After Kristiansand, we cruised to the port of Stavanger. We all had decided to do the same excursion, a boat ride up the Fjord. We were hoping to see the Pulpit Rock, which is a rock that sticks out about 2,000 ft above the Fjord. We weren’t there long enough to hike up to it (Thank You LORD!!!!) because I know my family would have coerced me into it, and I would have tripped on my own feet and fallen off the rock!!! Maybe it wouldn’t have ruined anyone else’s trip, but it CERTAINLY would have ruined mine-LOL! We were on the boat and cruising up the Fjord, but it was cloudy and socked in…we met a great couple from Chicago (who know someone in Haines. Small world!) that entertained us immensely and I went outside to see Pulpit Rock and caught a glimpse!!! I tried to get my phone out and catch the picture, but no, within 2 seconds, it was gone…. The saddest part of the day was that my sister, Paulette, got COVID and was quarantined for the rest of her cruise!!! They brought her food and medication but for two days she was stuck in her room. She was very sick, so I don’t think it bothered her that much, but we really missed her!
Our last stop in Norway was Flam…. a very small village of around 350 people. Dacotah and Travis booked a hike that didn’t allow children, so we took Seeley for the day. We booked a bus ride up the Fjord to a beautiful waterfall and hotel where we were treated to the most delicious pastry and coffee. The waterfall was SPECTACULAR!!! Unfortunately, my editor (aka Steve Smith) attached those pics on the last blog…
Steve and I chose to have an extra dinner at a fancy French/seafood restaurant. It was SPECTACULAR!!! I told him that we weren’t going to be able to enjoy a dinner like this for years. We started with an amuse bouche and then I had an appetizer of marinated lobster claws! I ordered steak frites with a peppercorn sauce. Dessert was crepes Suzette, which I hadn’t had for about 44 years when Steve and I were dating, and he took me to a French restaurant in Mexico City. Of course, now they can’t light the alcohol and have it run down the spiraled orange peel table side, like in the “olden days” but it still tasted fantastic. Kinda sad that people can’t enjoy the beauty of how it was originally made?
We also met up with the gang one night at a restaurant called, Tamarind. It was Asian fusion and we all loved it! I hope Steve will be able to put some of the pictures and I enjoyed a massage at the spa on board the ship. We watched several great shows in the evening and just can’t say enough about cruising on a Holland America ship!
When the cruise docked back in Amsterdam, we had booked a shuttle to take us to the airport because we knew that there would be 2,500 people leaving the ship and needing a ride somewhere. We got to the airport and proceeded to go to our respective terminals. The lines were CRAZY… we had to wait for about an hour just to get in line for security which was massive. Then it was another 1 ½ hours to get to security. We finally made it to the gate, and I noticed I didn’t have my carry-on bag. I went back to the two places I had stopped and looked for it. No go! I went to lost and found which was back at the main terminal…I was just about in tears because my passport and tickets were in my carry-on!!! They hadn’t found it and sent me to immigration where they could possibly get me an emergency passport but Our flight was about to board in 15 minutes so I would never make this flight. That would mess everything else up because we were supposed to stay in an Air B&B with Dacotah and Trav. We were going back to tell the kids we would just figure it out when we saw them combing the area looking for the carry-on. All of a sudden, Dacotah comes back from the kiosk that we had stopped at (looking very disgusted at me) and says, it was there the whole time, just tucked back in a corner! When I looked there must have been people standing in front of it, so I didn’t see it. Whew! We boarded the plane in the nick of time. Steve wasn’t feeling well, so it was the longest flight home ever. Seeley was an angel though so that was helpful. We left at 12:30pm one day and arrived in Whitehorse, Yukon, at 10:30 pm the next day. We checked into the Air B&B and zonked. We made it home the next day and all was well.
All in all, it was an AMAZING TRIP! I will get back to Haines in the next edition.
Kiss, Kiss
Stephanie
Haines Happenings 