Washed this morning. Hopefully, I won’t have to wash any more before I get home. Just a lazy day at sea & playing Wizard. ... read more

Roxie and I toured the Irish countryside by traveling to the Wicklow Hills and visiting Glendalough (the valley of two lakes), which is renowned for its early medieval monastic settlement founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century. The relics which remain are the gateway to the monastery, a very small church, the remains of a larger church (floors & walls), a 98 foot high round tower that was probably used for storage and a place of refuge in times of attack, and a graveyard with tombstones dating back to the 6th century. ... read more

Lazed around all morning and then took the tender (smaller boat- in disasters used as lifeboats) to shore. Took a tour of the City of Edinburg and then Edinburg Castle. They wouldn’t let us take pictures in some places - not sure why they just didn’t say “no flash.” Most museums allow photos. Quite interesting. There is a roadway known as “The Royal Mile” leading up to the castle, which originally housed the peasants and their businesses. Now it is all shops, restaurants & bars. Roxie, Rodger and Joe have Scottish ancestors so they bought items depicting their “colors” or “crests.” Some bought cashmere scarves, clothing and blankets. We had a long, steep, winding road to go to the top. Rodger and a couple of others took a personal ride to the top and back down ... read more

Arrived in the rain and fog again, but by 10 a.m. the sun was out and no more rain. We went to the sculpture park (Roger, Roxie and I stayed in the bus - in fact I took a little nap) and ski jump again, but did drive on a few different streets and got a very detailed description of Oslo people and their lifestyle. They are every active and like most Europeans they walk and bike just about everywhere. Cross country walking and skiing are everyday events. Don’t think I saw an overweight Norwegian. We in the U.S. could learn a lot from other countries. We finished up our tour with a trip to the Viking Ship Museum where artifacts from 4 Viking ships were displayed. The earliest from the year 800 something (9th century)! ... read more

Arrived in the rain and fog, but by 10 a.m. the sun was out and no more rain. We have been so lucky with weather. Roxie and I took a tour which included the old & new town, the Vigeland sculpture park and an open air folk museum. The Vigeland park contains 214 sculptures with more than 758 figures, all modeled in full size by Gustav Vigeland without the assistance of pupils or other artists. He also designed the architectural setting and the layout of the grounds with their expansive lawns and long, straight avenues bordered by maple trees. Then we went to the open air folk museum, which is a recreation of old and new structures representing southern Norway. http://www.norskfolkemuseum.no/default.aspx?epslanguage=en We saw the “Stave Church,” a farmer’s house, storage shed and animal barn, as well ... read more