KLM, Here We Go

Hard to believe it’s almost over.  I did a last morning walk and ended up at one of my favourite places, the Begijnhof courtyard.  Beginning round the 14th century, the beguines were less nuns under monastic discipline, and more women who had chosen to live lives of simplicity and good works; they owned their own homes, and as such, the Begijnhof was the only Catholic institution that survived the Reformation. The chapel itself had to be handed over to the Reformed Protestants and has become The English Church. I didn’t have time to go to the service there as well as hit all my schedule for the journey home, but a quiet early morning half hour in the Begijnhof courtyard was all I needed. It's very much not like an almshouse, where everything is the same - these homes have real individuality.

I made Centraal Station just in time before the skies opened, but once there, I was under cover all the rest of the way. Schipol is SO crowded and confusing – it was good that I had a bit of extra time, and also that my Business Class booking gave me all sorts of priority lines as well as access to the KLM Crown lounge – a good place to get a bite and a drink and make sure all my electronics are well charged.

Makes sitting around an airport a much more pleasant experience!

This has been such a wonderful trip – both the time with family and old friends, and the links to the past, but also the doing of new things, and really enjoying time alone. If I ever do the Hurtigruten trip again, I would want to spend more time in Bergen – perhaps in retrospect, I should have waived my Amsterdam days and done Bergen-Amsterdam-YVR in one go. But this weekend has been fun. I’ve just been a bit bugged by a sore throat and a cough in the last few days, but I faithfully RAT-tested, and it showed clear. There are other bugs....

Welcome back to Vancouver

Very calm and easy flight home – part of me feels guilty about spending the extra on business class, but it was SO nice to be able to get my feet up and stretch out. We’ll see how jet-lag goes – I didn’t actually sleep much, so arriving home was like getting in at 1:20am!  But so nice to arrive in the sunshine, and to be met by Debbie – I’m leaving Scout with her one more night so I can do a nice noisy vacuum-clean of the place before I bring him back.

Thanks for travelling with me through the blog!

Last day in the Netherlands

Well, I didn’t think I would ever do this, but it was looking grey and rainy in Amsterdam, so I joined a tour-bus, and went to see some stuff outside the city!

It was grey and rainy there too

Milling for peanut oil

We started off by going north to Zaandam and in particular to the little village of Zaanse Schans, which has been created in a 18th//19th century style by relocating houses and windmills there. Two of the windmills are still in their original sites; the others come from different places but are still working. We were taken round one that processes peanuts for peanut oil; another grinds minerals to create dyes for painters, and there are a couple of sawmills. It’s very much a no-cars area (though lots of bikes!) and most houses access via small bridges or canals. 

And of course the obligatory Zaanse Schans cat....

From there we went east to Volendam on what used to be the ZuiderZee, but which is now a freshwater lake. When the ZuiderZee was dammed in the 30s, Volendam, which used to be a fishing village, lost its saltwater resources (it also lost its regular flooding, so it was a fair bargain!) and the fishermen turned to eel fishing. Another very touristy ‘seaside’ town – every other shop seems to be selling stroopwaffels or poffertjes, or tourist tat. 

We had a visit to a gouda cheese-making demo (I actually think the one in Wensleydale three weeks ago was better!) and a cheese-tasting – like the Wensleydale, they’re now adding extra things for the cheese for “specials”, pesto (a bit bland), cumin (I liked that!), peppers (yes!)  and nettle (couldn’t really taste it). The older cheeses had good bite. I was tempted, but NO EXTRA BAGGAGE!

Looking for handouts...

With both these outings, we had a background audio presentation on the bus, the special presentation and then time to wander – so I could break free of the group and go do my own thing.  Our tour-guide was Diana – a native Spanish speaker with heavily accented English which was sometimes a little hard to understand, so I was thankful for the recorded presentation.

Leaving Volendam

Arriving in Marken

We took the ferry from Volendam south to Marken. Marken was originally an island in the ZuiderZee, and remained an island with the transforming of the inland sea into a freshwater lake.  There is now a causeway carrying a road that joins the village to the mainland. Most of the houses are black or green; black is for the tar water-proofing that was spread on the outside of a house.and green was for the mixture of grass and herbs that were spread on some homes. In Marken we visited the clog museum and watched a clog being made – I liked the demo and the museum that followed, but not the forced exit though the fancied-up clog-shop!

Clog-making demo

Museum

Clog shop

Even the wooden cows wear clogs!

Glad I did it – wouldn’t do it again like that, but it might make me do a solo visit, another time!

The EyeFilm Museum

Looking over at the cruise port - the morning's big ship has gone

Arrived back in Amsterdam to more rain, so I took the chance to have a belated lunch, draft out this blog and re-pack my suitcase ready for tomorrow.  The sun emerged and so did I – another bout of walking, but this time keeping it to the area around Centraal Station – got my ticket to Schipol for tomorrow, watched the boats on the river, and the ferries crossing – thought about going over, but I didn’t want to be tight on time for the concert.

The Basilica - from outside Centraal station

The performance was at St Nicholas Basilica – Catholic, with High Masses in Dutch and Spanish, though their music director, Giles Brightwell, is English. The concert was given by the National Youth Choir of Scotland, on their last concert of a European tour, and they were a joy to listen to – seventy young, really well-trained voices singing in a space that enhanced everything. Their dynamic range was wonderful and it was a really powerful program. My only quibble would be that Britten’s “Rejoice In The Lamb” (heard for the second time this holiday) was really hard to synch with the organist, who was playing from the back of the church. They also offered a set of contemporary pieces by Stacy Garrop (?) which, for me, didn’t work in the resonant acoustic – it would probably have been fine in a concert hall, but you could barely hear words.  The cream of the program was the Duruflé “Requiem” which I would just love to do again – sadly, there isn’t an organ in Richmond that can begin to do that wonderful French sound!

Huge and ornate!

I’ve been doing battle with a bug (no, I’ve tested and its not COVID), and I got one of those annoying tickles midway through the Requiem, and had to slide out and find some water. I think I’m going to mask for the journey home, and not share my cold germs...

Bergen to Amsterdam

Journey time again – but relatively simple. It was SO good to get an uninterrupted night and a good ten hours of sleep;  I was a little worried that I might be cooking a cold yesterday, but I suspect that it was mostly tiredness, since I felt way better in the morning.  The hotel staff suggested I call a cab to get out to the airport, but this isn’t just the equivalent of accessing YVR  - it’s way out of town. There’s an airport bus, but in the end I decided to do the light rail option, which meant walking down to the bus station.  Downtown Bergen is very much a walker’s city – lots of no-traffic areas, and at 7am, that’s seriously no-traffic. Actually, judging from the morning in Trondheim and then in Bergen, Norwegians don’t start early – most shops (including supermarkets) don’t open till 10am. 

Looking across the lake at the art galleries and the Grieghalle

And – miracle, by Bergen standards – no rain, so it was a pleasant walk down past the fountain and looking across at the kunsthalle.

Very straightforward transit – and cheap!  I don’t know what the cab would have cost;  the Flybussen was NOK 190 (about CAD $25); as a senior, the light rail cost me just NOK 20! (CAD $2.60). The airport is small and modern and was really empty – the suggested 2-hour lead time was quite unneeded!

Bergen airport was mostly empty!

I am struck again with the complete dearth of face-masks – I think there were two people on the ferry who wore them, but I saw none at the airport. And they’re not to be found in any of the airport shops – “flight necessities” comprise everything but!....

Last look at Norway

Easy flight – the Schipol end is not so easy; the airport is such a hub and the CityHopper planes are parked all over the place. Found my way to the airport station and from there to Centraal – the problem there was the signage and trying to work out just which end I was at.  Reoriented, and got myself headed in the direction of the Singel canal;  Colleen has won again, with a very nice little hotel – a little cramped but clean and manageable. My bedroom faces onto the canal, so we’ll see what nighttime sounds are like in this party city.

My room in the Singel Hotel.

I dumped my bag and did a quick change and then crossed the canal to investigate De Poetzenboot – the cat shelter boat, which is moored just opposite the hotel. I was lucky with timing, and got a last 45 minutes there before they had to close (vet appointment!). It’s smaller than I’d thought – about 15 resident cats, including a tripawd and a blind cat, and a few that obviously have behaviour problems. There were about half a dozen caged cats who come in from other places for adoption.   I left our RAPS website info with them so they can see what we do.  

Some of the resident cats -
tripawd, blind, very shy, and a pee-er

Then I walked...and walked... and walked.. just exploring, with no particular goal, initially – just enjoying the canals and the buildings and the people. 

When I got about halfway around the canal ring, I realised I had a possible target in reach, and centred in on De Heerengracht – the next canal over from the Singel. Here I found De Kattenkabinett – the cat museum created by Bob Meijer in memory of his cat Morgan. Cat pictures and statues and posters and ornaments everywhere – including the pawprints to tell you which way to go.  And a couple of very blase resident cats, enjoying all the attention. 

From there I ducked back on De Spieglgracht and walked up to the Rijksmuseum. I decided I had a choice between visual arts and music – and opted for an evening concert at the Concertgebouw.

Rijksmuseum

Concertgebouw

Just – wow! Not the Concertgebouw Orchestra, but the Rheinische Philharmonie, conducted by a very young, very brilliant young man by the name of Benjamin Shwartz – someone to watch for.  Liadov “The Enchanted Lake”; Prokofiev First Violin Concerto with Isabelle van Keulen, and Dvorak Symphony no 7. Gorgeous playing from all - precision and shading of dynamics and sense of unity. The sound in the hall is beautiful - it really is one of the finest concert halls in Europe.

And there was an encore....

Managed to find the tram that would take me back to Centraal and then an easy walk to the hotel.

Hurtigruten last day - and Bergen

So busy on Friday I missed posting my Thursday blog - better late than never...

Woke to the knowledge that this was the last day on the ship, and the end of the trip is in sight.  I missed Ålesund and Torvik during the night hours, but was woken by the noise of the ferry turning for the morning call at Måløy at 5:30am and then Florø after breakfast. Norwegians and their superlatives! - Florø proudly announces itself as the westernmost town in Norway (and therefore on the Scandinavian peninsula) – there are other communities further out, but they don’t qualify as “towns”.

Passing under the bridge as we leave Florø

We were asked to have bags packed and rooms ready for cleaning by 10am, so I esconced myself up in the forward lounge of the top deck, with the best view of the remaining part of the journey. The morning’s low cloud lifted a bit, and there were occasional breaks of brightness out to sea on the starboard side, though the mountain tops to the east all had fluffy cloud caps.  I wonder what will happen to Norway if we get the sea-level rise we’re being warned about – so much of the population lives on the low-lying coastal region (that’s VERY low-lying), and all the mountainous bumps are just not habitable.  

Endless rocks and water!

From Florø was non-stop to Bergen – I assume deliveries to local towns are done by someone other than Hurtigruten. Some of the route verged on open ocean, but more had us weaving between islands; at one point we threaded Steinsund strait between Steinsunøyna and Rånøyna, where the strait is just 60m wide at its narrowest part. Lots of little islands and fish hatcheries. I understand that fish-farming in Norway is a very different prospect from what we have in BC – a better ratio of fish to water, less additives in food, smaller pens so that problems can be managed more effectively.

Summer cabins

The last lunch was wonderful as always – fabulous catering throughout! The big problem was always what should I NOT choose... Mostly I avoided the hot buffet, because the salads were so varied and tasty.  I was a little concerned about shellfish, but ended up having cod or halibut or mackerel or salmon almost every day. And the presentation of those evening meals....   Back to diet again, sadly.

In the last hour I joined Mary, Mark and Kathy at the front end of Deck 5 to watch the approach to Bergen. Island homes became more common – the summer cabin phenomenon is important to Bergen-ites. Hillsides became more and more covered with houses – civil engineers sure earn their keep here! Landing was achieved smoothly – they’d already offloaded our luggage via the cargo bay, and we were able to pick it up in the terminal. There was a grand welcome for M,M & K – their kids had flown over from the States together, and then arrived by rail from Oslo; they’d dodged the “this is where you should be” rules and set themselves up with greeting banners as we crossed over the bridge. I bet they have a wonderful family holiday. It was so great to get to know them; I love my “travel alone” thing, but they were great company, and who knows, I might get to go visit in Minnesota or Colorado!

Entering Bergen - can you see the cable car line?

Quite a bunch of us were on a transfer bus, which did some very strange wandering around more distant hotels, before being back in the centre of town. I just love the hotel that Colleen found for me – it’s called Hotel 13, and it’s really quirky in a modern way. 

We’d been warned that “it always rains in Bergen” and the forecast had warned of rain, but things were holding clear, so I dumped my bags off and went for a wander, heading, like every tourist around here does, for Bryggen, which is the old Hanseatic style buildings. Some of them are pretty touristy, but there were some really nice craft things.  It strikes me as a sort of Norwegian version of The Shambles in York.  But before that, I did the other classic tourist thing and took the Floibahnen – the cable car that goes up to the top of the mountain overlooking the city.  What a view – just incredible!  

South Bergen

Looking over the bay

From there, you can see the Hurtigruten ship docked not far away from one of the big cruise ships – and realise how delightfully small our ferry was. You can keep those big ones!

The ferry is just to the right and a bit closer - and about a tenth the size!

There’s another, higher cable car on an adjacent mountain, but this was quite high enough for me. 

Want to go higher?

A little blowy up there!

Ideally, you go up in the car and then walk down – but I had enough walking planned, and copped out! The Bryggen area called, and the market – such a fun place.

Even the manhole covers tell a story!

in the fish-market...

Then my plans sort of fell apart. I’d found an organ recital at the Nykirke – about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. So I went back to get myself together for tomorrow, and check the transport situation – and I fell asleep before I could get myself going again!  It had been a long day, after all – too many nights of sleep disturbed by ship engines, and a very early morning.  So no Bach in Bergen, sadly;  the concert in Amsterdam will have to be my prize!