Adventures with Julia

Tuesday, June 23. 2026

Another travel day. This time we had only one leg, from Bergen to Alesund, a 45 minute flight north. The blue dot sits on the “nd” of Alesund and on the 35 mile long Hjerundfjord, which is known for its dramatic mountain peaks in the sunnmere Alps. I just hope the weather is clear enough to see get a look at the scenery. When we arrived in Alesund there was fog and rain. We are scheduled for both a boat ride are a helicopter flight.

After landing and being picked up by a driver, we drove to a place called the Heimgar Farm way out in the countryside and were greeted by the owners, Mike and Vibecke Hoganson, who instantly swept us up into their surroundings and welcomed us enthusiastically. We were a bit overwhelmed, but soon warmed up to their hospitality.

We shared a drink with them in their “entertainment barn” and watched through the rain on the porch as they described the shape and size of the farm, about 400 hectares. With the fog we could not see beyond the nearby fields and trees. They owned a few buildings including the house they live in, the storage and “entertainment barn” and a small horse stable. After drinks, we walked across the driveway to their house where lunch was served. Vibecke had prepared a shrimp cocktail as a first course and haddock with asparagus for the main course. It was a pleasant meal and we enjoyed their company. They gave us a tour of the whole house and we learned there was a kitchen on each floor as it had been lived in by 2 families. It was all pretty over stuffed but interesting, especially the kitchen sink. It looked like it could be a salon hair washing bowl.

This lunch had been arranged by our Scandinavian tour company. This is one of many activities they have arranged. Our next stop was our hotel for the next 4 nights, the Storfjord Hotel. We checked in and hung out in our room until dinner, as it was raining and foggy. For dinner we shared 3 appetizers and a dessert. Nothing exciting, but we were not very hungry.

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Shortly after breakfast, our driver, Harald, took us to the nearby dock at Glomset Bay, where we joined boat driver, Tom Toesse, on a Nimbus CII with two 220 horsepower engines. Our goal was to reach the end of the Geirangerfjord enjoying the sights along the way. This fjord is most beautiful as it has many canyons and waterfalls and lovely old houses to see. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Right away we passed 7 salmon farms, whose produce goes to China exclusively. The fjord is 600 meters deep. There are no roads in the fjord. When you see a boat house, look up to find the main house. Access is only by boat.

We saw waterfalls everywhere, but some have names such as the 7 sisters on one side of the fjord and the Proposer on the other side. As we passed one house high up the mountain, Tom told us about an elderly man who lived there and how he came down the mountain several times on his 85th birthday to get enough cake for his family who were coming to visit him.

Then Tom talked about his own experience in the fjord. When he was 16 he helped an older man build a cabin in the fjord. It took a year to build it, with fishing and hiking breaks now and then. He said he loved the experience and it is one of his best memories. The name of the place is Matvika. They planted apple and apricot trees that bloom now. He told us that he has a girl friend, a 33 yer old daughter and a 5 year old granddaughter. He, like so many other men and women we have met, has never been married but does have a long term relationship and children. He sees no reason to get married.

Once at the village of Gairanger at the end of the fjord, we took another drive, with a young man named Adrian, around the area and found big falls close to the road. The falls were named Flydalsjuivet.

We learned that as of 2032 large diesel ships will not be allowed in the fjords. They will have to be electric or hydrogen. And we learned that this fjord has been farmed since Viking days. The proof was a pair of dice found in a house basement that were dated to 1100AD along with pieces of an axe.

Back at the harbor, we climbed back into Tom’s boat and motored back along the fjord to our lunch stop, the Union Oye restaurant, in a hundred plus year old Victorian hotel that was frequented by European royals, such as Kaiser Wilhelm II, before WWII. Current Royals still come for lunch on occasion.

For lunch, I had pork neck and Mark had local beef. They were both tender and tasty. In addition to the landscape we were looking at paintings of the old royals as we wandered about the hotel waiting for our helicopter ride.

At exactly 4pm, our helicopter pilot, Roy, showed up in front of the Union Oye with the helicopter. Soon we were in the air searching for breaks in the clouds so we could get to the glaciers and the fjords. While looking for openings in the clouds we still enjoyed the scene below us—fjords, waterfalls, isolated homes on the roadless hillsides, boats and ships

Roy took us over a lovely valley called Orsta Valley and, in spite of clouds and fog, he maneuvered our way to the biggest glacier in Norway, Josdal Glacier. It was very interesting to see a glacier that is slowly disappearing, but not yet gone.

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All too soon we were landing at our hotel and saying good bye to Roy. It had been a thrilling day full of images and history and new people. For dinner we treated ourselves to caviar and Champagne.

Thursday, June 25, 2026

Today was a free day for us. We spent most of the time reading and chilling. Mid afternoon we went for a walk on an out and back trail that went through a forest and had many blooming flowers. The weather stayed dry for us.

Dinner was a multi-course affair in the hotel’s boat house at 6pm.

It happened that the guests were from all over the US and had a convivial time together. The folks at our end of the table were all retired and very well traveled. There were 3 more courses than shown here and the meal took 3 hours, but everyone seemed happy for the occasion.

We were back in our room by 10:30. The air was still moist but not raining and not cold.

Friday, June 26, 2026

Another leisurely morning with a foggy and totally overcast sky. Could not have had a helicopter ride today so we are really glad that we were able to go yesterday.

At 2:30 we were picked up by our driver Harald and a new guide, Benta. She is 66, high energy and very talkative. It was nice to have a guide who knew her stuff. On the way toward Alesund she told us about the tunnels in Norway.

There are 1,760 tunnels that collectively amount to 1,550 kilometers in length and take people under 1,730 fjords. The Norwegian coastline is 2,000 kilometers and 2nd only to Canada in length. On our drive to Alesund we will traveled through 4 subsea tunnels that were finished by 1987, are 4 kilometers each and go 154 meters below sea level. Tunnels continue to be built to move people around the mountainous and fjord filled country.

She told us only 3% of Norway is arable land due to the mountains and the fjords. This explains why 800 thousand left Norway for the US. She told us the first boat left Norway in 1825 with only 52 people headed for the USA on board. The trip took 3.5 months from June 22 to October 14. In spite of the hardships getting there, finding and settling land, they wrote home telling people to come. Each boat trip brought more, eventually getting to 800,000.

Each tunnel brought us to a different island, one of which was called Godaya and had a lighthouse on the top of it. Mark climbed it to catch the view. You can see how bad the weather was.

We walked around on three different islands with our raincoats on and saw a variety of old wooden houses, and newer ones built since fires had consumed them. Many were built in the popular Art Nouveau style after the huge fire of 1904 took 850 of 1000 homes. Every kind of construction worker came to help rebuild the area including many architect’s, who brought their different design ideas. With so much help, the town was rebuilt in 3 years.

Eventually we arrived in Alesund, where the population is 55,000. The city center is itself on an island.

We drove up to the top, 460 feet, of town, Aksla Mountain, for a view of the town. Benta walked us all over the old town where she had lived most of her life and knew everything.

Her stories made the walk interesting and fun. Even got a photo of local trolls. Eventually she took us to the restaurant where we had dinner reservations, Apotekergate, and bid us good bye. I hated to see her go. We had a pleasant dinner looking at a fjord out the window, then went back to Storfjord for our last night there.

Alesund is in the upper left corner. Our hotel Storfjord is highlighted in the top center. The hotel Union Oye is highlighted in the middle of the image. The Geiranger fjord we boated and flew over is in the lower right center in the shape of a sideways S.

Saturday, June 27, 2026

We have left Storfjord Hotel and sit at the Alesund airport waiting for a flight to Copenhagen that is delayed an extra hour or even two. Uge!!

Friday, June 12, 2026

Oslo sits on the country’s southern coast at the head of the Oslofjord. It has a population of approximately 725,000 and a greater urban area population of 1,111.000. The city was founded in 1040 under the name Anglo. It was destroyed by fire in 1624 during the reign of King Christian IV, a new city was built and named Christiania in honor of the king. The city functioned as the capital of Norway during the 1814-1905 union between Sweden and Norway. It gained independence in 1905. In 1925 the city was renamed Oslo. Today, Oslo is the economic and governmental center of Norway. It is an important center for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe.

It is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities program. It focuses on sustainability and modern development. It has world class museums, such as the Vigeland Sculpture Park and the National Museum, which we visited.

Saturday, June 13, 2026

Our first stop was the City Hall, where the Nobel Prize for Peace is given.

It was a cold rainy day in Oslo. We drove around the city to get an idea of the place—very contemporary and modern. One building even looked like a barcode. We passed by the Oslo Cathedral and found it very simple inside, compared to others we have seen.

The Opera House, which we did not enter, resembles a ski slope or an ice berg, your call. A sculpture in the Oslofiord was called “She lies” and rotated with the current and wind. We drove by the Munch Museum that has an odd bend in it and through a long tunnel that goes under the Oslofiord and many buildings for 8 kilometers. In an attempt to beat the rain we decided to go to the Sculpture Park early.

The park was designed and built by the sculptor Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) to represent the cycle of life. He created everything in the park including the gates, flowers and waterfalls. He made over 200 sculptures over 40 years, that together, tell the story of life in a park that is 48 hectares, 120 acres, in size and contains hundreds of roses and other plants as well as paths, bridges, water features and sculptures. Here are some of the sculptures to give you an idea of the scope of work. None of the statues are named and no reason are given for any of them. It is for each person to decide what they mean.

Then we went to the National Museum.

After leaving the Park, where we did get rained on, we decided to go to the National Museum to get out of the weather as much as to see the art inside. The museum did have some pleasant surprises for us. Edward Munch’s The Scream was in the second room we entered. I was pleased to see it, but surprised it was not as large as I imagined. It was about 2 feet wide by 3 feet tall.

We enjoyed seeing several Paul Gauguins’s, a Van Gogh self portrait in green, one Peter Paul Rubin, a Paul Cezanne, and a copy of Rodin’s The Thinker along with others. There were a lot of Norwegian painters represented, but only one that I recognized, Christian Krohg.

By the time we left the museum, it had stopped raining and it was time to have some down time. Mark walked to the money exchange to turn his load of euros back into dollars. Turns out Scandinavian countries use credit cards everywhere and don’t want cash of any kind, not even tips. We had a snack in the hotel and retired to our most comfortable room to enjoy the rest off the afternoon.

We learned that in 1969, Norway and the US together, discovered oil in the North Sea and production has been very successful. Currently the EU is discussing exploring the Arctic Sea for oil.

Between 1824 and 1924, 800 thousand Norwegian’s immigrated to the US. About 5 million Americans have Norwegian roots.

For dinner, Mark and I ate in the dining room called Theaatercafeen, that was attached to our hotel. He had a pizza and I had trout. The food was reasonable, but not spectacular. Then into our robes for the evening.

Sunday, June 14, 2026

At 9am we headed out for an island called Havar and saw many farms and farm houses along the way. The white buildings are where people live and the red buildings are for animals and farm equipment.

We planned to see Fredrikstrada and visit the fortified Old Town where 300 people live. Fredrikstrada has 90 thousand people.

We walked along the grass covered bastions that completely surround the Old Town, taking in a few canons along the way. But before walking through the town, we accepted Elizabeth’s invitation to see her summer cabin in a village nearby.

We drove up several narrow, crooked roads until there was no more road and then we walked along a dirt path for several minutes until we came to her cabin in the forest that overlooks the sea. It was a delightful and cozy place for a cabin. We could see why she likes being there. After a brief visit, it started to rain and we agreed to get back to the car as we had no umbrellas with us. Back in the Old Town, we got some coffee and a mini pizza to share.

Near the cafe was a statue of the Danish King Fredrik II (1534-1588), who founded the town in 1567. While sharing a snack and coffee, Elizabeth shared with us that the Old Town had burned down 7 times and been rebuilt each time. The last time being in 1712. Norway was ruled by Danish kings for 454 years from 1537 to 1814. The situation changed when Napoleon lost Norway in 1814 and Norway was united with Sweden. The Swedish king had no sons so he adopted the former Marshall in Napoleon’s army in 1814. When the king died in 1818, the Marshall became the next king of Sweden. His successors are referred to as Bernadotte. That arrangement lasted until 1905 when the Swedish King Oscar II gave freedom to Norway. Then Norway needed a King.

When the Danish Prince Carl was offered the job of King of Norway, the Norwegians said yes. His progeny continue to rule Norway. The current King is the 89 year old Harald V. (His painting is in the City Hall pictures) The next king will be his son, Haakon VIII.

Enough of that story.

Back to current events. We did not spend much time in Fredrikstrada. On the way back into Oslo we stopped at Oak Hill Vista Point where Mark was taken by this sculpture in the parking area.

Back in Oslo with no rain, we decided to climb the Opera roof, since we could not get inside.

Back at the Continental Hotel, we said good bye to Elizabeth and Olf and relaxed until dinner when we started to walk to our chosen restaurant and got very lost. Finally, we hired an Uber. We had been walking in the exact opposite direction. The restaurant had an elegant Art Nouveau interior and we had a pleasant evening. I even had grilled lobster. We had no trouble walking home after dinner once we knew where to go.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

We landed at Stockholm at 11am and were greeted by our guide, Gabriella. Instead of going to the hotel we drove directly to the village of Uppsala to see the cathedral and library there as Gabriella thought they were important.

The cathedral was started in 1260 and finished in 1435. The previous church that had held the shrine of the famous king, Saint Erik had burned to the ground except for Erik’s shrine. He had been a good ruler of the people. Unfortunately he was decapitated shortly after a mass he was attending, when a battle against the Danes broke out.

A new church in a new location with a new name, Uppsala, was built and Erik’s shrine was relocated there. While in the cathedral we ran into a group of Sisters of Saint Bridget in habits. They spoke fluent English and we had a fun conversation with them.

From there we walked to the Uppsala library, which is part of the First University in Catholic Sweden, dating from 1477.

In the library we saw pages from what is known as the silver bible, written in the Gothic language, which was created by bishop Wulfila in the 6th century. It was written in very fine silver ink on light purple parchment.

Outside the library we saw several large Rune stones, which are stones that show an ancient language written on the stones, that were used mostly by the Vikings.

Near the rune stones was a building that had a structure built on top of it in 1600’s that was an anatomic theater used by teachers to show students autopsies while they were looking down from a round wall.

After taking in Uppsala, we drove to Sigtuna, the oldest town in Sweden 970-980AD with a population of about 10,000. The town began before there was a Christian religion and was founded by a former Viking. Sweden became Catholic around the 11th century. In 1527 the Reformation started. Many Catholic Churches were abandoned and became ruins. The Swedish Lutheran church was founded in 1593.

Then we went to see the St Olof Church ruins.

Thursday, June 4, 2026

Enjoyed our morning in the Grand Hotel and met Gabriella at 10 in the lobby.

The royal family’s lived in Sigtuna from 1252, but moved to Stockholm in 1754. From our hotel we could see the Royal Palace where the royal families lived until 1981, when they moved to the countryside. There are 608 rooms with windows in the palace, which Is not attractive from the outside.

The church for the royal family was built next to the palace in 1306 and is named St Nicholas Cathedral. Inside the church is a large statue of St George slaying a dragon.

It represents Sweden overcoming the Danes and winning in 1471. The statue was made in 1489.

Our guide, Gabriella, and I went to see the residency of the royal family. I learned that Queen Silvia was a commoner from Germany. She and the crown prince fell in love and managed to get permission to marry. She and King Carl XVI Gustav have been married 50 years and have 3 children. Their eldest is the crown princess VIctoria. They live in a wing of the Drottningholm Palace. It is very similar to Versailles in France.

There are two large boxes on either side of the isle where the royals sit during the opening of parliament each year and other official ceremonies.

After seeing the Old City we went to the museum of the ship, Vasa. The name means Sheef of wheat. The warship was built between 1626-1628. She was 226 feet long, 172 feet tall. She had a beam of 38 feet and a draft of 16 feet and she carried 64 bronze guns cast in Stockholm specifically for her. She sank after sailing 1,400 yards into her maiden voyage after encountering a wind stronger than a breeze.

The vasa was found in 1956. It took 5 years to bring her to the surface in 1961, after 333 years on the seabed.

Meanwhile, here is some Wikipedia history about religion in Sweden. In the 11th century Olaf Skottkonung became the first Swedish king to be baptized as a Christian. Around 1400, an attempt was made to unite Sweden, Norway and Denmark into one kingdom, but this led to bitter strife between the Danes and the Swedes. In 1520 the danish king Christian II conquered Sweden and in the ensuing bloodbath put leading Swedish personages to death. Gustavus Vasa (1523-1560) broke away from Denmark and fashioned the modern Swedish state. He also confiscated property from the Roman Catholic Church in Sweden to pay Sweden’s war debts. The king justified his actions on the basis of Martin Luther’s doctrines, which were being accepted nationwide with royal encouragement. The Lutheran Swedish church was eventually adopted as the state church.

Back to the Vasa. Here are painted wooden sculptures that had been on the warship.

Finally, after many repairs she was permanently moved to the VASA Museum in the royal national city park in Stockholm. Several skeletons from the ship were on display along with many salvaged pieces of ceramic, coins, clothing and other items. A few of the 700 wood carvings were repainted in red, blue, green and gold for people to see how they looked originally. The museum was very interesting and well worth the visit.

We drove through several residential and commercial districts to get a feel for the city and we stopped at the building where the Nobel Prize is given. The statue complex in front of the building, the Orpheus, is by Carl Miles. Then we stopped at a spotless food court and grabbed a snack before returning to the hotel.

Dinner was at a place called Riche. I had Swedish meatballs and Mark had steak tartar. The food was good and the restaurant was full. The meatballs did not taste like the ones we have at home, but they were very good.

Friday, June 5, 2026

The weather is solid overcast this morning and rain is expected. Generally we have had cool days with blue to partially blue skies most days. Very little rain, but we did get caught walking in the rain yesterday afternoon. Today we were scheduled to go boating. Thankfully it did not rain.

Captain Kjell (pronounced “shell”) and his wife Eva were waiting for us when we arrived at the boat dock. They told us we will be motoring by an island called Vaxholm and then thread our way through many islands in the archipelago. As we motored out into the sea, Eva told us 200 of the Stockholm archipelago islands are inhabited, many of them only in the summer. There are 30,000 islands in the archipelago total. Sweden has the most islands in the world at 260,000.

Here are some scenes a the beginning of the ride:

First we learned some details about the boat we were on. It is 59 feet long, is made of aluminum, has a V12 turbo diesel engine with 1500 horse power, is a water jet with no propeller and was designed by Kjell 20 years ago. It is a pretty and clean boat and was a delight to be on. Soon we were enjoying the smooth water of the sea and learning more from Eva.

In 1718, the Swedish king, Carl XII, decreed that all houses should be made of wood so people could burn them down if an enemy came. In 1719, Russia did come and many houses did burn. Liberty came under the next king and houses were built of wood again.

By the mid 1800s the population had increased and the city of Stockholm was filthy. Wealthy people wanted to move to nearby islands to get away from the filth. Moving was made possible by the invention of the steamboat in 1850 and soon summer houses started appearing. Now there is electricity on every inhabited island, provided by the government.

The first island we pass is the Royal Animal Garden Island. It has the Vasa Ship on it as well as many restaurants. Then we headed directly for Vaxholm, the island that has a large fort and guarded passage to Stockholm in previous years.

More shots taken in the archipelago:

From there we did pass by many islands with summer houses, and some full time homes as well, We stopped at an island called Ingmarso that had a restaurant by the same name.

Mark had tuna tartar and I had fried herring with peas, fresh lingon berries, mashed potatoes and brown butter. Considered a traditional Swedish dish, I was not sure how I would like it, but it was very tasty and I ate it all. Mark was very enthusiastic about the tartar.

After lunch, we walked across the island with Eva, while Kjell drove the boat around. It was a very pleasant forest walk with a few buildings here and there.

Back on the boat, we talked about the salinity of the sea water and learned that the Baltic Sea is 0.7 % salty. It is mostly brackish and has 1/5th the salinity of the ocean, which is 3.5% salt. Farther north in the sea, beside Finland, the salinity of the water drops to nearly the level of fresh water, less than .1% salt.

We took many photos of houses as we meandered through the archipelago and enjoyed being on the smooth sea in a fine vessel. We saw a few interesting features near the end of our boat trip

Back at the marina at 4:40, we said good bye to Kjell and Eva and headed back to the hotel for a break before dinner. At 7:30 we walked to the restaurant for our 7:45 reservation. The place is called Brasserie Astoria. We had cocktails for a change and shared a pizza and a pasta dish and were home by 9pm.

It has been nice having the restaurants pre booked. We have not had to think about where to go for dinners. And the selections have all been good to great. We have no complaints; thanks to our travel agent, Martina. We are looking forward to our first unplanned day tomorrow.

Saturday, June 6 2026

Swedish National Day of Celebration. We relaxed in our room awhile and did some shopping in the local upscale stores that abound in the downtown area. I bought a children’s book that is quite famous and popular in Sweden about Moomintrolls. Everywhere you go in town, you find pictures of Moomin, so I decided to learn about them and bought the Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson. Hope I have time to read it.

We watched the royal cortège pass through the city as part of the National Day Celebrations. We saw the queen wave to the crowd as she rode by in her horse drawn carriage. Then we took a taxi to our dinner in a traditional Swedish restaurant at the far end of the city. I can’t even begin to tell you the name of the place even though it was told to me several times. The food was very good. I had the traditional liver dish with capers and bacon. Mark had arctic char. We were home by 8:15. Nice to end our day of leisure with an early evening.

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Mark was feeling poorly this morning and decided to stay in, so I joined Gabriella and the two of us went on a guided tour of the royal palace, which is partly occupied by the royal family and partly open to the public.

Inside are many paintings of royals and a number of tapestries. One tapestry caught my attention. It is made of gilt leather and painted with a glaze that makes it shimmer.

We passed through the throne room where there were paintings of Louis XVI and Catherine the Great as well as Queen Hedvige Eleonora, who created the palace. She bought the palace estate from a nobleman in 1660 and had the palace built between 1661 and 1699, when the family moved in.

Then there’re was the state bedroom, built to impress visitors, but where King Gustav III’s mother was the only person to sleep there.

Queen Eleonora was an avid reader and had a library built that house hundreds of books in German and French. Many were made smaller as she found smaller sized volumes easier to read. There were beautiful Meissen glass vases in the room.

There was a lovely silk storage cabinet given by Catherine the Great to Gustav III that was made in St Petersburg.

From the palace it was a short walk to the theater. It had been built by the Louisa Ulrika, who married Adolph Frederick of Prussia in 1744 and became the mother of Gustav III in 1766. She became queen in 1751 and died in 1771. She is credited with bringing culture and the theater to Sweden.

The theater held 200 people in courtly attire— each lady needed two spaces for her wide bouffant gown. There were many performances in spite of the heat in the windowless room with burning candles for lighting. Adding to its attraction was the underground machinery that provided sound effects to the performances.

One could hear thunder, rain, lightening, and be provided with many scene changes, all done by 30 or more strong men pulling levers and ropes beneath the stage. By 1800 the theater had fallen into decline and was being used as a storage room. Completely forgotten as a theater until 1920 when it was rediscovered and promptly reopened.

Today it seats 450 people in normal wear, but is still very hot as there is no AC and there are candles through the building. Every 45 minutes the program stops, everyone exits the building, the candles are replaced and people cool off. The hall is open for 10-20 performances 2-3 weeks each summer. The original equipment is still in use, but is very fragile so it is used carefully and sparingly.

Eventually, we left the palace grounds and headed back to town to visit City Hall, the sight of the annual presentation of the Nobel prize to the new laureates. The Hall was built between 1911 and 1923 with the intention to have a medieval look, and it does look that way to me. On the interior wall is a cameo of Alfred Nobel (1833-1896).

The large hall in the center of the building, called the Blue Hall, is where the banquet for 1.300 people is held.

Later, dancing takes place in an upstairs room, called the Golden Hall, that is nearly as large as the banquet Hall and has beautiful tiled walls that shimmer like gold.

From the City Hall, we headed for the Swedish fabric and interior design shop called Svenskt Tenns to have a look. We saw lots of lovely and very colorful fabrics made into many products from sofas to pot holders. I took a liking to the fabric on a certain place mat until I learned it would cost me $600 to buy 8 placemats. Even $54 for one pot holder was too much for my taste. Nice place to love and leave as my mother would say.

That was the end of our time together and, back at the hotel, Gabriela and I bid good bye.

Mark and I had dinner in the hotel and took an Uber to the concert for which we had tickets. We both had Swedish meat balls with lingenberries. The concert turned out to be twangy, country and western singing and guitars. We lasted about 3o minutes and went home to bed. My fault for not alerting Martina to our musical tastes.

Tomorrow we pack and leave this Grand Hotel for very new horizons, Svalbard.

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Today we road a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki. It was a 2 hour ride that was as smooth as walking on air. Once off the ferry, we found our driver who took us to the Waldorf Astoria. The most complicated part about the whole trip was the directions from the hotel lobby to our room. We take an elevator near the front desk, go up one floor, then walk down a long hallway to another building, get in another elevator and go down one floor. Go through 2 card lock doors and find our room, number 4105.

Once inside, our room is light and spacious, even if it is on the first floor and looks at the street. We settled in nicely and had an early and light dinner in the hotel dining room. At 6:30 we took an Uber to the Helsinki Music Centre to see a sold out performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony no.3 in D minor, conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. It was wonderful in my opinion and I was glad our travel agent, Martina, had made the effort to get the tickets. Mark thought it was just a nice performance. I thought the horn sections outdid themselves. If anything was weak, it was the chorus. There were 70 children, 50 adults and a female soloist, but they were drowned out by the orchestra. The acoustics were excellent for the 10 #2 piece orchestra but not for the chorus. Maybe our seats were pat of the problem as we were at the top of the Hall in the nose bleed seats.

What I learned from the experience, is that no one dressed up for the event and no one gave the orchestra a standing ovation. There were 4 curtain calls, but no flowers.

Thursday, May 28, 2026

Meet our guide for the next two days, Olga, for our Helsinki city tours. She was accompanied by a driver with a van.

The Swedes came to Finland in the 1100’s and stayed for 700 years. In 1809 Finland became part of Russia until 1917, when it finally gained independence.

Helsinki was founded in 1500 and became the capital in 1812. We stopped in the historical city center and checked out the office of the prime minister created by the German architect, Carl Engle in 1822.

The building across from the prime minister was the Helsinki University, which was designed in the neoclassical style. On the hill at the top of the broad staircase is the Lutheran Cathedral. It is surrounded by hollow sculptures of the 12 apostles, which are made of zinc, to protect them from weathering, similar to the copper structure of the Statue of Liberty. The domes with the stars were provided by the Russian Emperor Nicholas I.

In the center of the square is a statue of Alexander II, the good tzar, who allowed people to have their own currency and their own army and promoted the use of 2 languages, Swedish and Finish.

The population of Finland is 5.6 million. 86% is Finnish and 5% is Swedish. Swedish was spoken by the rich and powerful. The common people spoke Finish. The Tzar gave the people their own language.

The Lutheran Cathedral at the top of the square holds 1200 people. One important statue in the cathedral is of Michael Agricola. He translated the bible into Finish. The image of the Swan represents the national bird—the mediator of the living and the dead.

We learned that 70% of the county is covered by forest. 650,000 live in Helsinki and 1.5 million live in the metropolitan area. Finland, we learned, is not Scandinavian. It is Nordic, like Iceland.

There are 187,888 fresh water lakes in Finland.

After leaving the city square we drove to the Rock Church. Mark and I remembered having seen it when we were in Helsinki in 1997. I was surprised that it looked different than I remembered. But it was still nice to see it again.

Then we drove to the home and workshop of the famous architect, Alvar Aalto. He was born in 1898 and died in 1976 and produced a lot of architecture and buildings in his lifetime. He traveled a lot and spent a summer in Boston in 1940. He created about 250 buildings and designed several different pieces of furniture.

His public buildings included Finlandia, for which he designed beautiful round, blue tiles as well as lamps, chairs, tables and door handles. The Helsinki accords were held in Finlandia in the 80’s and 90’s.

We also visited the wonderful public library. ALA Architects designed this building so it would be inviting and useful to the public at large.

When we visited, the place was full of people doing all kinds of activities from sewing, 3-D printing, playing games, reading, visiting, attending meetings, and numerous other activities. I was jealous, as there is no such place in our home town.

From the library we walked to the seashore to see 5 of Finlands icebreakers and a ferris wheel near the harbor. Then we walked to a local restaurant for a light dinner.

Friday, My 29, 2026

Our first stop of the day was the large brick Russian Orthodox Church, called Uspensky Cathedral. It was made from 700,000 used bricks shipped from a destroyed Russian military fortress in 1868.

Our second stop was the Central train station. The exterior featured 2 pairs of tall stone men each holding a lantern. On a side wall inside the station was a large painting of the National Finish landscape. It was very esthetically pleasing,

From the station we headed east toward Porvoo, the second oldest city in Finland. As we left Helsinki, we stopped at Sibilious Park to see a large sculpture called Passion for Music, made by a woman named Eila Heltunen in 1967 in honor of the composer Sibilious.

The sculpture has 600 pipes and was 6 years in the making. Each pipe is individually hand crafted It is very interesting to view up close. Sibilious, meanwhile is famous for writing the song Finlandia as well as 7 symphonies.

The rest of the way to Porvoo was forested on both sides of the highway. If we had kept going we would reach St Petersburg in 2 hours. However, in half an hour we entered the old town of Porvoo.

We walked all around the old town and took in the church, the waterfront warehouses, a licorice factory, a few antique shops, the home of the national poet of Finland, the neighborhood and a manor House that is now a hotel. All the wooden houses were burned to the ground more than once and were rebuilt again. The first houses were from the 14th century,

We also spent time in the church. It had been Catholic in the 1400’s, then became Lutheran in the 1500’s. Interesting elements of the church included: a unicorn painting on a wall from the 1500’s; a wooden sculpture of Jesus and Mary; and a model of a boat sailing in the air, which symbolizes the congregation sailing together to heaven.

Alexander I came to this church in 1809. He was the first Russian Tzar to come to Finland and under him, Finland became a Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire. The Diet of Porvoo meeting of the nobles, representatives of the estate, met and pledged allegiance to the Tzar. This agreement lasted until 1917, when the revolution gave Finland political and social independence.

In the mid afternoon, we had had enough of Porvoo and headed back to Helsinki. We said good bye to Olga, and rested a bit until dinner time. Dinner was at a place called Koo. Mark had fish again and I had lamb neck, a dish I had never had before. It was quite tender and tasty, but too much food.

Thankfully, Mark helped me finish it and off we went to the Opera House to see some ballet. It turned out to be a competition and not a performance. So at the intermission, we Ubered back to the hotel and called it a day.

Saturday, May 30, 2026

A new guide, Emil, and the repeat driver, Velho, picked us up at 9am and off we headed for the village of Fiskars, and the oldest town and first capital of Finland, Turku. Emil was a good historian about the medieval period and filled us in on a lot of information.

In 1649 Fiskars iron works was founded near Turku and became quite successful producing hand crafted tools such as scissors, knives and clippers. The 17th century village went through a big boom in the 19th century with big equipment such as plows that were very popular. Fiskars village is still a functioning community of 5-600 people with many artisans choosing to live in the area and make products such as coffee, ceramics, textiles, wood carvings, glass blowing, chocolate and metal works.

Before arriving in the village we drove to the top of a hill to catch the view of the area. There were many pink flowers that we were able to identify as Sticky Catchfly. It is the perfect name as the bottom of each flower is sticky.

Down in the valley, we visited the remains of a 13th century castle and ate our picnic lunch there. Mark and I share a sandwich of venison and blue cheese.

In medieval times churches were Swedish and Catholic. In the 16th century churches were converted to Lutheran and have remained that way.

We walked the whole village and stopped in at several businesses. First was the Stutz antique fire truck from 1927. It is still used.

Spent a good amount of time visiting Fiskars shop full of goods for sale.

We stopped in at the local coffee producer and learned that Fins drink more coffee than any other country. We were already coffeed out. The same went for the chocolate factory.

We visited the glass blower, but did not stay long as we were familiar with the process from a class we took on glass blowing in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 2021. (We had to look this info up.)

Adam Detre sculpted this elm tree trunk into a work inspired by the River Fiskars that flows next to it. The sculpture emphasizes the idea that water starts its journey somewhere unknown to us and will continue to travel to the ocean. To create a sense of distance he made the piece meaner around the trunk.

Lastly we visited the stone mill that used running water pressure to turn the mill.

Soon we were on the road to Turku. Emil told us Finland was a province of Sweden and stayed part of Sweden until 1809, when the King of Sweden came to Turku for a Diet (political assembly) of the 4 estates (nobility, clergy, merchants and peasants). Finland became part of Russia with Swedish laws and the Swedish constitution prevailing. The Fins were loyal to Russia even as they were still Swedes until they gained their independence in 1917.

The Bishop of Turku was the most important person in Medieval Finland the 13th – 16th centuries. The reformation took place from 1520-1599. One of the Bishops of Turku was Michael Agricola ( 1510-1557), a moderate reformer, unlike Martin Luther. He is the person who translated the New Testament into Finish. Statue included a post ago.

The story I remember is about the King Gustav Vasa (1496-1560) family. He was King of Sweden during the reformation (1520-1599). He gave Finland to his son John, who was then Duke of Finland. John married a Polish princess. When Gustav died they became the King and Queen of Sweden. Their son Sigmond became the King of Poland and Sweden in 1587. John’s brother and Sigmond’s Uncle Charles beats him in a civil war (1597-1599) and left Sigmond with Poland. Charles beheaded SIgmond’s Finish supporters in 1599. The Bishop of Turku became Lutheran.

That is the best I can remember from all that Emil said. If you are interested, do look up the history of the reformation and medieval times.

Thursday, May 21, 2026

I almost forgot to mention that we were part of a warning alarm that went off yesterday for about an hour. We learned that the drones were friendly Ukrainian ones, flying over Lithuanian airspace in route to St Petersburg.

Richard picked us up at at our hotel and we headed out of Vilnius at 8:30. By 9am we were out of the city and rolling happily through the countrywide. The nearly level ground was covered alternately in large cultivated fields of green grass or rape berry seed in full yellow bloom.

Every so often the fields would be replaced by forests of oaks, spruce and other varieties. The scenery was lovely to look at as we covered about 2 hours of road on the way to our first stop of the day, a town called Siauliai, to see the Hill of Crosses.

We learned that a cross was erected to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Monestary of the Hill of Crosses of the Lithuanian St Casimir Province of the order of Friars Minor. Between 1941 and 1952, approximately 130,000 people were deported from Lithuania to Siberia, where they endured severe repression, and many never returned to their homeland. A sculpture on the site memorializes the painful chapter in Lithuanian history.

People had started leaving crosses at the site in the mid 18th century due to a sense of spiritual power in the area. Thousands of crosses in all different sizes have been placed there over the years.

More than once the Soviets’ burned down the site and melted the metal fragments, but people replaced the crosses each time. The site received international recognition when Pope John Paul II visited it on September 7, 1993 and said Mass for thousands from a small altar built for the occasion. The alter still stands today.

After a 30 minute visit there, we drove on north through Lithuania and into Latvia and our next stop, the Rundale Palace Museum and baroque Palace in the Latvian countryside.

The palace was designed by the architect Rastrelli, and begun in 1736 as the summer residence for the Duke of Courland. The original design from the first phase of the Palace’s construction (1736-1740) survives in the artistic decoration of the facades, two state staircases and a small gallery. During the second phase of the Palace’s construction (1764-1768) most of the interiors were refashioned in the Rococo style.

The Palace reminded us of other palaces we have seen elsewhere in Europe and found it uninspiring. I even forgot to take many photos. The garden, however was splendid and worth the time we spent there. Although it is famous for its roses, they were not in bloom when we were there. However, the tulips were a riot of color and in full bloom. Knowing me, you will appreciate the tulip photos. Otherwise, the hundreds of sculpted trees were also beautiful and remarkable. I would certainly revisit the garden during the rose season.

Our last stop before Riga was a private farm where guests are invited, for a fee, to experience life on a farm and have a home made lunch from local farm products. The place is called Vaidelotes and is owned by Daria and Acnolots Fatniedi. They own 400 hectares of land. 300 hectares are under cultivation. 100 hectares have been turned over to about 80 people who make up a village on the land. The land owners do not pay tax on this land. It is paid by the villagers using the land. This is an arrangement that happened during Soviet times. Everyone is used to the system now, although the land owners admit they would like to convert it back to agricultural uses. They have 5 sons and one of them would like to take over the farm at some point.

I learned that the farm was producing rape seed and using the seeds to make oil, the family uses for vegetable cooking. I also learned that dandelion flowers are used to make a healing tea.

We were offered lunch, but had eaten at the Palace and were not hungry. After a walk about the farm property, while chatting with the lady, Sanita, hired to talk to the visitors, we ran low on things to say, admired the huge oak in the yard and the white storks in the field and headed for the car. Richard was, thankfully, ready and waiting, so we smiled and departed.

An hour later we were in Riga, pulling up to our hotel for the next three nights, the Grand Hotel Kempinski. After settling into our new digs, we went for a walk around the Old Town.

The cobbled streets were very similar to the streets in Lithuania, and many of the buildings had a similar feel too, especially the churches. However, the energy was very different, There were more people wandering about and they tended to be younger and full of life. The Cafe’s were busy and many of them were full. Music was being played in various locations. We found seats in an outdoor cafe and had a snack.

Friday, May 22, 2026

Met our next guide, Daiga, at 9am and walked around much of the Old Town by 2pm, when her time was up. We learned that the population of Riga is around 700 thousand and the country is 1.8 million. Considerably fewer people than Lithuania. Latvia is about the same size as West Virginia. The three Baltic states together are about the same size as Missouri.

We saw the very picturesque Art Nouveau Italian Embassy, one of 800 Art Nouveau buildings in the city, and were soon at the 5 zeppelin hangars which had been built by the Germans during the First World War to hold blimps and were no longer needed so they were relocated to Riga in 1930. The hangars are currently used as the central market place for everything from food and flowers to clothing and miscellaneous goods. They are spacious, clean, light and airy compared to markets we have visited in other countries.

We visited a Stalin style building constructed in the 50’s and currently used as an academy of Science. It was built to be office space on the lower floors and a hotel on the top. The hotel never materialized. Apparently Stalin had nine other larger buildings identical to this, eight built in Moscow and one in Warsaw.

Opposite this “wedding cake” building was a simple 17th century wooden Lutheran church along with a nearby yellow wooden Russian Orthodox church from the same century.

There are many eateries near our hotel in the heart of the Old Town. Our first night in Riga, we had a snack in a busy outdoor cafe, Last night we had dinner in an Uzbekistan restaurant. The food was just ok. Tonight we have made reservations to eat in an Italian restaurant.

Very nearby was the Daugava River, which forms part of the Riga port, but is not navigable by today’s ships. The TV tower is in the background

Buildings we saw included: Riga Lutheran Cathedral in front of Dome Square;

the Reformer’s Church; City hall in the Town square

; the House of Black Heads, a brotherhood of traveling merchants, which was originally built in 1334, bombed by the Soviets in 1941 and rebuilt identical to the original in 1999;

the House of Cats with 2 perched on the roof facing the merchants guild, now the home of the Riga Philharmonic. The tail of the cat faced the large merchants guild because the members of the guild did not like the merchant and would not let him join their guild. The merchant turned his cat to piss on the guild. Now that the Philharmonic is in the guild house, the cat has turned its head toward the music.

the oldest standing buildings in Riga are next to each other at #17 (15th century), #19 (1646) and #21 (an 18th entry merchants house.

After a lot of walking we stopped at the Black Balsam Cafe to taste the liquor created by Abraham Kunze, the owner of the former apothecary and wash it down with coffee.

We were each given a shot of plain Black Balsam and another of Black Balsam with currant flavoring. The shot with the currant flavor was more pleasant, I thought. The 2 shots were pretty strong and I dropped off to sleep for a few minutes. But Mark woke me up and we were soon back on the street.

Our last visit was to a tall sculpture. It was a lovely Monument of Freedom to the Motherland and Freedom and honors the soldiers killed in the Latvian war of 1918-1920. We said good bye to Daiga until tomorrow. She is in her mid 60’s and very familiar with the recent world wars and their effect on the Baltic states.

Back at our hotel, I was able to get a pedicure and relax from all the walking.

Saturday, May 23, 2026

The weather has been cool since we arrived, but it is predicted to warm up today. We shall see. Daiga will be our guide again, and we have a car and driver too.

Daiga and our driver for the day picked us up at 9am and off we went in search of old houses.

We crossed the River Daugava via a suspension bridge and entered an old cobbled street on the edge of the river to see wooden houses that had been relocated to this site from other old neighborhoods. Many had no style at all, but others had art nouveau, eclectic or modern features. They all had lovely views of the city across the river. We drove slowly through the area and saw many artistic houses.

Back across the river we headed for the Lutheran church called the Dome Cathedral. We were reminded that the Lithuanians are mostly Polish Catholics while the Latvians and Estonians are German Lutherans. Construction on the cathedral began in 1211 and took a very long time being built. Rose windows were made in 1870-1080. Some were preserved during the war by being allowed to get very dirty and being covered in drapes, while others were removed and hidden for 30 years from 1959-1989. Some were bombed during the War and are still not replaced.

The oldest and largest pipe organ dating from 1601 was preserved because the Soviets converted the church into a concert hall and the organ was used for entertainment. Today there is a new pipe organ built behind the old one in front. The new one makes a lovely sound according to our guide. We did not get to hear it.

While wandering around the church, she showed us two animal creatures; the large rooster weathervane that originally sat on the top of the church tower; and a lovely wrought iron gate with a tiny gold mouse perched on the top of it. There is a reference to being “poor as a church mouse”.

Back outside, we stopped at the Art Nouveau Museum, and walked slowly along Albert Street where many wealthy Art Nouveau buildings exist.

It is only one block long, but is worth the trouble to see so many beautiful houses side by side. The street name comes from Bishop Albert, who was the founder of Riga in 1201.

Art Nouveau and Nordic Art Nouveau were in style from 1890 – 1910. Then came Art Deco WWI – WWII. Baroque was in vogue from 1700 – 1750 and Rococo 1750 – 1800’s. Then there was National romanticism, which was similar to Nordic Art Nouveau.

After filling our heads with house decor inside and out, Daiga switched gears on us and took us to the Occupation Museum to follow the German and the Soviet Union occupations.

We had a special guide, Ineta, in the museum who was quite knowledgeable. From November 18, 1918 to 1940, Latvia was declared a democratic republic. Th war for independence ended in August 1920. The people built a state on pillars of education, culture and economic growth. They joined the League of Nations and wrote a constitution that guaranteed universal suffrage and rights of national minorities. Freedom of press, speech, assembly and association were guaranteed. This statement and other facts mentioned here were printed on documents read in the Occupation Museum.

On the 13th and 14th of June 1941, 15,443 people were arrested during the night and deported in cattle cars to distant regions of the Soviet Union. Families were separated and men sent to gulag camps. People were resettled in Siberia. The second mass deportation took place on the 25th of March, 1949. Latvia lost 42,125 farmers and their families. Latvians traditional farmstead system and the main national partisan support base were destroyed.

On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. One year under Soviet occupation caused the Latvians to see Germans as liberators until Hitler demands new victims. Latvia’s hope for independence was in vein. Within 6 months, 7000 Latvian Jews were murdered, 20,000 Latvians were shipped to Germany as laborers. And thousands were put in concentration camps. Men enlisted in volunteer legions and were subordinated to Waffen SS. The returning army included the 130th Latvian riflemen corp. Latvia becomes the battlefield where men are forced to fight each other. Almost half a million perish. Thousands flee west. By the end of the war, Latvia has lost a third of its population.

German forces enter Riga on July 1, 1941. By July 8 they occupy all of Latvia, the summer of 1941. Many Jews were walked out to the forest, shot and buried on the spot. 25,000 were killed between November 20 and December 8, 1941. 22,000 were killed between December 15-17. Many were deported from Hungary, Austria, Germany and other places.

Between 1941 and 1944 35,000 were killed including 20,000 Jews.

The Gulag chief administrator of corrective labor camps under the Soviet Union Interior ministry exists officially 1930 to 1960, but continues to function after reorganization.

The entire Soviet Penal system, criminals and political prisoners, comprises more than 18 million who have been detained there from 1940-1988. About 200 thousand residents of Latvia are currently held in the Gulog.

MAY 17, 2026

We depart SFO for Vilnius with a brief stop in Copenhagen on the way. This First World travel is relatively unusual for us. We will be visiting places many of you have already seen and toured. In spite of that fact, we will try to keep our story interesting.

Some important facts about the Baltics are: the population is approximately 5.9 million on a land mass of 67,612 square miles. The main trading partners outside the Baltics are Russia, Germany, Finland and Sweden. Financial stability was an important prerequisite for entry into the European Union and NATO in 2004. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia each adopted the Euro as its common currency in 2011, 2014 and 2015, respectively.

According to Wikipedia, the underlying geology is sandstone, shale and limestone evidenced by hilly uplands that alternate with low-lying plains and silently testify to the impact of the glacial era, during which time deposits occurred in such profusion the drainage patterns have been disrupted, causing frequent flooding. The Baltic region is dotted with more than 7000 lakes and countless peat bogs, swamps and marshes. A multitude of rivers empty northwestward into the Baltic Sea.

The climate is cool and damp with greater rainfall in the interior uplands than along the coast, making packing complicated. Temperatures are moderate. What does that mean, while I stand in my closet trying to decide what to pack???

Despite its extensive agriculture, the Baltic region remains more than one-third forested. Trees that adapt to the often poorly drained soil are common, such as birches and conifers. Among the animals that inhabit the region are elk, boar, roe deer, wolves, hares and badgers. This last paragraph influences my attraction to the region.

The vast majority of Balts live within the borders of their respective states. Virtually everyone speaks the native tongue as their first language, which is remarkable in light of the massive Russian immigration into the Baltic states during the second half of the 20th century. Initially Russia tried overtly to Russify the Baltic people. Later the effort was moderated when Russian immigration soared. Then independence came as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The Baltic states placed controls on immigration and in the following decade the Russian presence diminished.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Baltic states struggled to make a transition to a market economy from the system of Soviet national planning that had been in place since WWII. Slowly the Baltic people have improved their economy with increased production of potatoes, cereal, grains, fodder crops, dairy cattle and pigs. Today they collectively have the highest productivity of the former republics of the Soviet Union.

May 18, 2026

We have landed at and passed through the Copenhagen airport, race walking nearly a mile to get to our flight to Vilnius, Lithuania. Made it with a minute to spare. Sure hope our bags made it too. It is a large airport with a huge number of people all fast walking in every which direction. I bumped into more people than ever before, but no one paid any attention. Everyone just kept walking. So much for our experience of Denmark.

On arrival at Vilnius, sure enough our bags were not on the carousel. At lost and found we learned that the bags were left in Copenhagen because the plane was full. The bags are now scheduled to arrive at Vilnius at 2 in the morning and be delivered late morning the next day. Bummer! But we at least know where they are. And, to put it in perspective, it is the first time our bags have not arrived with us in all the years we have been traveling together.

Our driver was waiting and drove us through overcast and rain to our hotel. California this is not. After checking in to our well located hotel, the Pacai, we went for a walk through the Old Town and took a few photos of the area and the Vilnius Cathedral.

This saint is venerated in many stores and businesses in Vilnius. This was the best image of him I could find.

Well it is bedtime and Mark is already asleep.

We met our guide, Rasa, and drove to the food market to begin our food tour of the city. First we sampled traditional Lithuanian rye bread. The loaf must have weighed over 5 pounds and tasted as heavy as it felt. We also sampled an astringent breakfast drink called an “immunity shot”, which was made of ginger with apple and orange juice. We each had a short draft of local beer to wash it down. So far I am not keen on breakfast. Rasa told us that 5000 yers ago local people were hunter gatherers and ate mostly raw meat. They bean to grow rye and make beer

Tuesday, May 19, 2016

A few more details I learned about St Casimir. He was born in 1458 and died in 1484 after catching TB from being around poor, sick people. He had been king for a short time, but abdicated when he learned about the poverty in the kingdom. He made a commitment to virginity, poverty, and innocence and was canonized 0n March 4,1602. For centuries March 4 has been a day of devotion to his memory.

Friday, April 16, 2026

Well we are home now and I am sending a few videos that I could not download while traveling. I hope you enjoy them.

The fort was originally used in the slave trade. Thousands of Angolans were captured, enslaved and sent to Salvador, Brazil. Later, the fort was used during a civil war from 1975-2002. The building contains walls of beautiful Portuguese blue and white tiles.

One section depicted the baptism of the indiginous Queen from 1643-1678, Ngingr Mbandi. When baptized, she took the name Anna de Sousa. She died at the age of 82. Being half Portuguese, I felt a connectedness with Anna. My father’s sister had the last name Sousa too.

Our first two weeks in Uganda and the next two in Namibia and Angola provided us with incredible adventures and photos. I can only hope our blog provided you with some sense of our experience.

Until we meet again, we wish you good health and adventures to keep you enjoying life.

With love,

Julia and Mark

April 1, 2026

During our second evening at the hotel, Stefan took us to a beachside restaurant owned by a friend of his named Tony.

After cocktails under a full rainbow, Stefan, Claire, Mark and I ate freshly cooked crab and grilled cherne and Lito fish. I liked the crab a lot as the shell was soft, But I did not like the fish. Anyway, we were up at 5 to go camping rain or not.

A camping adventure had been planned and put off due to excessive raining and flooding near our planned camp.

So the decision was made to pack up the existing camp, bring it to the hotel and re arrange it for a clean dry new camp in a different direction. All the plans were worked out by our staff.

Our desire was to travel along the beach between the ocean and the Tigres dunes, an idea we chose after flying over the same route the day before. To make it happen, we needed to hit the road at 5:30am on a spring tide and a full moon, arrive at the dunes an hour before low tide, drive along the beach until lowest tide and find a safe place to set up the camp, from which we are unable to leave until low tide the next day. A tall order that we happened to fit into exactly.

All the while on our adventures with Stefan, he would fly his drone at every opportunity. We managed to capture a few videos from his drone.

It all started in the rain, but we pushed ahead anyway. By the time we reached the ocean, 100 kilometers from town, the rain had stopped, but the sky remained overcast. By 11am, the camp was ready, the chef was preparing lunch and we had gone for a long walk on the beach. The sun had come out and everyone was happy. After a super lunch made by Stallin, we waded across a shallow bay to a tiny island and then walked around the island before heading back. As the tide was coming in, we had to hurry.

We hung out during the heat of the day and hiked up a big dune at 5pm.

It only took 10 minutes to get to the top, as Hugo and Mark together gave me a strong pull. At the top we sat enjoying the sunset. Stallin climbed up with snacks, and another staff person, Zaire, climbed up with drinks. Did we feel spoiled or what? Once the sun had set, we scooted down the steep dune to the beach. We had a good time making a mess of the dune surface. The beach itself was flat and calm. Claire went for a swim, but we did not. Stallin started dinner late and we did not eat until 10pm. He promised not to be so late in the future.

Thursday, April 2, 2026

Another travel day. Pack up camp into 3 vehicles and head north at 8am to get off the beach while the tide was low and head to the village of Tombua and further north to Moçâmedes, which was previously named Namib. We inspected a shipwreck we found called Vanessa, and checked out a marble quarry worked by the Chinese.

We stopped at a good sized grocery store and stocked up on snacks and drinks.

Then we drove east the rest of the day to a place called Virei and then to TchitunduHulo, a granite outcrop in the desert. After hours of rough roads we finally arrived at our chosen campsite at 5pm.

The staff busied themselves putting up our tents and setting up the shower tent. Stallin was good to his word and managed to get dinner on the table at 8pm. After a lovely meal of springbok, roasted vegetables and baked yams, I finally got my shower with luke warm water. Mark followed right behind me. We were content to go to bed in our tent.

Up early, we were surrounded by Ovakuvale tribal women by 7am. They were most interested in our photos on our phones and, after they got over the notion that we wouldn’t pay for their photos, they settled down and took an interest in what we were doing and eating. After breakfast, Claire, Mark and I went for a walk up a nearby granite hill that had some rock art.

A few of the locals followed us. The art was carbon dated at 20,000 years old and is believed to be made by the Ovatwa people who inhabited this area at the same time as the San (bushmen) people. The view from the rock hill told us there was more to see, so we walked down the hill and headed for the Ovakuvale village, their large cattle, goat and garden bomas and the action we observed. We met the village elder and learned about him and the Ovakuvale tribe.

They originate from the main Herero branch of tribal people, and speak a dialect of Otjiherero, called Olukuvale. They make a living from lifestock and food gardens. The headman (called a Soba) owns all the animals and will hand them down to one of his nephews when he dies. Meanwhile, he can give a number of animals to his sons. Every day the small animals are separated from the herd and had ticks removed to keep them in good condition. The food gardens are worked and managed by the women. The village people look to be in excellent health, with beautiful skin and ample nourishment.

Friday, April 3, 2026

The women are generally topless and wear a tight strap across the top of their breasts which is designed to point the nipples upwards. It is a tribal custom but looks uncomfortable to me. They also cut and file their two top teeth so that they are slanted away from each other. The effect is disappointing to look at, as their appearance is very attractive otherwise. Their clothing consists of colorful fabrics in the shape of tablecloths. They tie the ends around their chest or over the shoulder and let it hang.

When several of them are standing together, they look like a colorful fabric store window.

The tent shaped structures the tribe lives in are covered with a mixture of cow dung and mud to keep out the weather. They last several years before having to be remudded.

We saw goats and cows being milked for serving to the tribe and several women working in the garden. Everyone was friendly even if we could not understand each other.

Back at camp we chatted about our experience and were pleased that it had gone so well. Then Claire and Mark went off to see some more rock art while I worked on the blog. We have so little WiFi and internet that creating posts with photos is exceedingly difficult.

The afternoon was so hot that we hung out under the trees and napped. At 5pm we reconvened for cocktails and then dinner. A few ladies hung out with us and we took many photos of them in their colorful costumes.

Saturday, April 4, 2026

Another travel day. We broke camp early and were on the road by 8am. We returned over the same rough dirt roads 3.5 hours back to Moçâmedes. After a fuel stop with gas at $1.62 per gallon (fuel is supported by the government), we headed north and then west a couple of hours to Praia da Mariquita, a rustic beach lodge on the Atlantic ocean. Along the way we stopped at another shipwreck and a cemetery.

The scenery was spectacularly green after so much rain.

We stopped to buy bracelets from a man selling them on the highway.

We were all glad to get to the lodge and head for the ocean. Unfortunately, the undercurrent was so strong, it was not safe to be in the water. So we spent an hour in the salt water swimming pool.

I mentioned that the bed in our room was a double, not a queen, and that I was concerned about how we would manage in it. Claire decided the thing to do was to move one of the twin beds in her room to our room, so before dinner the three of them moved the single bed. It turned out to be made with very heavy wood that was not held together well. Before they could finish the move, the owner of the lodge caught them in the act and became rather unhinged. They tried to calm her down while continuing to move the bed. Later, Mark and I were grateful not to have to sleep in the small double.

Eventually we took long hot showers and convened for cocktails and a buffet dinner. We tried to avoid talking with the owner. Meanwhile, all through dinner we saw and heard lightening and thunder. The rain started just as we walked to our rooms. As we opened our door the sky broke loose in a deluge that lasted most of the night. It was still raining when we woke up at 5:30, but stopped about 7am and we were able to walk to coffee and breakfast.

Monday, April 6, 2026

After 2 nights at this beach hotel we decided to leave a day early. This gave us time to stop along the way as the drive out through an amazing valley was verdant green and full of wild flowers and interesting plants of which we stopped to take many photos.

Our journey was taking us to the 3rd largest city in Angola called Lubango (pop 3 million). It was here that we were to stay the night. Along the way we had heard that there had been more heavy rains which had disrupted our flight to Luanda and therefore we knew that we were going to have to make a new plan to get to the capital city of Luanda. Our drive to Lubango took us from sea level up to 6000ft climbing up a precipitous escarpment road with many twisting turns and dangerous trucks carrying large granite blocks.

Something special I missed on the last post was this very cute beetle, called a Tok Toki. So here it is.

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

We finally departed the Twyfountain (which means “doubtful water”) airstrip at 1:35pm, about 3.5 hours late, and landed at the skeleton coast at 2:40pm. The coast was clear and dry and warm. We quickly settled into our room in the Shipwreck Lodge, which is about 3 kilometers from the ocean.

The lodge, built in 2018, is the only concession in the Namib National Park, which was founded in 1971. Namib is the oldest desert on the planet at 65-80 million years old.

Upon arrival, Claire hiked to the ocean, played in the surf, found a huge set of oryx horns and took lots of photos. The three of us enjoyed an early dinner and an early night.

Thursday, March 25, 2026

Up early, published a long post, which I hope you find not too long, had breakfast and went on a quad ride over and around the sand dunes at 8:30am. Our guide, Ballach, was informative and pleasant. We had a delightful dune ride for a couple of hours.

At one point we stopped and Ballach explained some details about the color of the sand and how the redness in it was caused by particles of Janet stone from the Drackensberg Mountains that came via the Orange River, which began in South Africa and forms part of the boundary between Namibia and South Arica, and entered the ocean at the intersection of South Africa and Namibia. From there the particles drifted up stream on the currant and were blown onto the Namib desert by the wind.

Meanwhile, the dry Hoarusib River, which begins 200 miles inland, brings sand downriver during floods and helps build the dunes.

After the dune ride, we relaxed a bit and then took a car ride to the beach for a BBQ lunch. There were 9 guests taking part. We walked along the beach and Mark tested the water.

Lunch provided the best cooked chicken and pork we have had on this trip. After lunch we went back to the lodge to get away from the hot sun and slow down after the intense last few days.

During the lazy afternoon, Mark and I made a list of all the African countries and counted 34 that we have visited and 20 we have not. I am not much attracted to visit the remaining 20, but Claire thinks there are a few more we should see.

The food looks reasonable, but I am not drawn to anything we have been served. This evening I had a fish called klipspringer, that was very steaky and flat tasting. Other times there has been tough chicken or a bland vegetarian dish. We enjoyed the pleasant evening sky and went to bed about 9:30.

Friday, March 26, 2026 Mark’s 73rd Birthday

Mark woke up to a very nice email from Rick Benson thanking him for his donation to the eye side of the Dental Vision Clinic of an ophthalmic operating microscope, an essential item needed for eye operations. He found RIck’s words very moving.

After breakfast we took a ride up the dry Hoarusib River bed looking for animals and expecting to see a sandstone formation called “clay castle”. We saw 4 springbok, an oryx and a few baboons and had just reached the castle formation at 10am, when we saw water flowing toward us in the river bed. We soon realized that the rain upstream was slowly flooding the river. We followed the river on foot, then got ahead of the flow in the car and eventually realized the water was moving inexorably to the ocean. We guessed it would take at least 4 hours to reach the sea and decided to visit the skeleton ship down the coast 20 miles and get back in time to see the river arrive at the ocean.

The wreck we saw was the Karimona, which came too close to shore and sank in 1976. Not terribly interesting, but something. Near it was the remains of the engine. More importantly, we got to walk on the seemingly endless beach, which goes for miles and miles with no people or buildings. The three of us walked a fair distance before getting back in the car so we could get back to see the muddy flood water enter the sea.

We got back with time to spare. It was after 6pm when the water began spilling into the ocean.

As we watched the water spill over the sand bank, we saw the bank fail and slide in with the water. The scene was very dramatic and the several of us who had gathered to watch were all mesmerized. We took stills and videos and hope we captured the action. It was like a flash flood with no one getting hurt.

Back at the lodge, we took showers to clean up after getting mud everywhere. Over dinner, the conversation was lively. Near the end of the meal, the 15 staff came into the dinning room together singing Happy Birthday and bringing Mark a chocolate cake with a candle.

They were very charming and sang and danced an additional couple of tunes before exiting into the kitchen. Everyone in the nearly full room laughed and clapped. Mark declared he had had a wonderful birthday from the early message from Rick, a chat with his mother, and the dramatic river running all day, to the staff singing after dinner.

Saturday, March 27, 2026

This was a travel day. Departed Shipwreck Lodge at 8:30, drove 30 minutes to the airstrip, met our plane and pilot at 9am, and were off the ground by 9:25 in a Cessna 208, a caravan for a very smooth 1.5 hour flight to the north end of Namibia where we landed at a place called Ondangwaa, where we went through customs. Then another 20 minute flight across the border into Angola and landed at a town called Ondjiva. Here we went through customs and immigration, got back on the plane and were off by 12:15 for our last flight of the day, a one hour leg. The scenery was mostly level ground covered with green trees and the occasional farm.

The few towns were composed of compounds with several small buildings interspersed by dirt roads. The only pavement we saw was the runways we landed on. The countryside was the same in Northern Namibia and in Southern Angola.