jpalbny

My Samsung S22 Ultra. One of the pix I posted was a pure cellphone shot. The others were with the cellphone, but through a spotting scope with 25x magnification. So the phone had very little work to do.

Ouch. That's very descriptive.

Friday June 9th. Oulu, later that morning. It was a great wildlife tour, not just for the owl sightings. We saw a few moose aside the road but they bolted before any pictures were possible. Saw lots of hares, and many birds including a Capercaillie, which our guide said was quite rare to spot. We had a breakfast stop aside a beautiful lake where we enjoyed the morning light. Cool water skating insects. Mosquitoes too, but they were sluggish in the cold weather. We were cold too, despite both layers of our parkas, because a chilly breeze was coming from the north. So a nice campfire took care of that. We tried for another sighting but the Eurasian pygmy owl was shy and we only got a glimpse of its face looking out of the nest box. Chris has a cool picture of its eye! The mosquitos were very dense in the forest! So we didn't wait around too long for the pygmy owl. It seems that mosquito season is ramping up quickly. Back to the ship around 8AM where we had a second breakfast in LT. We were ready for the 9AM shuttle into town but it was about 10 minutes late. We were off walking around the city by 9:30. At city hall, an exhibit about democracy. As best I could tell. We walked through a nice pedestrian section of town until we reached Market Square. The Toripolliisi Statue is a well-known landmark and a good photo stop. Market Hall was worth a quick stroll too. We headed out between the theater and the library. Here, a statue and some flags to celebrate Oulu being named a European Capital of Culture for 2026. And evidence of one scofflaw Finn. All those orderly spots for scooter parking, and it's perfectly outside the lines. There are numerous islands at the edge of town, in the river mouth, so we tried to do a big loop back to the city. Here, a water park. Not much use today, as it's 8C/46F despite the bright sunshine. Here, a fallen tree was left in place and carved beautifully. A nice monument. Fountains in the river. We started looping around but had to backtrack a little as the hydroelectric plant was blocking our route. But we passed by a beautiful building which Google identified as an elementary school. We were now upstream from the dam and the water level was high. A nice path back towards the city. We crossed into City Park and saw the fish ladder that was constructed for salmon. A nice design! It almost looks like a natural stream. The sun was finally heating us up enough to shed one layer of our parka. There are more fountains in another part of the river. And with the right angle, a rainbow! We set course back to the bus. This statue is entitled "Kuluva aika' which translates to "Worn out." How did they know? I resemble these people. There were some beautiful murals underneath the overpasses. We stopped for photos. And this eagle reminded us that it was time for lunch. We made the 11:30 bus easily and were back on board 15 minutes later. A nice light lunch in LT with some wine (for napping purposes). We had a well-needed nap until 4PM and went to trivia where we had a solid first-place finish. Now at tomorrow's briefing. Tomorrow is our last day in Finland. How sad! But, we are planning for an anniversary celebration tomorrow, capped off with dinner at La Dame.

Not only that, but you can "date" them by the styles of the parkas in their collection. We have one that says "Prince Albert II" so that's an antique from 2009. When they first started the two-piece parkas I think the liner was blue but we don't have one from that series. We have grey liners. We're seeing all sorts of the parkas on this trip. Good to be cruising with so many SS veterans.

Not too close. We were on a path and the nest was in the forest, a good distance away from us. It was hard to spot and without the scope it would have been hard to see the owls.

Friday June 9th. 3AM owl hunting. Success! A female on the nest with her 3 owlets. The male arrived with breakfast while we were there. Cell phone shot. All others were through the spotting scope. Babies!

We brought ours. SS will very likely provide a parka for your trip though. They did in 2019 for our circumnavigation of Iceland.

3AM, and time to look for owls. It's quite light out though. We'll see!

Briefing included a nice map marking our progress so far, and what's to come. Tomorrow is Oulu, our northernmost stop this voyage. We went directly to dinner and got a prime window seat. Tonight's menu. The wines were a Vermentino di Sardegna which we liked very much, and a Chilean Cabernet. We started with shrimp cocktail and the scallops as our appetizers. Both very good and they went well with the white wine selection. Chris got the beef tenderloin, and I had the Malabar chicken for mains. I knew that the white wouldn't hold up to the chicken but didn't want a Cab with it. So I asked for a lighter red like a Pinot noir. This was offered and it was a nice match. Funky nose, but nice acidity and fruit that went well with the very peppery chicken dish. I couldn't finish the bottle though. Hopefully they forgive me? We had the brownie and the éclair for dessert. Wake up call in five hours. Good night all!

Thursday June 8th. Kalajoki. The expedition team pronounces this in a way that sounds like Karaoke. Fortunately no singing was required at this stop! We anchored offshore, so it was back to the zodiacs today. We started a bit late but were ashore by 9AM. Our bus arrived right after that and we boarded. But then we had to wait for the second bus. Apparently the busses had been tied up in traffic? No problem. We made it to the hiking trail soon enough. A short hike to our rest stop. We'd return here for snacks after we finished the hike. Our guide said it would be 5K round trip. There was a picturesque pond with a tree that had a sign on it. I put my Google translate on the sign and it told me the tree was 21 meters tall amd 130 years old. Impressive detail! Off we went through the forest. Sometimes it was sunny but there was a definite chill in the air. It was only in the mid 40s. Pockets of mist in the forest made for a neat atmosphere. Our guide set a good pace and we got lots of steps in. At our turnaround point I figured that I'd burned a French fry or two from last night's dinner. Every bit helps. A huge swath of reindeer lichen. How do they survive on this stuff? We set an even faster pace back. A few picture stops but that was it. Beautiful cowslips along the river. It was a nice setting for a nature hike. Back to the rest stop for snacks. We had some blueberry juice boxes, and cinnamon rolls. There was a small group of locals who were grilling sausages nearby. Apparently one of our group thought the sausages were for us too, as he crashed the group and took one! Instead of getting angry, the kind hikers offered him some mustard to go with his purloined sausage! On the way back to the bus, a shot of the forest floor. It was dense with berry plants. The lighter plants are blueberry bushes and the darker green plants are lingonberries. Now the bus stopped by the sand dunes to drop off anyone who was interested. Of course, we hopped off and explored the area. Look at that wind! It's a pretty beach for sure. There was even a changing facility, if you wanted to put on your wetsuit for a Polar Plunge. We stuck to the boardwalks and stayed dry. Chris did a little extra climbing. At the shoreline there were lots of little spits of sand jutting out into the water. Some were substantial enough to build on I guess? I wonder about the insurance bill for that property. This does not look like traditional beach attire. One more large dune. We walked back to the bus stop then rode to the dock. It was a bit more windy on the ride back so some were splashed on the zodiacs. Luckily LT was open until 2:30 for lunch so we made it with time to spare. The pasta of the day was with a delicious pesto. I enjoyed it very much. Then there was a kantele concert at 3PM. Very nice! Two kanteles and a guitar made beautiful music together. We got second place in trivia. Now time to get ready for briefing and dinner. It will be an early night, as our excursion leaves at 3AM tomorrow.

No worries Terry. Chris hates snakes too. Luckily we were not in Rachel's group yesterday, and we didn't see any snakes at all.

Thank you for the explanation! The Finnish word on the website was definitely "Hiidet" which was translated to "Hiids" in English. Glad they weren't there to greet us.

We had a nice lunch at LT. Split a pizza with lots of rose. Then a nap may have been taken. One must be in the right frame of mind for trivia! We got second place. Didn't know the capital of Papua New Guinea. Or that pork is the most-consumed meat worldwide. I thought we were the only ones who like bacon. Apparently everyone else does too! Had a walk on deck afterwards. Bright sun, mild wind. Hair isn't horizontal yet. Then time for the evening briefing. We had a lesson in the Finnish language. This was an easy one. Everyone knows that feeling where you'd rather just lie around at home in your underwear, and drink, with no plans to go out? According to Tomi, the Finns have a word for that! Finnish also claims the longest palindrome. It's a word for a soapstone dealer: We had dinner at Hot Rocks tonight. The menu is familiar. Chris went with her usual Caesar salad and I mixed it up with the New York salad. We got a nice bottle from the Connoisseur's list. A red from Piedmont. Ribeye on the stones for a minute or two, until it leaped off of its own volition. For dessert Chris had the cheesecake and I had the apple-cinnamon rose. It was still light out so we had a nightcap at the bar. The guitar music was too mellow for dancing, but Alfredo started up in Panorama at 10:30. So, some dancing before bed. Tomorrow, another nature hike. Time for some sleep!

Wednesday June 7th. Rauma, Finland 🇫🇮 We docked alongside the pier about 7 and we were up for coffee shortly thereafter. No zodiac rides needed today. There are two World Heritage sites here. One is the Old Town of Rauma. The other is a Bronze Age burial site called Sammallahdenmäki. Pronounced just like it's spelled, of course! We disembarked about 8:30 and caught a coach for the ride into town. We began walking near the Church of the Holy Cross. Nice blue skies, and sunny. About 50F. Beautiful weather! We walked slowly around the Old Town. Our guide giggled a lot and showed us a few buildings here and there. She ducked into a building that was a "Rauma Museum" and showed us the food storage facilities... And the inner courtyard of another complex of buildings. Back on the main street, we stood next to this building but she never told us what it was. Another "Rauma Museum" according to Google. Beautiful woodworking on the door. More nicely painted wooden houses. The more money the owners had, the more fancy the window trim. We passed by this abandoned building. It used to be a restaurant with some hotel rooms too. It's available for the small sum of about €170,000. Not bad until you consider that you're obligated to restore the building once you buy it. That will run you about €1.5 million... Looks like we could set up a dance venue here! Not sure about the ROI. Next stop was the main square, where we saw City Hall. There was a market on the square. A big line for the merchant selling smoked fish. We resisted the urge. Now we backtracked to the church where we'd started. And visited the interior. At first I thought we were interrupting this devout lady, but then I saw that she was a statue. We got back on the bus for the drive to Sammallahdenmäki. One of us fell soundly asleep and doesn't remember the drive at all... But we piled out for a walk in the woods. Typical Finnish forest with rocks, lichens, thin soil, and trees growing despite the adverse conditions. A very pleasant stroll. The Bronze Age burial sites were large piles of stones scattered around the forest. This one was called "Church Tile" or "Church Floor" and it's the largest site. Legend has that it was built by the Hiide (Hiids), a legendary race of giants from Finnish mythology. From the website: "According to the legend, the giants and humans competed for a place to live. They decided to start a competition, the purpose of the competition was to decide who gets Lapland as their place of residence. Whoever built the church faster would be allowed to stay, so the Hiids and the people started building the church. The Hiids built a foundation for the church, a stone floor, but the people then cheated a little, that they just built a support for the church bell from two trees and attached the church bell to it. When people were able to lift the bell up, they rang the bell. The Hiids heard the ringing of the bell and thought that the human church would already be ready. The Hiids got angry and threw stones around and they left." Yesterday we learned about some mythological Finnish creatures. Not sure if this "Hiisi" is similar to the Hiids. Note: Lapland in this story refers to this area, not the far north. Apparently there are two areas in Finland called Lapland. They like to confuse each other with this too. Our guide explained that someone once asked her if she was of Sami descent...and she said, "No, I'm from Lapland!" On to more burial sites. Further on, there was an encampment with people dressed in period costumes. And some Bronze Age craftsmanship going on. The ladies in the distance are weaving rope to make fish netting. We took our leave of the forest and it was a short ride to the sausage factory. We had a pre-lunch of sausage, meatballs, and potato-pasta salad. They had nice products for sale but too late, I realized that I should have bought some of their smoked pork chops for Hot Rocks tonight! Back to the boat for lunch.

Enjoy eating it! I'm sure it's delicious. Just about every part of the pig is. No matter if it's cut differently. Enjoying all of the bacon chatter. I might have to go to breakfast for real one of these days. Speaking of smoke...Hope everyone is doing OK with the smoke from the wildfires. Some of the pictures that I'm seeing from home are making me very glad to be here instead!

It looks awful back home. Very lucky to be in Finland now I guess. Hope it doesn't get any worse for all of you.

Only.one Sir though

There used to be a 5000 post limit before the database couldn't handle it, but that limit seemed to go away with one of the updates. After 8AM here in Finland and the sun has been up for 4 hours. Time to rise and shine!

Thanks so much for the information about this building! We are really enjoying this trip, and learning a lot about the history here. Our guide also mentioned the "misery" roads. We walked along the side, on the smooth parts. 😀 Those cobblestones were rough. We have more than 20,000 steps today.

Evening aboard! We went to the briefing at 18:15. An amusing talk about Finnish mythological creatures. None that we've met so far, but the voyage is still young. We made a quick exit from the briefing and were first at the MDR. So we scored a prime table for two at the window. We'd previewed the menu online and didn't need to go further than the daily specials. The wines were a South African Semillon Blanc and a Chilean Carmeñere. Odd choices for a French menu. Paul was our waiter tonight and offered some sweet wine with the foie gras. Nicely done! The soup was tasty too. Fichyssoisse? I thought that the Carmeñere was a bit light bodied for the veal dish (which was delicious). Chris said I was being too picky and the match was just fine. I gave it 8/10. And the tarte. The cinnamon ice cream was really good. And the dessert went well with the rest of my red wine. (Because it was a light red) No late night for us. We have an 8:15 tour departure tomorrow in Rauma. Fortunately we are docking so we can wake up at 8AM or so...

Örö Island, conclusion. We had wandered off the main track, following the blue markers. After a detour through a cow pasture we were guided to yet another rocky beach. And a double set of bunkers. Back inland. The southern part of the island is narrow and the trail zigged and zagged between both coasts. We found ourselves at yet another gun installation. This one had its own barracks. There was a little exhibit inside. We zipped through. And pushed onward to the southernmost point. Google had marked a "suspension bridge" here but we saw nothing of the sort. Well that was a waste of time! And an uphill climb too! There were more bunkers to explore. We wandered among them and saw more blue markers... And this. Is that a bridge? We found it! The way seemed blocked off at first but we followed the blue markers and we crossed that bridge when we got to it. The weather kept improving too. Lots of sun, and beautiful temperatures. Layers were shed. Now we had to get back to the marina. We had a long walk ahead of us. So we took the blue trail to the main road and made haste. Tall trees, flat topography, and a straight path ahead of us. If only we hadn't worn ourselves out with getting here. We dragged ourselves to the dock just after 15:00. Coffee and cinnamon rolls for our efforts, as Rachel posted previously. That was a welcome treat! Zodiac back to the ship about 15:20. A swan and cygnets made an appearance. The weather for the ride back was gorgeous. Smooth sailing! Flat seas. As we approached Silver Wind, a military helicopter buzzed the ship. Back on board in time for a shower and change before trivia. We did very well! Then we had plenty of time to relax before briefing and dinner.

Örö Island, continued. We turned south and made haste to the lunch spot. We walked through more beautiful forest. Here and there, traces of the island's former history. Remains of a gun mount. A military ship went by. Keeping an eye on us? This building was constructed in the early 1900s during the Russian occupation era, as a soldier's hospital. The Finnish armed forces used it as an officer's quarters. The officer would keep tabs on who went by so the building was called "The Eye." The big gun means that we're almost back to our lunch stop! Lunch was rather small. A "tapas plate" with some nice items - salmon, lamb, potatoes, pickles, etc. Tasty bites. And a rhubarb crumble for dessert. After lunch we decided to tackle the southern half of the island. We had lots of time before the last zodiac at 17:00. We set off through a dense old forest with a carpet of reindeer moss. It's actually a lichen! Go figure. Reindeer eat it regardless of what we call it. More obvious lichens also. Even covering some of the trees! Another viewpoint, with another swan. We would have to circle this bay to get to the south part of the island. Onward. I don't remember what this building was. Around every corner, there seems to be a bunker of some sort. They're open to explore. And probably full of creepy crawlies too. The red campion was less ubiquitous and harder to find. Maybe because it looks purple? We finally circled the bay and turned south. This is turning into a real expedition!

Tuesday, June 6th. Örö Island. Another former military base recently designated as a park. We had an easy morning and slept in until 7:30 then had breakfast. The first zodiac headed out at 8:45. The weather had been fine earlier but suddenly a dark cloud drifted over us. The temperature felt much colder. And there was a brief intense rain shower! Right on cue they called our group. Luckily the rain stopped as we loaded into our zodiac, and the ride over was dry. We met our guide for the nature hike and started off. She took us to a few nice viewpoints where we could see the rocky coast. A big contrast between the coast and the inland forest. Tons of blueberry bushes everywhere. And pretty flowers. The tiny Arctic star was all over. Back to the coast. Islands all over! We crossed over to the west side of the island and went to another beach. Our ship was there to greet us. You can see some bands of rain coming down near Silver Wind. The beach, like all of them here, is fairly rocky. This rock had a very interesting vein of mineral running through it. The pattern was very pretty. We need a geologist to explain this one. It was still chilly! We had 3 layers on. When the wind wasn't blowing and the sun was shining, we could shed a layer. But not too often. We had come a decent way north so now we turned back towards the center of the island, to get some lunch. Our guide set a brisk pace. Maybe she was hungry too!

Not enough time in the day!

George hasn't been tossed overboard yet so we'll let him slide. Expedition cruises are a different animal. Jeans are fine. 11PM and still light. Just got back from Paranormal where the dancing was getting wild. 8:45 zodiac call tomorrow so time for sleep. Tonight's dinner in LT. Chris's filet. It was huge. And cooked to @drron29's specifications! Chris was very happy. My osso bucco was delicious as well. Good night all!