required to wear N-95 facemasks all the time except when we are eating and drinking. Our temperatures will be taken each morning when we go to breakfast, or in Lynda's case lunch. We have been given assigned tables for all meals. Only people traveling together sit together. There are no buffets. After our tour this morning Tim went to get ice. A crew member brought him the ice and asked if we would like coffee brought to our room. When it was brought we asked the crew member to come in but were told that they could not enter our room. We were told that in the lounge in the evening we must wear facemasks, even when we are dancing. If a crew member sees us dancing without a mask they will immediately stop the music until we put on our mask. We heard someone say it was interesting that we could sleep with our wife without a mask but had to have a mask on to dance with him/her. Even on our first tour we were told to have passport and our vaccine card with us on the tour. We think we are going to be safe. As mentioned earlier, we set sail at 1:00 on Wednesday. The weather is very nice by Amsterdam standards, partly sunny with no rain, so we are looking forward to pleasant scenery as we cruise the Rhine River. Tomorrow we arrive in Cologne, Germany and are looking forward to visiting our first Christmas Market.

Norway - A very different Adventure

March 16, 2020 Generally speaking we book our overseas trips about 9 months before embarkation. This was the case for the Viking ocean cruise, "Searching for the Northern Lights", that we booked for March 9 to March 22. This particular cruise met two important criteria. For Lynda, it added another country to our ever growing list of countries we have visited and, for Tim, it was a chance to view the Northern Lights at their spectacular best. At the time of booking, our only concerns were: 1) we would be leaving only 5 weeks after returning from our trip to South Africa, and 2) Tim's mild concern about missing the Big Ten Men's Basketball tournament and the first week of the NCAA Tournament. With these two concerns dismissed the cruise was booked. Because of the South Africa trip we did not spend a lot of time thinking about the Norway cruise other then when it was time to book excursions and reserve special dining on board the ship. The South Africa trip had been a real adrenaline rush for us. It took us close to two weeks to come down from the high of the trip as well as recovering from the exhausting flights getting home. As we were preparing for South Africa coronavirus was just a story on the news that was a major problem in China. While in South Africa coronavirus became a bigger story on the world stage but one that did not resonate with us yet. Traveling home from Johannesburg we were asked several times at London Heathrow airport if we had been in China anytime in the last 14 days and the same question was asked at Chicago O'Hare. In each intance it was asked with the same concern as "do you have anything to declare". Everything changed in the two weeks before our scheduled flight to Norway. Suddenly there were pictures on the television of cruise ships docked and under quarintine or sailing around looking for a country that would let them dock. Coronavirus was no longer a "China" problem. Ten days before our cruise we received an email from Viking explaining that we would be required to fill out a health survey before boarding and that anyone who had been to China within 14 days of our cruise would not be allowed on board. Every day the news about coronavirus and its spread around the world grew. The weekend of March 1 we had our first discussion between the two of us questioning for the if we should go ahead with the cruise. With many questions and few answers, on the Monday a week before we were to leave we called our travel agent. Lora is located at an agency in Atlanta, Georgia. We accidentally met her online in 2013 when we answered an email about a cruise that piqued our interest. She has booked almost all of the cruises we have taken since. Lora is very good at what she does and is a joy to work with. We trust her completely. While she was not able to answer all of our questions she was able to put our minds at ease. Most importantly she told us of several of her clients who had just returned from a Viking ocean cruise and reported that Viking was being very proactive in addressing health issues on board, i.e much hand sanitizing, etc. As the week progressed we constantly monitored the websites of both the U.S. Department of State and the Center for Desease Control for any alerts that might affect us. By this time we were also fielding questions from our family about the advisability of us going on the trip. The Thursday before we left we received another email from Viking. This email informed us that we could cancel our trip up to 24 hours before boarding with no penalty. We would receive a coupon for the cost of the trip that would be good for 24 months toward any Viking cruise. Even as we packed on the Sunday before we left we were questioning our decision to go ahead with the trip. We are not sure what happened as we slept Sunday night, but we both woke up on Monday, March 9, excited and ready to start our next travel adventure. There is a bus service called "Michigan Flyer" that travels between East Lansing and Metro Airport via Ann Arbor. It is quite convenient and we have used it many times. The scheduling did not work out very well for this trip so we drove to Metro on our own. This turned out to be a very fortuitous decision as the service was suspended a couple of days before our return. We were shocked when we entered the airport. There was a fraction of the people we usually encounter. It was quiet without any of the buzz we usually feel from large numbers of harried travelers rushing to their gates. It was the same when we boarded our plane. It had a capacity of 300 customers but was half full at best. It was actually rather stress free. We flew from Detroit to Amsterdam and then on to Bergen, Norway. It was as good as traveling by air can be. Multiple Viking representatives greeted us at the Bergen airport Tuesday morning. Our first surprise was the fact that there was no snow on the ground. The only snow we saw was at the top of mountains. The temperature was in the low 40's and it was raining. There were a number of fellow Viking cruise mates on the flight from Amsterdam to Bergen. Enough to fill two buses. We had a 25 minute bus ride from the airport to the ship terminal. As always when we enter a new country for the first time we marvel at the different landscape as well as the different architecture. We observed an interesting blend of the old with the new; the new being the contemporary scandanavian style that we like. We also commented on the fact that with all of our travels, when we are in countries that have a "Romance" language we have learned to be able to understand signage. (An aside to our young readers: Romance languages are those languages based on Latin.) In Norway we were pretty much clueless trying to figure out signs on buildings. Once at the terminal we were confronted with the health form. The form asked if we had been in China, Iran, South Korea, or Italy during the last 14 days. It also asked if we had any of the following symptoms: high temperature, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat. We also had our temperature taken. Before boarding the ship we were asked on three different occasions to stop and sanitize our hands. Once on board we were reminded why we enjoy Viking cruises. We were offered a glass of champaigne and everyone offered us warm greetings. Our first indication that there had been a lot of cancelations was when we stopped at the customer service desk to check our reservaions for specialty dining. In the past we have been allowed one reservation at each of two specialty restaurants. For this cruise we were able to book two meals at each restaurant. The rest of the day was spent unpacking and settling into our cabin. We both took short naps. After his nap, Tim took the 15 minute walk from the ship to the town center to find an ATM to obtain local currency. Tim always enjoys exploring new cities, getting a feel of the shops and restaurants. Bergen was no exception other then it was raining the whole time he was out. A quick history lesson. Norway only started to exist as an independent nation in 1905. The hundred years before that it is was under the control of Sweden and the 500 years before that, the Danes. When Norway won its independence the citizens decided they wanted to be a monorchy just like many of their neighboring countries. Of course, they did not have a king so they went out and hired one. The second son of the King of Denmark seemed to have all the right credentials and because he was not going to become King of Denmark he was more then happy to take the job. We know this description sounds a bit flip but it is actually what happened. The good news is that the first King of Norway was actually a good king. He changed his name to the name of a line of kings some 700 years in Norway's past and embraced all things Norwegian. The lineage of the Royal family of Norway continues today from the first king in 1905. We would tell you that first kings name but our Norwegian guide had trouble pronouncing it and an America keyboard probably doesn't have the proper letters to type it. Norway's number one industry was fishing. It was a poor country until 1969 when oil was discovered. Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with around 268,000 citizens. It is a picturesque city situated around two fjiords. On Wednesday morning we took a bus tour of Bergen. It was the type of tour we don't particularly like. There were two stops for photo opprotunities and everything else was a drive by. There were several parts of the town we would have loved to explore on foot as well as a funicular that went up the side of a small mountain that would have had fabulous views of Bergen and the fjiords. That was not to be as our ship left port shortly after lunch on Wednesday. Thursday morning a little before seven, because we were both struggling to adjust to the five hour time difference from back home, we were laying in bed, each reading the latest news on our mobile devices. Of course all the news was about coronavirus. Another cruise ship was in the news so we were discussing our situation and if we trusted Viking to be transparent with us if one of the crew or passengers on our ship was sick. It was at that moment that our Captain came on the intercom and announced that Viking headquarters had decided to suspend all of the Viking ocean and river cruises going on around the world. He had been give those instructions at 4:30 that morning and had turned our ship around and had set course for Tilbury, England where the cruise terminal for London is located. This was where our cruise was scheduled to end. He told us that Viking was in the process of re-arranging flights home for those like us who had booked our air with Viking. The Captain also explained that Viking would also need to change the time that they had reserved to be docked in England. As all of this would take time it might not be until sometime on Saturday that we would arrive in Tilbury. An hour or so after this announcement Tim went to breakfast. One of the senior officers was in the dining room going from table to table talking with the guests. He stopped and talked with Tim, answering his questions as best he could. It was really too early in the process for him to have any definitive information but he was there to talk and reassure the guests that Viking was doing everything possible to ensure our safe return home. We spent Thursday sailing through the inside passage of Norway, seeing stunning scenery. By Friday afternoon we were in the North Sea and we arrived in Tilbury at 2:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. It was Saturday morning that we finally received our flight plans. We were scheduled to fly the next day nonstop from London Heathrow to Detroit Metro. We were greatly relieved as we knew by this time that there were 13 airports that were allowed to receive international flights. We did not know if Detroit would be one of them. We also decided that once we docked in Tilbury we would try to leave the ship and go into London for the evening. Unfortunately, later in the morning we were told that once we docked we were all required to leave the ship to have a face to face meeting with a British immigration officer and then would be required to go back on board the ship and would not be able to leave until we left the ship for our bus trip to the airport. This was a bit of a disappointment. Sunday morning we left our ship at 7:45 for an hour long bus ride to Heathrow. We enjoyed the views of the English countryside as we reminisced about our many previous trips to the U.K. Unlike Detroit Metro the previous Monday, Heathrow was crowded with everyone trying to get back to the States. When we checked into our flight at the gate we were given a form to fill out. There was a lengthy list of countries that we had to indicate having visited in the last 14 days. Norway was one of the countries on the list. We also had to indicate if we had any symptoms much as when we boarded our ship. There were very few empty seats on our flight home. Upon arriving in Detroit, as we taxied to our gate, the head flight attendent announced that when we arrived at our gate we should all remain in our seats as Customs/Border Patrol personnel may want to have certain passengers leave before others. After a short wait it was announced, with a certain amount of relief, that we could all leave. When we arrived at passport control we went directly to the Global Entry kiosks. We enrolled in Global Entry several years ago and it makes reentering the country a breeze. After having our passports checked the officer told us we would have to go through health screening. While in line we had observed that not everyone was required to go through this screening. The screening was efficiently done. As we walked to the area where we would have our temperature taken an offical walked beside us and went through the form we had filled on the plane. Once our temperature was taken and the health worker was satisfied that we had no symptoms we were given a chart and told to take our temperature twice a day and check on the form if we had a cough or trouble breathing. While they did not come right out and tell us to self quarantine it was strongly suggested we should limit contact with other people. We have decided to self quarantine. This whole process only added 10 or 15 minutes to the whole reentering the country process. With little fuss or bother we were home. Some final thoughts. Viking handled the whole situation as well as can be expected. The personnel on board kept us as informed as they could. The crew continued to work hard to make our cruise experience a good one even when we knew the cruise was being cut short. While everyone was disappointed we heard very little grumbling among the passengers. We all understood the circumstances we were in and made the best of them. Having heard horror stories as we docked in London of long lines at the airports back in the states, we were greatly relieved that the process was handled so smoothly. The fact that Detroit does not handle as many international flights as Chicago or New York undoubtedly makes their job easier. Today, Monday, March 16, looking back at the cruise it seems a bit surreal that we were part of a major international story surrounding a pandemic that was sweeeping across most of the world. Having said that we can assure you that this experience will do nothing to diminish our love of travel.

More Excitement at Thornybush

February 2, 2020 We told you in the last blog post that that post would probably be the last one for this trip unless something exciting happened. Well, there was lots of additional excitement created by lions and a cocktail party. Friday Lynda decided to skip the afternoon game drive, but Tim gamely(!) carried on. We were not far into our hunt when word came that another leopard had been sighted. Our ranger quickly took us to the spot where we saw the leopard as it walked through the brush. This was a different leopard from the one we saw in the morning. It was a bit bigger and more vibrantly colored then the young animal we saw napping in a tree Friday morning. It was a chaotic scene as three bush vehicles chased the poor leopard through the bush. As earlier reported, rain over the last several weeks has led to abundant growth so it was easy for the leopard to walk through the tall grass undetected. The three rangers and trackers unfortunately quickly lost the leopard. We were thrilled with our brief sightings but Tim was unable to get a picture of the beautiful cat. Good fortune was ours as we soon were parked next to 8 female lions laying in the grass. Quite frankly, while it was initially a rush to see these lions, after a few minutes of watching them sleeping it was pretty boring. As Tim discussed this with his fellow safari mates we decided that none of our friends back home would feel sorry for our boredom. So we sucked it up and spent about 20 minutes marveling at these magnificent beasts. After we left the lions, out ranger/guide/driver found a clearing in the bush where we would be safe from the resident wildlife and we had a brief picnic with beer, wine and snacks. After this break we started to make our way back towards the lodge. After this, our third game drive, we had seen just about every animal there was to see in Thornybush but we still were pleased to see the occasional elephant, giraffe and cape buffalo as well as the hundreds of impalas, wildebeasts, and zebra along the way. Lynda also decided to skip Saturday mornings game drive as she had been up at 5:00 a.m. the last two mornings and was going to have to be up that early on Sunday. She missed another amazing experience. The sunrise over the South Africa bush was breathtaking but there were few animal sightings in the first hour and a half. That changed when we found a male lion, the head of one of the two prides in Thornybush along with three lionesses. The male actually tried to mate with one of the lionesses two times. She was having none of it. It is easy to see why the lion is considered the "king of beasts" as we were all enthralled with the regal bearing of the male lion. We spent probably a half hour watching these lions. We would have stayed longer but our guide told us we had to move on so other groups could also watch. We are not sure if we have impressed upon you how close our vehicle gets to these animals. We were no more then 20 or 30 feet from the male and two of the lionesses literally walked right beside our land cruiser. Because of this only a couple of vehicles could be watching the animals at a time. If watching the lions was the "sublime" then what we saw next was the ridiculous. We don't konw how our tracker and driver saw it but the truck suddenly stopped and our guide pointed out a dung beetle moving a piece of elephant dung at the edge of the road. The dung beetle is no more then an inch long and was attempting to roll a round piece of dung the size of a softball up a hill. The beetle kept pushing and pushing the ball up the hill and just when it looked like it had made the top of the hill the ball rolled back down. This hill was in reality about a six inch incline at the edge of the road. We watched the poor beetle make at least five attempts up the hill next to the road without success. It really was comical although we doubt the beetle saw any humor in the situation. The highlight of Saturday evenings game drive was the cocktail party. Rather then each truck stopping for its own break along the way, all of the vehicles gathered together at a large clearing where the resort had set up tables with muliple snacks and beverages. We had a wonderful view of the bush and it was a beautiful night to watch a spectacular sunset. The only way to top this wonderful gathering of people who had become friends. was encountering two female lions walking along the road as night fell which is what we did. We had one final game drive Sunday morning highlighted by seeing two young male lions and later watching a group of 10 giraffes moving through the bush. Once this last safari was completed we packed our bags and began the long journey home. As a matter of fact this last posting is being written from the comfort of our house. It was a bit sad to look out to our backyard and not see the ubiquitous impalas wandering through the yard that we had seen for the last four days. As we flew home we discussed the trip and agreed it was one of our best ever. The accommodations and food were excellent and the experiences throughout the trip were exceptional. But what added to the joy of this trip was meeting like minded people who became friends and shared in the pleasure of the trip.