“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 14, 15, & 16

Thursday, February 3rd, 2022, Friday, February 4th, 2022 & Saturday, February 5th, 2022

Today we slept in because we weren’t going to Lerwick, Shetland Islands. The nasty weather that hit the east coast of the United States was now coming across the ocean.

Water falls from the melting of the snow!

We went to the front of the ship to read and also walked around the ship. When we look out the windows we can only see water and fog, no more beautiful mountains.

Late afternoon the ship began crossing the North Sea and heading toward London. The wind was blowing about 31 mph and the ship was swaying a little bit. We enjoyed visiting different places so we were rather bored with sailing today and then tomorrow too!

We also were given instructions for filling out the Passenger Locator Form for our arrival in Tilbury (London). We also would gain one hour, from six hours ahead to five hours ahead!

This evening was the farewell celebration even though we have one more day of sailing. They felt that if they did it tomorrow night people would be busy packing and wouldn’t attend the celebration. The captain spoke and champagne was served and refills were given! Tonight’s entertainment was “Stage & Screen- A Viking Venus Variety Show”.

Day 15, Friday, February 4th

This morning was our last time to do a saliva COVID test, health survey and temperature check! From this test, we would be given our results on an official paper so that we could enter England and fly home tomorrow!

Today was another day at sea heading toward England. Sunrise was at 7:51 AM and sunset was 4:37 PM. It was our longest day so far.

This afternoon Mr. Terence Murtagh, a guest lecturer on this cruise, gave a talk entitled, “Your Aurora, Your Experience”. He shared some of his photos and time-lapse photography of the Aurora Borealis that occurred during our cruise. He also shared some of the passenger photos that were sent to him. It was fun as he discussed the techniques of the photography and reviewed what causes the northern lights. He also shared a great site for those interested in aurora alerts, you can submit photos, and up to date information on the science related to the sun. It was spaceweather.com

Katie Healy, our cruise director, entertained us tonight with a variety of swing songs.

Day 16, Saturday, February 5th

We docked in Tilbury (London), England around 4:30 AM. For our disembarkation from the Viking Venus we were to meet in the atrium at 6:30 AM. When our color tag was called we disembarked from the ship and boarded our bus for Heathrow Airport. The sky was beautiful as we rode along.

As we checked in our luggage at Heathrow airport, the agent from United asked us if we wanted to fly on an earlier flight to Chicago. Our original itinerary had us flying from Heathrow to Washington, DC, then from there to Chicago, and then Chicago to Columbus. This change would eliminate one flight and get us in to Columbus about an hour earlier. We were happy to change our flights. The flight from London to Chicago left about two hours earlier! We had time to get through security and get to our gate and then it was time to board!

Snow was on the ground again as our flight got close to Chicago.

We arrived in Chicago on time. We went to Global Entry, claimed our luggage and went through security again to get to the gate for our flight to Columbus. We had time to catch a late lunch before boarding our last plane!

Our time in Norway was marvelous. Every port we visited we learned more about Norway and its people, customs, traditions, and history. And our highlight was seeing the Aurora Borealis! It was another memorable adventure!

We can’t wait for our next adventure!

“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 12 & 13

Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 and Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022

The sun was rising, 9:10 AM as we headed to Bodø!

It was beautiful scenery as we sailed this morning.

Today we were to dock in Bodø, Norway around noon. Unfortunately the captain decided the wind gusts at the pier were 20-30 mph and it wasn’t safe to dock! We could see the town but didn’t get to visit.

The town of Bodø and its surrounding fjord.

So the ship turned around and we headed south and we were at sea the rest of the day. The captain said they were looking for another port for tomorrow. We will be refunded for our excursions from Bodø. So the rest of the day we walked around the ship, enjoyed the views, and did a lot of reading!

The fjords were majestic and covered with snow. The day was a little longer. Sunset was at 3:22 PM.

This evening the Viking Singers did a show called “The Beatles Songbook”. It was fun to hear many of the Beatles’ hits. We also found out that the Excursion desk did find a port for tomorrow. We would be visiting Trondheim, Norway. The only excursion would be a tour of the town.

Day 13, Wednesday, February 2nd, we docked in Trondheim around 8:30 AM. Sunrise this morning was at 8:51 AM.

Since the ship anchored in the harbor we were tendered into Trondheim for our tour. This port replaces Bodø which we couldn’t dock at yesterday.

We were on the first tender to Trondheim. This was also the first time the Viking Venus had been to this city. Trondheim was located in the Trondheim fjord and at the mouth of the River Nidelva.

On our tour we stopped for a photo-op that looked over the city.

The population of Trondheim was 210,000. It was the 3rd largest municipality in Norway and the 4th largest urban area. The Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU) with 40,000 students was located in Trondheim.

The Old Town Bridge (Gamie Bybro) crossed over the Nidelva River and was originally constructed of wood and supported on three stone piers and was reconstructed in 1861. The bridge, Gamie Bybro, was also known as the Gate of Happiness!

We passed by the Royal Residence. It was the largest wooden palace in Scandinavia and was built during 1774-1778 by the widow and privy counsellor Cecilie Christine Schøller. Today it served as the official royal residence of Trondheim.

The oldest wharves along the River Nidelva dated back to the 18th century.

The island of Munkholmen was near our ship. It was originally named Nidarholm. It had many uses. During the Viking Age this island was where public executions here held, then it was a Benedictine monastery. Later it was reconstructed as a fort and then used as a prison. During WWII it was again used as a fort by the Germans. Today it’s a popular tourist attraction and recreation place for the residents of Trondheim.

Out last stop was the Nidaros Cathedral. The church was built over the grave of St. Olav, Norway’s patron saint. Most of the cathedral was in a Gothic style and was completed about 1300. In 1869 there was extensive renovations. Then a century later it was restored to its original state. The stained glass dated from the early 1900s.

Because Trondheim is a university town we saw their student society (Studentersamfundet). It was owned and run by its members, almost 9,000 students. It was their hub. Our guide told us their were plans to expand the student center.

Some sights as we toured Trondheim!

After our tour we read in the Explorer’s Lounge and our ship departed Trondheim around 4:00 PM.

The captain came on and said the weather was bad in the Shetland Islands which was our next port. Tomorrow instead of visiting Lerwick, Shetland Islands we will sail southerly along the Inside Passage of Norway. This evening’s entertainment was another show by Harry the Piano!

“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 11

Monday, January 31st, 2022

Since we got in early this morning it was difficult to get up and do our COVID test and get ready for our four and a half hour “Sommarøy Island Sojourn” excursion.

The sun was above the horizon today! This was a big deal for the residents of Tromsø who hadn’t seen the sun for several months. Our guide and bus driver were very excited.

On our way as we cross over the Tromsø Bridge.

It was a beautiful day for our drive. A white-tailed eagle flew by our bus! It was cool to see its majestic wing span. The mountains were snow-covered and sparkling from the sun!

Sommarøy was an old fishing village and it was known for its white sandy beaches but for us the beaches were also white but snow covered. The village had about 300 residents. This fishing village’s main produce was herring and was processed and packed in a state of the art processing plant where it was frozen for global export.

At the local hotel tea and waffles were served.

On our drive back from the island we went a different route and saw the Hâja which was the highest of the islands and rose 1,594 feet out of the water. It had the same shape as the Arctic Cathedral in Tromsø.

Looks like the shape of the Arctic Cathedral in Tromsø.

We came across a herd of reindeer and some of the native Sami people make their living from reindeer.

There were beautiful views along our ride back to the ship.

This evening the show was “Harry the Piano”. He was quite a performer and very enjoyable. He also took requests from the audience and would play a song in any style.

“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 10

Sunday, January 30th, 2022

Overnight we sailed toward Tromsø and docked before 8:00 AM.

Looking out over Balsfjorden, a fjord that is over 35 miles in length.

Tromsø has been called the “Paris of the North”! This is because of its lively atmosphere, varied nightlife, cultural activities, and restaurants abound. It is also the largest city within the Arctic Circle and is also considered to be another great location to view the Northern Lights.

This morning we had an included tour of Tromsø.

Our first stop was the planetarium on the Tromsø campus of the Arctic University of Norway and it was the first Norwegian planetarium open to the public. We went in and watched in the dome a movie from a photographer’s clips from his trips to watch and photograph the Northern Lights.

We passed by the Arctic Cathedral which was a Norway parish church and not actually a cathedral. Its construction was from concrete and metal.

The city also had an underground road system called the Tromsøysund Tunnel. It was an undersea highway tunnel and even had a roundabout! This road system connected the island of Tromsøya with the main suburb of Tromsdalen. Our bus driver took us in the tunnel and through the roundabout several times! The residents of the area have two ways to cross the water: the bridge and the tunnel.

Up a hill we stopped at a school where we had a great view of the town and surrounding area!

Even though it was dark, it was just a little after 3:00 PM, when we took a shuttle into Tromsø. There was snow all around but the sidewalks were perfectly dry and clear and that was because the sidewalks were heated.

In town we were able to visit two stores. The ship wanted to keep us in a bubble so the shops were closed to everyone except Viking passengers. We were given about 45 minutes to look around.

As we left the ship we saw a masked snowman created by some of the Viking Venus crew. There were many members of the crew that had never experienced snow!

This evening we went on an excursion called “Chasing the Northern Lights”. At first the aurora borealis was faint but given time it danced across the sky and put on a show for us. We were lucky to see them three nights in a row! We got back to the ship very early the next morning.

Watch the three videos below to see how the Northern Lights danced, changed and filled the night sky!

Northern Lights Movie 1

https://videopress.com/v/V1FSt8ZK?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Northern Lights Movie 2

https://videopress.com/v/DjE2KsD3?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Northern Lights Movie 3

Below are some of our favorite pictures from tonight’s views of the aurora borealis!