Sunny Florida

Interrupting the Scandinavian portion of our trip for a day trip to Cape Canaveral where the sky was blue, the water warm, and there were BIRDS!

September is really the best month for beach going here in Florida because as mentioned above, the water is perfect. Plus, even though the air temperature is still scorching, the constant ocean breeze is a like natural air conditioning and what could be better than that? Monday night I asked Bruce if Tuesday could be a beach day to which he agreed. Loading up the car we decided that we would go to Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral because it is the closest, and traveling on 528 is pretty much stress free unlike our under-construction interstate. In about an hour the car was parked, our gear was in our hands ,and we walked onto the beach where before said chairs could be put in place I was off with my camera, having noticed a flock of birds just down the way. Thinking they might take off, I got there as quickly as possible.

Little did I know, at that point, that they would not be going much of anywhere! Even when folks walked in the midst of them.

I'm not proud of it but I left Bruce to do our set up as I walked along the tightly packed, white sandy beach. I'm a bit of a fuss budget when it comes to sand, so when I tell you the sand was perfect that is saying a lot. 

Every now and again the birds would fly a bit, seemingly for re-positioning purposes.

I am no shorebird expert so I wasn't even sure what kind of birds they were, but any bird that wears orange is my kind of bird.

Since I've been home I've learned that these are Black Skimmers, with a few gulls mixed in. What I'm still not clear on is what kind of Terns these are, as there are many types.

I do know that they seem to be lumped in with Gulls on the Audubon website. Well, really, what does it matter anyway? It is always fun to put a name with a bird, but in the end, it's just a name. This one was quite the loudmouth, squawking at whomever would listen.

Spreading her wings for show.

Oh yeah, we did go swimming too!

The waves were gentle, just big enough to have some fun crashing into them, and there was none of that squealing on our part because the water was too cold. My Pacific Northwest friends, and of course Carol in California, would laugh at that as the Pacific stays cold all summer long. But we are Floridians and we like warm water, don't we?

Bruce read under the umbrella, and I kept exploring, chasing these adorable little birds which I think are called Sanderlings.

Whatever their name, they are super fun to watch as they scamper along the shoreline searching for food.

Then I came across a Great Blue Heron standing in the water...

that is, until a wave came in!

Right about now I must say that I was using an old Panasonic with my Olympus lens because it works without having to remove the battery all of the time! And here's this news---you won't remember this but while in Vancouver my best camera up and died on me one day while I was roaming Stanley Park. (btw that link has some beautiful flowers if you haven't seen it before!) You and I both know that going without a camera is not an option for me, so I bought another body to go with the lenses I had brought from home. Not as good as the one that died, but as Canada is generally way more expensive than Florida, well, I bought the lesser model.

Once home from our vacation I called Olympus and fussed about buying two cameras in the span of four years, both not working properly. The good news is that I sent the better camera back to Olympus in New Jersey and it should be arriving later this afternoon!!! Hip hip hooray!

Back to the beach....

Here's a fun shot of the Skimmers...

Later in the day they moved down the beach closer to us; please note the one lying flat which I read is a resting position, possibly because holding the head upright with that heavy beak is hard work.

Bruce told me today, when I was saying that I don't really know much about birds, that folks think that I do because I know a few names and behaviors. Friends, serious birdwatchers know so much, I am like a first grader birdwatcher, otherwise I would know why some of these birds have different feather colors. My guess is some are younger, but that is merely a guess.

As for shells, I know next to nothing except that I find them interesting and this see through shell in particular, that I saw by the dozen.

Perhaps you noticed how empty the beach was? Heaven! The rental chairs went mostly empty all day long.

And of course with a name like Jetty Park, you expect to see a jetty....

Bonus points for flying Brown Pelicans who entertained us with their fishing prowess. When I went to get lunch in the restaurant, this was the view of the whole area. Sandy dunes with sea oats and beach flowers.

On the right edge of the photograph is the lifeguard stand, a puzzling place to be back in the dunes. Aha...in the middle of the afternoon they brought equipment, moving it back onto the sand.

We are thinking perhaps it was moved because of the hurricane? The purchased lunch was surprisingly good and filling, so with the fries we did not eat, Bruce fed the seagulls.

To tell you the truth, by 3 in the afternoon, what with playing in the water and roaming back and forth along the shore, I was pooped so we packed up and before you know it, we were home again after an absolutely perfect day at the beach.

your friend,

Gail

p.s. This is a post script because I didn't want to mar the beach story, but we learned this morning that the man that Michelle and David witnessed being hit by a car died two days after the accident. To say that they have been shook up over this incident is putting it mildly. They have gone to great lengths to find the person and two nights ago Michelle was on the local news, telling the story in hopes someone hearing it had any leads. We are praying it is so.

Oslo, Norway, and the North Sea

Reviewing the photographs I took in Oslo, it isn't immediately clear to me why I skipped it in the overview post of our vacation. Perhaps it is because we spent the least amount of time there? Nevertheless, now that I have looked more closely, it turns out I have loads of photos that I like, and hope you will too.

Without further ado, let's visit Oslo, shall we?

Because we'd arrived in the dark, at the first light of day, I took a little walk around the hotel neighborhood. As in most European cities, public transport is a way of life.

Can I just give a huge shout out to the team at the Thon Hotel for their amazing, included, breakfast buffet? So many wonderful choices and the photo below only shows a fraction of them.

Breakfast over, we checked our bags into their luggage room and took to the streets, making our way down Karl Johan, Oslo's main street which leads to the Royal Palace.

Along the way I became enamored of the utility covers,

as well as the colorful buildings.

For the life of me I can't remember what this building is but notice the subtle use of decorative tile work on the plaza. Looks like a fine quilt idea to me!

We made our way up the hill, reaching the plaza in front of the Royal Palace, which, sadly, was closed.

The understated exterior is imposing nonetheless, sitting high above the surrounding city streets. Behind the palace were lovely gardens,

where I went duck hunting, finding nothing out of the ordinary. I was struck by the statue of Queen Maud, again very plain, and nothing like anything I'd seen before.

That is, until we made our way through the tree lined path,

entering a plaza area where King Haakon VII is memorialized. Same sculptor?

Because Matt and Tom have been there before they knew the lay of the land pretty well, guiding us per usual, till we came to the City Hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually.

That would be the brick building with the two towers. The elephants? Part of a festival! Continuing our mini tour, we made our way to the waterfront where there were food trucks, including these two cute ones. And yes, English seems to be spoken everywhere.

Indeed we were in a good mood as we wandered to the interesting art museum I thought Bruce might enjoy seeing.

Seems to me that Norwegians like orange nearly as much as I do because I saw loads of it.

Not a troll like we saw in Bergen--a dinosaur maybe?

Families taking advantage of the sunny skies.

And while we did not go into the art museum, we did use their restroom. Could this be the future of toilets?

More wandering led us to a much older part of Oslo where this display about voting rights, for both woman and native Norwegians, was very informative.

And then we came across a flower market where we saw two new butterflies.

So very exciting to see them in the city center!

The Oslo Cathedral was just across the street where we made a stop.

We ate lunch somewhere that, for the life of me, I can't recall, but I'm sure we did not go hungry. Anyway, we made our way over the the Oslo Opera House where they encourage folks to walk on their roof! A very impressive building that sadly, was closed for an event. There are any number of new, exciting structures in the area, one of which is the new library shown below, still under construction.

Bruce was all over that cantilevered roof! We'd picked up our bags from the hotel by now as the boat was to be leaving soon so after admiring this area we made our way to the ship, walking along a lovely promenade. Seems to me that Bruce was beginning to feel something was not right but he soldiered on and easy as pie, after scanning our passports, we walked onto the ship, easily finding our rooms on the 11th floor.

For years Bruce has been trying to get me to go on a cruise although neither of us expected my first "at sea" experience to originate in Norway!! The view from the top deck before we took off.

The cluster of buildings to the right of the Opera House have been nicknamed, the "bar code" district for their modern look and likeness to the same. (be sure and check out the link because it looks way cool and I'm sorry it was not available to us that day!)

The room was super comfortable,

and the ship, a former Viking Cruise ship, was wonderful with four nightclubs, seven restaurants a swimming pool---not at all what I was expecting when Matt said he'd booked a ferry between Oslo and Copenhagen. 

We shared a lovely meal with Matt and Tom with a toast to our 46th wedding anniversary. We are still in shock that Matt thought of such a lovely gift, although we shouldn't be surprised as he is very clever when it comes to gifts. Nothing like his Mother!

Nothing extraordinary about the sunset except it was the first one I'd seen while on a boat.

Following a restful sleep (that is if you don't count my trip to the top deck in the middle of the night looking for nonexistent stars), the sun rose the next morning signaling our journey across the North Sea was near its end.

Finally, we've made it to Copenhagen! Although I don't know why I'm in a hurry to finish the travel blogs because the only news from here, aside from the now super hot weather, is the terrible tragedy Dave and Michelle witnessed. I wish that were not so because they are still very shook up.

Hope you are enjoying the travelogues and if you missed any, you can find one here, here, here, and here.

your friend,

Gail

Norway in a Nutshell

Before we head to Norway, in the here and now, Hurricane Dorian was a non-event with barely two inches of rain, less than we often get in afternoon rain storms. For all the folks who were not earning a paycheck during this last week due to business closures, I feel so bad. It was a week of anticipation, and then nothing happened.

On the other hand, just when everyone was breathing a sigh of relief that our siege had ended, last evening the phone rang after 9:00. I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom, but from there I could hear Bruce saying things like, "that is so awful!"  You can imagine how nervous that made me, however, when I walked into the living room he was motioning for me not to worry. Once off the phone, he told me it was Michelle and David who, while driving down Michigan on their way home, witnessed a hit and run accident right in front of their car!!! Apparently Michelle could see it coming and was screaming to Dave that the girl ahead of her was going to hit this man at 40MPH. Which she did, and then drove away. Stopping the car, Dave ran over to the body and called 911. It will be a long time before they can get this horrible scene out of their minds. People came out of their homes to help, including a doctor and nurse. Once they were home, the police called asking if they would return to talk to a detective and we accompanied them. When we returned to the scene, there were 11 police vehicles, and as many officers who had closed off the road. To date there is no word whether the older man, who was crossing the road after getting food at the taco place, survived, but it seems unlikely.

And then there are the folks in the Bahamas who lived with that terrible storm for days and now must literally pick up the pieces.

Life is not really very predictable is it?

I have to thank Matt once again for planning this whole trip, and especially the Norway in a Nutshell experience. Here's a link to what it might have looked like.  That, as you know, is not what it looked like on our trip, but I am not complaining a bit because, well, you shall see. This was me for most of the time,

not wanting to miss a moment of the experience. The waterfalls!! Everywhere.

And of course the rocky coastline that actually had some lovely purple growth that might have been heather.

To review what a fjord is---a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs, as in Norway and Iceland, typically formed by submergence of a glaciated valley. In this fjord, the mountains are said to be a mile deep!

Believe it or not, the above is not a black and white photo! When we got closer to shore, or I used my zoom lens, the green appeared.

Another waterfall! Can you imagine having a home set on the mountain like that? Our boat was also a car ferry so every now and again we would head to shore where the colorful houses were so charming.

Here's that same stop once we resumed cruising.

I kept inwardly shrieking with delight when I would see the waterfalls which were so numerous I quit counting. These little settlements rely greatly on the boats for supplies and the mail, or so I learned.

The clouds hung low making this shot of water, mountains and clouds very dramatic. That is, if you know what you are looking at! It is no wonder they paint their structures colorfully is it?

Another ferry stop.

Can you imagine this same landscape in late Spring when those waterfalls must be crazy full of water from the melting snow? The presence of a small ship provides context.

Just before the end of the cruise we traveled through a crazy narrow passageway that everyone rushed out to photograph.

Damp and with very tangly hair, we took leave of the ferry in the charming little town of Flam.

After lunch and a short walk around, we boarded the Flam Railway. For more information, click on the link, but suffice it to say, it was spectacular seeing the landscape up close.

And yes, more waterfalls! And the Flam River from above.

By now the rain had stopped, and although it remained a bit gloomy, how could you not be thrilled to be seeing this kind of view? Especially if you are a Floridian where the landscape is flat as a pancake.

I took full advantage of the operational windows on this beautiful train. A special treat is a stop at this amazing waterfall which includes a "maiden of the mist,"

where most everyone gets off for a photo op. Climbing higher, the train ends at Myrdal, Norway where we resumed our train journey on the Bergen Railway across Norway, and ending in Oslo. Spectacular scenery everywhere we looked.

We rose higher and higher in the mountains, seeing rocky barren landscapes,

and on the other side of the car, glaciers.

When we first boarded the train we were in the wrong seats which we rectified soon thereafter. Before that happened, I was seated next to a young woman who was clearly amused at my astonishment of my surroundings. We would go by a glacial lake prompting me to be jumping up with my camera. She sweetly informed me that I would be seeing plenty of that in the next five or so hours as she travels on the train from her home near Flam to Oslo for school. Always listen to a local, right?

I love those shingles. Well, the green house is great too, isn't it? Surely it must be lonely here?

Look at that--blue skies finally!!! And a rainbow!

Arriving in Oslo at 10PM, after beginning the day at 7:30AM, tired and happy, we checked into the Thon Hotel, a Norwegian chain, just across the street from the train station. 

Well done Matt, well done.

your friend,

Gail

p.s. Bergen, Norway post should you have missed it.