Cruise Journal Part Five--Longyearbyen, Magdalene Bay, and the Polar Ice Barrier

After a lovely day at sea, we docked on August 3 at Longyearbyen, on the western coast of Spitzburgen, the largest of the islands in the Svalvard archipelago. It is one of the world’s most northerly towns.  Not until the end of WWII did Svalvard become a part of Norway.

We took the ship’s shuttle bus into the City Center. We browsed in a few shops, bought some souvenirs for the grandchildren, and then spent much time in an excellent museum. This museum detailed the history of the region. Interestingly, it was named European Museum of the Year in 2008.

Leaving Longyearben

We were amused by this company's name.  No, we're really not at
the North Pole...yet!

Bob and a stuffed polar bear,
in front of one of the
shops

The next day was another day of breath-taking sights! We cruised Magdalene Bay or Magdalenafjord, Spitsburgen’s most beautiful fjord. During the 1600s whaleboats plied these waters, but now it is an attraction for nature-lovers, with thousands of rare species and good whale watching.  We saw numerous glaciers, far more than we'd seen on our Alaskan cruise in 2001.  I have numerous lovely pictures of the glaciers, but will restrain myself and put in just a few!

glaciers in Magdalene Bay

A close-up view of a
glacier.

Glaciers in Magdalene Fjord

Auguest 4th contained, in a way, the raison d'etre for the entire trip! This was the day that we sailed to the Polar Ice Barrier, the farthest northern point on our cruise. The sights were interesting but not spectacularly beautiful. The day was overcast, misty, and cold (in the 40s). Joe and Ray Cannon actually got much better pictures than I did. At one point, a few of the ship's crew took one of the small boats (not a life boat but one used for repairs) out to the barrier to gather some ice for us tourists to see up close and touch--ice actually from the Polar Ice Cap! Not the North Pole, of course, but as close as the vast majority of travelers in this land will ever get! Click on this link to see much better pictures than I was able to get! Scroll to the bottom of this page from our cruiseline and you'll see the crew cruising out in the little boat to collect some ice.

FREEZER PAPER PIECING “GOOSE TRACKS LOG CABIN” BLOCK

Note:  this is for quilters only!  Other readers might find it a bit too detailed!

Block pattern:  Goose Tracks Log Cabin    Block size:  3" finished.

Preparing the pattern and the fabrics:

1. Cut freezer paper into 8 ½” x 11” sheets. For a small wall hanging of 12 blocks, you will not need more than one sheet of the 4 master pattern blocks. (Some people use just one of the patterns for all 12 blocks!)
Note:  a friend gave me the master pattern for this particular block. The same methods could be used for any block pattern suitable for paper piecing, but of course the cutting directions would differ.

2. Using a combination copier/printer machine, place the master pattern onto the bed of the copier.

3. Then put the prepared freezer paper into the printer tray, printing the pattern onto the wrong or dull side of the freezer paper. Cut out one of the blocks to use for your first block(s). Make sure to cut well outside the dotted line on the pattern.

4. Choose assorted scraps of medium and dark value fabrics in your chosen color scheme (or in a totally scrappy scheme) and one background light. Use the same light for all blocks. (I used many different mediums and darks for a controlled scrappy look—controlled because I did follow a loose color scheme.)

5. Cut the “logs” from 8 assorted fabrics, 4” long and 1 ¼” wide.

6. Cut the background fabric into two sizes of squares, 1 ¾” and 2 ¼”.Cut the larger squares diagonally into half square triangles.

Paper-piecing the block:

1. First use just a dab of water-soluble to glue the small square onto the middle of the back of the freezer paper pattern, underneath section #1, gluing the wrong side of the square to the unprinted side of the pattern.

2. Next, carefully fold the pattern back on the line between the middle square #1 and log #2. Using the add-a-quarter ruler, trim to ¼”.

First trim about to be made using add-a-quarter ruler and rotary cutter

3. Choose one of the fabric logs and place its right side against the just-trimmed right side of the middle square.

This photo shows log 3 being added to log 2, with the edge of the center square showing.

4. Carefully sew along the edge of the printed line, being careful not to sew into the paper pattern.

5. Next, unfold the pattern, flip over, turn the fabric just sewn right side out. Press the seam just sewn with the tip of your iron (or with a little mini-iron).

This shows log #3 being pressed.

6. Then fold the pattern back between logs #2 and #3 and follow the same procedure.

7. When you get to section 6, this is the first triangle section. Use one of the background triangles for this section. The triangles will be used for sections 6, 7, 12, and 13.

First triangle has just been pressed.

8. If you can remember this sequence, it will soon become automatic: fold, trim, sew, open out, press. Move to next section and repeat.  

Block ready for last 2 triangles

9. After the last two triangles have been sewn, remove the paper pattern. Trim the outside edges of the block to ¾”, lining your ruler up with the seams.

Above is the completed block with the edges trimmed.

Another Interruption: Colorado Cool after Norway!

After basking in the cool and the gorgeous scenery of Norway, how nice to come back home and leave immediately for Colorado!  How nice to be reminded that we have our own spectatular scenery in our country, that takes a back seat to none!

I had to go sans husband, but the daughters and their families were there, as well as my brother and sister in law, a nephew, and a great nephew.  The grandchildren had a glorious time writing stories, hiking, horse back riding, taking in the attractions at the Purgatory Ski resort (the alpine slide, bungee jumping, rock wall climbing), and the highlight of our visit, white water rafting.

The picture above depicts the mountains to the East of my brother's house, with the sunset reflecting off the mountains and the clouds.  Here are a few other pictures that capture some of our fun times:

Locke, Dawson, Malcolm, Susan, Lia,
Kathy--and the dog, Ace!

Lia doing flips, high in the air, on
the bungee jump!

Malcolm celebrated his 9th birthday while we were

in Colorado.  Here, in his new frog cap, with Locke and

his birthday cookie-cake, made by me, decorated by

his Mom!

Malcolm, Lia, Locke, Dawson, about
to go white water rafting!  (Locke making
a typical funny face, rather Vampire-like!)

Malcolm jumps for joy after winning
a game of Fish Eat Fish!  



       

Lia and Dawson riding the ski lift, on their way
to coming down the Alpine Slide!

This Post Ought to be Called Part 3.5!

This is out of chronological sequence—I should have written this before the post on Murmansk and Hammerfest. Thanks to having a camera which catalogs all my pictures by date, and thanks to examining the pictures carefully to refresh my memory, I realized this afternoon that I had omitted this most exciting segment of our cruise to the Lands of the Midnight Sun.

On July 28th we crossed the Arctic Circle. Once in this vicinity, and until we turned back South on August 5th, the sun didn’t set. More about this when I get to the Spitzbergen, Magdalen Bay, and the Polar Ice Barrier section of this condensed journal.

Some of the most dramatic scenery we saw on the cruise was that on the North Cape. We didn’t go on any of the North Cape excursions, but nevertheless, what we saw from the ship was breathtaking. It was cold and misty, so the pictures don’t really capture the beauty.

After cruising around the North Cape, we came to the little village of Honningsvaag. We got off the ship briefly, and I was struck by how much the brightly painted wooden houses reminded me of those in Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands, seen on our last cruise.

In the picture above, Bairds and Cannons are enjoying champagne on July 28, the day we crossed the Arctic Circle. This event is celebrated on North-bound ships, just as crossing the Equator do.

Now here are some of the dramatic North Cape photos, followed by one of Honningsvaag:

where we were--see how far North?

Honningsvaag and the brightly-painted houses

Part Four--Murmansk, Russia, and Hammerfest, Norway

Two ports we visited back to back offer an amazing contrast. Murmansk, the only Russian town we visited, was almost completely destroyed during WWII. So was Hammerfest, the Norwegian port we visited the next day. The Russian town was filled with bleak, run-down, gray concrete block apartment buildings. Hammerfest, on the other hand, was bright, clean, pristine, and colorful.

In both towns we visited cemeteries. In Murmansk our guide took us to a cemetery dedicated to the Allied soldiers who fought and died in the area. While there was a lovely memorial wall (reminiscent of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC), the graves themselves, marked with stones set flat on the ground, were knee-high in weeds. In Hammerfest the cemetery was obviously just mowed, the gravestones (many ancient ones) had been re-set. The chapel next to this cemetery was the only building in Hammerfest not destroyed in the war.

Statue in Murmansk honoring fallen Russian soldiers in WWII

In Murmansk our guide took us by a gigantic statue that is dedicated to the fallen Russian soldiers--admittedly, very dramatic and impressive, if overpowering--and also a Russian Orthodox church. Contrasting with the traditional Russian church was a Lutheran church in Hammerfest, which had an unusual and quite contemporary triangular shape. This church was designed in 1961, but has had many different styles through the years. I was particularly struck by a series of paintings depicting the church as it looked through the years.

Also while in Hammerfest we went to an excellent museum called the Museum of Post-War Reconstruction. It recounts the residents’ struggle to rebuild their lives after the entire area had been burned to the ground as a part of a scorched-earth policy by the Nazi regime.

And now, a few pictures:

Apartment building in Hammerfest

Apartment building in Murmansk

Hammerfest cemetery

Overgrown cemetery in Murmansk

Hammerfest, Norway

Russian Orthodox Church in
Murmansk

Lutheran Church in Hammerfest

Taking a Break from the Cruise Posts!

To take a break from the tedium of organizing my travel pictures, I've done a bit of crafting and quilting in the last few days.  On Tuesday I drove out to friend Patty's farm for lunch and so that she could show me a new method of paper piecing.  She learned this technique at a recent workshop sponsored by our quilt guild, one that took place while I was cruising in Norway.

This method uses freezer paper for the paper piecing block pattern.  Rather than sewing directly onto the paper as you normally do, you sew just outside all the seam lines, which means no tedious ripping off of paper patterns when you're done.

Above is the block I made.  It is very tiny--about 3".  One of the huge advantages of paper piecing is that one can make small blocks that are precise and accurate.  I plan to make 11 other of these tiny blocks, using this color scheme (the same color scheme of a king sized bed quilt that I am working on).  I plan to use for this wall hanging scraps from the Anniversary Quilt that Patty and I made last fall, as well as some of the same fabrics that are going into the bed quilt. 

Another project:  A couple of days ago I made two fabric postcards, to send to a dear friend as a belated birthday greeting.   I now have a postcard stamp for the address and message side of the postcard; I love it!  I just heard from my friend to whom these cards were addressed.  Friend, you mentioned receiving ONE.  You ought to have gotten two; let me know!

Lands of the Midnight Sun--Part Three--Geiranger Fjord and Geiranger Village

The Geirangerfjorden

Below, the Seven Sisters Waterfall

Since 2005 Geirangerfjorden has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We cruised up the fjord, seeing a number of dramatic waterfalls, including the one called The Seven Sisters.  We sailed up to the head of the fjord to a little hamlet, also called Geiranger. The town is visited by several hundred thousand people every summer, and tourism is the main business for the 250 people who live there permanently.  Some 140-180 cruise ships visit this port each summer.  We and our travel companions Ray and Jo soon dubbed this village the “Norwegian Gatlinburg” because of all the souvenir shops, campgrounds, RV parks, the five hotels, etc. 

What the little town did have, though, that was definitely worth our taking the tender from the ship to the dock was another magnificent waterfall.  This one originated far up the mountain but that then cascaded down through the town. We took a walk up an easy path to see the rapids from several different vantage points. 

That evening we had a lovely dinner in the grand dining room with Baylor friends Bob and I had met on our 2008 Danube River cruise. Jo had met Nancy, one of two sisters, even earlier when she took an Oceania cruise around the British Isles and actually roomed with her. Another connection—Nancy was my sister Martha’s friend in Baylor and pledged the same club she was in! Still another connection: Nancy’s mother and mine were friends in Baylor. AND yet another:   her uncle, her mother’s much-older brother, was a colleague of my father’s in BU’s journalism department.

Below are a few more of my favorite pictures.  Remember to click on them to enjoy them larger!

 

the waterfall in town

Nancy at the right and her sister Suzanne at the left
Below, Bob and Alice in town at the waterfall

Lands of the Midnight Sun Cruise--Part Two--Stavanger, July 26th

From Oslo we sailed on toward Stavanger, another town we’d visited in our ’07 cruise to Norway. Unfortunately, this was a town I slept through! I took more of the seasickness medication—Jo said I should have taken one tablet at a time rather than the two the doctor recommended—and was just too sleepy to do anything but nap! Bob went with Jo and Ray, though, to the Petroleum Museum, which he said was fascinating.


Timely, too, because of the oil spill this year. Stavanger has been booming since the 1960s when oil was discovered off its coast. Today, it is the 3rd or 4th largest city in Norway, with a population of around 100,000. It’s hard to be precise because the information given out by the ship and that in my guidebook differ.

When Bob returned to the ship, I sleepily requested that he take my camera back out with him and get some pictures of Stavanger. He did a nice job! The city centre is small and intimate, with narrow streets and open spaces protected from car traffic. The open-air market is one of the few in Norway where you can buy produce directly from local farmers every working day throughout the year.

On our cruise in 2007 we sailed up the fjord that is most associated with Stavanger. I remember this as one of the most memorable days of that cruise three years ago. We didn’t see Lyesfjorden this time.  Perhaps the most dramatic sight in Lyesfjorden is Prekestolen (Pulpit Rock), an overhanging platform above a drop of 1,959 feet to the fjord. 

Meanwhile, I snoozed on until 4:30 or so. I got up, skipped the Team Trivia game, showered, and then we met new friends Rachel and Tim—both doctors from Sioux Falls, SD—for drinks and dinner. They are a delightful couple whom we met before boarding the ship and have shared other meals with them in the buffet restaurant; they, too, are on our Team Trivia team. (This time the team did a bit better and were NOT the low scorers, thankfully!) After dinner, we went back to our cabin. I was able to get some lovely sunset pictures from our veranda. We wouldn’t see many more sunsets as we headed north toward the lands of the midnight sun.  As you'll see documented by the clock picture, sunset on this night was at 10:30.  Below you can also see a picture of our ship.

Bob, Alice, Tim, Rachel, Jo, and Ray--in the Horizons Lounge