Silver Wind Northern Europe & British Isles (Norway) July 14-31

[RachelG]

I am packing for our upcoming Silversea explorer trip. Definitely need a lot of shoes, but probably less than 24 pair as it is an expedition trip. So I will be roughing it. Maybe 12 pair.

[WesW]

RosseauGirl, Rachel; will endeavor to take more Ida shoe snaps. And we do our best to deal with life's hand as it is dealt and not have a pity party when a minor medical setback occurs. Dr. Rachel is our role model (shoe count withstanding) --after a broken arm that required extensive reconstruction surgery--she (with one day's rest) continued and left home (believe within 24 hours of surgery) with George to enjoy Singapore to Hong Kong that we all enjoyed back in February.

 

Rachel (and George) look forward to enjoying your Explorer thread next month.

 

Besides, this Norway cruise has been/is exceptionally stunning with near perfect sunny weather sailing in lake like fjord waters from one Norwegian port to the next. Now for today's first post.

 

Good Morning Olden, Norway!

 

"The village of Olden clings to the banks of Nordfjord, surrounded by steep mountains and lovely valleys. Boating on the fjord, hiking on nearby scenic mountain trails, as well as salmon and sea-trout fishing in the River Olden combine to make this small town an enjoyable holiday destination. The summer season brings visitors to the area who are interested in glacier skiing on the Briksdal Glacier and the jostedal glacier. Olden was, for many years home to American landscape artist William H. Singer, scion of a Pittsburg steel family. A philanthropist, Singer underwrote such endeavors as the construction of a much needed road and the very important regional hospital." Taken from today's Silversea Silver Wind newspaper.

 

Ida and I are looking very forward to enjoying or early morning ship's (Silver Wind) excursion, "

Lake Leon and Kenndal Glacier." We will soon further discover the natural rugged Norway terrain in Olden by boat and land. This will include a short hike and a lake cruise in/around the beautiful Lake Loen's stunning turquoise waters, and hiking for a short distance on the Kenndal Glacier.

 

We also look forward to hearing another enrichment lecturer by the outstanding Guest Lecturer Retired Captain William Wells, titled, "The life and times of a London ship's pilot." Tonitie's entertainmnet is International Tenor Shimi Goodman, in "When you hear my voice."

 

We also will prepare for our ship arranged visit to a ENT doctor in Bergen tomorrow. Arranging for box lunch, plane routing changes if needed due to potential in/outpatient surgery to repair a possible (most likely) broken snoz from the fall Wes took earlier in the week on a nature hike up Mt. Keiservarden.

 

 

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Edited July 27, 2017 by WesW

[Stumblefoot]

I am currently starting to pack for our upcoming trip on the Whisper and have informed my DH that 23 is the minimum number of pairs of shoes allowed.

So I will be roughing it. Maybe 12 pair.

Neither of you are going to be allowed to meet Mrs. Stumble.

 

 

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[jpalbny]

23 pairs of shoes? Wow. We bring 2-3 pairs. Please make no attempts to remove that hyphen!

 

Good luck tomorrow, Wes. Hope that surgery is not needed and that it can wait until you're back home. I would miss your daily installments if you can't continue your cruise. I look forward to them first thing every morning!

[Tothesunset]

The shoes thing - we have the opposite problem in this household in that I tend to take about 5 pairs of proper shoes plus trainers, flip-flops and deck shoes. OH tries to make one pair fit with all her different outfits. In the end she gets persuaded that, no, a pair of Nikes simply won't cut it on a formal night!

[WesW]

Thanks JP hopefully after our 9am ENT consult we will be back on board by noon.

 

Stumblefoot/brian..will help Rachel synchronize a ss cruise with y'all.

 

We're at La Terraza now after another spectacular Nordfjord visit (rated best in NOrway) will post later.

 

To the sunset y'all shoe plans sound good.

 

 

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[Rocchi]

"A pair of Nikes simply won't cut it on a formal night!"

 

Oh I don't know. We had friends on a SS cruise and He had forgotten his formal shoes. He wore black trainers, got away with it, no one noticed and we did not tell. :D

[Silver Spectre]

Thanks JP hopefully after our 9am ENT consult we will be back on board by noon.

 

Stumblefoot/brian..will help Rachel synchronize a ss cruise with y'all.

 

We're at La Terraza now after another spectacular Nordfjord visit (rated best in NOrway) will post later.

 

To the sunset y'all shoe plans sound good.

 

 

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Good luck for the nose consult in the morning.

 

 

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[WesW]

Thanks so much Mr. Silver, tho am most disappointed we will miss Chef David's Bergen Market tour--tho hope we are able to enjoy some fresh Salmon at dinner tomorrow nite.

 

Ida and I enjoyed another stunning spectacular visual feast Norway--Olden. Ida and I agree, this cruise is the most visually enjoyable we have taken and since we have cruised on lake like waters in the Norwegian Fjords the last week this adds to the calm ambiance of pure enjoyment we are experiencing

 

So early this a.m. We headed out on the Wind's outstanding excursion, "Lake Loen and the Kjenndhal Glacier". In short, fabulous. Please enjoy some photos that help tell the fascinating story of Norway's absolutely beautiful fjords.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[txladycruiser]

These photos are stunning, Wes! Love Ida's sweater! I'm assuming she bought it in Norway?

[WesW]

Thanks so much Karen--we dearly wish Wayne and you were on board to share this simply exhilarating Norway voyage. Ida actually bought her Dale Classic Norwegian sweater in Feb 2004 when we spent nearly a week in Oslo visiting Norwegian-friends. Erik/Unni strongly recommended that Ida buy one of these--and here we are 13+ yrslater and the Dale Sweaters are still the iconic Norwegian sweater to buy.

 

 

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[rpfarris]

...moose, reindeer, hare...

Are they serving any of that in the MD, Wes, or La Terrazza?

[WesW]

Rpfarris, no Norway game but lots of Norwegian fish (Salmon, Hake, Halibut) and hopefully with L'ecole des Chef, David Bisland's Bergen market visit they will bring back some fresh Salmon to enjoy for tonight's dinner.

 

Good Morning Bergen, Norway!

 

Bergen is known as the City of Seven Mountains. "Many visitors fall in love withBergen, Norway's second largest city, at first sight. Seven rounded lush mountains, pastel wooden houses, Bergen's historic wharf, winding cobblestone streets, and Hanseatic relics all make it a place of enchantment. Often referred to as: RainyCity (due to 240 days of rain/yr), Wooden City, and Gateway to the Fjords. Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are on islands.

 

Bergen is surrounded by forested mountains and fjords, and it is only natural that most Bergensers feel at home either on the mountains (skiing, hiking, walking) or at sea (fishing and boating)." Credit to today's Silversea Silver Wind daily newspaper.

 

Highlights Ida and I hope to visit (after ENT Doc consult @ 9a.m.) include the Bergen fish market, Bergen Musuem and Bergen Cathedral. If we return from the consult & have time we plan on taking the funicular (train like) up one of Bergen's seven mountains.

 

Btw, we sincerely appreciate the SW team (Doc, Daniela (Guest Relations Mgr), Clive (Shore Excursion Mgr), even Wolfgang (head Sommelier--who makes sure our wine choice reflects a diminished sense of smell due to swollen snoz) keeping us informed each step of the way as we prepare to go to our ENT doc consult this morning in Bergen.

 

 

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[rpfarris]

Rpfarris, no Norway game but lots of Norwegian fish (Salmon, Hake, Halibut) and hopefully with L'ecole des Chef, David Bisland's Bergen market visit they will bring back some fresh Salmon to enjoy for tonight's dinner....

We saw our executive chef in the Aomori morning market earlier this year and hoped that meant that we were going to have fresh salmon also. Actually, I was hoping that we would be feasting on king crab once we reached Dutch Harbor.

 

Unfortunately, we never got any king crab, nor any fresh local salmon, either. We were told that it was SS's policy not to source local food-stuff; that they only loaded food at embark/debark points. I'm very interested to hear that they have different policies on different ships. Please ask at dinner tonight.

[Stumblefoot]

We were told that it was SS's policy not to source local food-stuff; that they only loaded food at embark/debark points.

Yes, I believe that is the policy unless the cruise is a L'École des Chefs voyage. On ours, we enjoyed many local delicacies that were bought in a variety of ports we visited.

 

 

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[WesW]

Rick, believe Brian/Stumblefoot has it precisely right (for a change ::)). When we went on a Barcelona market tour with David and the then Exec Chef--they purchased about 1000 Euro worth of acorn fed Iberico ham. This was then sliced and devoured instantly at the dinner meal by appreciative guests.

 

 

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[jpalbny]

The Iberico ham story is making my mouth water. When we were in Barcelona two Christmases ago, Chris had a huge plate of shaved Iberico ham as a starter. Heavenly! And thankfully, she let me "help" her finish it.

 

Wes, if I'm doing my math correctly, your last post was a bit before 9AM Norway time. But now it's 1:30 and we're on pins and needles awaiting the all clear from you. Hope all is well. Best of luck.

 

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[spinnaker2]

Hi Ida and Wes,

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing your time in Norway.

I agree it's an amazingly pristine land of breathtaking scenery.

Hope all is well.

[WesW]

JP, Spinnaker2/Candy, Mysty, all; thanks so very much for your positive vibes and well wishes. And yes JP that Iberico ham was mouth watering delish--EnglishUSA/David and I along with a Grill table of eight had our own special appetizer plate before our grill dinner that nite and it the ham was gone in seconds.

 

Cleared :)). First phase was getting OK by General Practioner here at the Bergen Kommuni clinic. Our appointment was @9a.m and we were done by 9:30. Tho our 6'8" doc said everything looked fine he referred us to ENT--who luckily for us had 3:10pm slot for us. So, instead of taking a taxi back to ship we walked through Bergen's city center and enjoyed some nice snaps of the Central (Lille lungegardvann) Bergen Park, Henry Ibsen's statute, a beautiful (flower filled) gazebo between Christies Gate and Olavkyrres gate, of course had to take a shot of the quaint pastel houses that dot the Bergen Wharf.

 

We headed out to our pm ENT appointment an hour early and arrived at 2:30pm, we were immediately seen by the ENT Doc using a steel scope of some sort she determined I had a very unusual nasal fracture that means no more bathroom cleaning for life...kidding, she diagnosed a nasal fracture that is healing on its own. So, took longer waiting for her translation of her diagnosis to share with Ship's Doc our Neurosurgeon, than the time she examined me.

 

So, in summary have been to two different Med Clinics in Norway and one Univ Clinic where specialists practice. Cost averaged about $70 per visit--taxi rides to/from were about the same total cost. Impression--Norway has a very efficient (cost/throughput) medical delivery system for its fortunate citizens.

 

Please enjoy some Bergen Norway snaps taken at Lille Lungegardvann park this morning

 

 

 

 

We then continued heading towards the dock and the Wind:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited July 28, 2017 by WesW

[mysty]

Excellent news Wes! Thanks for the update! Enjoy the heck out of the rest of your adventure!

[spinnaker2]

Great news and great views!

[jpalbny]

Awesome! Glad to hear the news!

 

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[Stumblefoot]

Good deal Wes!

[liptastic]

Wes delighted to hear your news. What a relief for you and Ida.

Now you can concentrate on enjoying your cruise.

It's been so warming reading all the concerned and get well soon posts writtten to you, shows how respected and appreciated you are on CC. Jean.

[les37b]

Enjoy the rest of your cruise Wes. Always good to nose there isn't a more serious underlying problem and its self healing! Must take a weight of both your minds.