Northern Isles Cruise

I am such a lucky duck, while I was away from blogging I took two 2-week cruises. (So I was actually in distant lands for over a month of my not writing here!) In February I cruised from Miami through the Panama Canal and then up the west coast of Central America and Mexico, disembarking in Los Angeles. It was perfectly timed to get out of the cold and gloom and into sunny, hot parts of the world. Additionally I was fortunate to have Tena, one of my knitting buddies, join me. It will be a trip we talk about for years to come.

This post, however, will focus on the second cruise that embarked and disembarked in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was booked with Craft Cruises so although all the travel was with Holland America Lines, and one could take advantage of all HAL's excursions, Craft Cruises also booked excursions specifically designed for knitters. It was like a dream come true for me. On past travel adventures when I wanted to pick up some knitting souvenir I had to quickly sneak away from the group, make a snap decision and hope there was no lineup at the cashier. This time an entire excursion was designed to give knitters plenty of time to search, feel, ogle and then finally decide about a wool purchase. It was the epitome of perfect travel for me and Pam, another Canadian knit buddy.

Here was the itinerary.

It included two stops in Norway (Bergen and Alesund), four in Iceland (Seydisfjord, Akureyri, Isafjordur and Reykjavik, one at Torshavn on the Faroe Islands and Lerwick on the Shetland Islands. (And yes during the cruise I actually learned how to say these names.)

If you knit you know these places have a long and rich history in the wool industry and knitting. Getting to Lerwick for a knitter is like certain religious sects getting to Jerusalem; Shetland is well known around the world for its special wool and specific knitting designs. Iceland is known for its Lopi sheep, oh I could go on and on, but suffice it to say I was very excited to get to these places. (Not to mention about every 10th person I told about this trip had either already been to Iceland or was soon planning to get there.)

The temperatures were just about perfect for this July trip. Although Copenhagen, Bergen and Alesund were very hot, like 80-85 degrees (29 C), the remainder of the trip was in the low to mid 60 degrees (18 C). It was perfect weather for walking around or hopping on and off a bus. And this was July, one can only image how wet, dreary and cold the weather might be in, say, January. But then two gals from Vancouver, BC, Canada might be pretty good at guessing what it would be.

Here's a few photo highlights to give you a taste of what we saw.

Bergen Fish Market

11:30 pm looking out our partially obstructed view

Seydisfjord, Iceland, a city of 700 (the ship held 2,000)

Iceland has geysers not far from Reykjavik

Zuiderdam, our home away from home

On the deck, note the toque, scarf, gloves and layers under the coat

Faroe Islands sheep

To prove I made it to Lerwick

The famous Textile Museum in Lerwick

It was very hard to pick so few pictures from the hundreds I took. You might have noticed the lack of bright sun and the layers of clothing. It was indeed a really cool trip, (pun intended) especially for someone who enjoys all sorts of wooly things.

My only souvenirs were a few skeins of Icelandic Lopi yarn, a couple of single patterns and a Shetland book of patterns. I do have quite a stash to contend with at the moment so yarn was kept to a minimum. Coming back home was a treat because Mike and Mara were so happy to see me, but this will be a trip I remember for a long time to come. Pam, thanks for joining me on this memorable adventure.

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