Tomorrow (November 11) I’ll embark on the Hurtigruten Northern Lights cruise up the coast of Norway and far into the Arctic Circle. I’m excited and I’m scared. I’ve always wanted to see the Northern Lights and now it’s on the verge of happening. At the same time, I’m terrified of the arctic weather. I’ve stocked up with recommended cold-weather gear but I’m still afraid that my choices were inadequate.
I board at 12:30pm tomorrow from the port of Tilbury, about 20 miles east of London.
I chose Hurtigruten not only because it has a 130-year history of Norwegian travel and promises a free future cruise if we don’t see the Northern lights, but because they top the list of cruise lines in terms of sustainability.
Here’s our anticipated route.
Our home for the next few weeks: the MS Maude.
And here’s where I am!
We met the Captain, the department heads, and the expedition team last night. My favorite will likely be the professional photographer, who can get far better Northern Lights photos than I can, and will likely capture moments I’ll miss.
This lanyard is essential wear for the next two weeks. It opens my cabin door, pays for any on-board purchases, and acts as my boarding pass when I want to get back on the ship after an excursion.
I usually travel with the Osprey bag and the gray backpack on the left. For the Norwegian cruise, I had to add the dufflebag to hold my cold-weather gear.
And here’s a guided tour of my cabin on board the MS Maude.
They issued each of us one of these red Helly Hansen expedition jackets. We need to wear them whenever we’re crossing the water between our ship and the land so we can be seen if someone falls overboard.
Our first stop on the cruise (on our second day) was in the Dutch city of Scheveningen. We never could learn how to pronounce it correctly!
We each received a piece of Dutch chocolate as we disembarked in Scheveningen (The Hague) this morning. It has an image of Vermeer’s “Girl With Pearl Earring” on top.
Scheveningen started out as a fishing village. Flag Day (typically early June) marks the beginning of herring season, and boats decorate themselves in flags before heading out to sea. There’s an entire Herring Festival to celebrate the beginning of the herring run.
The Fisherman’s Wife in Scheveningen eternally looks out for her loved ones to return. The poem at the base translates as:
THE SEA, WHICH CONTINUES TAKING
WILL ONE DAY GIVE BACK
ALL WHO NEVER RETURNED
TO HIM WHO ESCAPED FIRST
THE LORD OF WIND AND WATER
TO CHRIST THE VICTOR
Scheveningen may be unknown to most Americans, but it’s a popular beach resort in the Netherlands, sporting some 11km of coastline. Unfortunately, climate change is contributing to sand erosion, and the Netherlands spends millions of euros each year on sand replenishment.
Beach shack scene.
Bicycles are super-popular in the Netherlands, and that includes beach visits. I saw a colorful group of young men riding home carrying their surfboards but didn’t move fast enough to get a better picture. I thought the guys were carrying their surfboards in one hand while steering with the other, but this guy appears to have outfitted his bike with a surfboard rack.
You can tell this is a popular beach resort with all these candy machines! The store’s name is Mr. Sam Mini-Mart, which may explain the array of American offerings like Lucky Charms.
I counted at least four lighthouses while walking around Scheveningen yesterday. This is just one of them.
The coat of arms for Scheveningen has three herrings topped with three crowns. You see it everywhere around town.
And here’s a stained glass version.
I saw this guy in the natural history section of Scheveningen’s local museum. The Google translation of his Dutch name just came out as “Dragon Cub”. Can you guess what he is?
Here’s a clue:
Yep, the “dragon cub” is a ray!
To summarize: the first full day of the cruise was a busy one. We had our walking tour of Scheveningen (Netherlands) in the morning.
After lunch and a little break, we had an information session on citizen science (ways to participate include a cetaceans project, iNaturalist, capturing plankton, and observing clouds for a NASA climate change study). We just got the highlights of each of those topics today; there will be more details on each in the next few days.
I attended a get-together for solo travelers, during which I became acquainted with a lady from Belgium and another from England. The three of us had a nice long dinner together amid discussions of life in our respective countries.
There was a presentation on Norwegian history from the Vikings on forward. The presenter was Norwegian (as are a large number of the crew) and he was quite humorous in his story-telling. One anecdote was about the Battle of Trollfjord, which is pictured below.
For centuries, local fishermen used open row boats for the seasonal cod harvest. By the late 19th century, however, powerful steamships were being used by wealthy companies and crowding out the locals. Things came to a head in March 1890, when the steamships attempted to block access to Trollfjord with a rope across the narrow entrance. The local fishermen retaliated by attacking the steamships with axes and tools, a modern-day David vs Goliath story. The battle has been immortalized in Norwegian paintings and a novel. The painting shown above is The Battle of Trollfjord by Gunnar Berg.
Speaking of stories, our bedtime story was one from Norse mythology about the Death of Baldur. Baldur was the son of Odin and Frigg. After experiencing a number of troubling dreams, Odin sought out a seer, who foretold Baldur’s early death.
Frigg, naturally, wanted to protect her son. She traveled across the world, extracting oaths from all the animals and plants not to harm Baldur. Unfortunately, she missed one – the innocent-looking mistletoe.
Loki is a trickster god. For reasons that were never stated, he created a dart out of the mistletoe. Then, he convinced Baldur’s blind brother, Höðr, to join in a game of throwing objects at Baldur. Most of these bounced off Baldur harmlessly – they had all sworn an oath not to harm him, after all. But Loki guided Höðr’s hand and the mistletoe dart killed Baldur.
Such a nice bedtime story!
Some pretty good swells this afternoon, lots of jokes about “how much have you been drinking?” as we stagger along. Handrails are our friends. Crossing the North Sea between the Netherlands and Norway is no joke.
The best time to see the Northern Lights is between September and March when the nights are long and dark. Hurtigruten offers several cruises during which you can expect to see the Northern Lights: the Coastal Express and the North Cape Line.