Glenda Cook | FindPenguins

Christmas Markets
The Power and the Glory
December 10, 2025 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 45 °F
Note: Some of the photos accompanying this post were taken in 2014, when we were allowed to take photos inside the monastery and the main church.

Melk Abbey is a Benedictine monastery that has been praying daily for the world since the year 1089. A rebuilding program lasting for 40 years in the early eighteenth century has left us with a spectacularly beautiful baroque complex that houses a school, a library, a vineyard and a church whose beauty defies description. The rationalism of the late eighteenth century led to the closure of many monasteries whose only product was prayer. This cloister escaped the axe of Emperor Joseph II because it also produced wine, spices and educated students from its school.

The school is still here, and its 800 students from age 10 to 18 must still study theology. In our inclusive age, however, a student here need not be Roman Catholic. She can be Evangelical; he can even be Muslim.

Benedictines sing their prayers, and the 28 monks who still live here sing the daily office in a small chapel adjacent to the large Abbey Church. The noon service takes place in the big church, and the public is invited to worship with the brothers of the cloister.

The entire facility is magnificent. Many of the dormitory rooms were made for the family and court of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Maria Theresa, who was especially fond of Melk Abbey. For this reason, none of the residences along the 600 yards of corridors can be called shabby. Most are used now for offices. A marble dining room made for the use of the royal family still stands with moveable lunettes to allow guests to hear the music of a chamber orchestra during their meals.

The main church, a baroque masterpiece, beggars description. Marble and gold cover every surface from the high altar to the organ pipes up in the choir. A ceiling painted with images of clouds and angels could plausibly be described as a window into heaven.

And yet. . .

When I think of the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art, precious stones, precious metals, gold-covered reliquaries, liturgical vestments and golden jewel-studded chalices used here, I have to wonder whether the humble carpenter from Galilee would approve. I must wonder how many poor starving Austrians could have been fed had those resources been used differently. I must wonder about orphans who were compelled to a life of labor rather than education. Could the abbey’s extravagant resources have been used to relieve their suffering?

Possibly so, but when I see the beauty on display here, the meticulous care that prelates and craftsmen have given to the service of God in these buildings, the way the indescribable beauty of this abbey reflects the glory of God, I must finally conclude—I’m glad they built it.Read more
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Christmas Markets
Along the Danube
December 10, 2025 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F
Meandering down the Danube puts one in a pensive mood. As we travel west I remember that the bank to our left was part of the Roman empire. The bank to our right was controlled by the disorganized Germanic tribes that eventually defeated Rome.

Whatever may have happened in the past, today I am impressed with the beauty of the Danube. Hills that reach to the sky are covered with miles and miles of Riesling grape vineyards. Spiking up into the heavens are the ruins of old castles that formed Europe’s history before anyone had ever heard of a nation-state.

Each town wears evidence of the former power of the Christian Church. The tall church spire tops the largest building of every town we pass. The people we meet here are now, however, are usually thorough secularists. Their primary loyalty is to the state.

With the rise of trans-national corporations, one must wonder what will replace the nation-state as the structure around which the world of the future will be organized. The colorful panorama passing by the Emerald Dawn gives one much to consider.Read more
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Christmas Markets
Dürnstein
December 10, 2025 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 43 °F
We made a brief pit stop in the tiny Austrian town of Dürnstein on the Danube. The town is the perfect little storybook village. I expected Hansel and Gretel to pop out of any doorway.

The thing that attracts me to this town is the experience of King Richard the Lionhearted of England. Returning from the first Crusade in 1192, he was kidnapped and held ransom by Count Leopold. The Count advised Richard’s mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, that her boy would be released for 26.5 metric tons of silver, today worth about 60 million dollars.

His mother, the Queen of France, was beautiful, rich, smart, shrewd and related to every other royal family in Europe. So she called her kin and raised the money to free England’s king.

Some of our shipmates visited the ruins of the castle way up on the mountain above us. We chose, rather, to stay down in the storybook village and let visions of sugarplums dance in our heads. This is a Christmas tour, after all.Read more
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Christmas Markets
An “Eroic” Performance
December 9, 2025 in Austria ⋅ ☁️ 39 °F
What is Vienna without music?

Tonight we had the opportunity to enjoy a performance by the Vienna Imperial Orchestra in the ornate baroque palace of Prince Franz Joseph Maximillian Libkowitz, Beethoven’s early patron. In this room the composer gave the premiere of his Eroica Symphony in 1804, which was later given its first public performance at the Theater am der Wien nearby.

Of course the program tonight was heavy with works by Vienna’s Waltz King Richard Strauss. There were also some very accessible works by Mozart with contributions from a male and a female vocalist.

A poignant moment concluded the concert when the vocalists offered the Christmas son “Silent Night” in its original German version.

What better way to end a lovely evening in Vienna!Read more
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Christmas Markets
Timeless Vienna
December 9, 2025 in Austria ⋅ ☁️ 41 °F
We arrived at the Hofburg Palace around 11:00am and immediately I was transported to that timeless place where old culture, architecture and art always seem new again. Our bus let us out at the Viennese Parliament Building, a structure that looks like the beautiful old buildings of ancient Greece, except for the fact that they are all new, undamaged, colorful and shiny. Just walking down the street to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, I thought I noticed men standing just a little taller, and women walking just a bit more elegantly. There is a kind of formality in Vienna that somehow seems perfectly natural.

Unforced.

At the site of the home of composer Josef Haydn, we pedestrians were passed, not by a truck, but by a carriage pulled by horses. Something seems to be in the air here that reminds one of a time when civility was in vogue.

We passed a coffee shop where Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Richard Strauss and other thinkers who changed our world gathered and chatted over coffee every morning. Oh to be a fly on the wall in that coffee shop!

Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven are still alive here. There are as many shops selling pianos as those selling new cars.

We went to the Christmas Market where we grabbed a quick lunch of langos and glüwein. Then we walked over to the art museum to see the world’s largest collection of paintings by Peter Brueghel.

The temperature remained in the low 40’s (F) and the fog thickened, so we hopped on the bus that took us back to our ship for hot chocolate and cookies.

I know Rome is supposed to be “The Eternal City,” but somehow Vienna seems to me to be changeless. The city is like some kind of surreal time machine that takes me back to an era when the world was less complicated, less frantic, more kind and less selfish. Here beauty, decency and civility still seem to prevail. Manners are not out of place. And even if there may be instances where I do not actually see such manners in the streets of Vienna, this city still has a way of bringing out those qualities in me. For that I am grateful.Read more
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Christmas Markets
Sweet Home Bratislava
December 8, 2025 in Slovakia ⋅ ☁️ 45 °F
Glenda and I were walking through the Christmas market in Bratislava this afternoon and we came upon a group of joyously inebriated group of revelers singing some kind of song at the top of their lungs. One woman grabbed me and started singing, so I attempted to mimic the words they were singing. They all laughed, and she said something in German. A guy on the street translated, “She’s saying, ‘You’re more drunk than we are!’”

I laughed and she said, “No. Deutsch! Deutsch!” So I continued to mimic the words of each phrase after them. They loved it and invited Glenda and me to sit with them. The guy playing the guitar was really good. When he heard I was an American, he struck up “Sweet Home Alabama.”

They sang two verses in, what was it? Hungarian?

Then my contribution in English was:

In Birmingham they love the Governor,
We all did what we could do,
What I gave doesn’t bother me,
Does your conscience bother you?
(Tell me true!)

They laughed, patted me on the back, treated me like the king of Slovakia, and kept on singing.

After the song they asked me where I was from. I told them “North Carolina.” One asked “Is that Alabama?”

I said, “No, but both are in the South—only, North Carolina is better than Alabama! Come see us!”

They laughed, saluted me with high-fives and gave me a set of new friends I will remember forever.Read more
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Christmas Markets
Bratislava—The Quiet Capital
December 8, 2025 in Slovakia ⋅ 🌧 41 °F
I chatted with our guide before our tour began. She said, “You’re about to leave to go to Vienna, and you have just come from from Budapest. We are not Vienna and we are not Budapest, but such as we are, I will show you Bratislava.”

She sounded almost apologetic, but I immediately fell in love with this city. The capital of the new Republic of Slovakia, it gained its independence on January 1, 1993. Like its neighbors it has stunning architecture, incredible food and glorious music, but it does all these things just a little more quietly than its larger neighbors.

Bratislava does not try to be anything other than it is: a picturesque, friendly and historic slice of the old Czechoslovakia. The city surprised itself it the late 1990’s when political currents sloshing through the remnants of the old Communist Bloc unexpectedly made Slovakia an independent nation. Very quickly citizens found themselves facing the daunting task of creating a new democratic republic out of nothing, and of writing a constitution to sanction it. They came up with a parliamentary form of government, a unicameral parliament and a president elected every five years. Most of the real political power, however, lies with the prime minister.

Andrea, our guide today, holds a degree in cultural anthropology from the local state university, so she was well able to explain to us about the early history of Slovakia as part of Hungary in the ninth century, its subjugation by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century, and its prominence as the place of the coronation of the Austro-Hungarian emperors in the eighteenth century. The architecture and the cuisine still show all of those influences. I must try one dish our guide described, potato gnocchi or pasta smothered in a goat cheese sauce. To a cheese lover that sounds like a piece of heaven.

Bratislava has its own unique customs. For example, every elementary school class makes a Christmas tree and decorates it as it chooses. One caught my attention. It was decorated with dozens of birds made out of paper mache. Only, the paper mache was not made of paper. It was made from the dried leaves of autumn mashed into a pulp and dried. The birds were beautiful. After being displayed in the public plaza, the Christmas trees will be given to nursing homes, hospitals and rehab centers nearby. The kids in Bratislava do this every year.

There is a glorious opera house here, and a symphony orchestra. Although, like the city, the classical musicians here do not get the attention of those in Vienna or Berlin, to my ears there is no significant difference. The arts are taken as seriously here as in any other European city. In fact, I love some of the quirky sculptures here. One shows a communist sympathizer coming out of a literal sewer in a public street. Another shows a local denizen who lived here back in the last half of the last century. Unlucky in love, he was rejected by his fiance. Afterwards he dressed in formal clothing after work every day, and stood on a certain corner in his leisure hours handing flowers to passing women whom he considered beautiful. He died in the 1990’s, but a local sculptor made his statue, which still holds his spot on the same corner, his top hat in hand.

The city and its people are as capable, kind and accomplished as any we have found in Europe. If you haven’t heard of Bratislava, it is not because life here is any less interesting than in other European capitals, nor because people here perform less excellently. It may simply be because Bratislava just likes to do things a bit more quietly.Read more
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Christmas Markets
Budapest by Day
December 7, 2025 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
Last night, with all of her Christmas lights, blazing, Budapest was magical. Today in the daylight, she was no less wonderful. Actually, this place is two cities – Buda on the right bank, and Pest on the left bank of the Danube River. Here, in the Hungarian language, they call the river the Donau.

We started on the Buda side, older, greener, more elegant, and more mountainous than the area across the river. The castle district was itself a Christmas card. The spire of Saint Matthias Church caps a dozen stunning neoclassical buildings scattered around its base. Actually, these old monumental structures are new, but no less classic than the identical structures they replaced. Many of the palaces here built in the 18th and 19th centuries were destroyed in World War II. The country is in the middle of a 25-year-long program to rebuild these glorious old buildings exactly as they were when they were new. The result is striking. Some of these buildings now house government departments. Others are office buildings. All are majestically, beautiful.

The government is careful to consult old drawings and engravings, assuring that the new buildings are exact replicas of their predecessors. Through her connections with the Hilton family, Hungarian actress Zsa Zsa Gabor arranged for the construction of one of these old palaces as a hotel even while the communist regime was still in control here. As they were rebuilding the structure, the builders discovered the ruins of an old monastery beneath the palace. They rebuilt it, monastery, and all, and now it looks as though it has been standing there since good king Stephen cut his teeth.

The pest side of Budapest, (pronounced pesht) is the flatter commercial side of the city that contains Hungary‘s wedding-cake parliament building.

We stopped again at the most powerful monument I’ve ever seen, the somber “Shoes on the Danube.” In 1944 the Hungarian Arrow Militia, controlled by a Nazi army, brought Jews here to the riverside, about 100 at a time. They removed their victims’ shoes, which were valuable. Executioners tied Jews together, stood them by the river, and shot every other person. They fell into the river, pulling their neighbors with them. Thus, the militia killed over 3,000 Jews, using half of that many bullets, saving ammunition. Now bronze replicas of 1940-era shoes sit silently on the sidewalk, lining the riverbank. They give silent, powerful testimony of man’s inhumanity to man.

We passed the elegant Opera House with its façade featuring native son Franz Liszt, the very first superstar in the western world. At the piano keyboard he shook his glorious mane, making women faint at his concerts.

From there we were taken to the Heroes’ Monument honoring the Magyar rulers who occupied this area in the year 896. Now there are monumental statues, art museums, and a busy ice-skating rink in the huge plaza. In warmer seasons the ice rink is a shallow lake where picnickers can rent rowboats.

We wound up at the Christmas market at Saint Stephen’s Basilica, which we found by accident last night by just snooping around the city. What an extraordinary and Beautiful place Budapest is! It’s artistic and cultural contributions to our world our virtually incalculable. It is such a blessing to come to this remarkable place!Read more
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Christmas Markets
Budapest at Night
December 6, 2025 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F
We wanted to show some friends the remarkable monument in front of the parliament building to the Jews, who were killed in World War II. On the sidewalk by the river is a monument known as “Shoes on the Danube.” After admiring the beautiful Parliament Building and seeing this monument, a friend wanted to go to a nearby park that has statues of the American presidents. We had a wonderful time people watching on our way to the park. Soon we found ourselves at the Christmas market surrounding Saint Stephen’s Basilica. I was surprised that we had walked that far, since we had been in this exact location the night before. An Uber brought us back to our boat, where we enjoyed a sumptuous dinner followed by an excellent presentation of Hungarian music and dance. Listening to these violinists play Hungarian folk music leads me to understand how this country could produce such excellent classical violinists. Before we went to bed, our ship left its moorings, sailed up the Danube, and gave us a breathtaking view of the beautiful neoclassical buildings lit up by night. Budapest has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, especially at night.Read more
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Christmas Markets
Synagogue Walk
December 6, 2025 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F
After breakfast I wanted to see the glorious synagogues we passed yesterday, so I asked Apple Maps for the two closest to our hotel. We found two very near to us. One was the Kazinczy Street Synagogue, and the other was the Rumbach Utcai Zsinagóga. Both were monumentally beautiful examples of a fusion of Moorish and classical elements, showing the roots of Spanish Judaism that infuse the neighborhood around us. I hope you enjoy the rather pedestrian photos I took, but I hope you can go online to enjoy the elaborate interiors of these two lovely houses of worship.

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&amp…

The largest and most elaborate synagogue here is the Soheny Street Synagogue. Take a look at its magnificence here:

https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/budapest-syn…Read more
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Christmas Markets
Budapest
December 6, 2025 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F
An early morning stroll around Pest

Chuck and I got a solid 7 1/2 hours of sleep last night and after an early breakfast, we set out to explore the area around our hotel in the Jewish quarter. We found two synagogues on our stroll and we watched this section of the city wake up.

Yesterday, on the drive from the airport, our driver pointed out to us that while the other Christmas Markets in Europe are ramping up security during the Christmas market season, in Budapest they are not. For the last 600 years the Serbian Muslims and the Bosnian Catholics have taken turns killing each other in repeated wars. Our driver told us that in 2015, Hungary and a few other Eastern European nations had had enough, and they closed their borders to all Muslims. They have not had any terrorist attacks in the last 10 years. I must say that last night while we were exploring the Christmas Markets in downtown Budapest, even though they were very crowded, we felt safe at all times. Everything in life is a trade-off. Hungary and other eastern European nations have chosen safety over diversity.

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Christmas Markets
Breakfast in the Jewish Quarter
December 6, 2025 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F
If I had forgotten that we were in the Jewish quarter of Budapest, I was reminded this morning at breakfast. At the end of the restaurant is a beautiful Christmas display. It’s especially interesting because we are here in the middle of the Jewish ghetto. The remarkable thing about the display is that there is a large Christmas tableau featuring snow, a nutcracker and a book with a Hebrew inscription on the right hand page, which is translated into Spanish on the left. My Spanish is less rusty than my Hebrew now, so I was able to decipher that it wished peace and blessings to everyone in this holiday season. I suppose this simply goes to show that Christmas is no longer an exclusively Christian celebration. It has become a midwinter feast for people of every religious persuasion. It also shows that the Jews here are Sephardic Jews from Spain, rather than Ashkenazi Jews from Poland. There is an extremely beautiful old synagogue around the corner. It is made entirely of brick, but the masonry is amazing. It’s not open for tours today because since it is Saturday, services are being held for the Sabbath. Nevertheless, if we had any questions about the ethnicity of the neighborhood we were in, they were answered at breakfast this morning.Read more
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Christmas Markets
The Opening Feast
December 5, 2025 in Hungary ⋅ 🌧 46 °F
Because of the incredible preparation of our tour hosts, Shane and Mika Lawrence, we all gathered at the fabulous Val Varju Pest Restaurant to kick off our winter trip to Europe. Glenda and I started with a delicious bowl of Hungarian Goulash. Had the meal ended there, we would have been completely satisfied, but she added a dish of salmon over sweet potatoes and Swiss chard. I had chicken breast with Hungarian cheese and ham baked in a bread bowl. We finished with the restaurant‘s prize-winning salted peanuts and black currant jam cake. The conversation sparkled as we got to know new friends in our travel group. What an excellent way to end a day that matches every fantasy one could have about traveling in Eastern Europe!Read more
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Christmas Markets
Chimney Cakes and Cathedrals
December 5, 2025 in Hungary ⋅ 🌧 48 °F
As soon as we arrived in Budapest we went wandering, snooping, exploring. First we found a Christmas market in an area of the city that is still called the Jewish ghetto. Getting around was tricky because the names of some of the stores and hotels are written in Hebrew, even in Apple Maps.

I wanted to see St. Stephen’s Basilica, the largest church in the city, so we wandered in that direction and braved dense crowds and light rain. Still, it was exciting because the Christmas crowds are already out, music was everywhere on the darkened streets and we smelled cinnamon. We followed our noses and came across a kiosk on the street selling a Hungarian delicacy. It is called a chimney cake. About the consistency of a jelly roll, it spirals into a cylinder. You break off a piece and dip it in hot chocolate syrup. Oh my! How delicious.

Next we made our way over to St. Stephen’s Basilica. We asked if we could get inside to see the magnificent church. A workman doing maintenance on the site told us the ticket office was about 100 feet away beside the Starbucks. We followed the river of a crowd in the direction he indicated, but never saw either Starbucks or the ticket office. What we did see was amazing.

In the rain a crowd of a thousand people stood gazing at the front of the church. Apparently speakers had been placed high on nearby buildings, because suddenly the air was filled with the most beautiful, ethereal heavenly music. An unseen projector, using the front of the church as a screen displayed verses from the Bible, and tributes to Pope John Paul and Pope Francis. Important dates from church history and words from ancient Christian creeds flashed along the front of the building. Everyone stood in awe as the display continued for about fifteen minutes.

Maybe we will go inside the church in the next few days if we have time, but I am sure we will not see anything any more moving than what we saw this evening.Read more
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Christmas Markets
MARJORY
December 5, 2025 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
MARJORY

On our trip, we had the privilege of meeting Marjory from Canada. She was traveling alone and we hooked up with her at the airport in Munich as we all awaited our flight to Budapest. Marjory is a retired emergency room nurse. Her husband was a park ranger and the two of them traveled extensively while he was alive. He died 11 years ago and Marjory is still traveling alone at the age of 91. I asked her if her kids minded her traveling alone at her age and she said they did, but it was really not any of their business. We adopted Marjory as the 16th member of our 15 member group for the time that we were on the river cruise. On our first night in Budapest, Bob and Ellen and Chuck and I decided to go wandering through the city in a heavy drizzle. Marjory came with us and kept up with us as we slogged along the city streets. When the rain got heavier, Bob put his hat on her head so that she would not get wet. We got back to the hotel in time to go to supper, and Marjory was as fresh as the rest of us, even after a full day of flying . At 91 she still has a thirst for knowledge and a joy of traveling that keeps her young and healthy. She never asked any of us for help and managed her own affairs quite efficiently. My goal in life is to be as independent and curious as Marjorie. God bless you on your journeys,Marjory. You are an inspiration to all of us.Read more
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Christmas Markets
Christmas Already
December 5, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ❄️ 32 °F
When our airplane’s wheels touched down in Munich, it was snowing. We got inside the airport and found that its beautiful Christmas decorations gave Glenda the perfect opportunity to prove that she really is an angel. I am excited about being here near the home of two of my favorite musicians: pianist Andras Schiff and violinist Anna Sophie Mutter. Two other favorite people, pictured here, are seated across from me as we await the departure of our flight to Budapest, home of Franz Liszt.Read more
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In the Wake of the Explorers
Heading home
October 4, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F
We have disembarked the ship in Fort Lauderdale. Our flight to Charlotte leaves about 11:50 am and we should land in Charlotte around 2 PM. After a quick visit with relatives we will head home to Asheboro. I will post a few random photos during the sea day at the end of the cruise It's good to be going home, but it was a lovely trip.Read more
TravelerWelcome home!
10/6/25Reply
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In the Wake of the Explorers
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So How Are the Viking Tours?
October 4, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F
Today’s visit to Charleston, SC was an interesting experiment for us. It’s not that we don’t know the city. We have visited here regularly since 1984, and at one point even considered moving here. There was a period in my ministry when the Medical University of South Carolina was the closest hospital, and I came down here several times each week. And besides all of that, anyone who knows me will tell you my history genes are on steroids. We know Charleston.

We know it well.

What interested me today is this: I suppose that on our river and ocean cruises with Viking, we have been on nearly a thousand tours: cities, wineries, farms, kitchens, museums, art galleries, concert halls, churches—you name it. This morning Glenda said, “We know Charleston. We have been here hundreds of times. Do you want to cancel our excursion to Charleston? For us, it’s like being home again.”

At first I was inclined to agree with her, but then I thought. “No, let’s go on the excursion, and let’s pretend we don’t know this city. Let’s see whether Viking and their associates in the tourism business do a good job of giving strangers an adequate introduction to places tourists have never been before.”

We started out with a general bus tour of the city under our guide, Roy, a native of Charleston who has worked with several historical organizations before completing the rigid certification required of tour guides. His knowledge and articulate presentation are amazing. He took us to the College of Charleston and the Citadel first, explaining in lucid detail the part these organizations have played in the life of the city. On the campus he showed us the grave of General Mark Clark, one of my heroes, and a longtime resident of Charleston. While he was still living, we used to pass by his house, which bordered the Citadel Campus, just to offer a silent salute. As our bus moved through the city Roy pointed out locations where important battles, disasters and historical events occurred. He discussed the wealth of this city before the Civil War and did not shy away from examining the important place African-Americans played in its history. He explained how Charleston did not begin to recover from the economic disasters of the Civil War until President Theodore Roosevelt put a naval base here in the early 20th century. The Great Depression was another economic kick in the head relieved only by World War II. The federal government is still the city’s largest employer.

The second part of our visit was a walking tour under the capable guidance of Fran, a veteran tour guide, whose family has lived here since colonial days. We walked the streets to see the Charleston single houses and their beautiful gardens in more detail. She discussed the rigid rules of the Board of Architectural Review. We marveled at the infinite variety of the front doors of the houses. She showed us where George Washington stayed, and where George Gershwin got the idea for Porgy and Bess. We saw the palatial hotels where notables such as Theodore Roosevelt, Alexander Graham Bell, and Henry Ford lodged during their visits. She pointed out that up until the Civil War, the per capita income in Charleston was higher than in any other American city. She gave us examples of how life was like before the Civil War, after the cataclysm, and in the early 20th century when poverty was palpable here. She shared her considerable knowledge of the plants and gardens that make this city a horticultural fairyland. Finally we took a detailed tour of the Nathaniel Russell House, a residence whose classical beauty matches anything I have ever seen on either side of the Atlantic.

So the question Glenda and I started with was, “If we knew nothing about the South, would we consider the tour today an adequate introduction to Charleston?”

Our answer is an emphatic “YES!” It was not an exhaustive tour, but in the time we were allowed it could not possibly be so. I have been reading and talking with historians about this place for decades, and I am still learning. Even so, the tour we got today would give a person from a different part of the country a reasonably good introduction to Charleston and the powerful contribution this city made to the culture and history of the Carolinas. It also leads me to believe that the thousand other tours we have taken with Viking have probably given us a fair and reasonable overview of the countries we have visited over the last ten years.

Many thanks to Roy, Fran, and to the folks at Viking who provided such a thorough and balanced introduction to my homeland. We had a great day in Charleston.Read more
Traveler Love this shot!
10/5/25Reply
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In the Wake of the Explorers
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War and Peace in Norfolk
October 2, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F
With apologies to Leo Tolstoy, the title of his great work covers pretty well what we did today. We sailed in this morning past the U. S. Naval Base in Norfolk, the largest in the world. Just southeast of us sits Naval Air Station Oceana, where all of the Navy jets stay when their aircraft carriers are in port. We can see shipyards around our pier building a dozen new warships.

Much of the afternoon was spent examining in detail the remarkably huge battleship USS Wisconsin BB-64. Built originally in World War II, she was called back into service in Korea, Vietnam, and most recently in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq in 1991. While she is now on static display in Norfolk, she is not completely mothballed, so that if the government ever needs a battleship, she can be fired up and retrofitted for service. When considering the cramped quarters and the dangerous missions she undertook, it’s hard not to project oneself into the scenario experienced by the sailors and marines who made their home in her labyrinthine compartments. Onboard there is a place for every activity any city enjoys. In addition to battle stations, there is a post office, a dental clinic, a school, three mess halls, communications centers, a surgical ward, a fire station, a police station, a gym, a library, a chaplain—you name it.

The other part of our day was much more peaceful. Norfolk hosts one of the best botanical gardens in North America. Beginning in the 1930’s the Works Progress Administration hired African American women and men to convert a swamp into Norfolk’s “Azalea Garden.” Now there are not only azaleas, but flowers, trees, and shrubs from all over the world, all arranged in an idyllic setting as lovely as the Garden of Eden. The Norfolk Botanical Gardens also maintains educational programs, training amateur and professional botanists from near and far. As beautiful as the ocean may be, it was good to spend a few hours back on land amid such lovely roses, hydrangeas, loblolly pines, magnolias, and crape myrtles.Read more
Traveler Yses you are!
10/4/25Reply
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In the Wake of the Explorers
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Off the Coast of New Jersey
October 1, 2025, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 68 °F
Today is a sea day, and it’s a good thing! We are off the coast of New Jersey going through what the Skipper called a “low pressure” area. Of course the Weather Channel, with its usual exaggeration, is making this storm sound like the hurricane of the century. The truth is somewhere in the middle. When I awoke this morning around 6 am, my Vessel Tracker showed winds at 55-60 knots, and the frothy whitecaps on the blue ocean were beautiful. The ship is rocking, but we have been on rougher seas several times before. But we’re safely ensconced down in an unknown lounge called “The Hide,” where we can see the waves breaking over the bow of the ship. The coffee is hot, the conversation is good and we’re having a great time.Read more
Traveler What a lovely place to lounge. Looks like you may be in for a little rough weather as you continue your ride on the Atlantic
10/1/25Reply
TravelerLooks relaxing for sure!
10/1/25Reply
TravelerSafe travels ❣️
10/2/25Reply
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In the Wake of the Explorers
Sea Day
September 30, 2025 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F
Sea Day

What do you do on a sea day as you sail toward Norfolk? Well, Viking planned a barbecue on deck six with potato salad and coleslaw and tossed salad and corn on the cob and jerk chicken wings and ribs and beef brisket. So of course, we ate lunch.

I’ve spent the rest of the day doing laundry and reading a book, and Chuck has been chatting with a passenger who wants to discuss theology.

We have a spider outside our window that has been with us since Toronto. I have named him Verrazano. He hides in the crevices during the morning and night, but comes out around 2 o’clock every afternoon. He seems to be hanging in there, so hopefully he will make it to Fort Lauderdale and then disembark to safety. This ship is sailing all the way to Antarctica so I sure hope he gets off before he hits the freezing weather in Antarctica.Read more
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In the Wake of the Explorers
Historic Halifax
September 29, 2025 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
The ocean meets the land here in Nova Scotia as in few other places in the world. The people here have always made their living by the sea. Some go to sea to harvest fish or the best lobster in the world. Others run the boats providing transportation of goods, services or people. Halifax is unique because it sticks way out into the Atlantic Ocean. Standing here, I am closer to Ireland than at any other point in North America.

The geology here is amazing too. Before the Wisconsin Ice Age these rough boulders were part of Morocco and Wales. Every part of the coastline here looks like the most beautiful seascape you have ever seen. The views are breathtaking. The seafood is delicious. At Peggy’s Cove Glenda had the best lobster roll she ever tasted.

Halifax is changing rapidly, though. Its population has been stable throughout this century. Now, however, the city is absorbing about 2000 new residents every month. This rapid rise in population is placing a bit of a strain on the health care system and the schools here.

Despite the many assets Halifax offers its residents, two tragedies connected with this place stand out. The 700 survivors of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912 were brought here. So were the victims. They are buried in the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, which we visited today.

The day after the sinking, three ships were sent out to recover human remains. Each ship carried its crew, a coroner and a clergyman. Only the first ship found any remains, and partial bodies or those too badly mutilated were given burial at sea. The one mortuary in town arranged for cold rooms to be set up so that bodies might be preserved. For weeks other human remains washed ashore on Prince Edward Island or on Cap-aux-Meules. They were also brought to Halifax. Some corpses had to stay here for eight years until they could be shipped back to their homes. There is still a Titanic Foundation that uses DNA and other advanced technology to identify some of the remains.

Some interesting things I learned about the Titanic on our excursion make it even more troubling and devastating. Because the wealthy folks wanted to be able to promenade around the deck the White Star Company decided to remove over 2/3 of the lifeboats. They originally had 46 lifeboats which could have held everyone on the ship, but they reduced it to 12 so that the wealthy and the famous could stroll around the deck and show off their finery. Another thing that added to the tragedy is that the White Star Line management insisted that he sail through what is called Iceberg Alley, the shortest route. The captain agreed, provided he could go through the treacherous route in daylight and at reduced speed. They were delayed by about 12 hours leaving on the cruise, but the company insisted, against his objections, that he continue on at night through Iceberg Alley to save time. They also ordered him to increase his speed by three knots over the normal cruising speed of the ship. He did this under protest and we know the final result.

The very basic monuments you see in Halifax in the cemetery were paid for by the shipping company who did not want to spend a lot of money on each of the headstones. Only people who had some money were able to put up a better headstone for their family. If the body was found, but no name given to the body that's when you just see the date of death.

The bandsmen had uniforms with 10 brass buttons. The White Star Company provided the uniforms, but the cost of the expensive engraved buttons was gradually deducted from each musician’s monthly pay. One member of the ship’s band was killed in the sinking of the Titanic. The shipping company sent a bill to his father for the 10 buttons that he had not paid for when he drowned. An Irish newspaperman published this news, and the story hit the front pages of newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic. The company backed down on charging the musician’s father for the brass buttons, but the damage had been done. Already discredited, the stock of the White Star Line plummeted, and soon the Cunard Company bought its rival company for pennies on the dollar.

Five years later on December 6, 1917, a munitions ship, tied to 200 other munitions ships was leaving the harbor. It had a slight collision with another vessel and caught fire. Unable to extinguish the blaze, the captain and crew abandoned ship and left the burning hulk to drift. Word spread that a ship was burning in the harbor and many folks went to the dockside to see it. Security measures prevented publication of the contents of any of the warships involved in World War I so no one realized the danger. When these munitions ships reached Pier #6 they exploded with a force greater than that of either of the atomic bombs ending World War II. The explosion instantly vaporized over 2000 people and flattened more than half of the city. It set up a tsunami that traveled out of the mouth of St. Margaret’s Bay and into the Atlantic Ocean. Another 10,000 people in the city instantly died, and only the bowl-shaped topography of the city prevented all of Halifax from being destroyed. Hills surrounding the harbor deflected the blast upward rather than outward. Otherwise, the entire city would have been flattened.

Today there is no sign of these tragedies. Fairview Lawn Cemetery is a beautiful and quiet place to meditate. The site of the explosion is filled with container ship docks, a shipbuilding facility, and a Canadian Navy base. Halifax is a thriving, forward-looking, multicultural city. The city is booming and is looking forward to good things to come.Read more
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In the Wake of the Explorers
Special Operations
September 28, 2025 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F
Several years ago, the United States Marine Corps at the New River facility in North Carolina developed a super powerful special operations boat. Each one can be dropped by parachute from an airplane, can travel up to 50 miles an hour and can hold 10 marines. The special operations boat can stop within two boat lengths. It is powered by two 450 hp Volvo Penta engines. The design for this was shared with the NATO allies of the United States, and now the boats for our European allies are made in Finland. Torstein Hagen, CEO of Viking Cruises, saw these boats and wanted them for his expedition ships. He added half a million dollars worth of extra equipment, such as shock absorbers on each seat. Now both of the expedition ships have two of these boats on board. Today we got to ride in one. Our pilot took it outside the bay into the Atlantic Ocean and opened ’er up. It was an absolute blast! I only wish Glenda’s father, an avid power boater, could have enjoyed the ride with us.

We retraced the course we took this morning on the Zodiac around the old fortress, but as we passed the old 1734 lighthouse, a fellow passenger, a geologist, spoke up. He told us that the spit of land on which the lighthouse sits is made of rock totally unlike the surrounding rock. In fact it is the northern tip of a mass of rock that was pushed northward the last time North America and Africa banged up against each other. “What we see here,” he said, “is the extreme northern tip of that mass of rock we call the Appalachian Mountains.”

Whodathunkit?Read more
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In the Wake of the Explorers
Zodiac Attack
September 28, 2025 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F
The first thing I had to get used to here is the name of the place. We are on Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island in the English-speaking part of Canada. The name of this place is Louisbourg. Those of us from North Carolina are familiar with Louisburg (pronounced Lewisburg) where the Methodist Church has a small college. The name of this place is pronounced Loo-ee-bourg, like the name of the French king for whom the town and the fort were named in the early 1700’s. The fort is a reconstruction from the 1960’s, the largest historical reconstruction in the Western Hemisphere. But the town is real, with about 800 families still living here.

In its prime in the eighteenth century, this fort held twice that number of homes, plus the storehouses, barracks and supporting buildings required for a large town. It contains beautiful examples of French architecture from the time of the French settlement. The harbor could contain 150 ships. The place must have been huge. The original wall of the fortress extended for 2.5 miles. The reconstruction, though large, extends for a few hundred yards.

Though others will visit the fort today, we chose, rather, tour the bay on a Zodiac with 7 other couples. Not only did we see the fort from the outside, we also saw gray seals and a cormorant rookery on some rocks out in the bay. The weather has calmed, so we had smooth water and temperatures around 60°. A quiet boat ride around a glassy bay is a wonderful way to start the day.Read more
TravelerGlad the sun has returned for your tours!
9/29/25Reply
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In the Wake of the Explorers
Another Unknown Paradise
September 27, 2025 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 57 °F
A couple of years ago, I posted a footprint entitled “The most Wonderful Place You Never Heard Of.” I could have done the same thing today as we landed at Cap-aux-Meules (pronounced cap-o-moles) off the coast of Nova Scotia. The French name of this place literally means “grindstone cape.” A large boulder in the middle of the big island here looks like a grindstone and gave the island its name. The 13,000 residents here called this archipelago “the Madeleine Islands.” The small English population here calls them the Magdalen Islands, or just “the Maggies.” These maritime islands are windswept, bare, and beautiful. Most of the residents here are fishermen for part of the year and then have other jobs when fishing is not permitted.

When we arrived this morning, the temperature was about 55° and there was a 25 mile an hour wind blowing. It felt frigid, the wind blowing the sea oats and the wild, treeless seascape looked like something out of a Winslow Homer painting. Two lighthouses here are still operational, standing watch as they look out to sea. The language here is a strange dialect of French known as Acadian. All of the residents here are descendants of the Acadian French, who were here 200 years ago. When the English arrived, they deported these people away from the islands. Some went to French possessions in the Atlantic, others went to the Caribbean, but a few wound up in Louisiana. There their name was corrupted from “Acadians” to “Cajuns.” Since then, some of their far-flung descendants have returned.

Our excursions today were fascinating. In addition to seeing some of the more beautiful flora and fauna of the region. We visited a micro brewery that flavors its beer with native wildflowers. We also visited a winery that makes a local moonshine, flavored with wild blueberries, strawberries, and cranberries, and the flavors are delicious.

The simple culture here is charming with its own little local festivals. One festival involves putting on costumes and masks and then visiting neighbors’ houses. The costumed visitors can only nod yes or no, and the host tries to guess who they are. Once a year, there is also a sandcastle construction competition. Each family builds its own sandcastle on the beach, and local officials award a prize for the best castle. There is also an annual boat-building competition. The local government provides contestants with $200 which they use to build a boat. The boats must float, and race is held. The winner of the race gets a prize and the status of a local hero for one year.

It’s not easy to reach the Magdalene Islands. You can go to Prince Edward Island and take a ferry, or you can fly to Quebec and board a smaller airplane to bring you here. Many of the residents have a large camper trailer outside their home. During the summer tourist season, the family will live in the camping trailer and they will rent their home out to visitors. No wonder tourism is now the second largest industry in the Madeleine Islands. If you want to get away from it all on your vacation, there is no better place to come.Read more
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In the Wake of the Explorers
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Galley Tour
September 26, 2025 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 57 °F
Yesterday afternoon, we took a tour of the galley with our executive chef. Anytime I’ve done a galley tour on a Viking ship. I’m impressed with the cleanliness and also the small area that they have for cooking. Each station in the back is no bigger than the smallest bedroom in our house. The cooking stations are divided into a salads area, a butcher shop, a meat preparation area, a side dish area, and a dessert area. There is one chef in charge of each station on the Viking Polaris. The bread is all baked in an open kitchen on the serving deck of the world café. The Viking executive chefs have made minimizing food waste into an art. Very little food is discarded at the end of each day. Their serving dishes on the hot buffet line are smaller than a 9 x 13 casserole dish so that they can be replenished. No food is allowed out more than four hours. I will say that all the food on board is exceptional. We are also impressed by the fact that every crew member seems genuinely happy to be working on a Viking ship. And at the end of a lovely sea day we were treated to a magnificent sunset.Read more
Traveler Beautiful!
9/27/25Reply
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