Portimao

Our last port in Portugal on our tour «Migrating south», was Portimao.

After visiting the large and busy city of Lisbon, to come to this small town, was really different.

Many of our passengers had a relaxing day walking around in the small streets in town. Some enjoyed swimming, sun-bathing or a drink at the beach «Praia da Rocha», not far away from our pier.

There were also excursions for those who wanted to see more of the Algarve area. The excursions

« Scenic Western Algarve», «Jeep Countryside Adventure» and «Carvoeiro & Portimao Museum» were carried out in the morning before lunch.

We have now left Portimao, and tomorrow we will be on a new continent!  

A wonderful day in the capital of Portugal

The Monument of Discoveries could easily be seen as we were proceeding Lisbon this morning. Many of the passengers of MV Fram also went back to take a better look on this landmark on the bank of the river Tagus, after leaving the ship for the day. This sunday there was a big bicycle-race in the area, which made some trouble for the buses. But on foot, there was no problem.

Lisbon has a lot of places of interest, and today you could meet people from the ship all over the city: In the Monestary, the Cathedral, the Basilica de Estrela, the Tile museum, in the narrow and steep streets of Alfama, on the trams, on the funicular and in the city centre.

Even outside Lisbon, in the Tagus Estuary Nature Reserve, a group of our passengers could be seen bird-watching.

We are now really feeling that we are in the South of Europe: Nice, warm and sunny. Just what many of us have longed for...

Leixoes, Porto and Guimaraes

We are in Portugal! 

Early this morning we moored in Leixoes, Portougal. But the ship clocks had been set back by one hour, so that meant 1 hour MORE to sleep. A nice start of the day for everyone. Unfortunately, our gangway seemed to" sleep" a little bit longer than usual also, it would not open, and we had to wait for some time before we could leave the ship.

What to do in Leixoes? Being here, we had different options: Some stayed in Leixoes, and took a walk around the harbour, or maybe enjoyed the nice beach. Some went on an excursion to Guimares, one of Portugals most historical cities.

Others went to Porto, either on their own or on a city tour, - combined with a river cruise on the river Douro..

..and a visit to a port wine cellar. Skål!

The Bay of Biscay

The Bay of Biscay was a nice experience. We have all heard of the terrible storms which can occur here, but we were lucky and had good weather. A bit cloudy, not much wind or wawes and a nice temperature.Who could ask for more? A perfect day for a rest, either on deck or inside the ship.

The passengers had an opportunity to learn more about glass facades of A Coruna, the Portuguese seafarers way around Africa, the Bay of Biscay, the art of the Iberian Peninsula and about our day tomorrow.

The fresh waffles served in the Panorama Lounge, were popular as always...

Now our sea-day comes to an end. Everyone have had their dinner, served by this enthusiastic crew!

Myles is playing the piano in the Panorama lounge, and films are shown in our lecture halls. Tomorrow at 8.00 o'clock we will be in A Coruna, Spain.

Nantes

Nantes is the 6^th largest city in France and is «The European green capital 2013». Visiting Nantes, we can understand that this lively city was awarded by the European Commision for its efforts to reduce pollution, for its public transport system and for its many green spaces and efforts to protect the nature in the city. This picture shows a public apple tree - free for everyone in the city to eat as many apples they want.... 

The Great Elephant is not a part of the modern public transport system of the city. But the 12 m high mechanical animal can walk, and has a speed of 1 – 3 km/h. When the majestic animal goes out for its walk, the 50 passengers on board embark on an amazing journey on the Ile de Nantes.

Since we ported 4 km from the city centre and the Cathedral, there were shuttle buses reserved for Fram-passengers. These buses passed «The Great Elephant», and it was a possibility to get off the bus and meet the elephant.

Nearly half of our passengers attended to the excursion «Nantes, cruise on the River Erdre» in the morning. We enjoyed a panoramic city tour in Nantes before our cruise on the river. Watching all the birds, the boats, the houses and castles was nice and relaxing in the sunny weather. 

Enjoy!

Yesterday we could see dolphines following our ship .Hilde Foss, our photographer, took these photographs of "jumping" dolphines. It seems like they are enjoying themselves... 

The "viking-dancers" who were dancing in the Observation Lounge later in the evening did not jump that high. But as you can see, they are also enjoying themselves. Tone and Klaus from the expedition team sang old viking songs, dressed up in viking costumes. Also other members of the expedition team and the crew wore viking clothes.  Together with some passengers - the brave ones - they all danced a "viking"-dance while sailing towards Nantes... 

A day at sea

This morning many of our passengers visited the bridge to meet the captain of MV Fram, Arild Hårvik.

This was our 7. day on this tour. Since this was a sea-day, there were several lectures on different topics: The Keltic world, Gothic style, the Cathedral in Nantes,Whales, Dohphins and fish and also how to take good photographs. The vikingstory «Kråkamål» and briefings on our next city, Nantes, were also offered in our lecture-halls.

It was real nice to be outside and enjoy the fresh air, the sun and even look at the dolphins which followed our ship from time to time during our day.

Real fashion!

Have you ever wanted to know how it looks, the original swim-suit of the great polar hero, Mr Fritjof Nansen? 

The fashion show of MV Fram gave the answer. On this picture,from the "grand final" of the show,
even two copies of his white and blue swim-suit was to be seen. But of course, not only this. The expedition team and members of the crew showed sweaters, raincoats, T-shirts and more, all from our shop at Fram. Thanks to Aurea, this tours shopassistant, and Corrina, our great confransier. No doubt, our shop will soon be full of customers, after this wonderful show...

 

Leaving Rouen

We have now just left Rouen, the capital of Normandy, after staying here nearly 24 hours.

 

Even though Rouen is the third largest port in France, it is 120 km from the sea. So now we start on our long way back on the river Seine, towards the sea again.

 

 

Most of our passengers visited the charming old center of the city – some by participating on our excursion Rouen City tour. Both William the Conquer and Joan of Arc died in this town, which Victor Hugo called «the city of a hundred spires». The most impressing of all: The Cathedral of Notre -Dame.

 

The change between low and high tide is dramatic here in Rouen. It forms a tidal bore, which is a large movement of water formed by the funneling of the incoming tide into the river. In due to this, our gangway – which was meant to be open all night for passengers wanting to discover the nigthlife of Rouen or Paris – had to be closed in one hour the time around midnight.

 

Early this morning, there was an excursion to Giverny and the Monet Museum. Who would not have wished to own such a wonderful garden as  the French Impressionist Claude Monet?

 

A calm sea day

Day 4 of our «migration south» we enjoyed the calm sea on our sailing from Hamburg towards Rouen. The toughest ones put on their warm clothes and sat on deck.

Others listened to one or even more of the 8 different lectures which were presented during the day by the expedition team. This was the opportunity to get to learn more about the seabirds in the North Atlantic, Impressionism, the viking woman Aud the Deepminded, the Cathedral of Rouen and about cartography. And of course: There were port-presentations in german, english and scandinavian. Rouen, here we come!

Our day at sea is soon coming to an end. Just now, at 9.00 p.m. we have passed the Strait of Dover.

This strait is at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea. The shortest distance across the strait is only 34 kilometres. If we had passed the strait during daytime, we might have seen the famous «White Cliffs of Dover». But, unfortunately, it is now really dark outside...

Hamburg, at last!

 

At 11.15 a.m we finally reached Hamburg, the green city by the river Elbe. Hamburg is not only Germany's largest sea port, but also one af the largest harbours of the world, although it is almost 120 kilometres from the sea.

 

129 of our passengers left us here after a «mini-cruise» crossing the North sea. But there were also new passengers boarding MS Fram here in Hamburg. When we left the city at 15.00 p.m there were 178 passengers aboard the ship.

 

Our stay in Hamburg became a pretty short one. But the passengers who embarked MS Fram in Bergen could take a walk around for a couple of hours and feel the atmosphere of this beautiful city. Some participated on our tour «Best of Hamburg».

 

One of the stops on the tour was the Town Hall:  A splendid sand stone building with 647 rooms ( we
dit not have time to see all of them..)

 

Another stop was St. Michaelis Kirche.

 

In the end it was time to board MS Fram again. We are now sailing towards Rouen, France.