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Published: August 19th 2018
Our last week on the Voyage of the Vikings commences today. It hardly seems possible. Arriving in Nanoralik, Greenland, we are back in North America once again. Our neighbor’s droopy balloon marking their cabin in the all appears that it will just barely survive the cruise. Six of us boarded the elevator on the Main Deck at the same time, and Sharon said, “I guess we know where everyone’s going!” Then the woman in the front selected Deck 4, the Promenade Deck. “Oh! We’re going to try the dining room today.” Her husband’s spirits dampened with that well known, “Oh do we have to” look, his shoulders slumped. Of course, that’s no match for her retort, “You know YOU promised.” The doors opened for the Promenade and as they started to get off, I noted, “But you can’t get there from here!” We’re using the center elevator, and the Promenade Deck doesn’t go through to the Dining Room. They got back on the elevator, and his spirits brightened some as he envisioned Plan B going to the Lido like everyone else. His wife’s plan B was to get off on the Upper Promenade, walk to the back and then go back
down to Deck 4. We wished them luck. Yesterday a lady had told her husband, “This elevator is our shipboard Hop-On-Hop-Off,” and I can only imagine what kind of touring they must have done on this cruise. One look out of the Lido windows was enough to know that things were sufficiently clear to run tenders. This wasn’t the day we’d had for scenic cruising of Saint Christian Sound; but, neither was the town engulfed in fog or rain. Sharon showed up at our table pouting, “They had no chocolate croissants, not even the little ones!” I think Sharon is going into chocolate-withdrawl.
I headed back to the cabin by way of the Front Desk, exchanged US Dollars for 150 Danish Kroner, and picked up two “Puzzle Pages”. I then visited the Exploration Café and got a Iced Coffee Mocha and I’m hoping I’ll score some big husband points with the Big Chocolate Croissant I’m bringing back for her. That might have happened if I hadn’t knocked on the cabin door; because, my hands were full with my drink, the croissant and the “Puzzle Pages”. It seems I interrupted her favorite Luminosity challenge “Train of Thought”. She must have
had a great score in process as she gave me that look when she opened the door. I’ve already ruined her Luminosity effort, so we do our daily Sudoku challenge. I see that she’s using one of her Barry-From-Boston pens that she won last night, and she’s hiding the other one from me. It didn’t seem to help her much, but she did finish.
We waited until well after 9AM before we headed over to the Showroom to get our tender ticket. We were in Group Blue-35. They soon called 34 thru 37 and we headed down to the A-Deck, where the line to board the tender was wrapped down the call and back to the staircase where we found the end of the line. And it was a line that wasn’t moving. It was more than irritating as the line began to backup the stairs, especially for those riding the elevator down to Deck A. Eventually though, we did all get on the tender, even if it wasn’t all that well organized.
It was a short tender ride to the shore. The pier dumped us into downtown Nanortalik. There were signs pointing to the church to the
left and the community center to the right. Our plan was to visit the Community Center where we’d watch a presentation, and this would cost about 50 Danish Kroner each. We’d been warned that these venues only accept Danish Kroners. Nanortalik is a sleepy damp brightly colored town in that odd sort of contrasting way using color choices you and I might question… but somehow in the dead of a white winter might make sense. Sharon went into the first building, and it looked to be a Tourist Information office; but, it was a souvenir place. It was very warm and as I approached a glass case filled with glass shelves displaying an array of carved Tupilaks. These were thin and precariously balanced, standing tall, and as I watch I see the idols arranged on the top shelf collapse in sequential fashion as if pre-arranged as part of a domino exhibition. The chain-reaction continued with the tinkling of ivory banging against glass. I have the brief fear of a child, “Did I do that?” But the blame fell to the man on the opposite side of the case who had touched the glass sliding door and jarred the case. “Not
to worry,” the sales girl assures everyone, and commences restoring the forest-like display of ivory idols, arranging them carefully, until she had an accidental brush against one of the ornate pieces, and down they went again. It was very warm inside, and my stuffiness was acting up and I felt alternately hot and sweaty and then clammy and chilled. I told Sharon I’d be waiting outside and found a chair in the entrance that allowed me to get me acclimated to the coldness of Greenland. Sharon buys a Tupilak, and they did accept her credit card; which was good, because I didn’t have the Danish Kroners to cover the purchase. I suspected that the building with “Kommun” on it was the Community Center; but, it appeared to be under renovation. We ultimately gave up on that venue, and walked the other way to the church. The lady in front of us paid 10 Euro to go inside where the choir was giving a performance. They charged me 50 Danish Kroner for the two of us (which is about what the lady paid for one). Perhaps ten people were singing various hymns in what seemed to me a very slow monotone
performance. The pace was so slow, at one point those in the audience started to applaud; but, it wasn’t over yet. I noticed that Elvis was sitting in the front pew. He does like to sit in the front. First, on the first Show of the Cruise (which is why we call him Elvis after the performer drafted him to be Elvis in his act); then at Piano Bar and now here. Between each song one of the men would get up and play part of the tune on the organ than join the others as they began to sing.
There had been various tour options offered for people coming ashore. There were walking tours, and whale watching tours, and ice berg tours and I saw a taxi driving around town. Most people were happy just to wander up and down the streets taking pictures with the fog hanging just sixty feet above the surface. I got my picture taken by the big anchor beside the church; and, we’d both gotten our picture taken by the HAL photographer when we got off the ship. But now we were ready to go back, and I was ready for a shower
and change of clothing. The tender was ready for us. We were seated on one side. Father Roman was sitting in the center of our section, and seeing both of us sit down, got up and sat on the side opposite us, as he said, “To balance the boat”. I wonder what he meant by that!
I was glad to be back on board, took a nice warm shower and changed clothes. Fortunately, our laundry came back the previous evening after just 24-hours. My congestion is getting worse and you can hear the cold in my voice now, and other than feeling miserable I’m doing just great! I got a carved pork sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and brown mustard. For good measure I also grabbed a dish of the pasta with spicy sausage. Sharon ordered a Dive-In Burger with Fries; and, although she had already ordered, gotten a Sprite and found a table long before I got there, her wait was interminable. I was done with both of my lunches, and I had ordered and drunk my Coke long before her beeper went off. She decided to go over and glare at them to see if that would
speed things up. It didn’t. She checked before and after eating; but, there were only oatmeal cookies in the Lido and checked the Explorations Café on the way back to the cabin and no cookies there either. She was thinking about calling Room Service to order some (they are on the menu) but managed to hold off on that at least for now.
Once again Trivia was being held in the MIX at 4PM due to planned scenic cruising and narration while leaving Greenland. I had checked in the Exploration Café; but, they were all out of chocolate chip cookies. Three others were there, also disappointed because these cookies are highly coveted. Our journey snakes through a series of small islands and icebergs may be in the vicinity. Today though, the fog had moved in, the rains had come, and those that stayed on shore long after we came back on board found things wet and cold... People like Duncan and Pam. Pam had sat down on a puddle of water in the tender and wound up drenched. I’d secured a prime location in the MIX with bench and chairs for everyone. Others that followed some table completely stripped
of lounge chairs, and resorted to pilfering casino chairs in front of slot machines. Since we would be in port through the end of trivia they wouldn’t be needed; or, so they reasoned. Sharon suggested that I might give up my chair and squeeze in on the bench, and I was thinking, “Hey, I’m the one that got here 45 minutes early so our team would have a place to sit and play comfortably. And the way I’m feeling and stifling coughs, it’s probably best I’m not “squeezing in anywhere”. Today I bought a double Drambuie because Sharon had led an orchestrated “Oh Man, that smells awful” chorus yesterday. “Yeah, that would clear my sinuses if I could smell,” Duncan had echoed. Now she’s complaining about my Drambuie. I don’t think that she knows what she’s talking about. Sharon took her own trek to the Exploration Café, also on this deck, but they still had no chocolate chip cookies. She said someone else asked about them as well. “How many band members were in the Dave Clark Five?” Linda wanted to know for Question 1. I wrote down “5”… duh. Sharon thought us out of a point, “Well it must
be “4” or “6”. I think we went with the latter because Rose Marie said, “It isn’t 4.” I have news for Rose Marie, it wasn’t “6” either! “What kind of professionals compete annually in the “Storica Regatta” in Venice?” I hadn’t a clue. Duncan managed to come up with “Gondolier” and we got the point. The captain came on over the PA before Linda could continue. He reported on our position and route and the one-half hour time change; but, for the first time since Dublin he also reported that there had been a couple of “new cases” reported. He reminded us, “Keep washing those hands and using the hand sanitizers.” “What country did not compete in the Olympics after 1960 until they resumed participation in 1992?” Duncan and I must think alike, we’d both written down “Cuba”. It turns out that the Cuban Missile Crisis wasn’t the problem… the problem was apartheid. The country that took that hiatus was South Africa. We also got stumped with “Why are rats so susceptible to poison?” One suggestion was “It causes them to hemorrhage”; but, that really didn’t speak to the question. I suggested, “Rats will eat anything.” That’s what we
went with. Who would have guessed that rats can’t vomit, so they can’t get rid of the poison! The next question shows why you want a couple of Brits on your team. “What two words appear on the Victoria Cross?” Duncan suggested “Bravery Honor” which I suspect he wrote down. I suggested “Victoria Cross”. The Bonus question for six points, list the six actors who have played Batman since 1966. We all knew “Adam West” and “Michael Keaton”; well, by “ALL” I mean everyone but Sharon. She just sat there and said, “Don’t look at me (for an answer).” Our team came up with “Val Kilmer” and “Ben Affleck”. We also managed to come up with “George Clooney” and “Christian Bale”; but, not before Linda announced, “Pencils Down.” If you ever get a chance to see one, look for “For Valour”. We got 13 of 21 points, back to eking out just over 50%. The winners only missed one question.
Sharon headed over to the Wajang Theater for Vigil Mass which was very well attended. Since it was the last Vigil mass for the cruise Father Roman asked everyone to remember to put on their surveys about the importance
of having a priest on board. He also brought up that after last week’s Sunday mass someone wrote a letter that got sent to Seattle about HAL discriminating against Catholics. I guess someone was upset that they had Sunday Mass in the Hudson Room and it was a bit crowded. There’s no way HAL discriminates against Catholics since they are the only cruise line that always has a priest ono board. This cruise they even have a protestant minister and a Rabbi. That is not always the case.
We’d looked at the menu for tonight and I think both of our impulses was that this was even worse than last night. Mind you, I really wasn’t feeling up to spending an hour and one-half eating dinner, and it probably wasn’t a good idea for me to be dining with others anyway. I barely made it through trivia and only then because I nursed my drink, coating my throat with the nice honey laced spirits. I met Sharon after her Vigil mass in the Wajang Theater after mass and we went up to the Lido. It was far less crowded that I imagined that it might be; but, then this
is my first dinner in the Lido. I grabbed a few sides like potato croquet, polenta, mushrooms and two small pieces of boneless fried chicken. And it was surprisingly satisfying. Sharon chose an Everyday Steak and found it a bit chewy. Sharon treated me to a Coca-Cola. Sodas here come in two sizes of cans. The ones like my 355 milliliter can of Coke are made in the USA with high-fructose corn syrup. The ones like Sharon’s 330 milliliter can of Sprite are made in Europe with sugar. These cans are marked “Only for use by Airlines and Cruise Ships”.
I decided to isolate myself in the cabin and try to shake this cold. Sharon had big plans: Show, Piano Bar, Buffalo Hunting… Ah to be able to breathe again. The buffalo weren’t being that friendly so she headed to the show with her tablet to kill some time. The show was a Cast Show and a repeat from the first week called Midnight Hour. She watched about 20 minutes of it before heading to the Piano Bar. Sharon said that Barry From Boston did requests and she was surprised that her “Piano Bar Friends” had never heard of “Red Solo Cup”; nor, had many others in the Piano Bar. Perhaps the Voyage of the Vikings demographics does not tend to emphasize the “Flyover States”. However she had never heard of “No Beer in Heaven” or “Killing Pigeons in the Park”. When Sharon returned to the cabin, she had ONE chocolate chip cookie. She said that she’d have gotten me one too; except, the person in front of her had gotten two. That seemed understandable until she noted, “That just left four cookies.” I’m doing the math here, and it seems that she could have gotten me a cookie too. “But the three younger girls were behind her, and they all wanted a chocolate chip cookie.” So she left three for them.
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Ruth F. Curley-Lefebvre
non-member comment
Correcting a song title
It's "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park", not "killing", and it's one of the funniest songs I know. I have been enjoying every blog entry, just never got motivated to comment until today---I take my Piano Bar music seriously, doncha know. I could not believe your cruise is almost over, but when I saw that the ship is not heading for Newfoundland, then I realized. Hope the time has been good, and that John's cold passes quickly and easily. Damn that woman who sneezed right on him!