PART 1. Lands of the Midnight Sun  

We had our family trip to the above areas for two weeks. Ours is a team of 10 persons including two of us, two sons, two daughter-in-laws, and four grandchildren aging from 19 to 8 and a half years olds.
Two of half a century celebrations were awaiting us including our wedding anniversary and arrival at this country which happened in 1967.
So we chose the travel time of midsummer of this year.
There were some discussion on where to visit, between the popular southern and the northern Europe, but finally it was decided for the north of Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Scotland and Dublin.
Terminology
Midnight sun: the sun above the horizon at midnight in the arctic or antarctic summer, first Known Use: 1787.

  Lands of Midnight Sun


PART 2. Pre-cruise tour at Reykjavik, Iceland  

We joined Jim, my younger son and his family, so on August 2, six of us departed JFK for Reykjavik, Iceland in the mid-afternoon, arriving there around the midnight.
We went to Centerhotel PLAZA for two nights’ stay. The next morning Henry, my older son, brought his family there in the late morning, so all ten of us gathered at the hotel, and a minibus with the driver was rented half a day long in the afternoon for the tour of Reykjavik.
First we visited Glaciers and Ice Cave, then huge collection of stones in the shore of opera house Reykjavik, the humble Presidential residence and finally the Blue Lagoon.
The next day on August 4, we walked around the downtown visiting some shops, and some memorials including the Church of Hallgrimur. In the early afternoon we all boarded the Windstar Cruise Ship for twelve day tour.
Please see the photos.

  Ice Cave


Collection of rocks around the Opera House Reykjavik


Presidential Residence


Blue Lagoon


Church of Hallgrimur
  PART 3. Shore Excursions  

During the next 12 days’ cruise, we met inclement weather with rain and high waves for 3 or 4 days afflicting us with nausea, dizziness and even vomiting, but during the rest of time it was pleasant with fairly calm sea. There were three hundred passengers and the atmosphere was good. While we were at the dinner tables and the ship departed Reykjavik harbor and continued to navigate without stopping on the second day, until it arrived at the next port in the morning of August 6.
We arrived at the first port, Torshavn, Denmark, and took our tour bus for excursion. Torshavn is the capital of Faroe Islands, which are an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark. Personally I noticed two things remarkable during the tour. First the steep mountains were covered by only grass or wild plants without any trees. Second there were many grass (sod) roofs mostly in rural log homes from the Scandinavian tradition.

  Torshavn and Faroe Islands

A Faroe Island


Climbing


Lake


Sod roof


Molde  

Following the next day at sea, we arrived at Molde, Norway on August 8, and started our tour in the morning. It shows a mild climate warmed by the distant Gulf Stream, and there was a well-known figure, Henrik Ibsen, the dramatist and its former citizen. It was a pleasant day for touring.

  Seashore village


Old relics at a hilltop


Flowers in a hill


Skyway


Geiranger  

The next morning on August 9, we arrived at Geiranger, Norway, a small tourist village lying in Stranda at the head of the Geirangerfjorden, a branch of the large Storfjorden. The nearest city is Alesund. Geiranger is home to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, having been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Seven Sisters waterfall is located just west of Geiranger, directly across another waterfall called “the Suitor”. This is by far the most exciting part of our cruise tour. Incidentally in this week from Tuesday August 8 to Friday 11, we had daily shore excursions.
Terminology
Storfjorden : (meaning "big fjord" in Norwegian) may refer to several places in Norway.

  Lucas and Chloe


I was standing at the waterfront


Enveloped in clouds


Year-round snow


High Peak


Seven Sisters Waterfall


Big waterfalls


Rugged ridges


Four grandchildren


Fjord: a narrow inlet of the sea between cliffs or steep slopes


Geirangerfjord


This is to be continued to the next website  
Kwan Ho Chung - September 9, 2017