Haugesund, Norway

Hello from Haugesund, Norway for my third and final visit of the summer!

Not knowing what my plan was going to be today I snapped a couple photos as we were sailing in, just in case I had nothing else to show for the day.

We're sailing in while the ferry is sailing out

I knew I didn't want to do the Hop On Hop Off Bus again like I did when I was here last month. Been there, done that and you can read about it here. I knew I didn't want to take the shuttle to town again like I did a couple weeks ago. Been there, done that and you can read about that adventure here. I also knew I didn't want to do anything requiring me to scooter up and over the steep Risøy bridge.

So what was left? Since we're docked on an island - and my ship is the Island Princess - I decided to spend the morning riding my Royal Carriage scooter around the island.

I wandered here and there, trying to sneak a peek at the water as much as possible.

Even though the bulk of the area is residential I was able to find some spots where I could see across the water to the places I covered last cruise.

I even found the mall across the water

It did get a little tricky trying to avoid hills so sometimes I had to get off and pull Scooter alongside me.

The pavement was mostly smooth so it wasn't as much of a workout as when I'm dragging him over cobblestones. Although, there were places where the pavement was just...gone.

I saw all kinds of interesting sights and a variety of colors.

A sea of white. Almost.

Combining the yellow paint in the first picture and the orange roof in the second almost reminded me of the Skagen houses from earlier this month in Denmark. 

I found the bluest of skies made for a nice background.

I also had to get the obligatory street sign and statue pictures, of course.

Painted on the pavement near the port

I wasn't gone all that long and didn't cover miles and miles of ground but it was just enough to make me feel like a local, especially when the number of people walking their dogs way outnumbered the cruise ship passengers.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the balcony in the sun watching boat traffic.

And since it's my wedding anniversary (39 years) I broke my no carb/no cheese streak and ordered a vegetarian pizza for lunch. With the time difference back home, my husband is still sleeping so he won't be none the wiser!

5:36 AM in Boise, but not here

Tomorrow we're back in Åndalsnes, Norway for our second visit of the summer. See you then! 

Southampton Turnaround Day and a New Cruise

Hello again from Southampton! Unfortunately when you look out from the ship you see cars. Lots and lots of cars.

But zoom in enough and you can make out some buildings.

I did a little research on the dome building on the other side of the ship and found out it’s a waste incinerator plant. A very state of the art one in fact.

Also out there today was a container ship being unloaded. If you haven’t ever sat and watched the process of loading or unloading you really should. It’s interesting the things you learn by being near cargo ports.

Before all those pictures were taken I was up at the crack of dawn to see another normal-ish sunrise time.

4:48 AM

I didn’t have any plans today but to hang out on an empty ship. Where last week we had 500+ in transit folks, this week we had a mere 40. That meant as soon as the other 2,000 passengers left those few of us remaining had an empty ship until the new 2,000 passengers boarded a little later. I was more than happy to have the family with the preteens who purposely locked each other out on the balcony and screamed at each other every day to be on their way. The parents were doing their own yelling as well so I was looking forward to a little more quiet at my end of the ship for this next cruise. Unfortunately they have been replaced by another family of screamers - and loud criers. Hopefully it was just the stress of a travel day causing the meltdown or I’ll be having to dig out my earplugs for my balcony time.

So where are we heading this cruise? We’ll be revisiting some of the most beautiful ports in Norway.

We have a sea day tomorrow and on Friday we’ll be back in Haugesund for our third and last visit of the summer. See you then!

Greenock, Scotland

Hello from Greenock, Scotland!

View from the ship

Needs a second picture to get it all in

View from my balcony on the other side of the ship

Towards the front of the ship

This morning we finally had a decent time for a sunrise. After weeks of 2-3 AM sunrises (and sometimes no sunrises because the sun never set) we finally have a picture taken close to 5 AM.

4:58 AM

Today's original plan was to get away from the city and visit some Scottish Lochs on a ship tour. But it was one of those they took me off of because of the whole wheelchair/scooter issue so I had to go to a backup plan. Roam around the city taking pictures of a variety of things, of course.

 

Of buildings and their architectural features

 

Of street signs

Dual carriageway means divided road I think

I really liked this sign until I looked closer
and noticed someone had vandalized it

Of inclines I did not climb

And of lilacs I tried really hard to smell. Stuck my nose in deep enough I was afraid I'd get stung by a bee. Oops, it was a butterfly bush. No wonder I couldn't smell anything.

No bees. And no smell.

In my exploring I wound up at the mall where I did some window shopping and picked up some bling for Scooter. The mall then led to the grocery store where I did some potato chips/crisps shopping. After my unsuccessful attempt to taste paprika potato chips in Grundarfjördur, Iceland I explored different flavors here in Scotland. The unique flavors of crisps were plentiful. 

Since I gave up red meat a few weeks ago I decided to settle on something to whet my appetite as well as my taste.

Didn't do the trick

I also strolled the Esplanade along the waterfront. Unfortunately I found it somewhat dirty and run down so I didn't go but a mile or so. (Later I heard someone describe it as depressing.) I guess I was expecting more based on what I'd read.

Pretty across the water, just not on the walkway

At least the seagull didn't look troublesome

When I got back to the cruise terminal I realized how close the grocery store really had been. It wasn't marked well so I originally had passed it by without knowing it was even there.

Grocery entrance was right across the street from the stoplight

I took an unexpected nap when I got back to the cabin and decided to call it a day long before the real end of the day. Tomorrow is a sea day and then we'll be back in Southampton on Wednesday for yet another turnaround day. Most of the folks will be leaving and we'll have a whole new bunch joining us. See you then!