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Trip Summary – Feb 12 (Part 2 with Atlantic Road and Bergtatt)

OK, here we go.  Didn’t want to overwhelm you with too many photos at once.

So, as I said before, we landed in Kristiansund and then boarded a bus on our way to the marble mine.  It was snowing pretty hard which made the trip a bit more, uh, exciting.  And windy roads up the mountain to the mine.  But anyway, here are some photos: Continue reading “Trip Summary – Feb 12 (Part 2 with Atlantic Road and Bergtatt)”

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Trip Summary – Feb 11

OK, I need to wrap up the blog about this trip, don’t I?

I’ll see how quickly I can do that…

So, Feb 11 was kind of a big day.  We passed the Arctic Circle (we had been north of the Arctic Circle the entire time up to this point).  The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost point at which the sun shines 24 hours a day on Midsummer’s Night Eve, and circles the Earth at 66o 33′ north. Continue reading “Trip Summary – Feb 11”

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Trip Summary – Feb 9

So, on February 9 we had 2 hours in Hammerfest in the morning.  Hammerfest claims to be the northernmost town in the world – even though there are plenty of villages further north, Hammerfest is bigger, with a population of around 10,500 people.  Kirkenes, by comparison, has about 3,400 people.

Our first stop off the boat was at the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society, located right at the pier.  This society is not particularly old, having been founded in 1963.  But you can only join IN PERSON.  So, I joined so I can officially claim to have been in Hammerfest.  It was about $8. Continue reading “Trip Summary – Feb 9”

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Something Else I Learned

Yes, I know.  Some of you are complaining that you don’t read my blog to ‘learn things.’  Tough doo doo.  Ha ha!  When I first typed the last sentence, I accidentally typed “touch doo doo” – Freudian slip??

Anyway, I was talking to Jim the other day and we started talking about the Ides of March.  I thought it was March 4, but, March 4 is “march forth.”  Jim thought the Ides of March was the middle of March – March 15.

So, today I Googled it.  Here’s the scoop:

The Ides of March is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to March 15. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar. 

Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar no later than the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, “The Ides of March are come”, implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied “Aye, Caesar; but not gone.”  The death of Caesar made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history, as one of the events that marked the transition from the historical period known as the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.

Although March was the third month of the Julian calendar, in the oldest Roman calendar it was the first month of the year. The holidays observed by the Romans from the first through the Ides often reflect their origin as new-year celebrations.

So, there you go.  I’m planning on doing more trip updates next.  Enough learning for one week!

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European Union (EU), Schengen, and Euros

Before I left on my trip, I got some Norwegian Kroner and some British Pounds in cash, so I’d have it ready.  That prompted a question from a few friends about whether Norway was on the Euro or not.

I had done some research about it previously, and thought it was something interesting to know, so, here’s some info about the EU, Schengen Agreement, and who is using Euros.  You learn something new every day!

What Countries Are EU Members
The EU’s 28 member countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

That will drop to 27 when Brexit causes the UK to leave the EU.

The EU eliminates all border controls between members. That allows the free flow of goods and people, except for random spot checks for crime and drugs.

The Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Area guarantees free movement to those legally residing within its boundaries. Residents and visitors can cross borders without getting visas or showing their passports. In total, there are 26 members of the Schengen Area. They are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Two EU countries (Ireland and the UK) have declined the Schengen benefits. Four non-EU countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) have adopted the Schengen Agreement.

The Eurozone
The eurozone, created in 2005, consists of all countries that use the euro. All EU members pledge to convert to the euro, but only 19 have so far. They are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.

Here is a table showing which country belongs to what:

There you have it.  Your lesson for today!

(I’m still working on trip updates)

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Trip Summary – February 7th

OK, I just read through my past posts, trying to figure out how to proceed with my trip summary.  I’m going to start with Feb 7th.  I’m not sure how many days I will include in each summary since there are a ton of photos, so, we’ll see how I break it out.  [Now that I have written the entire post, I may do a day by day breakdown, depending on how much happened on a given day.  Feb 7 had a lot in it, so that’s all I’m writing about in this particular post.  I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this!  Ha!]

So, Feb 7.  We flew from Oslo to Kirkenes. Continue reading “Trip Summary – February 7th”

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Back in the USSR … um, I mean UK

Got back into the UK on Wednesday.  Flew from Bergen to Oslo, then Oslo to London Heathrow.  Bergen weather was interesting – lightning and thunder, sleet, snow, and rain.  Caught the bus to the airport and had to walk thru about 1-2″ deep of icy snow water, pulling my suitcase behind me.  Good workout!  The bus driver got a heads up at one of our stops that the road she would normally have taken to the airport was closed due to flooding, so we took an alternate route.  Got to the airport no problem.  And it’s a small airport so that was easy also.  I’ve gotten very good at self check-in, tagging my bag, putting it on the conveyor belt, and getting myself through Security. Continue reading “Back in the USSR … um, I mean UK”

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Been a while …

I realize I haven’t posted in quite a few days.  I have taken so many photos!  I was trying to edit through them and decide which ones to add, but there are just too many.  But I didn’t want to leave you all hanging so I decided to write now and add photos later.

So, we boarded the Nordnorge (pronounced Nord norga) on February 8, in Kirkenes (For reference today is February 13). Caught a bus from our hotel – the port was just a few minutes away.  We checked in and they brought our bags to our suite.  The suite is amazing! Continue reading “Been a while …”