Dare to be different and learn to be lonely

Ahw, it's the final travelpost of the year! My cruise to Norway was supposed to last until Friday September 9, with the day before being spent at sea. But due to logistics (personel and low water tides) at the IJmuiden Marine Lock we had to go through that on Thursday afternoon already, so we would arrive back in Amsterdam on Thursday evening. Now, I had originally planned to maybe meet up with brotherdearest for the evening, but I wanted to spend the last night onboard and enjoy a final breakfast before definite disembarking. But when I was sorting out my check-out for Friday-morning, I discovered Dutch Rail personnel had organised another strike on Friday, making it impossible for me to travel back home by train. So, instead I arranged for a check-out after dinner on Thursday evening. Of course I didn't leave until I had made the absolute best of my last day aboard:) There were some very cool sights this day and possibly the most amazing dessert of the whole cruise...!

( Day 9: A Sea day back to Amsterdam )

The End:)

J.

Previous Cruiseposts: Day 1: Departing from Amsterdam | Day 2: at sea | Day 3: 1st stop Olden, Norway | Day 4: 2nd stop - a trainride in Flåm! | Day 5: 3rd stop - Climbing GeirangerFjord! | Day 6: 4th stop - Exploring Ålesund | Day 7: 5th stop - Haugesund | Day 8: 6th stop - Kristiansand
In addition, I have posted a couple of short videos on my YouTube: my Norwegian Fjords Cruise playlist

X-posted to https://beelikej.livejournal.com/579130.html

It's been a while since my last travelpost, thanks to my free time being occupied with fiddling for the SPN_ReverseBang:) Yesterday I posted my papercut artwork and before I continue working on my second RB project, I figured I'd do a short Fjordpost in between!
At this part of the cruise there are no more huge Fjords, but instead there are lovely coastal towns to explore. This day was originally planned as a sea day, which I loved, because there's no pressure to *do* anything and I would simply enjoy food, books and staring into the distance from my balcony (in no particular order). But before departure the intinary had turned Day 7 into shoreday in Haugesund.
By this time my head was pretty full from all the awesome I had seen in the previous days and I really really really had wanted that seaday. It took me while to realize that I DIDN'T HAVE TO GO EXPLORING!! ALL TIME WAS MINE!! And although it wasn't easy to ignore potential sights ashore, I decided to create my own procrastination day on board. I only left the ship to mail my postcards.

So this is a relatively tiny picspam of that short walk into town and mostly views from the balcony and lovely lovely foooooood. Enjoy!

( Day 7: 5th stop - Haugesund )

To be continued:)

J.

Previous Cruiseposts: Day 1: Departing from Amsterdam | Day 2: at sea | Day 3: 1st stop Olden, Norway | Day 4: 2nd stop - a trainride in Flåm! | Day 5: 3rd stop - Climbing GeirangerFjord! | Day 6: 4th stop - Exploring Ålesund
In addition, I have posted a couple of short videos on my YouTube: my Norwegian Fjords Cruise playlist

X-posted to https://beelikej.livejournal.com/578430.html

After seeing those magnificent Northern Lights the night before, I have a great night's sleep cruising from Flåm to the next destination: Geiranger. From now on I have nothing planned on shoredays, so I read my travelguide beforehand each day to figure out what to do (and I also have some notes from that first day's presentation). In Geiranger there are some good hikes to do, but after walking in Olden on day 3, I know I shouldn't push myself if I don't have to, so I decide to get a ticket for the Hop-on Hop-off bus that will take me up to a spot to start my walk from. It doesn't take a lot of time to explore tiny Geiranger itself. This picspam is all about this day's mountain views and there is a surprise at the end. The day starts with a glorious sunrise...

( Day 5: 3rd stop - Climbing GeirangerFjord! )


To be continued:)

J.

Previous Cruiseposts: Day 1: Departing from Amsterdam | Day 2: at sea | Day 3: 1st stop Olden, Norway | Day 4: 2nd stop - a trainride in Flåm!
In addition I have posted a couple of short videos on my YouTube: my Norwegian Fjords Cruise playlist

X-posted to https://beelikej.livejournal.com/577686.html

Wahey, I finally had a long vacation again! You know what that means: time for PICSPAMS of my travels, whoopwhoop! This cruise itinerary was on my wish list for a long time and now that it was (relatively) safe again, I decided to go for it; I booked a "10 day" cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. (This actually involves 8 days of traveling, because you leave at the end of day 1 and get back on the very early morning of day 10. Due to the currently low water at the sealock, the captain had to advance the return to the evening of day 9 even, but I could spent the last night on board when it was docked*)

Unlike my previous cruise (to the Baltic sea in 2017) when I had to travel all the way to Germany to get on board, this one started in Amsterdam, which is only a train ride away! Well, that still turned into quite an adventure when all train personnel decided to go on strike in a different region of the country each day in the first week of my vacation. Fortunately the bit of the country I had to cross had trains running again on the day I had to get to Amsterdam.
*But when I got back, the union still hadn't gotten what they wanted, and this Friday there was another strike where there were no trains at all in the whole country, which meant I had to cut my last night on board in order to be able to get back home.

All of that couldn't crush my mood on this glorious cruise, where I felt rich as fuck and was spoilt with good food and marvelous service from beginning to end. The views on the fjords were of course also a big part of being able to take a break from the shenanigans in the world.
Who's ready for some photos? *makes sound of shiphorn* Let's go!

( Day 1: Departing from Amsterdam )

( Day 2: at sea )

( Day 3: 1st stop Olden, Norway )

To be continued! This was a long post, because I wanted to include my first view of the fjords on Day 3. There will be plenty more in the next parts, which will probably be day to day reports. However, if you want a preview, I have posted a couple of videos of the second half of the trip with views from Flåm, Geirander and the North Sea

J.

X-posted to https://beelikej.livejournal.com/576998.html

Okay, this took a little longer than I had planned, but this weekend I finally returned to sorting out photos from my summervacation:) I have been distracted by work projects and moderating the SPN_RB. Of course I'm also participating in that fandom challenge. If you missed it; I already posted my first Reverse_Bang art of this year:) There will be another collaboration presentation at the end of the month! But first a travel picspam; join me on my fifth day of the cruise:

( Thursday August 24: Tallinn, Estonia )

Good night!

Part 1: Exploring the Ship | Part 2: FOOD! | Part 3: Cycling in Helsinki
Part 4: Art & History in St. Petersburg | Part 6: On my own in Copenhagen, Danmark

P.S. Did you already leave your address for a card and a treat?

Up a little later than planned, but I had about 230 photos of this day to go through;) I managed to reduce that amount to 44 for this picspam.
After leaving Warnemünde, Germany on Sunday evening August 20th and spending a whole day at sea on Monday, the cruiseship arrived in Helsinki, Finland on Tuesday August 22 around 8 a.m. As I had signed up for a bicycle tour that didn't leave until 10 a.m., I could actually sleep in, have a long breakfast and hang aboard before disembarking to explore the town. It was a bit cloudy, but excellent for cycling (I already had to take off my hoody layer at the first stop). Wanna come with?

( Cycling through Helsinki! )

Sources: a special thanks for the information about statues to René & Peter van der Krogt for their excellent website featuring sculptures from all over the world: Statues - Hither & Thither.

I plan to select photos from my day in St. Petersburg next, but with artprojects, family get-togethers and other distractions, it may take a while until the next update. (Not to mention that I made 385 photos that day...;)

Oh, speaking of postcards; please let me know if you've changed addresses in the past year or if you're not sure if I have yours, PM or mail me: beelikej@gmail.com.

Last but not least: I'm used to traveling alone and doing things on my own, but cruises sadly don't have single rooms and I was really lucky I was able to afford paying double for this trip. I'm thinking about doing another cruise in 2018, but would like to share the experience (and costs;). If you are tempted and interested in seeing the North of Europe (Fjords? Iceland? British isles?) from a ship with a fellow fangirl, contact me! (Other travel or meet up plans are also always welcome:)

J.

Part 1: exploring the ship | Part 2: FOOD! | Part 4: Art & History in St. Petersburg
Part 5: Cycling and strolling through Tallinn | Part 6: On my own in Copenhagen, Danmark


P.S. I know Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump is not from Finland, but she represents the Nordic countries here, okay :-p

So last week I went on a cruise:) I had such an amazing trip, I can't believe it was only 8 days; I've seen so much, it felt like a couple of weeks worth of sightseeing! The ship left from Warnemünde in Germany then crossed the Baltic Sea to Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; Tallinn, Estonia; with a stop in Copenhagen, Danmark on the way back.
I've made over 1600 pictures in total, so I'm dividing the picspams up in several parts. This first post is about the trip to Germany and the first day at sea. I'm also working on a separate post with all the food, because that deserves a spotlight on its own *grins*.

But first: ( Cruise picspam - part 1: exploring the ship )

To be continued....

J.

Part 2: FOOD! | Part 3: Cycling in Helsinki | Part 4: Art & History in St. Petersburg
Part 5: Cycling and strolling through Tallinn | Part 6: On my own in Copenhagen, Danmark