Copenhagen, Denmark had its beginnings more than 850 years ago as a fishing village. Today it is huge with a population of 1.2 million . We went on a “Copenhagen by Foot” tour in the morning. Our first stop was this well known statue below.
Little Mermaid Statue in the harbor
For those of you who enjoyed Disney’s Little Mermaid, I am happy to report that Copenhagen’s Hans Christian Anderson created the first Little Mermaid story. His version however did not have Disney’s happily ever after ending.
Beautiful bridge with a stone church in the background from the 1400’s. . Most churches here are Lutheran.These royal guards where outside the palace where the Queen’s son and his family live. Their Danish flag was flying so they were home.Amelienborg Palace – the 70 year old Queen of Denmark lives here. The Danish Flag was not up which meant she was not home.We walked by this beautiful waterway, once part of a moat, but now a park.Entrance to a fort.Denmark flag flying on display at the fort. It is used by the army for administrative offices.
Our guide was a 26 year old college student finishing her master’s degree. In Denmark, the taxes are about 40% and higher for larger incomes. For that, all of the schooling is free up to and including university up to the master’s degree. College students get a monthly stipend to help them through their schooling. Other benefits include free health care and five weeks of mandatory vacation. Boys must serve in the military for 4 months. However there is a lottery system and only those who get from 1-200 must serve; the numbers go to 25,000!
In the afternoon, we took a canal boat ride to see Copenhagen from the water. Going under the bridges, the guide warned us not to stand.
Here is the colorful Nyhavn, new harbor, with its 500 year old gabled houses; this is where Hans Christian Anderson once lived.A very modern bridgeThe Copenhagen Royal Library nicknamed the “Black Diamond.”Going under a low bridge – one of the many bridges during our canal ride
Christainsborg Palace, home to the Danish Parliament
After we left Copenhagen, our captain announced that a bad storm was heading directly in our path. Instead of stopping at Aalborg, Denmark he was going to change our course and head straight to Stavanger, Norway.
That meant we had another day at sea on Tuesday, October 2nd. By the afternoon, the winds really strong and the waves were high. I tried to walk on the treadmill at the fitness center, I spent most of that afternoon sleeping. The good news is that we did safely dock at Stavanger, Norway that evening around 9:00 that evening. I felt much better when our ship was anchored. Tomorrow we’ll explore the Norweigan town of Stavanger.
Today we were off to Berlin, Germany. It is not on the coast, so we had to board a train that would get us there in about three hours.
Berlin has a population of 3.7 million and is the capital and largest city of Germany. It gets its name from two German words meaning swamp land. We started our tour in the East Berlin area., which was the Soviet controlled area after WWII. There is a mix of 1987 architecture and old simply because of the cost to rebuild it.
Our train to Berlin.There was even coffee and cookies at each shelf area between seats. Must have been an added Viking feature. We seem to be offered something to eat constantly.Scene along the River Spree at our first stop. . Berlin has canal boat tours, too.Here at Nicholas’ Corner is St. Nicholas Church which is the oldest church in Berlin dating back to the 1200. Most of Berlin was bombed during WWII, so the church has been rebuilt. It was first a Catholic Church, but is now Lutheran. All churches here have a museum section showing photos of the church after the bombings.Statue called “Mother and Dead Son” is a memorial to victims of the war.
Linden trees line the street up to the Brandenburg Gate (1791) and is one of Berlin’s famous landmarks. It is the last surviving gate of the fourteen gates of the old city wall. On top of the gate is a statue of a four horse chariot. After conquering the city, Napoleon took the statue to Paris is 1806, but the Prussians later defeated him and got back the statue. That’s when it got its name, Goddess of Victory. There are four embassies adjacent to the gate.
Brandenburg Gate-It was blockaded since they were getting ready for a big celebration there on Oct. 2nd.Goddess of Victory Statue which sits on top of the Brandenburg Gate.U.S. Embassy to the left of the Brandenburg Gate.
One of our stops was the Allied Museum. One statue was dedicated to the raisin bombers. After the war, when Berlin was divided between the Soviet’s East Berlin and the Allies West Berlin, the Soviets put up a blockade around the city and would not allow any supplies into West Berlin. The Berlin airlift began, where planes 24 hours a day bring supplies from Frankfurt to the 2.2 million residents for 10 months. Candy was dropped for the children in handkerchief parachutes. The planes were called the raisin bombers and the effort was known as Uncle Wiggly Wings.
Here was a bear statue decorated with parachute handkerchiefs commemorating the Story of Uncle Wiggle Wings.A watch tower that the Soviet’s manned to control the overflow of people from East Berlin to West Berlin after the wall was erected almost overnight in 1961.
A section of the Berlin Wall on display at the Allied Museum. Notice the rounded pipe to make it harder to escape.A replica of Checkpoint Charlie at the Allied Museum. This was a station controlling the flow of people in and out of East Germany.Picture along the Spree River with the Reichstag’s dome in the background. The Reichstag is Germany’s historic parliament building topped with a modern dome.The lone surviving section of intact wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial. There were two walls with a death strip in the middle.Here a church put up a memorial to remember the wall. It is the Ten Commandments in German.On the train ride back to our ship, we were treated to a generous servings of beer, wine or soda. Our car was full of very tired, but “happy” travelers!
All in all we had a very long but interesting day in Berlin. I now have a much better understanding of the division of East and West Germany, the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the wall and Soviet control in 1989. I too was a very tired, but “happy” traveler by the end of our day in Berlin.
Finally good wifi. My posts will be out of order, but I will catch up with our adventures soon and those will be in order. Today we had to leave the Viking Sun. Our fourteen day adventure had come to an end. All is all, it was a great experience but we did hit two bad storms. Because of that, we lost two ports of call, Gdańsk, Poland and Aalborg, Denmark. The winds and waves were so strong on Tuesday that I wound up staying in bed all afternoon. I’ll show you what I ate that evening for supper.
Yep, five Ritz crackers and a coke. (I ate one before I took the picture.)This was our last breakfast on our ship. We were boarding a transfer to the Bergen airport at 9:15.Here we are on our Iceland Air flight to Reykjavik. The seats were really close together. We both had backpacks that did not fit under the seat. It wasn’t that the bags were bulging, There was a metal bar that blocked them from going under. Thank goodness it was only a two hour flight! I can’t believe Frank smiled for this picture!
We had a very bumpy landing in Reykjavik. We had to use an outside staircase to get off. The winds was howling and the rain was torrential. Evidently they were having what Icelanders call a “Code Yellow”. They kept us on the plane for a quite while hoping it would get better. It did not. Finally, holding onto the railing for my dear life, I managed to navigate the stairs. Getting on the bus to take us to the terminal we were crowded in like sardines, plus we were all soaking wet! It was hard to find a place to stand, let alone find a pole to hold onto. I hung onto Frank. Besides if we fell, it would have only been onto someone else!
We made it inside the airport. Now to navigate through the code yellow to our bus to our hotel.It was still howiling and pouring. We used a luggage cart to keep us grounded. Here is what it looked like outside once we were safely in our bus, but it was impossible to capture the real scene.We ate at a sports bar not far from our hotel called Bastard. Fitting to top off the day!Look who we saw taking a nap in a book store.
Tomorrow we have an all day tour called “The Golden Cirlce”. The weather forecast is for partly sunny skies and 40 F. No more code yellows please!
Tallin, Estonia was our next port of call. Estonia is a small country between Latvia and Russia. It borders the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland and is about the size of New Hampshire. It has struggled against Swedish and Russian domination throughout its history. The country is home to 1.3 million people a quarter of whom are of Russian decent.
Tallin is one of the best preserved medieval towns in all of Scandinavia. The town has a population of 400,000. It had been deteriorating during it’s Soviet years, but since it’s independence twenty some years ago many of its buildings have been restored. There are two parts to the town; the upper town is where the nobility lived and in the lower part lived the merchants. Much of the town is cobblestoned adding to the medieval feel.
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral-a Russian Orthodox Church built in 1900 and recently restored.A lot of the town’s walls are still intact as well as 26 pointed roof-topped watch towers.Here Is Estonia’s Parliment building which is currently being refurbished. It was the Russian’s addition onto the medieval Toompea Castle.Looking off a hill from the upper part of Tallin, we could see several watch towers and the roofs of Tallin below.Yet another “red roofs of Tallin” picture. Looking past the town you can see the Baltic Sea just below the horizon.“But where are the pickleball courts?” Frank asked as we headed down the hill to the lower section of the city.Built in 1440, this house was used as a German merchants club for 800 years. It was know as the Brotherhood of Black Heads. It was only for single German men. When a fire or battle had to be fought, these men were deployed first. When a Black Head member married a local woman, he then could join the more prestigious Great Guild with often a more properous political and economic future.This building is a present day pharmacy. As you can see from it’s sign it was established in 1422.
The Great Guild Hall.
This outdoor clock is from 1633; it is on the side of the medieval Church of the Holy Ghost, a present day Lutheran church.
Estonia’s history is an interesting one. Being a small nation sandwiched between Russia and Germany simply surviving has been a challenge. It was a free country after the Russian Revolution from 1920 until 1939 until they fell into the Nazi then Russian regimes. Singing has been a natural form of expression; the first Estonian Song Festival, just outside of Tallin, started in 1869 and has been held every year since.
In 1988, 300,000 Estonians come together on the Song Festival Grounds to sing patriotic song. On August 23, 1989, which was the 50th anniversary of the pact between Hitler and Stalin, the people of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia held hands to make a human chain that stretched 360 miles from Tallin to Vilnius, Lithuania to make a stand for their freedom. In February of 1990 the first free parliament elections took place in Estonia and that parliament declared Estonia’s independence.
Freedom has given Tallin a fresh, new spirit and it shows. Tourism has grown immensely with lots of groups of tourists following the lollipop paddles. What a great way to learn about medieval history by spending time in this beautifully preserved town.
One of the cities I was most looking forward to visiting on this cruise was St. Petersburg. After all, when were we ever going to get to Russia again?
Petersburg was founded in 1703. Emperor Peter the Great (1682-1721) wanted a city equal to Paris and Rome. He hated Moscow and wanted to have a city with access to the Baltic Sea. His Peterhof Palace was built to resemble Versailles. During his reign he also established Russia’s permanent navy.
Our first tour was the Winter Palace and the Gold Room of the Hermitage. Catherine the Great (1762-1796) loved art work and kept adding to her collection. When she needed more room, she simply added another room on to the palace. Today the Hermitage is a very big museum with four main buildings: the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage and the New Hermitage. To me it got very confusing because our tour guide Olga, kept taking us from one building to the next to avoid the crowds.
The Gold Room was also included in our tour. It was filled with gold jewelry and ornaments there were recovered from burial grounds of czars and the rich dating back to the 7th to 4th centuries BC. (No pictures were allowed.)There were even decorative gold head pieces for the czar’s horses who were also buried there. Can you imagine being a kid playing in the dirt and uncovering a huge gold necklace and bracelet? Magnifying glasses were positioned over some of the pieces to show their fine details. It was amazing to see so many gold pieces in one room.
Frank checking out the marble columns. The palace rooms were elaborately decorated and furnished.One room in the museum was full of Rembrandt’s paintings. This one is of his wife.Michaelangelo’s crouching boy
We went from one room to the next. Frank and were both getting very tired from standing in front of the displays to hear about the room or its painting. After a while, all we looked for was a bench to sit. We got the idea: the czars and their royal courtians lived in very impressive buildings and collected exquisite pieces of art. On our bus ride home, we both welcomed the opportunity to fall asleep.
Short on time, we quickly ate a packed lunch before going through customs a second time for our afternoon tour. On this tour we were to see two churches and then take a canal boat ride on the Neva, Fontaka, and Moyka Rivers. .
St. Isaacs is a Russian Orthodox Church built between 1818 and 1858. There were three previous churches built on this site. The present church, made of marble and built with a huge dome, looked more like the US Capitol building than a church. It was closed during the Soviet Union years and reopened in 1990. The paintings on the walls and ceiling were restored. Except for a small prayer area, it is now a museum to show its elaborately decorated interior. There are no pews; the parishioners stood for services.
There were marble columns here too. Most of the paintings are actually mosaics dating back to the first half of the 1800’s.
The second church we toured was The Church on Spilled Blood. It is built on the sight where Czar Alexander II was assassinated by a suicide bomber in 1881. The church was started soon after Alexander was killed but was not finished until 1907. It was built will lavish fairy tale like images of Russia’s national history and traditions.
The church was looted heavily during the 1917 Russian Revolution. Then during the communist era it was used to store potatoes. The church was damaged in WWII. It was restore in the 1990’s and now today serves mostly as a museum.
The walls are covered with magnificent mosaics that shows how the Russian Orthodoxs continued the artistic traditions of other Christian churches. On the outside of colorful onion shaped domes stand out as unique and distinctly Russian.
The outside of the church is decorated with colorful onion shaped domes.
A canal boat ride on the Neva, Fontana and Mayakovsky Rivers was our next adventure. Even though it was about 50 it was very windy. We bundled up in layers, but I was still cold. Luckily the boat had indoor seating. Seeing the buildings from the water level provided a different perspective. The architectural style was all about the same, rather plain and uniform. However, from the outside the Hermitage and Winter Palace were similarly styled, yet on the inside they were indeed magnificent.
A canal boat with buildings in the backgroundA bridge over the Neva River.
The next day, we toured the Yusupov Palace. It was constructed in 1770 was was positioned on the the banks of the Moyka River. From 1830-1917 the house belong to a wealthy family called Yusupov. In December 1916, Felix Yusupov was worried that the mystic Rasputin, a country peasant with psychic powers, had too much influence over Czar Nicholas II. Felix invited Rasputin to his house and shot him. This was the kind of treachery that went on in the courtians who were always struggling to have power and influence over the Czar. Rasputin’s death helped to bring on the Russian revolution.
This house was over the top with elaborate decorations. While it was very plain on the outside, it was quite the opposite on the inside. It amazed me that the house was often used by the czar for parties and various official functions. Felix’s family had a lot of money and used it to decorate lavishly. They even had their own theater made to look like a replica of the famous opera theater of St. Petersburg.
A chandelier from one of the rooms of the Yusupov PalaceThe gallery in the Yusupov Palace’s theater reserved for the czar.
We learned a lot on our two day stay in St. Petersburg. In fact, we wound up getting an extra day. On Wednesday night when we were to leave the port, there were high winds and rough waves. The port was closed and we weren’t allowed to leave until Thursday night. Unfortunately we had to stay aboard the ship. As a result, will be missing our scheduled stop in Gdańsk, Poland on Saturday. Friday we will be in Tallin, Estonia. That’s it for St. Petersburg.
Today we signed up for a tour of Porvoo a medieval village located on the mouth of the Provoo River on the Baltic Sea. The town has a population of about 700. On our way to Porvoo we drove through Helsinki. With it’s 640,000 inhabitants, the city comprises 20% of Finland’s population. The country itself is bilingual with both Swedish and Finish taught in the school. 70% of the population is Lutheran. About 99% of the students attend public schools which are free; for many years Finland’s school were considered to be first in the world. The country has a national army; all boys must serve 6-8 months in the military or in civil service. Taxes in Finland range from 0-48% on a graduated scale based on income. For that the people get free education including free tuition to college and graduate schools, a graduated scale for child care up to the age of 6, free health care, and infrastructure.
I loved the little town of Porvoo. Situated along the Porvoo River, the wooden houses and the boats along the river looked so peaceful. I tried to take pictures and keep up with our tour guide, which was no easy feat. I think the pictures will explain what I mean.
Old wooden houses like the original ones dating back to the 1200’s.Old church in Porvoo.Cafe where we went for coffee.
In the town square, we had some time to browse the shops. I had fun in the chocolate shop which had free samples of their many different selections. They were all yummy! Next we went to a cafe for coffee and runeberg cake. The dessert is named after Finland’s famous poet, Johan Ludwig Runeberg. Legend has it that this was his favorite cake made by his wife. The cake and coffee were a great combination and Frank gladly finished my leftovers.
Frank sampling his Runeberg cake and coffee.
Going back to Helsinki for a tour of the city, we stopped at the square with the immense Helsinki Cathedral. While we were admiring the church, I noticed a lady taking her male companion’s picture in front of the church. I offered to take their picture. In doing so, she thanked me then took our picture. She spoke limited English, but shared that she and her brother were from Russia. When I explained that we were from the USA, she smiled brightly and gave me a big hug. “We friends. Governments no, but we want peace.” They left. A little while later, the two returned and we took pictures that included us together. We hugged again. It was a brief, but warm exchange between travelers from countries of very opposing ideologies. We also passed by the colorful market and the Presidential Palace before retuning to our ship. We were leaving port by 2:00 pm.
The Presidential Palace which is one of three palaces used by Finland’s president.Two huge ice breakers used in the Baltic in winter.
That evening we headed for the ship’s gormet specialty restaurant, the Chef’s Table. We didn’t know what to expect, but I was pretty sure that Frank was going to hate it. I was right! I didn’t care for the food either. I did like the palate cleanser which was like an iced sorbet and the dessert which reminded me of tarimusu.
Main course with baked cod inside some sort of crispy shell with a foam egg white topping. Frank’s face says it all.Our ship-the Viking Sun-launched in 2017-the 4th ship of 10 identical ships built for Viking Ocean Cruises.
All in all, we had a great time exploring in Finland today. More adventutures await us tomorrow as our ship sails on to St. Petersburg, Russia.
First on the agenda today was a panoramic tour of Stockholm. Our first stop was the Stockholm City Hall. It was an impressive brick building that was built in 1923, yet was made to look a lot older. It was hard to get a good picture because the building was so huge. In this building every year on December 10th the Nobel Prize banquet and a celebration ball is held for the honorees.
A picture taken in the city hall’s courtyard.
After our tour we stayed in Stockholm and walked to the VASA Museum. The Vasa is a Swedish warship that was built between 1626 and 1628. It sunk on its maiden voyage on August 10, 1628 after only going about 1,400 yards. After her bronze canons were salvaged, she laid submerged under mud and forgotten until was located again in the 1950’s. The ship was brought out of the water in 1961 largely intact. After restoration the vessel was moved to the Vasa museum and is now one of Sweden’s most popular tourist attractions.
Since the Vasa is so big, it was hard to get a good picture.
There were three stories to the museum. I found it interesting to see from models what the colors were like on the ship. The carving and the art work was very detailed. It amazed me that they put so much energy into the design of the ship. Maybe they should have worked harder on making sure she was seaworthy instead.
Here is a model showing the colorful carvings and decorations.“Fire in the hole” shouted Frank, covering his ears. Well, he is a former Navy man himself!???Boots, shoes, and a shoe form that were found inside the Vasa amazing largely in tact after being submerged for over 300 years. Sailors in those days made and repaired their own shoes.A typical dress of sailors in the early 1600’s. Sailors also sewed their own clothes.During those days the barber was also the doctor. He performed blood letting to help the sailors recover from their ailments. Pretty scary by our standards!
After the museum we wanted to hail a taxi back to our ship, The Viking Sun, which was leaving port at 2:30. I had read about taxis that rip you off in the Rick Steve’s tour book. I wrote down his suggestions on which taxi companies were legit. Our tour guide also gave us a card for the black Stockholm company, with specific instructions not to pay more than 375 krone. He also said the disreputable drivers wait for tourist outside the Vasa museum.
So I was ready. We walked up to the first cab. The prices are listed on the back window. Sure enough, the price was 495 kr for 10 kilometers. Not good, so I said never mind to the driver. We walked back to Gamla Stan, the old town. By this time it is getting to be around 1:15. I knew my traveling comrade was getting concerned. We didn’t see any more taxis for quite awhile. When we finally did, we flagged it down. Of course, it had 495 kr on its sign. Resigned to the fact that getting back to the ship was more important than finding a fair driver, I gave up and we jumped in. We got back to the ship in 20 minutes. Frank was very relieved. I double checked with one of our Viking travel guides, who confirmed that we had been taken. It brought back similar memories from our time in Amsterdam. We must be easy prey for taxi drivers! Using Uber is much more user friendly!
After a tasty meal in the World Cafe, we took in the captain’s welcome party and saw a introduction show with the Viking Sun’s entertainers. The four young singers are extremely talented and sang several popular selections. So we ended the day with a very pleasant and enjoyable evening.
Well, we are packed and ready to go. We are have a flight tonight from Philadelphia to London, then a second flight to Stockholm, Sweden. There we will embark on the Viking Sun for their 14 day Viking Homeland Cruise, doing many of the Baltic capitals and going to eight different countries with a three night extension to Iceland This will be a first for us. We will be away for 19 days. Not sure how our marriage will hold up, but I will certainly keep you posted.
The good news is we just found out that we got a free upgrade and will be in a Penthouse Deluxe Veranda Room. I read over the perks from what I read we will have a king size bed, alcohol replenished daily in our room refrigerator, and a free bottle of champagne when we board. ( Too bad we both hate champagne).
Our flight left Philadelphia at 8:45 pm. We flew to London arriving at 4 am. EST. Then onto Stockholm arriving at our time at 9am, their time 3 pm. Next we a 45 minute bus ride to our ship, the Viking Sun. On the way we passed farms. We saw bales of hay in the fields that were plastic wrapped. We also passed many business buildings. The architecture is very straight lines with most of the buildings in a rectangular shape. It reminded me of the simplistic style of IKEA.
Frank dutifully posing with a cart at Heathrow Airport.A poster on a wall at Heathrow Airport.Waiting at the gate for our flight to Stockholm. Dori encouraged, “Come on Frank, smile a little.” Frank’s comment: “I hate travel days!”Scene from our Penthouse Veranda Stateroom. Stockholm’s “Old Town” is across the water from our balcony.Isn’t our room spacious and comfy? It will be our home base for 14 days!
Although we were in port tonight, we were both pretty tired from traveling. We had a very leisure dinner with two other couples, both from Michigan, in the restaurant and called it a day. Tomorrow we are scheduled for panoramic tour of the city and I am we will be able to take in the VASA Ship and the History Museum on our own before we take sail at 2:30 pm for Helsinki. But more about that tomorrow. Goodnight!
Frank and I had one more day in Portland. Again both Kate and Dan went to work; we were on our own. After checking in for our Southwest flight the next day, I decided to make some phone calls. I had had trouble with my cell phone during our travels yesterday. I was not able to get on the internet. Now today I couldn’t even make a call. Calling 611 for AT&T customer care, I found out that our phone account has been turned off and was now an estate account!
I had called a week earlier to cancel one line on our plan. My uncle had passed away over the weekend and I called to cancel his line. Somehow instead of taking just his line off, our whole plan was closed. After quite a time on hold, the customer service representative said “I have reactivated your account. However, you need to go to an ATT store before they close today and show them two proofs of identification with a photo ID.”
I was NOT happy. It was their mistake and now I had to get myself to the nearest store to prove I was alive! Frank and I walked to an ATT about a mile and a quarter from Kate’s house. After spending another hour there with the sympathetic salesman Jay and again calling 611, our account was finally reactivated. I can’t wait to see what will happen when we get our next bill. What a hassle!
The rest of the day was a relaxing one. After supper we went to visit the goats. In Portland, a home owner is allowed to have three animals without applying for a permit. This particular home has three goats in its fenced yard.
Frank had never gotten to see the goats. I am pretty sure he was not as enthused about seeing them as we were to have him experience one more distinctly Portland activity. For a quarter you can get a handful of grain to feed these hungry animals. Kate had brought plenty of quarters. Frank participated thoroughly in this “kid experience”. After all, it’s not everyday that one gets a chance to feed such adorable looking billy goats!
The kids ate heartily. All three looked pregnant, but they simply had big bellies. Feeding these billy goats must be a very popular activity.
As our visit came to a close, we were glad we had the opportunity to spend time with daughter Kate and her boyfriend Dan. My scooter ride was the best. Frank’s favorite was our hike through the Lava Cast Forest. Thanks Kate and Dan for the great memories.
It was Sunday morning and time for more exploring. Kate announced that we were heading to the Lava Cast Forest, another site in the Newberry Monument area. What is a Lava Cast Forest? That what I was wondering as Kate drove us on a dirt road for miles before we finally got to the sign.
Yep, here we are at the Lava Cast Forest!
Some 7,000 years ago, the Newberry volcano erupted and here the lava spread over an old growth forest. For some reason the trees did not burn; the lava encased the trees. Over time the trees rotted away leaving molds or casts of the trees. It was also impressive to see trees and brushes growing in the lava rock, a very hostile environment. Many of the trees have twisted trunks which is an adaptation to increase water intake.
Kate illustrating the horizontal tree that once was here. I resisted the urge to be a fallen tree.Here Dan, Kate, and Frank are playing “Follow the Leader” through the interpretive trail.A twisted tree trunk within the Lava Cast Forest.Aren’t these wild flowers pretty?
Our next stop was Lava Butte which is a cinder cone that rises 500 feet above the lava bed ( in the foreground in the picture below) which goes on for nine square miles. We took a trail at the base of the butte that meandered through this moon-like terrain. Next we took a shuttle bus to the top of Lava Butte and walked around the crater.
A view of Lava Butte, a cinder cone left from an active volcano some 7,000 years ago.On the top of Lava Butte was a fire tower and the rim of the crater. There weren’t any great views of the mountains. It was smoky from the forest fires in southern Oregon.
Our next stop was at Clear Lake which is one of the clearest and coldest lakes in the Cascades. Some of us wanted to kayak. Kate had brought her foldable kayak so Frank and I watched in amazement as the two engineers in our foursome assembled the flat fiberglass into a seaworthy vessel. I was glad they didn’t ask me for help
Dan and I are on two rented kayaks. Isn’t the water a beautiful aqua color?
After kayaking, it was time to drive about two and a half hours back to Portland. Scarfy, Freddie and the five feathery hens were all happy to see us. After supper, Frank, Kate, and Dan worked on a 550 piece puzzle and almost had it completed before calling it a day. I kept fighting sleep as I tried to work on my blog. We had had a very busy weekend!
We also passed by the colorful market and the Presidential Palace before retuning to our ship. We were leaving port by 2:00 pm.
