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Sitting here at home, looking out at the rain,  I can't believe how lucky we were with the weather in Norway and Shetland. Apart from the first day and a half at sea when it was wet most of the time, we have hardly seen a cloud let alone a spot of rain. The temperature has been more Mediterranean than Scandinavian and we needed sun tan lotion everyday.

The downside, if you can call it that, is we have been up and about taking in the wonderful scenery from dusk till dawn. As that means about 18hrs a day we are all knackered and need a relaxing holiday. Rosemary Fitbit shows she has walked 32 miles and mine shows average of 12,400 steps per day for the last 10 days.

I have until it stops raining to tweak this blog and make an album from the 430 photos so I don't forget our 50th wedding anniversary. Now there is grass to mow and hedge to cut when the sun comes out again. At least that will help shift the pounds we have put on from all the excellent food and wine we have enjoyed.
Big thank you to Mark and Katie and Christina for organising the golden bunting and attire for our big day and contributing to a memorable holiday.

Flying Home

The surprise hamper.

We had the full Irish breakfast in the hotel before taking a taxi to the airport. We all just managed to get in with some luggage on our knees.

Our Ryanair flight was delayed while it was cleaned and Marks flight, which was later than ours in any case, was delayed even longer.

When we arrived home just before 5 o'clock we were greeted by Jacky with a lovely 'thank you' gift from Mark and Katie and Christina, a Fortnum and Masons hamper.

Dublin City

Katie was the first to leave the ship as she was flying straight back to Gatwick. We disembarked Celebrity Eclipse at 9:20 and took the shuttle bus to Merrion Square, then walked to our overnight hotel, The Schoolhouse, which is by the canal. Its still sunny and warm so we are sitting on the patio wondering what to do next, if anything! It really is a nice little hotel in a restored school house.
We eventually decided to take a walk back to Temple Bar via Trinity College and the local canal for some site seeing, lunch and a glass of Guinness. On the return journey Rosemary and Christina bought some quality souvenirs from the Kilkenny House shop.
A good way to round off the  holiday, all we need now is to catch up on some sleep before we fly home tomorrow.

Over the sea to Skye and Dublin

Mark doing his bit of glass blowing

We awoke to another luvely day and we are at sea all day. Breakfast time we were passing a few miles off Skye. We were on Skye this time last year in our motorhome.
Calm seas but a little cloudy and breezy all the way down the Scottish coast. We had breakfast in main restaurant, as Mark and Katie like to start  their day with the Eggs Benedict. We watched Mark do some glass blowing on the top deck, which resulted in having a nice chunky vase to take home. After a hectic few days we all just chilled on balconies, around pools or in our rooms, meeting occasionally for coffees. Only one more dinner and sleep. We are on the 9:20 shuttle to Dublin city, Katie flies home tomorrow.

Shetland Isles

Mark trying to spot the Eclipse

A smooth crossing from Norway to Shetland and tendering to shore using the lifeboats in Lerwick, was the order of the day. We ignored the advice to wear warm clothes and we soon realised our mistake as there was a cold breeze on shore. Fortunately Mark was on a later tender and was able to bring us some fleeces. However the sun came out by midday and it was soon warm again. We walked around to Knab Head, wild life spotting and saw seals just off shore and masses of wild flowers. Back in Lerwick we visited the Charlotte Fort, not a lot to see, then shared some great takeaway fish and chips from Harrys chippy.
We were back on board via tender in time for a doze on the sunny balcony before cocktails and dinner in Sonata after a really nice day on shore.
I booked a hotel in Dublin with TripAdvisor for our final night using the Shetlands 4G before we left Lerwick.

Alesund Wedding Anniversary

The fishermans wife statue

Today is the day of our 50th wedding anniversary so the children arranged for the stateroom to be decorated with balloons and banners. We opened all the cards whilst sipping champagne mimosas and nibbling chocolate  coated strawberries for breakfast. We had cruised the short distance to Alesund for a day in the coastal town that was destroyed by fire in 1903 and rebuilt with German financial support. We walked ashore around the harbour area, browsed the shops and had a nice el fresco sea food lunch (except Mark had a pizza). Its amazing hot weather again, it could be a Mediterranean cruise.

We were treated to another gourmet dinner on board later, this time in the French style Murano restaurant. Needless to say a birthday cake also appeared with a moving speech by the maitre de. We were in time for most of the resident theatre show, Amade, followed by an Eva Cassidy tribute in the show lounge from the talented Passion Duo, then an early night.

Geiranger

The seven sisters from our balcony

We all woke up late, after 9am,  with low cloud and mist which soon cleared as we cruised further into the fjord. Now it's another warm and clear day with the waterfalls and patches of snow sparkling on the rocky sides of the fjord. We are due to dock at 13:00 so another 2 hours of scenery to go.
The Eclipse did its 360 turn between the famous seven sisters and suitor waterfalls, to gasps from our American friends. We walked off the ship and then climbed the 400+ steps beside the waterfall to the Norwegian fjord centre. We caught the HOHO bus with Katie to the Flyfalsjuvet view point high above the fjord for a different photo opportunity while Mark and Christina walked back down to the shore. We found them having a cool beer in a bar and I joined them while Katie and Rosemary did a bit of souvenir hunting.
Back on board for coffees and the sail away into the sunset and another perfect day in Norway.

Before we left I went back on shore and downloaded 4 days of the Daily Mail for Rosemary and backed up some of my photos using the Tourist bureau WiFi. Dinner was in the Sonata restaurant again, the food is excellent.

Skjolden

The mountains beyond Skjolden. 

Skjolden is at the end of the longest and deepest fjord in Europe and has a population of just 200 people. We were all awake before sunrise to take in the scenic cruise, some more awake than others. Spectacular, perfect weather again for a few hours strolling around the small Norwegian village. Walked beside the river to the lama farm and had a drink by the water watching the RIB tours come back. After lunch back on the ship we all caught up with some lost sleep ready for dinner at Qsine later.

We had an invitation to go to the helipad at the bow for the evening sailaway with the officers and a glass or two of champagne and a unique view of the ffjord. We had a good view of the high Feigefossen waterfall from the bow as we sailed by. 

The meal in Qsine was different with some very tasty fish fishes but there is just too much choice and we ordered too much food. Rosemary had to eat 6 french trimmed lamb chops! They were delicious apparently. Then it was back to our cabin for the reverse cruise to Geiranger over night.

Norway - no way.

Oh no, not the ships photographer again!!!

Bergen

It looks like the ship will hit the bridge!

We were not due in port until 13:00 so a lie in with coffee while Eclipse makes its way to the Norwegian coast. It's a much brighter day with 20deg forecast in Bergen and the clouds thinning as we approached the coast. Access to port is under the 62 metre high Askoy bridge which Eclipse just manages to sneak under with a clearance of only about 4 feet (according to Google).
When we docked the weather in Bergen was warm and sunny. We had to queue for about 40mins to go up Mt Floyen on the funicular for the views and take photos of the goats.
I had an expensive ice cream at the cafe and then it was back down to the fish market. Mark and Christina walked down different ways and Mark overshot the rendezvous point.  We went back to the fish market and had a delicious sharing platter of fresh shell fish including king crab and lobster with a cod and salmon kebab.

Sea Day

Looking down to central lobby

It rained all day for our first day heading north between the inner and outer Hebrides so not a lot of Scottish scenery. But time enough to explore the inside of the Eclipse. I listened to a Norway presentation while Katie, Mark and Rosemary did the kitchen tour and Christina slept in. We all met up for a late lunch in the Seaview cafe and then an exciting  afternoon Bingo session which prepared us for a nap before dinner. It was a smart dress day so we decided to rendezvous in the Sky lounge on deck 15 for cocktails suitably smart while Rosemary had WhatsApp conversation with Jen. The 8:30 fixed dining seemed to work well for us last night, we had a six person table 264 and the waiters were good fun, so we decided to stick to it rather than go 'anytime' dining.

We managed to catch a glimpse of Skye and Cape Wrath in  the murk before dinner. Another fine meal in Moonlight Sonata, rack of lamb and duck were both excellent and we rounded off the day in the Martini bar.

Departure Day

We were all relying on Ryanair

Our taxi arrived 30 mins early so we were at Birmingham in plenty of time for our flight to Dublin. Mark and Christina were first to arrive from Luton at 8:15, we arrived at 9:30 and Katie was last having been delayed till 12:30. Well done Ryanair. We had breakfast while we waited for Katie and then we went directly to the port in a people carrier.
We were checked in straight away and sitting in Café al Bacio drinking our first caramel machiatto etc. in next to no time. Our state rooms were ready so we were soon able to dump all our stuff and go to the cafe for lunch.

We are all next to each other in sunset balcony cabins (state rooms) 6307,6309 and 6311. We had a welcome rest before the ship left at 5:00pm. We had a fixed dining table reserved for 8:30 dinner which we decided to use instead of flexible dining for the rest of the week. It gave us time to see the first show, Rock City.  By now it was dull and wet and we retired early to catch up with our 18 hour day.

10 more sleeps

Yes, only 10 days before we embark in Dublin on the Celebrity Eclipse to cruise the Norwegian Fjords.