New-Yorker-blog-karenrobbins

White Cliffs of Dover

The cruise aboard Crystal Serenity ended in Dover, England. Following the contractual agreement with my husband (I will get off the ship quietly and without a fuss if you have already booked the next cruise) I disembarked without making a scene. Before leaving however, I grabbed a few shots of the white cliffs of Dover. The last time we ended a cruise in Dover, it was a bit hazy and I never got a good picture. The cliffs truly are white. Amazing.

Punting on the River Stour

We caught a taxi to the bus station in town and waited a couple of hours for our bus. When we booked the passage, we allowed plenty of time in case there was a delay in leaving the ship (caused by someone other than me). While I sat with the suitcases, Bob went off to mail a card and find us some Americano coffees. I was happy to sit and enjoy the people around me as they came and went.

Canterbury City Wall

While we could have taken a train, we preferred the bus. It went a little slower and we could see more of the countryside that way. The other plus was that the luggage got stowed in the compartment in the bottom of the bus rather than us having to lug it up/down stairs and onto a train where there really is little room if any to stow cruise-sized suitcases. And we have always found the National Express bus people to be very accommodating. As a matter of fact, when Bob inquired of one bus drivers if we might leave on his earlier bus, he said he had plenty of room and would be happy to take us. We hopped on!

Canterbury Park

Arriving about an hour later in Canterbury's main bus terminal, we collected the suitcases and took a taxi to Harriet House, our B&B for our stay. Luckily our room was ready and we could leave our things in it and take off to begin to explore Canterbury. We had been here on a one day trip but wanted to see more. Our host at the B&B explained where the river walk into town was and we found it easily. We also found an information booth where all the tour buses park that sold audio tours. We picked them up later for use the next day.

Chimney Pots

As the Aussies would say we spent the afternoon doing a walkabout, taking pictures and soaking up the quaint English scenery the town offers. The weather was again gorgeous. I think we set a record for how many days straight on vacation we could have perfect weather. As we walked on top of the historic city wall, we could look below to the park area and see the Brits out enjoying the weather. As they say in Seattle, they were taking a sun break.

Canterbury Castle

One of my favorite things to see in England is all the chimney pots on top of the homes. Each time I look at them I expect Mary Poppins and Bert to pop out and start dancing.

Canterbury Castle Interior

We stumbled upon the Canterbury Castle and decided to have a closer look even though we were sure the tour would take us by there again. The castle is the ruin of a Norman Castle built shortly after the Battle of Hastings dating back to around 1070. It was one of three castles built along the Roman Road from Dover to London and was probably used to guard it. Later it became a jail.

Flint

A look inside shows where there must have been beams for the second floor. Most of the stone we could see that was used in building the castle was flint. It gave a neat texture to the walls.

While we were loving the weather, it was getting very warm and a bit humid. Was this really England? We headed back to our B&B to relax, cool off a bit with our room fan (no A/C, this was England) and catch up on our internet activities.

For dinner it was, what else? Fish and chips!!

This video was shown during one of the lectures on our recent cruise. It made quite an impact on me. Made me think as a writer, as a friend, as a wife, mother, grandmother. Do my words reflect the One who has the power to change lives? (skip the ad in the beginning)

Bergen, our last port of call before ending our cruise in Dover, England, is a sprawling city. I didn't realize that on our first visit. This time, we decided to take in the view from the top of Mt. Floien. From the pier, we walked past the Bergenhus Fortress we had explored before and along the harbor area past the Bryggen historic area, promising to return and look around on our way back.

We passed a beautiful tall ship called the Statsraad Lehmkuhl. Apparently it is a ship where one can learn to sail. It also competes in the tall ship races and has quite a history that I believe dates back to 1914.

It was a bit early for the fish market. We started through it but most of the vendors were still setting up shop. While we rested a bit on a bench, we studied our map and thought we knew which direction to go to find the funicular that would take us up Mt. Floien. After several wrong turns that took us down some very quaint streets, we finally found our way to the entrance to the funicular.

Now the last time I was on a funicular, there was a woman who was absolutely petrified of the experience and I thought she was going to lose it on the way. Wouldn't you know, a woman sat down next to me and as soon as the funicular started up she began to act strangely and her behavior escalated the higher we got to the point that I was sure she was going to pass out. To her credit when we stopped at the top, she seemed extremely proud of herself that she'd made it.

Exiting the funicular, we were immediately rewarded with a glorious view of the city. The sun was shining. The air was fresh with a cool breeze and the day promised to be perfect. We sat for a few minutes and just took it all in then we walked around the outside of the restaurant that is at the top and looked in several other directions to see Bergen sprawling out between the mountains and waterways of the area.

Bob noticed that on the roof of the structure that housed the funicular station and a gift shop, was a miniature cable car track complete with two cable cars that moved at the same time the real funicular did. We watched as they crossed in the middle and as soon as they reached the ends, our ride down had arrived. Thankfully our compartment mates on the ride down were seasoned riders.

Back at the bottom of the mountain, we walked a short distance to the quaint McDonald's where we ordered coffee and took advantage of the free WiFi. It was much appreciated since our internet aboard the ship had been a bit slow and uncertain due our position so far north where we didn't pick up the satellites quite as well. And since it was free, we could even catch up on our Facebook friends.

Our coffee cups empty and our internet interests filled, we moved on to the historic wharf area called Bryggen. As a shipping harbor, the Bryggen was an important place for warehousing and selling merchandise. The historic area has interesting twists and turns and is full of old wooden structures most of which are lopsided. There is a lot of restoration going on. The area, being wooden, has had many fires throughout its history but it has always been rebuilt in the old way and style. It is a UNESCO World Heritage spot.

Somewhat reluctantly we returned to the ship. This was our last port before the end of our cruise. Our last touch with beautiful Norway--the last until we return again. Something I'm sure we will plan to do.

Our cruise into the Geiranger Fjord was a lot more dramatic than the last visit we made. On our first trip to the Norwegian fjord, our cruise ship had already arrived at the town of Geiranger at the end of the fjord when we awoke. The Crystal Serenity timed its arrival so we could enjoy the breathtaking scenery as we journeyed to our destination port.

From Alesund we had traveled all night inland along the long fingers of several fjords that lead to Gerianger. By the time we were ready for breakfast, we were close to the position where the ship would stop before turning into the Geiranger Fjord. It was there that a group of people on a special excursion would be tendered into another little town called Hellesylt to explore the countryside. We would be venturing into Hellesylt by way of a ferry later. That was our plan for the day. We had done it before and enjoyed the leisure trip back and forth along the fjord.

Had we known that the Serenity would give us such a grand view of the fjord in the early morning we might have made plans to do something a little different (like ride the hop on/hop off bus that was advertised and traveled between a couple of towns). The cruise to the end of the fjord was slow and allowed for more pictures than we ever needed. As a matter of fact, I heard someone make the comment, "How many pictures can you take of this?" The wonderful problem was that at every little bend and as the sun rose, the landscape changed into something else even more interesting.

All of the Seven Sisters weren't awake

Unfortunately one of the famous areas the Seven Sisters waterfall only had three or four sisters awake. Many people were disappointed but there were actually many more spectacular waterfalls along the way than that. The Seven Sisters just has a neat legend that goes along with the name. It says that the Seven Sisters were all unmarried and the waterfall on the other side of the fjord is called the Suitor after several unsuccessful attempts to court the sisters.

Once we were settled in the basin in front of the little town of Geiranger, the tenders began to carry people ashore. We grabbed the first one we could and scurried over to the ferry dock a couple of hundred feet from where our tenders were landing. For a reasonable ticket price, we bought a round trip and boarded the ferry. The ferry carries lots of cars, trucks and huge tour buses, and of course lots of passengers. Passengers are accommodated in an inside lounge or up on the very top in plastic chairs where you can get a 360 view as the ferry makes its way up/down the fjord.

Hellesylt

We sat back and enjoyed the sun, the fresh air, and the views all over again as the ferry made its way back and forth. It's always fun to listen to all the commentary in a half dozen languages--gives me a chance to brush up on my German and realize how little I know of Japanese.

Hellesylt

At Hellesylt, we stayed on board the ferry and wandered into the snack area. There were some sandwiches that looked too good to pass up and it was going to be well past lunch by the time we would get back to the ship. Being good cruisers, we didn't want to miss a meal so as the ferry started up again to return to Geiranger, we indulged.

Back at Geiranger, we wandered the little shops and then returned to the ship. One of us went off to play tennis. The other to. . .well, someone had to edit all those pictures.

That evening, we ate on the Lido deck at the buffet so we could again enjoy the scenery as we exited the fjord. The weather was still holding, unbelievably sunny and cool with not even a hint of rain. Could this possibly continue?