Great X-ray

Today, I visited Dr. Einhorn and he indicated that today's X-ray is the best he has seen of my chest.  He feels that I continue to make great progress.  We will continue with the Avastin infusion every three weeks and will keep everything else as-is.  I no longer have any headaches now that my blood pressure is under control.  I have started to have some minor spots of very dry skin similar to what Jill has experienced - but they are simply a matter of using some cream.  I am back to the office pretty much full days - when I don't have doctor appts or other follow up stuff.  

Last night

Well...this is it - the last night. We've had all the fun, seen all the places, done all the things on this cruise. It has been another great cruise.

The last two sea days have been very relaxing. We've done basically nothing other than eat, sleep, play trivia, and watch entertainment.

Unlike many onboard who have commented that they are ready to get home, we could stay on for another cruise. But, I guess we must return home and I must do at least a little work.

Tomorrow AM we sail into NY and should get to see the Statue of Liberty if the sun is up and if we are awake. And, then if all goes well, we will fly home and be in Indy by mid-afternoon.

I can't wait for the next cruise and the next trip updates. Take care.

St Johns, Newfoundland

Very nice day in St Johns, Newfoundland. In the morning we walked into town - only a few hundred yards. Found a nice shop with Newfoundland-made sweaters. Jill got three - one very nice cardigan made of spun wool. All are wool and should be nice and warm for her.

In the afternoon, we took a tour of the Memorial University Botanical Gardens. Again, very nice and we had quite informative guides. Hopefully, I got a few good pictures. And, they served us yes and scones.

Upon departure, the ships in the harbor did an interesting "harbor concert" with all the boat sounding there horns to say goodbye. In signal hill (where Marconi received the first wireless radio signal) there was a Canadian Mounty during a three-shot goodbye signal to our ship. Obviously, they make quite a to-do about this here. They even held a ceremony to award our Capt the key to the city. Apparently, this is the first time for the Veendam to visit St Johns. Someone at the knout shop told me they only get a dozen or so ships per year.

St Johns was definitely one of the nicer stops on this cruise - and, unfortunately, it is our last port. Now that we have sailed, we have two full days at sea before we arrive in NY on Sunday.

Newfoundland

Today we anchored off St Anthony, Newfoundland. Another very small town.

We were to do out whale watching but we cancelled. We've had enough of small boats on the bouncy waters and cold temps. Apparently, the people on the tour that we cancelled saw whales and seals - but they said they froze and the boat they were on only had a very small inside protected area. That wouldn't have been good for us. It would have been nice to see the whales - but not at the expense of freezing.

Instead, we just took a tender into the port and walked and shopped a little. Jill got a locally knotted wool headband/ear cover and hand-knitted, wool/lined socks.

The Capt has announced that he expects the wind to pick up this afternoon and the seas will likely get choppy by the time we depart at around 2:30ish.

We have been invited to a dinner with the Capt and the Hotel Mgr tonight and we plan to attend. We went to a special luncheon a few days ago just for suite guests and the food was great. Expect the same tonight at this dinner.

Tonight we sail to St Johns, Newfoundland.

Greenland

Today we stepped onto land in Greenland. We anchored off Qaqortoq (ha-har-tock) and took tenders into the dock. Once there, we walked across the street to the store - and I really mean "the" store.

The attached pics show the entire town. Don't know if it shows up in the pics but the houses are mostly very colorfully painted in bright colors - bright blue, yellow, red, etc. Total population of 3500 in Qaqortoq. The town is on the southern end of Greenland.

After a few minutes walking around, most people turned around and returned to the ship. Lots of people bought souvenirs at the store - so I imagine our visit provided a nice boost to there economy. Jill got a mug and small reindeer - so we made our contribution.

There certainly isn't much to do - but most people just wanted to say they had been to Greenland. And one guy claims he saw a tree!!

Oh and of course, Jill won at the slots again last night!

Greenland

The wind has really kicked up as we go thru this narrow passage. Very high waterfalls with the water blowing in the strong wind.

A iceberg just passed that that was about 3X the size of one of our lifeboats. Sure wouldn't want to do a "Titanic" by hitting one of those.

Just got back from lunch. The passage has widened and has a few more icebergs. The misty rain has increased - so I am not sure how many more pics I can get. But, I'll give it a try if something good comes along.

High mountain peaks, fog islands - that's what we're seeing now. Still just about all grey rock. Haven't seen a glacier in a while but we still see the occassional waterfall. Haven't seen wildlife of any kind all day.

We've finished our scenic cruising through the fjord. I have included a photo of the white caps and waves as we re-enter the open ocean. The Capt says we should expect lots of rolling tonight. And, we'll see what the seas are like to determine if we are able to get into our Greenland port tomorrow.

Greenland

We are now entering Prince Christian Sund. Only about 20% of the ships are able to do so - due to problems with wind and waves. Luckily, we have only light wind and pretty smooth water. It is kinda foggy - but at least we're here.

It is cold - maybe low 40's. Light rain right now. The entrance to the fjord is all rock - grey rock. Some green - I imagine it is lichen.

The iceberg pic attached is the first within the fjord. This iceberg is about 70 feet above the water. Only about 10% of an iceberg is above the water.

Info tidbit - almost all of Greenland is covered by an ice cap that is up to two miles thick.

Brrrr, it feels like it is getting colder. We are observing from our verandah and I can only stay out for a few minutes - I am wearing a heavy Shetland wool sweater. They are reminding everyone to watch their hats because there are winds gusts of up to 40 knots.

Right now we are passing through a narrow passage. The Capt had said that he would need to make a decision as we got closer. Had to determine if there was too much ice blocking our way - he decided to continue.

Another tidbit, the rock here is apparently the oldest on earth. Glacier coming. I'll try to get a pic to attach.

Greenland at sea

Yesterday was a simple day at sea. No real news. Don't remember if I let you know that we finally won trivia on Friday night.

We will be cruising fjords in Greenland today. WOW!! We haven't gotten there yet - but the captain woke is at 7:45 to let us know that we were passing icebergs. Two so far and both are as big as our ship. Capt estimated the bigger one as at least 300 meters long and taller than our ship. We are passing the icebergs at about a half mile away but they still look huge. If I have figured it out, pictures should be attached.

To keep the emails smaller, I will send multiple updates today.

Reykjavik, Iceland

OK, so I won't spend more time bad-mouthing Reykjavik since I've done that so much in the past. We stayed onboard and relaxed. Jill got a facial and I got a massage. Othewise, a kick back and do nothing day. Tonight we have dinner reservations in the special restaurant - the Pinnacle Grill. Entertainment tonight is a singer - George Solomon. We've seen him a couple times before and he is very good. Sea day tomorrow. Time to sit back and read.

Isafjord, Iceland

Today we spent the day in Isafjord, Iceland. This small town of 3,000 is in the northwest corner of Iceland.

In general, the weather is kinda crummy - maybe high 40's and rainy. However, it worked out OK for us.

We had a boat excursion that took us to Vigur island - about a 40 minute boat ride. There, it wasn't raining and we had a nice walk around the island which is 2 kilometers long and 500 meters wide.

We saw eider ducks, seals and the dairy cows owned by the single family that inhabits the little island. We saw how the clean up the eider down for use in comforters and sleeping bags.

They also served us cakes/breads and tea in their home. The walk was a little tough for both of us - but we made it without too much difficulty. Perhaps one of the more interesting excursions so far.

The rest of the day we just rested. Ugh - second at trivia again - this time by just 1/2 point. Tonight's entertainment includes two performers who weren't very good the first time around - so we'll probably skip the show and maybe catch a movie on TV.

Today was roughly the halfway point in our cruise. So far, so good.

Trees in Iceland

Hey, believe it or not, there are actually trees, grass and mountains/hills in Iceland. Today we arrived in Akureyri, Iceland and did a short tour. It is pronounce ah-coo-rare-ee.

We visited (or wisited, as our guide said) Santa's House (Xmas gift shop), a botanical garden, Nonni Museum (he was a children's book author) and their Lutheran church. Lutheran is the official religion here.

We couldn't believe the number of trees or the green grass. It's hard to believe that this is the same Iceland that we have visited 3 times before. This area is much more reminiscent of Ireland and Scotland. Akureyri only has a poulation of 17,000 - so it is obviously not a big place. But it is still the 2nd largest city in Iceland.

The botanical gardens were beautiful with lots of flowers still in bloom. Even though it was chilly and was sprinkling just a little, it was a nice walk through the gardens. Right now they still have pretty long days. Which is good for the plants. But, by late October through late January, they will only have about 2 to 3 hours of daylight - if it isn't cloudy.

We got back to the ship in time for lunch and Jill is taking a nap before trivia.

We crossed the Arctic Circle last night and will remain north for our port tomorrow. Apparently, there is a chance that we may see whales this afternoon as we leave the fjord and enter the ocean. And, there is a chance we could see the Northern Lights if the clouds clear up.

It's around the high 40's today and quite cloudy right now. Fog is blocking much of our view of the mountains/hills. But, even with this weather, it has been nice to see such a part of Iceland that is actually green.

Extra update

Well...today was supposed to be an very uneventful sea day. However, apparently a crew member become critically ill. Earlier this morning the captain changed our course to head straight west toward Iceland rather than north to our next port on the north side of Iceland. He needed to get the ship as close to Iceland as quickly as possible so that the crew member could be evacuated ASAP. A few minutes ago a helicopter came to the ship for the evacuation. The ship does not have a landing area - so the helicopter hovered, lowered two personnel to the ship and lifted the crew member by cable in a basket to the helicopter. This all happened within view of our verandah. Quite an operation. They closed off the entire front third of the ship for obvious safety reasons during the evac. Now, the captain and turned the ship back to a northern heading and we are on our way to our next port which we reach tomorrow morning.

Faroe Islands

Well, yesterday was a relaxing day at sea. Didn't really do too much. We attended a cooking demonstration by a guest chef - really good chocolate cake. We once again did mediocre at trivia - 2nd place again. I read a James Patterson book. Otherwise, a nice "do nothing" day at sea.

Today, we visited Torshavn, Faroe Islands which is a Danish territory. Took a boat excursion to see the 500 to 700 ft cliffs on the western side of the island. Saw loads of birds - seagulls and related birds. We are too late for the puffins who have already migrated. The bus ride to and from the boat was pretty interesting. The terrain is very rocky with many cliffs and steep grassy areas where sheep are grazing. Like Iceland, there are very, very few trees here. The Faroe Islands are a bit of a sleepy little place with total population of just 48,000 on 16 islands. One island only has two inhabitants - a husband and wife. So, I hope they get along! Within the past few years, they have completed a auto tunnel between two of the larger islands - it is about 150 meters below sea level. This has eliminated the need for boat/ferry sevice between the two island - one of which has the capitol city and the other has the only airport.

The temperature has taken a quick turn the past couple days. The high today was just 51. But, at least it was sunny. The seas have provided a very nice rocking while sailing - very nice for sleeping.

Tomorrow is another day at sea.

Bergen, Norway

Not much to report today. We slept in again and had a late breakfast in our cabin.

We had planned on taking a local tour bus into town since the onboard port person had said it picked up at the port. Well...it doesn't. In fact, we would need to make a 15 to 20 minute walk into town to catch the bus there. Go figure.

A local helping the ship staff said "Welcome to Norway. We walk a lot." Jill & I told him that we don't and we turned around to reboard the ship. We walked quite a bit yesterday and certainly weren't up to it again today. I guess they just don't want the shopping money from us if they can't make it convenient.

So...we just relaxed onboard. Played pictionary with a few others. Trivia is soon this afternoon.

In general, my opinion of Norway after 3 ports is about the same as the last time we were here - not a big deal. You do see nice scenic fjords but they all start to look the same and they're not as good as scenic cruising in Alaska. The glassblowing was interesting - but otherwise, I wouldn't go out of my way to come back.

So, Denmark was worth seeing. Norway is a so-so place for my taste.