ProseKnitic – of Words und Wolle

It was a bracing 3*C as we started sailing up the Fjord to Longyearbyen

It is easy to see the remains of the former coal mining operation

As a large number of the mountains on the way in were just plan flattened on top with some veins of coal still visible from the side

It wasn’t that far from the harbour to town. Town being about 2000 souls with the main industry of polar region research followed closely by tourism involving about 30,000 visitors a year.

The town itself was almost completely rebuilt in the 1970s when the coal industry failed and the Norwegian government elected to change it from an almost completely “mans” company town to a normal family complete location to include schools and a health care facility.

We wandered around, saw the small but excellent Svabald Museum, found coffee but were unable to get wifi.

Made it back to the ship with plenty of time to spare.

And yes, the water is cold here as well.

After all, what would you expect at 79* North anyway?

We crossed the arctic circle about 2330 last evening which meant that it was light all night long. Completely overcast, it felt Luke the ship was sailing under a dome of milky glass with diffuse light coming from all directions.

Marty, who organised our expedition today had even managed to get us all priority tender tickets so we were on the first boat to shore. Our van and driver were there to meet us so we were on our way.

We drove all sling the shore line of this and two other islands, made a museum and gallery stop then ended at the Viking museum.

Heading along the single lane coastal road.

The midtour stop


And yes, that is a small beach and the water was quite cold.

the route.

and the ship

Celebrity Constellation

Cruise Itinerary

Please note, this is a knitting paradise cruise. Not only can I visit yarn stores in Norway, but there are a lot of sea days on which to knit. And, if I am completely insane, I can always go to the scrapbooking classes.

Train travel in Europe is normally problemloss and hassle free. You show up at the station, board your train, take your seat and ride comfortably till you arrive promptly at your destination.

And am not sure what happened yesterday but it might have been me jinxing the whole thing even before I left home. I ran a quick double check and thought I had everything. A double check showed that I was one credit card short. As it happens, it was the UBS chip/pin card which is probably the most useful one that I own to have while traveling in Europe. I clearly remember having it last night so I know that it is in the house somewhere rather than completely lost and needing reporting.

The hike to the train station was comfortable and taking me only about 5 minutes longer than usual considering that my backpack is not exactly the lightest thing in the world. The homeless camp along the route was tucked safely under the overpass and was complete with three rather scruffy guys, their camp stove and popup single man tents over mattresses. Think they are settled in for the long run?

Anyway – back to the trains. I should have known something was up when first the train was a few minutes late rolling into Heidelberg and secondly reversed from what was on the signs.

[diversion here - On every platform there are big signs that list the EC/IC/ICE trains with the car numbers and the layout so you can find your car for your seat reservation most easily. When the electric overhead sign comes on, there is also normally a plat which shows the relative location of the 1st and 2nd class cars. It is highly irritating when you are standing at "A" and your car shows up at "E" which is the far end of the platform]

Since this was a physically short train I managed to get on the right car in the first place. I didn’t think about the delay till we were almost at Mainz and now 20 minutes behind. At that point I looked at my ticket to find that I had 10 minutes to make my train change in Düsseldorf. Backpack, suitcase and two sets of stairs? Not going to happen.

From Mainz we headed north along the river. The scenery was beautiful tho obvious the river was still flooded. The hills are green, the towns sparkling and castles scattered like marbles along the tops of most high hills to defend their territories since medieval times.

along the river

Did I mention we were delayed? Just before Köln the conductor came on to explain that, due to the delays the train was no longer stopping in Düsseldorf so that if you were thinking about going to Amsterdam it would be a good idea to get off in Köln to catch the ICE128 which was no longer going to stop in Düsseldorf. Ok – I can do that.

Oh, and by the way – there is a platform change….. OK, I can manage that as well.

Change trains to what turns out to be the train I was supposed have taken in Düsseldorf. We are now almost an hour behind. Once again there is a conductor announcement. This time in Dutch, German and English that announces all of the delays are due to power problems somewhere along the time. Oh, and this train is no longer continuing to Amsterdam but will end in Utrecht where everyone is going to need to change trains.

Did I mention that I am supposed to be meeting Carmen at Schipol somewhere in the Burger King seating and that I no way to contact her. Meeting time? 1345 and it is now 1400…. I have been sending off email updates on a regular basis but have no clue as to whether or not she has managed to get on line – I kind of doubt with the lack of reply.

The change at Utrecht goes smoothly and it is almost 1500 when I take the escalator up to the central portion of Schipol (which has to be one of the largest train station/aiport/shopping malls in Europe). Almost asleep, Carmen is sitting wearily in the seating area.

From Schipol we take the train to the Central Station (crowding in with the herd that is milling around with suitcases also bound in the same direction. And then there are all the lovely people with bicycles which seem to be a right rather than a privilege and always allowed on the trains regardless of commuter times or number of passengers).

The Maritime Museum

Tall ship in the harbor

Our accommodation is one of the houseboats in the Harbor at NEMO. Where we have an incredibly tiny cheap cabin with bunk beds. It just large enough that two people can stand up at the same time but not with suitcases.

just couldn’t resist and it was close

After a simple dinner out, I manage to Skype in for a board call and then crash exhausted.

Oh, that credit card? It didn’t get left behind after all which I discovered last night when undressing. I had tucked it into my left shoe so that I would be sure to find it.

There must be something totally and completely wrong. It is 1800 and I am organized.

Organized as in packed and ready to leave for the train station in the morning. I have all the documents that I need printed out. My suitcase is packed. My backpack is packed. Laundry obviously has been totally and completely finished and I have even found all the cables I need. (and now you know why there were no photos in yesterdays post… something about needing a way to get them from the camera into the computer.

camera, check. Knitting, check. Clothes? Oh yah, need those too

So to be sure – this is my suitcase, a jacket for the trip and the camera backpack. The bottom half contains my 5D and four lenses, the top half knitting projects! I am being conservative. I have the edging on two shawls to finish and then brought yarn for a couple of scarves.

Tomorrow it is off by train to Amsterdam where I will find Carmen at Schipol. We are then going on an adventure to the harbor to 1) find our hotel for the night and 2) find the Constellation the next day and go visit the land of the midnight sun. Full details in the post of the 13th

Almost, but not quite the end station on the two car connector train, the only thing that stops this particular Ludwigshafen from being eminently forgettable is its location on the Germeny [nothern] side of the Bodensee. That is Lake Constance to all of you English (and variant) speakers.

all the trails in the area

The harbor used to be a major port of commerce, from whence came the name. The decades and centuries rolled on and this town would have been completely left behind were it not for two fortuitous things – the first is its location at the head of numerous hiking and biking trails making it a mecca for those wishing to enjoy nature away from main roads and the second is the optical industry. For whatever reason, industrial optics have found this area a small center of intellectual development and success.

The town has several good hotels: we are staying at the Seehotel which means that I can look out the balcony and see the boats, the tracks and the new swimming pool under construction. Not 100 meters away is the city hall, home to an interesting bas relief by Peter Lenk. It is obvious that there is both history and a sense of humor since I can’t help but believe that some of the models might just have been local.

right panel

Center Panel

left panel

There is an extensive campgrounds with spaces to rent, trailers with extensions and popups to rent, full support buildings as well as a wide range of boats available in addition to a launch-it-yourself dock. The bird sanctuary is fairly well known but I was unable to hike there due to flooding of the walking path. Made up for it with the local swans and some lovely smelling flower beds.

as far as the eye can see

Oh, really?

and in the city call fountain

It is a really lovely place to visit but I couldn’t live here. No decent yarn store!

Now, if you are on a run of the mill cruise ship, you better remember to bring your own umbrella in case of rain.

fun but sensible from Naples

If you travel on the high end, such as Crystal, there is an umbrella in every cabin (wait! doesn’t that sound like a campaign? A chicken in every pot and an umbrella in every closet?) because you obviously need the ship to provide what your household servants would take care of on home turf.

The Seehotel is likely in the midrange – modern looking and outfitted in light scandinavian with the obligate wellness center, sauna and amenities. The TV is flat screen, the small display of mini-bar features mineral water (with gas of course), several different kinds of snack food and a one-person size bottle of 2011 Hagnauer Spaetburgunder Rotwein (Baden-Bodensee). Which, in case you are interested constitutes 0.25l of 12.5% alcohol in a brown labeled bottle with green screw top.

The umbrella is orange in its magnificence and is very unlikely to be either used or taken home by anyone.

bright yes?

I am sitting on the terrace listening to the quite noisy birds and enjoying the evening’s good weather. Not so earlier this afternoon when, in spite of blue skies and the rare fluffy white cloud, this cloud parked itself over our heads at RED and let fly with a downpour.

Sheets and a heavy pounding of rain enough to obscure drivers vision and encourage backwash onto the disgusted bicycle riders. Desperately trying to call home I was unable to reach George leaving me to imagine my drenched laundry drooping on the rack.

It was just luck, good fortune or the opportune placement of a few smokers this afternoon that had us sitting inside rather than out under the overhang. At first it had been only me sitting and wondering if I had once again failed to find the right place or just had the group willing to stand me up. By 1630 there were eight of us ( do I count the small howling one or not?). I was able to find a home for several paperback mysteries and sampled an excellent piece of cheesecake.

The rain lasted only about 20 minutes after which the air seemed clean and drops sparkled on the edges of all the outdoor cafe furniture that won’t likely be seeing use for the rest of the evening.

I am off to load more books into Bookcrossing and will drop them off on the way out of town tomorrow.

Haven’t done one of these in a while, so a couple of the current projects

the first is for a friend out in San Francisco

another hitchhiker

and this is one of two shawls started on the last cruise

Winter Fichu

the finishing issue is -

the 12 row knit on edging

As I sit here in the lunge just pst Gate 6 drinking a latte ( I have become inordinately found of such drinks and will have to under go a sharp weaning once I am home) I am just delighted to be out of the rain and cold.

The trip was interesting. I haven’t seen so many pearls, fancy watches or diamonds outside the Opera or charity balls. But then, I don’t belong to a country club and try to avoid the cocktail circuit at all costs.

I can see for some that this type of travel would be ideal and certainly I had excellent food and a wonderful cabin filled with light even without having a balcony (or veranda in some of the cruise lines vernacular). I can even understand the desire to haul out all the dress up clothes and “eat out” without the hassle of travel, strange restaurants and bad company. But it just doesn’t suit me to be swaddled all comfortable and cozy in my sheltered little corner of the universe without the reality of the peasants interfering. Any by this I don’t mean the crew. Most of them have worked on other lines and by far would rather be here, on salary and deal with the highly demanding customers (and yes, Bruce, I have to wonder as well when I heard someone complain that it actually took 15 minutes for someone to come and change the roll of toilet paper in their cabin’s bathroom). Maybe they are capable of toiletting by themselves like an oh-so-proud three year old but basic mundane tasks seem to be beneath their dignity.

Really examining my attitude I realize that a large portion of it has been formed by watching the actions of many of the solo female travelers who seem to be more demanding than either the couples or the few men traveling on their own. In the same way I get angry at well educated women who try to justify being stay-at-home moms (hello, why justify it? Just say that you want to and move on. No need to preach or act like it is the most noble thing in the world. It leads me to believe that you really didn’t like your profession in the first place which is more on me than you – but changing jobs/career fields doesn’t need explanation) who imply that they have incurred no obligation to anyone for their years of highly expensive education) I think less of women who treat those waiting on them/serving them as less than equal human beings. Just because someone works in the service industry doesn’t imply an allowance to be treated with anything less than dignity and respect.

The behavior itself is insidious. Why should I be upset if my favorite beverage is not in the mini-fridge? All I have to do is leave my cabin stewardess a note and she takes care of it. Complaining to everyone around me rather than fixing an issue? Anyway, if the worst that happens to an able bodied woman is that she has to take an elevator a couple of decks (walk? who them?) for a beverage, I can’t get all that excited.

Obviously I am not as over some of these irritating people as I thought. First cruise in forever that I have exchanged email addresses with absolutely no one.

From here I fly first to Oslo, then Frankfurt and get home this evening (couple more hours of time change thrown in there just for fun) which means that I am back to my normal life in the morning. I have to finish up a module for my FP boards, log in with Bookcrossing and drop off another few batches of books and think about cleaning.

Already I am thinking about what knitting to take on the next cruise.

Or lack there of.

It came to me this afternoon as I was walking down the halls that there was something lacking in the decoration scheme. Subdued carpeting, creamy walls and the occasional mirror. But there is no art on the walls in the cabin areas. None, not one item, nada.

Now admittedly you have heard me complain about Royal’s tendency to go overboard and the left over Hawaiian theme reflected on all the walls of the NCL Jade. But they at least have color and life. Here in the cabin I have two numbered prints. One is 75/150 and the other 145/150. It makes me wonder if the others of the series are somewhere else on the ship since it would have been so much easier to order, lets say – 100 of this and 45 of that – than to make hundreds of decisions.

Fascinated, I started to look at the whole ship. There are a few, again numbered, prints on the walls in three of the lounges. Understated, serious, art-like things and one abstract mid size next to the elevators on 5/6. But other than that – the ship is as pristine and art free as when she went into service in 1995.

The passengers don’t decorate doors either.

Now, I might think that some of the self-decorated cabin doors that I see on Celebrity, RCCL and NCL are a bit over the top, but it doesn’t seem unreasonable to me to want to do something that helps make you feel like an individual on a cruise. (that and it makes it much easier to find your own door in the long line up of identical staterooms stretching into infinity or 100 meters, which ever comes first.

But there are no birthday signs, anniversary signs; not even simple “leave me a note” set ups. Since the push button phones are old enough not to have a digit display, it is not like you are even going to know who you are calling or they can figure out where you are staying by enough random dialing.

Since there are Australians, New Yorkers, Floridians, on this cruise, I know that there might be a possibility of individualism or flamboyance out there, but I haven’t seen it. What I have had is several compliments from people walking down the hall who said they appreciated my holly fastened to the door clip since it helped them orient on the way to their cabins.

In 2010 when Noah and I went North along the Eastern Seaboard on the Costa Atlantica, the last landfall we made prior to Dover was in Sydney, Nova Scotia. There were a number of merchants set up with stands in the big open area of the cruise terminal (which I think also doubled as a shipping warehouse). One of them reminded me strongly of the Filk pushers at your average SciFi convention. Stacks and Racks of CDs with interesting names and even weirder covers featuring music and artists a bit out of the ordinary.

Music in Nova Scotia, traditional music that is, still holds tight to its Scottish roots. Fiddles are present but so are pipes. Of the six CDs I found, all but one were anthologies in order to be able to sample a variety of artits.

Newfoundland harkens back to Irish roots in the old world. High on the fiddle with a smidgen of French influence from the trappers transversing the area.

in recognition of the arts

I found two music peddlers – the first was Fred’s Records almost right across the street from the Fixed Cup where I first found wifi and coffee.

After my wander around town including out and back with the yarn store I mentioned yesterday – I found and O’Brien’s Music two doors down from Rocket Food and Bakery where I had a lovely bowl of curried cauliflower while writing this note.

So I now have a collection of CDs, primarily instrumental recommended in one of the two places which I can’t play till I get home!
The Empress – Dwayne Cote and Duane Andrews – mostly fiddle
Weaving the Wind – Ed Kavanagh – celtic harp
Sea of no Cares – Great Big Sea – mostly traditional and modern updates
Gavin Simms and the Garrison Hill Band (seems to be sea related material)

then also Fiddles and Reels – Newfoundland’s Anthology
Rufus Guinchard – Fathers of the Newfoundland Fiddle Vol 1
Vive La Rose – Emile Benoit – more fiddle.

I am back to the ship, so expect to hear from me live about the third in Reykjavik.

(and note today that I managed to remember the apostrophe?)

There are houses with bright colors -

and – at 238 Hamilton (which, despite what the website says is not really a short walk from the historic old town. Took me over 25 minutes and I walk fast….)

Wool Trends

which is an old converted house – multiple rooms upstairs and down, all stuffed to the gills with a huge variety of local, UK, EU and South American yarns

bright, cheerful and lots of choices

It is a good thing that I don’t need yarn, patterns or I might be tempting. I did pick up a great needle gauge…

entering the harbor

I had my day all planned out. Exit the ship, Hike off to the left and hit the skyways where there is both a lovely yarn shop and a number of cafes with WiFi. I even saw the small notice about the railway museum and wondered why I hadn’t seen it the last time even though I had done the historical train ride.

It wasn’t until this very slender, very Canadian older woman wheeled her red suitcase on board and set up a table with literature that it hit me. This is the other St Johns. I am not in New Brunswick, I am in Newfoundland (St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador -From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Not to be confused with Saint John, New Brunswick. Being the usual dyslexic, I didn’t even pay attention to the difference in names (Saint John, St John’s) which goes to show you.

John Cabot sailed into the Harbor in 1487, making it the oldest English established colony in the Americas. Officially claimed as an English Colony for Elizabeth I in 1583. Kind of puts the war of Independence in the 1770s into a better timeline perspective now doesn’t it?

classical buildings (the few that aren’t wooden…

So instead, I managed one of the four historical walks around town, spotting all sorts of fun which I will go explore once any of the stores are open.

in a shop window

meanwhile, there is this lovely cafe……

Today we are at sea and I am not paying $0.74/minute for connect fees. Yes, you read that correctly. Higher than any of the other most common three I sail. From he amount of time I see a few people connected, either they have unlimited funds or have sailed the line enough to have some benefits. Even looking at the “bargain” $300 package it is a bit much.

Tomorrow is St Johns and I will plate this post with some ships pictures. Seeing is believing..

On the positive side, Crystal more than matches Voyages of Discovery in enrichment programs. Besides the usual ballroom dance and bridge classes there are also a number of professors lecturing on various historical and political topics in addition to French, Watercolor and digital filmmaking (iPad – iMovie.app).

So why am I bored? There is really no one interesting to talk to and the other needleworks I have found so far are not looking for a sit and chat. The lectures are on the intellectual side (and nothing to do with the trip).

Oh, waaah – poor me….

I adore Halifax. This is about the third (fourth?) time I have been here off a ship. The first time was in 2010 with Noah as we did a transatlantic crossing on Costa Altantica. We hiked the city, went to the fort, saw the Maritime Museum and otherwise had a decent time.

Last fall when Carmen and I came through here I wandered the city, saw several other museums and otherwise enjoyed the nice weather.

Today, well we have sunshine for the first day since leaving home over a week ago.

So I am sitting in Uncommon Grounds, a lovely coffee shop with truly high speed wifi for a short time before taking a hike around the city. I wish I could say things were warm, but it is only 14° C today.  Still, walking in the sun feels great, especially when I have enough sense to stay out of the wind.

None the less, I am off to hike part of the city, enjoy the sun and not shop.  There is as ports rally to avoid, a Citadel to see again, a harbor to hike and a map store to explore.  With any luck I can manage to stay out of both the craft and yarn stores.   Music, now I could stand to find music….

The Ship

I am continuing with the good and the bad. Lattes – nothing wrong with lattes whenever or unlimited access to really decent shampoo, conditioner and a non-pay laundry room.
The downside – did I mention smokers? Perhaps it will change as the smoking population ages out, but right now there are still way too many smoking in their cabins and some of the lounges.

There were over 200 passengers who disembarked this morning.  I have the feeling that the ship is going to be even quieter for the next few days as I did not see a line up of passengers waiting to board.

Oh, yes. There is NO bingo. There is a marked absence of art auctions. There are zero unnecessary tranny announcements. Passenger clearance for going ashore, departure notice from the captain and a daily update. That is all. The cruise director is nice, efficient and doesn’t seem to be in live with hearing his voice over the speakers.

Always a balance, isn’t there?

Ok, so I have no ability what so ever to do accents.  But I can enjoy a return to the Trailhead Cafe sitting on a comfortable couch with the laptop plugged in and a carmel latte. It seems that well over 50% of the passengers are on one kind of a tour or another. Me, I am just regretting that we are here too late for the Acadia Birding Festival (30 May-2June) since the add features puffins….  The town itself has a population of about 5000 with a transition from fishing to tourism in progress. One of the good things is that most of the shops are locally owned and run (unlike Alaska).

Since the weather has been so lovely (not) I am going to break my “no shopping while traveling” rule and go look for a fleece pullover. I didn’t bring anything all that warm with me. Yes, I have some long sleeve shirts and a light weight jacket but there are limits to how many layers I want.

So wishing you a great day, sunshine and smooth seas.

Symphony

Maybe I should just stop commenting on the ship and passengers, but most of it is just too good to pass by. For example – most cruise lines do card making and scrapbooking as sea day crafts. Not so Crystal – they do needlepoint classes (and provide the kits – about 20 choices).

On the plus side – the food is fabulous. The Sushi area is a first come first served which means getting there at opening is a really good idea. The three chefs are master artists with prep and presentation. I have been more than happy to just say – fix me whatever – except eel. I don’t like eel.

Lounge space. Unlike many of the midrange ship lines, there are plenty of lounges with comfortable sofas and chairs. And I have to admit that I enjoy the ability to sit comfortably without feeling like I am taking the last chair in the ship. What you might also appreciate is the nicely but firmly worded reminder in the daily bulletin – here called Reflections – that certain lounges are cell phone free locations out of respect to fellow passengers. I just grinned on reading that. Limiting one’s ability to show off and impress everyone with importance? Right.

She sniffed as I passed her standing by the elevator. Elderly (isn’t it funny hoe ones perspective of age changes, especially when you go past 60? Anyway ….) Her inspection of my appearance made it obvious that I didn’t pass muster. Curious I reviewed the bidding; running shoes and socks – check, tights – check, long sleeve hooded top over exercise top – check, headphones and iPod. Yes, all present and accounted for. Admittedly the towel around my neck is not the most elegant of accessories but I had just spent the past hour in the gym. Perhaps it was my hair not properly coifed?

Anyway. I am developing the ability to just look through these biddies without registering either of our mutually disgusted opinions. She doesn’t approve of my sweating or appearance, I don’t care for her attitude or excessive of jewelry & perfume. I think it is a draw.

Meanwhile, this is Boston comeplete with cold and blowing wind which was probably not appreciated by the thousands turned out this morning for some race. The street barricades were just coming down as we drove from the cruise terminal to near Fanueil Hall.

The are no signs of th big dig which held downtown Boston hosts for years. Te roads don’t seem quite the same but that could just be my confusion. I am off in search of some polar fleece and an attitude adjustment!

We are anchoring today off Newport, Rhode Island from 0800 to 1400. The stay has been shorted by a couple of hours due to local “speed in the channel” regulations. It is a tender drill, one of two for the journey.

The Ship itself is the Crystal Symphony. It is one of two ships belonging to Crystal, a Japanese owned cruise line. At full capacity there are under 1000 passengers accommodated in ocean view or higher type cabins.  in It is one of those high end cruise lines comparable to Regents and Silver Seas. Or maybe not Silver Seas, given this particular population of passengers. I can see what the appeal is for certain portions of the population, but it is giving me the willies. There are those who are used to be catered to for everything. In the case of the men on the voyage, it is because they have spent their lives being Captains of Industry with secretaries and assistants their whole careers to do all their bidding while in the office and a wife who does the same at home. The women, not counting the elderly widows about whom I will discuss in a minute, are those who have always had household help, personal trainers and sent their well turned out offspring to private schools and named colleges. There are certain assumptions of behavior that I see when watching them. To them the staff is there at their beck and call but should otherwise be invisible. Heaven forbid that it should take more than 2 minutes to get a glass of wine or that someone else would get served first. Other than one when of them is holding forth on his own brilliance, this group is fairly well modulated in voice and behavior.

The elderly, wealthy widows are a different group. They spend their lives practically on the ships taking a world cruise every year with their fancy dresses, seven steamer trunks, and cruise line provided escorts for evening dancing. This is their life; having long outlived their husbands and (not to be too tacky) not having close ties to children, grandchildren etc or they wouldn’t be at sea for over 200 days a year.

Someone, please shoot me if I turn into one of those ladies.

The passengers as a group are highly demanding, extremely well dressed in that very expensive fashion name understated manner. This is not a group that wears knock-offs nor would they ever consider traveling without their watches and jewelry. Apparently the reception desk has to store the excess for numerous passengers where the room safe is not large enough.

Ok, I need to take a deep breath and accept the fact that I really don’t care how the lettuce is arranged in my salad bowl nor do I care to have someone hovering at my elbow. I will admit that the ship is extremely beautiful, well maintained and elegant. There is no shabby furniture nor are there worn places in the carpet.

It isn’t the staff’s fault that most of the passengers fly first class and are “very demanding.”  My cabin attendant was stunned when I inquired about what I could do to make her job easier. Apparently it is not a question that gets asked very often. But I don’t see why it should be such a big deal to turn on the little light for “make-up cabin” in the morning or evening. Not being much of a room service person, where to leave the dishes is not a concern for me (again, the magic “make up the cabin” light should suffice.

It is an interesting experience. It is not one that I can see myself ever willingly repeating. I am not comfortable being waited on to this extent. I don’t particularly feel entitled and don’t care for the attitude. Since I drink so seldom, the value of all inclusive on wines, alcohols and other beverages has little value to me. The specialty coffees are nice, but I can get that on my other cruise lines. What I also realized is that there are too many passengers reminiscent of some of my least favorite of George’s work associates.

Ok, enough whining out of me.  I found a lovely cafe (The People’s Cafe) with really high speed wifi and nice people. Shore can make up for a lot!

Hello? You may remember me – the queen of maximizing travel while minimizing expense. The woman who takes public transportation whenever possible over cabs. So what am I doing on a ship that can only be considered high end? Going to Iceland is only a partial explanation. The rest of it seems to relate to “it seemed like the thing to do at the time” when looking at my schedule. And there was a sale, can’t ignore that little bit. It is going to be interesting to see if the extra expense is justified in terms of food, service, quality. It is certainly not going to match on accommodations since, even on sale, an outside cabin here costs about the same as a goldcard suite on my normal cruise lines.

May 23, Thursday	New York City, New York, USA(overnight) »		Embark pm
May 24, Friday	New York City, New York, USA »		6 pm
May 25, Saturday	Newport, Rhode Island, USA »	8 am	2 pm
May 26, Sunday	Boston, Massachusetts, USA »	8 am	5 pm
May 27, Monday	Bar Harbor, Maine, USA »	8 am	5 pm
May 28, Tuesday	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada »	9 am	6 pm
May 29, Wednesday	Cruising the Atlantic Ocean  »
May 30, Thursday	St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada »	8 am	2 pm
May 31, Friday - Jun 2, Sunday	Cruising the North Atlantic Ocean  »
Jun 3, Monday	Reykjavík, Iceland (overnight) »	9 am
Jun 4, Tuesday	Reykjavík, Iceland »	Disembark am

What is going to be even more interesting for me is that I am traveling with a backpack and a carryon size suitcase. I have forgone the complicated cameras this trip in favor of a small powershot and a much lighter load. I thought about having cameras, then about all the train and other transportation changes I have to make. This should be a lot easier.

It was raining in Amsterdam early this morning (shall we just leave it at before 0500 in the morning) when I walked through the skyway from the Hilton to Schipol. Lufthansa check in was a breeze and they directed me to Lounge 26 which turned out to be heavy on coffee, pastries and booze with WiFi that was only marginally faster than what was available in the open airport.

It was raining in Frankfurt when we landed at the far end of nowhere. I still don’t know where on the airport the plane was parked but it certainly took forever for both the bus and the hike to A/Z for US stateside departures. There was barely enough time to down coffee at the Senataor lounge before heading to Z15 for what proved to be a not on time departure. Flight wasn’t bad, if you discount the high maintenance couple next to me (who on earth wears a fur coat on the airplane and then gets upset when the cabin attendant doesn’t want to hang it up? I mean really, )

I finished all but the edging on Tree-of-Life in Spring and started the next shawl in blacks and whites. Read a few books on the iPad and otherwise passed the time till arrival at JFK. The only positive thing I can say about clearing immigration at JFK is that it did not take as long as the last couple of times in Houston. Since both of those two experiences approached two hours in entertainment, that is probably not saying much.

What was completely unexpected was that customs was taking forever. Each of the two officers was actually speaking with each and every person. Since there were no working dogs in the vicinity, I have not a clue as to what they were looking for.

Did I mention that it was raining in NYC? I found the cruise line agent without two much difficulty. The poor guy had been there since 1215 (and it was now 14xx). After five phone calls, he found my transfer had been sitting outside since 1230. So there I was on my way.

Since Memorial Day is Monday, this turned out to be the start of the holiday weekend. Translates to completely insane traffic. Did I mention that it was raining? Pouring down rain which both lead to slower traffic and drenched pedestrians dodging between trucks and cars in an effort to get anywhere that din’t involve gallons of water descending from the skies. It took almost two hours to get to Pier 90. Since ship boarding had started at 1500, the area was almost deserted. I received more than a few astonished looks for not having more than a backpack and small wheeled suitcase.

I met Maus for dinner and happily handed over the backpack with her goodies which significantly reduced my luggage load. Since the rain had finally stopped, the walk both to the restaurant and back to the ship turned out to be lovely.

harbor at night

heading back to the ship

It should be very simple and obvious, right?

Anyway – The lecture this morning on the Dutch East India Company was fun and entertaining. It was mostly about one of the first ship/company surgeons as well as the incredible death rates among the basic sailors (one in three survived to return to home port….)

After a couple of other seminars, a visit with a friend from the SanAk days now a German Embassy Doc in Kenya (who as well has oversight for 14 other countries), coffee, lunch and more coffee I walked back to the hotel.

After collecting my luggage I found there was a free shuttle to the train station. Always better than a cab since it once again was raining and the idea of walking in the rain dragging luggage was not exactly thrilling.

The Netherlands train system is like Germany. There are clear yellow placards at all reasonable points with listings of time, trains and platforms. Standard platforms. And, as it turns out, there are also clear display screens in each train car so you know where you are, where the train is going, and – even better – the next stop.

As a result, taking the train to Utrecht, walking across the platform and boarding the train to Schipol was a breeze. Never mind that I still don’t understand why 7a is on the quay as 5b. It was at the airport that things got to be fun.

Schipol has turned into one large transportation complex. The trains are downstairs, the shopping area is obvious and the locations for taxis, buses and hotel shuttles are clearly signed. The hotel where I planned on staying is about 200 meters down from the complex which meant I was there in short order.

It was then that the fun began. Bright, noisy and full of people, there is only self check in at large computer screens. When entering my name, my reservation number and anything else I could imagine didn’t help I took a deep breath. A nice young man came over to assist. We looked over my reservation and spotted the problem. For whatever reason, my screen at HRS had not flipped to the correct date (or had flipped back and I just didn’t spot it). I did have a reservation for the 22nd. Unfortunately, it was not May 22.

Ouch.

My lovely young earinged man looked up hotel options in the area. Other than the Hilton and Sheraton, there was nothing else available at the airport. My flight takes off at 07xx in the morning. In order to make an 0635 boarding I want at least an hour at the airport. Staying anywhere else would add a morning cab fare of ~65E from downtown in addition to having to get up an hour earlier.

I went and checked into the Hilton. Connected by a skyway, albeit a long one, I stayed out of the rain and could count on a 10 minute walk in the morning. Free Wifi in the lobby didn’t hurt either.

Almost, but not quite makes up for, even with printing out the receipt, not noticing that April and May are two different months.

You would think after all the time I have lived in Europe I would have better sense. I even told you that I had managed to uncover, while cleaning up the bedroom and packing, the two lovely umbrellas purchased in Naples.

So explain to me why, in spite of the fact that it rained yesterday, I didn’t think to take one along today? Perhaps it was because it rained yesterday while I was inside the MECC and so missed the entire experience of rain in Maastricht. Seeing is believing. Since yesterday I neither saw nor experienced the rain I didn’t think of it this morning. All of this is the long explanation for why I wound up dashing the 1.5 km back to the hotel from the Convention Center.

The lectures today were interesting – topics ranging from malaria through immunization programs to pulmonary embolus risk after flights – all of which took second place in my concern compared to getting my new red leather jacket (from Istanbul) wet.

So may I just leave you with

An. atroporavus is perfectly happy indoors

One of the things that has delighted me over the years is the history of medicine lectures that start each morning at ISTM conferences. Usually presented by a fairly well know but local academic these have been relevant, entertaining and educational.

This conference is no different. Today’s topic, presented by Professor Hillen from the Netherlands is From House of God to Academic Hospital – a History of Medicine in Maastricht.

the original hospice – for taking care of the poor

I think most of us forget that “organized” delivery of care was since earliest times in western Europe, the right, responsibility and mission of religion and religious orders. Not being any different than other cities – Maastricht, with the original city being founded in Roman times saw early the establishment of hospices to care for the poor under the religious umbrella.

From there it is not much of either a physical or intellectual jump to see how care evolved through the centuries with areas being set outside the city walls both for leprosy and later for plague.

special clothing, not just scare, but to keep out the smells of the plague

From these humble beginnings developed one of the first guilds of barber surgeons, later medical schools in the region till today as a academic center. I have more pictures, but these were the ones that delighted me the most.

Tomorrow we will hear from Dr Marc Coosemans, a Belgian entomologist about the history of malaria in the region and we will finish on Wednesday morning with the History of the Dutch East India Company.

Much of the rest of today was taken up with more discussions on malaria, vaccines and fast and furious section on trauma and injury in travel.

When I registered for this conference it seemed to me I had two choices: travel on Saturday and use Sunday for look around and education or travel on Sunday and be rushed. Since this turned out to be the two week holiday for most of southern Germany, being smart about travel seemed wisest.

really shaggy sheep grazing

So here I am, registered, educated and fed. Not a bad deal.

The session I attended turned out to be extremely interesting. Titled Responsible Tourism the three speakers covered a fairly wide range of topics. The first discussed the economic impact of tourism for good and bad on the developing world ( with a strong aside about who actually makes money and how/why/what travel health professionals can accomplish. The idea of the human zoo comes to mind…. Visit a local tribe and see….

The second speaker, more than a little disorganised covered the two way street of disease impact on both travellers and local populations ( hint – the new world only furnished syphilis. The old world provided measles, mumps, chicken pox, smallpox, …..)

The final speaker was the most interesting and organised. She discussed the whole emerging money making field of volunteer tourism aka voluntourism . Specifically she discussed Gap years, short term feel good projects and the more than real negative impact that many of these program’s have. As a group we had a rousing discussion of the different segments of this population.

Even more fun was the opening ceremony complete with The Night Watch

The living Night Watch

And an excellent speaker who discussed what was really portrayed in many of the Old Dut h Master’s Paintings.

The lighter side of old Dutch Masters

I forgot to take pictures of the exquisite food preparation. You will just have to use your imagination.

It was just short of 2000 last night when I had a blinding flash of the obvious. I didn’t have to pack liquids in my suitcase. I was taking the train. Yes, I know that it should have been in my mind early on but you have to remember that I normally take the train to the airport so train in my mind is normally an intermediate form of transportation, not the definitive one. In this case it meant that I could toss my toothpaste, sunblock and hand lotion in my backpack without fear of loss at the first security point. What security point? I am taking the train. Or rather – trains.

Today I am headed to Maastricht in the Netherlands for the ISTM Conference on Travel Medicine (19-23 May).

Just in case you cared – by road it is 343 km which means Google maps estimates driving time around 3:10 ( I will spare you the 23 steps of the driving distance). By public transportation (now also there complete with numbers of changes) the estimate is around 5:19 from Google.

Heidelberg

Heidelberg Hbf

IC Train IC 2216 towards Stralsund Hbf

8:25am - 11:15am (2 hours 50 mins, 5 stops)

Köln Hbf

ICE High speed train ICE 16 towards Bruxelles-Midi

11:43am - 12:16pm (33 mins, 1 stop)

Aachen Hbf

RB Train RB 11912 towards Heerlen

12:32pm - 12:59pm (27 mins, 6 stops)

Landgraaf

Walk to Landgraaf

About 1 min (7 mins to make transfer)

Landgraaf (Platform 1)

Stoptrein Train towards Maastricht Randwyck

1:06pm - 1:44pm (38 mins, 10 stops)

Maastricht

Maastricht The Netherlands

This is what the Bahn had to say:

In actuality, it is going to take me slightly more than 6 hours because  I have to take an alternate method from Koln on since all the seats are sold out on ICE 16 and I need to take a regional instead.

obviously, I am over the border into Holland

It doesn’t bother me – I save money and enjoy the the Bummelbahns. Besides, it leaves me more time to knit.

Speaking of same – I finished the simple cotton scarf to go with one of the hats knit in March.

Allegedly the hotel has WiFi.

1600 Update

Yes the hotel has wifi – no charge! I am ensconced in a most comfortable room after having trucked across the city (ok, only 1,4 km) to get here. I am about to go out and wander around including finding some supper, but first wanted to finish up this note.  Now I have to just decide what is next on the project list for those between lecture times….

There are times where you can see life, specifically your life, changing around you gradually. Where you have come from is clear and where you are likely going to end up (not discussing choices now, just obvious directions).

And then there are those moments, perhaps but certainly not more than a few hours where everything permanently and radically changes. I went through that 18 years ago and everything has faded to the point where the information sits quietly in the background and only occasionally ambushed me. For others, that point is current and acutely painful causing a reexamination of life, plans and the future.

So it is for a colleague with whom I had lunch on Wednesday. I remember him from 2000 when I was stationed at the SanAk as a cheerful but serious, studious officer committed to both medicine and the military. His off time as a single person was devoted to travel, specifically to Thailand where he continued to work at several clinics which has been established during one of his deployments to the area. The last time he returned, he did so with the unexpected complication of a pulmonary embolus probably secondary to the the long plane flight.

Now as a person who rarely drank, never smoked and always lived his life in moderation, this was a serious change in his life and short term travel limits. Not to be outdone, about six months later within the space of 24 hours a small bit of upper back pain turned out to be a major evolving myocardial infarction. No family history, no nothing and not 60 till his next birthday.

What do you do when you are on your own, your cardiac function is now so low that you are being retired. Your daily regime includes more than 40 pills a day and your doctors have basically suggested that traveling more than an hour from a major medical center would be extremely stupid. Your plans of Thailand as a long term member of the clinic are gone. In fact, trekking and travel are pretty much gone.

My choices were much simpler not being in the “drop dead tomorrow without any notice” category. But given the choices I made 18 years ago, it is obvious that my thoughts tend toward quality over quantity. I am decidedly happy that I have my current health, my husband enjoys his job and my offspring are all busy with their lives.

So I travel, meet people, knit, read and write this blog on those days when I have internet connectivity. Multiple ways, I goes, to leave a little of oneself behind.

I have taken to walking to and from the train station whenever possible. With possible being defined as something other than pouring rain or so much luggage that my arms would hurt. According to Google Maps the distance is somewhere between 2.3-2.6 km (depending on a detour through the Cemetery) and a hike along a foot path.

When we first moved to this area of Heidelberg I never thought twice about walking this particular way, no matter the time or weather. Sometime in the last few years, that has changed.

I can’t say that there are trolls under the bridges that I walk by, that is a bit too simplistic and it implies something about people that I am not sure is true. My route takes me along a decent size street, across several intersections then parallel a four lane divided road. There are entrance ramps on the left side as I walk toward the train station. These ramps essentially form bridges. Rather than leave the pedestrians and bicyclists competing with heavy traffic, the well paved alternative veers under the bridges.

I counted four mattresses in the first section today and two in the second. Last winter there were literally more than a dozen people living there. On Monday, there was only one guy complete with sleeping bag, cart and bicycle sound asleep up against one of the pillars. Today, there were just sleeping bags and a small bit of trash.

I think that the both the Bahnhof mission (dedicated to helping the homeless, preferably the alcoholics) and the Politzei clear the place out regularly. Certainly there were no large piles of trash or horrible smells, just the sad detritus of those with no where else to go. Heidelberg doesn’t seem to have large numbers of homeless even though there seems to be a serious number of beggars on the Hauptstrasse on tourist days.

It certainly bears more thought than dealing with what turned out to be a ride on the Austrian Klangenfurt to Frankfurt run that came in late, was delayed by more problems and arrived in Heidelberg a considerable time after what had been planned.

The middle day of these conferences always seems never ending.  To top it off, the weather is cold and there is supposed to be a BBQ tonight. I am sure that you can just imagine how excited I am. Not.

In fact, it seems pretty much a given that I am skipping most of the social events. Since I am no longer in the situation that attending these kind of things constitutes mandatory fun – I see no reason why I should pay to attend something where there will be little to nothing I am willing to eat. Oh, yes, and beer – not particularly interested in that either.  Originally I was going to go and meet friends for dinner, but that has been postponed which leaves me an evening to myself.

I can’t say that I am disappointed after having spent the day first listening to a succession of gloom and doom scenarios for which various assorted detection, diagnosis, triage and treatment  ideas and protocols were put forward. I will admit to a certain bit of cynicism after working in the field for so many decades. Plus, I find a basic fallacy in everything that is proposed.

Please tell me how many of the terrorist attacks (Afghanistan, Boston, Twin Towers, you name it) have been single point events and how many have involved more than one nasty item.

Exactly. Unlike the bio-defense people who know that the most likely thing to happen is going to be more than point source, not instantly detected and a rapidly spreading problem – these lovely people are still happily in the “one oops” one time pinpoint release/explosion/meltdown/whatever mindset. I suspect that there is most likely much more intelligent planning going on somewhere behind classified doors to which, thank goodness, I am no longer privy.

So – with an evening to knit (grin)

the hat needed a matching scarf

For those of you not familiar with the military tendency to number buildings in large numerals rather than give them names, let me introduce you to the phenomenon.

Military installations may vary in size and complexity. The naming convention for a particular post may involve heroes, places, battles, famous people, depending on taste, time and tradition. But if you need to give someone directions or turn in a work order, using a name may just make it more difficult. If you number the buildings then there is absolutely no question of which building is under discussion. Numbers don’t change and each one is unique.

Further, on larger installations numbers run in sequences and batches. If you are standing in front of building 100 for example, the buildings in near proximity are going to have numbers higher or lower in the same sequence. This is not your usual street in Germany where on one side you have buildings 11, 13, 15 and 17 directly across the street from number 168. Instead, you can be fairly safely assured that Building 5 is going to be located between Buildings 4 & 6. If a building is big enough to have multiple entrances, it is common practice to name them …. A, B, C …..

Anyway, when I come to these conferences I always ask for billeting on the Casern. When I was active duty, it was just easier since force protection rules said no uniforms off post. And, since some of the times I came it was in permissive status, it was just easier not to have bills to pay. That is right, the German military doesn’t charge for barracks use for conferences. Now, since this is entirely out of my own pocket, I am more than happy to not have any more expenses than my train fare and a few Euros for meals in the mess hall.

Building 4 has rooms with private showers. Buildings 5 & 6 are your typical single room with sink. Showers and toilets are down the hall. These are not open (like field latrines and showers) so I am more than a happy camper. I’m not in a tent – what’s not to like? Free room, cheap board, 18 CME credits and getting to see old friends and colleagues. So staying in building 6 works for me. Especially since I even have a room on the ground floor!

Is not a person or misspelling. It is the new name of the Conference that runs every 1-2 years at the Sanitatsakademie der Bundeswehr. It used to be call A-Schutz meaning, more or less, radiation protection. Now, it is getting a bit more oriented toward preparedness and accident/incident response.

Anyway, I am headed to the train station on my way to Munich. I will have my iPhone. I will have my knitting and my iPad. I won’t have internet, so there is no point in taking the lap top. As I look outside, it might just have stopped raining which would be nice.

Don’t know how many umbrellas we have purchased over the years, but you think I can find even one when I need it?