PART 3. Shore Excursions to continue

Alesund  

We had a brief city sightseeing and then were dropped at the Aquarium, and fortunately the guide stayed with four of us including our youngest company, Lucas and Chloe. She gave very good explanation to the children during the tour of Aquarium. Alesund was voted the most beautiful town in Norway. Unfortunately the weather was not good with rain and wind. The other six members went for Kayaking, but there was some kind of accident, capsizing of the kayak without any bodily injury. So when we joined at the ship, some of them were resting in the cabin. It has to be accepted fortunate in avoiding any injury.

  Alesund village


Entrance to Aquarium


View 1


View 2


View 3


View 4


Bergen  

Bergen, Norway is an old city established on the west coast before 1,070 AD. Bryggen, the remaining quays, is a World Heritage Site. We had good time at the famous Fish Market and ate our lunch at a restaurant there. A group of ten people means a big deal to be accommodated at a table, but none there seemed to mind making an unusually large table since it meant considerably larger bill than one or two guests. It was raining on and off, but our spirits weren’t dampened. We braved light rains after lunch and strolled in the streets of this seaport.

  Fish Market 1


Fish Market 2


Fish Market 3


Dock 1


Dock 2


Dock 3


Crowded market


Pedestrian walk


Strolling


Wooded Residence


Kirkwall and Stromness, Scotland  

After the next day at sea, we arrived at the final destination of our tour, Kirkwall and Stromness, Scotland, the former being the capital and the latter the second city of the Orkney Islands,Scotland in the morning of Sunday, August 13.
We and Henry’s family were in Stromness while Jim’s family in Kirkwall. It is a small, ancient, maritime village with population of only 2,190 residents, having been made a Burgh of Barony in 1817.
We strolled in the village through Main Street, which was joined by steep downgrade alley from Khyber Pass from a hill. By the way, does “Khyber Pass” ring a bell? I immediately questioned the tour guide, “Do you mean this Khyber Pass was borrowed from the famous Khyber Pass which many world conquerors such as Alexander the great (I was mistaken), Darius the first, Genghis Khan, and other military leaders, had passed through in the southern border of Afghanistan?” She apparently and unexpectedly seems overwhelmed by my sudden quote and agreed to its being borrowed from there.
We also visited the village museum, spending almost half a day before we were taken back to the Cruise by the tour bus.
The landscape showed smooth rolling meadow with low hills, used as pastures for cows and lambs. It showed nice, rural, pastoral scenery and enjoyable atmosphere.

  Public parking at Stromness


Main Street


Alley to Waterfront


Khyber Pass


Khyber Pass Downhill


Ancient boat preserved


Museum


Bookstore


Pasture wet on rain


Black cattle


PART 4: Return to America  

There was one more day at sea after Scotland tour on Monday August 14 while heading for Dublin, Ireland. We arrived at the Dublin harbor early in the morning of Tuesday August 15, after breakfast at the restaurant, we disembarked, picked our luggage, and took a bus for the airport. In the early afternoon we took off on United Airlines for Newark Airport, arrived at least half an hour earlier than expectation, and took a taxicab. After a brief stop at Chelsea apartment, we went to the Hampton home, where we stayed until August 24, and then finally came home in the evening after 25 days’ absence. We needed rest at home badly. This was our best family trip. Here are two photos showing all our family.

  Barbecue dinner


All in the family


Belatedly Darcy was found missing in this picture, presumably she went downstairs to pick up another dish. I decided to insert a picture of herself taken during the excursion.

Darcy


Orkney Islands


Morning rain


Irish shore


Dublin Harbor


Part 5. Pre- and Post-Tour Trivia

Pre-tour visit  

Sometime before our trip, I had an occasion to read some interesting article, “David Haskell speaks for the trees” in the Journal of New Yorkers. Haskell is a professor of Biology and Environmental studies at the University of South. Following is the quote from the article, “The previous occasion he visited, he and his girlfriend, Katie Lehman, were traveling by car to Maine from Sewanee, Tennessee, where Haskell is a professor of biology and environmental studies at the University of the South. They parked on the street, made their way to this corner, and proceeded to loiter, since there’s nowhere to sit. It was late in the day. Trucks and buses barreled down Broadway. Sirens wailed. Pedestrians flowed past the tree, faces in their phones, while below ground the Seventh Avenue Express hammered by. The tree’s fallen white blossoms whirled in the evening gusts, and dis­carded wads of gum littered the dirt at the base of its trunk. For an hour and a half Haskell watched. He listened. Then he and Lehman got back in their car and drove to Maine.”
This was only the beginning. On further reading, I found it very interesting, informative, even illuminating. One has to read the entire article to understand him fully.
It was about a Chinese flowering pear tree located at the northwest corner of 86th Street and Broadway on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and so I decided to visit this place and and the tree personally on my visit to my son’s apartment at Chelsea, Manhattan.
We went there on Monday July 31 to join Jim’s family for the family trip, and in the morning the next day I visited the very spot to see the tree, and took some photos, and came back. Please see Prof. Haskell’s photos and mine. I am satisfied at my visit there, and want to go there again at the spring flowering season. The next day we left JFK Airport for Reykjavik, Iceland on Iceland airlines.
Reference: https://www.outsideonline.com/2167116/david-haskell-speaks-trees

  David Haskell and Chinese pear tree


Kwan Chung next to the pear tree


Leafy August Pear Tree


Majestic Pear Tree


Post-tour Hampton Home  

We arrived at the Southampton home in late evening of Tuesday of August 15, and returned to our lake home on Thursday August 24. Next day I went out and saw a hydrangea tree in full bloom, an overgrown bush next to it, and a hydrangea sapling between these two growths. I had trimmed many dead branches of the tree, and tried to straighten the stalk of the little one. These were done a year ago, but it was amazing to see these changes.

Children went to a local summer camp on weekdays. There was a big day for children to be brought to a city park starting late afternoon. We brought pizzas and drinks for outdoor supper. It was a great day for youngsters.

Now we badly needed long rest at home with complete relaxation. Indeed there is no place like home!

  2016 Hydrangea tree on the left and 2017 one on the right
…

2016 Hydrangea sapling on the left and 2017 sapling on the right
…

Outdoor supper


Under the flag


Children’s party getting late

  Kwan Ho Chung – September 9, 2017