When the World was Pristine

Let's go back in time, far, far back in time. We'll pick one spot on the globe, Norway, and trace our way back to the world when it was pristine and still. Are you ready to join me?

 We begin at the end of June 2014 at the beautiful Geirangerfjord. We know we are still in our present time from the modern ships that sit in the harbor.  

We quickly go back two centuries to the 1880s. We are waiting for our sea captain husband to come home.This is Old Bergen, a fascinating village of Nineteenth Century wooden houses and shops in Bergen, Norway.   

The centuries are now going fast and we are in the Thirteenth Century in Haakon's Hall. Norway's first complete set of laws was drawn up here. 

Time is moving faster and faster back and in a blink we are now at the beginning of time, when the world was pristine and quiet. 

There was only sky and sea and the fall of water... 

...When the World Was Pristine

I'm joining Castles, Crowns and Cottages for a fabulous tour around Europe. We're going to have a wonderful time and you're invited. Please join this blog travel adventure. I've just discovered Castles, Crowns and Cottages and it's a beautiful blog to visit. 

Thanks for going back to the beginning of time with me. Today has been a sorrowful day and I'm thankful to step back to a time when the world was pristine and still. 

Faroe Islands Foodie Friday

We're going far, far away for our Foodie Friday this week to the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands are a chain of islands west of Scotland and halfway between Iceland and Norway. It is an "autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark." One of the things I most enjoyed about this trip was traveling to places I'd never visited before and in the case of the Faroe Islands, knew very little. The islands are beautiful and people I traveled with said that the Islands looked very much like the coasts of Scotland and Ireland.

One of my favorite parts of the entire trip was a boat ride to the Vestmanna Bird Cliffs. We sailed thorough grottos and saw the nesting places of sea birds. The scenery was fabulous. 

I spent the rest of my visit in Torshavn, the major port city of the islands. I took a lot of pictures of houses with traditional grass roofs.  

I also visited a mall in Torshavn. I enjoy seeing markets around the world and the Faroe Islands didn't disappoint me. There was a great supermarket and I was taken with this refrigerator case with assorted fish products. A major industry in the islands is fishing. Usually my Foodie Fridays focus around ice cream or bakeries, but I thought this made an interesting foodie contribution. 

I hope you've enjoyed our Foodie Friday from the Faroes. How's that for alliteration! 

I'm pretty much back to my regular routine now, sleeping better and I'm all unpacked. I've been on the subway a few times and there's nothing like a subway ride at rush hour to remind me I'm not on vacation anymore.  I took a number of "pink" pictures and I'll be sharing them tomorrow for Pink Saturday fun from Iceland and Norway.

As always, thanks for visiting and take good care. Wishes for a great weekend and prayers for peace.

Today I'm Sixty-Four

Some people may see this title as a shameless ploy for comments -- I might be one of them -- or just an homage to one of my favorite songs by the Beatles, "When I'm Sixty-Four." The song has been in my mind for a blog post title for months, and today, my friends, I am 64. I get to share my birthday with #RingoStarr and I am happy to give Ringo, who happily is still going strong, a birthday shout-out. Happy birthday, Ringo, and here's to many more years that we will share our birth day. Happy and healthy!

I'm home from my travels, and happy to report that my luggage decided to come home, too. I'm slowly unpacking and contemplating the mountain of laundry that is waiting for me. Yes, even on birthdays, there is laundry, if I want to have something to wear when I'm sixty-four. There was also grocery shopping first thing this morning and later this afternoon there will be a few errands, first of which will be taking my ailing iPad to the Apple Store. My body is still on Dublin time and though I woke up at my usual time, just before eight o'clock. But it was eight a.m. in Dublin and, unfortunately, three a.m. here. I'm hoping to make it awake to nine tonight and get myself back on a New York schedule.

I've been an inconstant blogger and it feels good to be back at the computer blogging away. I'm going to share pictures of the trip in no special order. My mind is also back in Dublin and that's where I'm going to start today. I had long wanted to visit Dublin -- maybe forty years -- and see the Book of Kells, and it more than lived up to my expectations. What I didn't expect was the beauty of the Trinity College Library, where the manuscript is housed. I felt as though I'd walked into a scene in Harry Potter, but it wasn't a film.

Trinity College Library, Dublin, founded by Queen Elizabeth I

This is the Ha'penny Bridge, one of the bridges that connects the North and South areas of Dublin, divided by the River Liffey. I was so lucky to be there at twilight. The toll for the bridge was once a ha'penny.

Sunset at Christ Church Cathedral

I had a wonderful long weekend in Dublin. Besides my visit to Trinity College, I visited the Dublin Castle, the Beatty Library and its extraordinary manuscript collection and the National Gallery of Ireland. But I also just enjoyed the city, wandering down medieval and Georgian streets and snapping lots of pictures. It was everything I'd hoped for and I'm already thinking about a return trip to see more of Ireland. 

The laundry calls. Thanks so much, blogger buddies, for sharing my trip, and as always for your friendship. I am a very lucky sixty-four year old and I don't feel a day over sixty-three. 

In Dublin's Fair City

The travel whirl is almost over. I'm beginning to pack for my flight home tomorrow. Dublin has been great, with so much to see. One of my travel dreams has been to see Trinity College and the medieval manuscript, The Book of Kells.  I was there first thing this morning and the experience lived up to my expectations.

Back to familiar places and friends, grocery shopping and bed making and regular blogging. I love to travel, but it's good to come home. Next stop, New York City.

Greetings from Reykjavik

Enjoying my visit to Iceland very much. We've gotten two warm and mostly sunny days and it's great sight-seeing weather. Yesterday we explored geysers and the lava fields and today I'm in Reykjavik, a charming city.

Back to the ship soon and then we leave for Shetland. After that I'll be seeing the fjords of Norway.

As ever, thanks for visiting and have a great weekend.

Down to the Sea in Ships

I'm looking out the window on the ship watching water and waves. The sea blissfully is calm and I am enjoying the trip immensely.

There is one little hitch. Somehow the password on my iPad is stuck and my iPad has been declared disabled. This makes blogging from the ship with photos undoable. I may be able to blog from my phone when we're in port, but I'm not sure how available wi-fi will be. I've been so enjoying keeping in touch and keeping a record of the trip. It's not to be.

I had also downloaded a number of books and was looking forward to catching up on my reading. I can read on my phone, but I've also quickly reverted to the more old-fashioned method and am reading a novel about Margaret Tudor by Jean Plaidy, "The Thistle and the Rose." I've also picked up a mystery in the library by Elly Griffiths, which looks very good, too.

Two or three years ago this wouldn't have been an issue, but now I am disappointed. But the sea is calm, the sky is a bright blue and I'm off to some of the best scenery in the world. I promise to share it all with you when I'm home.

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care.    

Oh to Be in England Foodie Friday

I had the easiest set of flights I've had in years and arrived right on time in London. Aer Lingus -- the Irish airline -- did very well. It was almost like flying in days gone by. There was a snack, dinner and a nice choice of movies and television shows. I started with "Game of Thrones, " which I'd never watched and lasted about three minutes. I switched to "House of Cards" and watched five episodes in a row, which made the flight go by very quickly. I'm actually looking forward to the flight home from Dublin when I will watch five more episodes. "House of Cards" looks at a fictional congressman and is equally completely absorbing and a completely depressing. 

My room won't be ready for another while and I'm down the street from the hotel at Caffe Nero, a very pleasant coffee house, enjoying iced coffee, a croissant and free Wi-Fi. It's a very pleasant 74 degrees, not a whit of humidity, and I'm enjoying the moment immensely. 

I hope you're enjoying the moments of today, too. As always thanks for visiting and have a fabulous Friday.

Next Stop, Dublin

I'm at JFK Airport. I'm checked in and I've gone through security. I've even had a snack. But I've got another hour or so to boarding. I'm going to have plenty of time to read on the flight. So what does a blogger do? Blog!

I have to admit I was a little anxious this morning. I'm flying by myself and I change planes in Dublin. I've done a lot of planning, but I also know all the things that can go awry. So here's a prayer for safe flights and my luggage meeting me in London.

I'm hoping to blog often and share my adventures. Next stop is Dublin, tomorrow morning. Thanks for traveling with me.