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Escape the Heat (August ‘26)
  • Two to Travel
  • Ahmet Erkun
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  • Two to Travel
  • Ahmet Erkun

Escape the Heat (August ‘26)

Our August getaway in search of cooler, more comfortable temperatures in Europe … from Norwegian Coastal towns to Baltic Sea ports. Read more
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    🇳🇴 Bergen, Norway
    Escape the Heat (August ‘26)

    The ‘Zoo’ @ BLQ

    Today in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Not a literal zoo, of course.

    We’ve flown in and out of BLQ before … all but one flight all non-Schengen. The one time we arrived into the ‘Schengen’ side, it was in the early evening. We went directly to baggage claim and then left the airport. All good.

    Today we got to experience what the Schengen side is really like. Total controlled chaos until we got to the security checkpoint. That was the easy part of our morning … even with Mui’s carry-on bag detouring to the hand-check lane of the conveyor belt for the charging brick he had packed. Of course August is “ferie” time in Italy … the exodus for summer vacations may have had something to do with our experience.

    The good news is that we were ready ahead of schedule, so left the apartment before 7:30a. Half an hour later we were exiting the taxi at BLQ … with plenty of time before our scheduled departure.

    There is no bag drop off per se for Lufthansa passengers … which is all that we needed to do since I checked in for the flight online yesterday. Five or six check-in counters were open to handle a mixed queue of Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and Air Dolomiti passengers. The line stretched way back and around the corner. At least it moved steadily. A lovely check-in agent with a great sense of humor efficiently took care of the formalities when our turn came.

    Next step, up the moving sidewalk to the first floor of the terminal to go through security. All in all, it was an hour from the taxi drop off to our gate.

    Since we had an early start, we skipped breakfast at home. So, we found a café and got ourselves some caffè — cappuccino for me; doppio espresso for Mui — and a couple of cornetti. Not the best pastries … but they’ll hold us for a while.

    Waiting for boarding to be called. More later.    Read more

  • Escape the Heat (August ‘26)
    Off on another adventure ... this one will require flying.

    One More Sleep …

    Yesterday in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 97 °F

    … and then we’ll be off .. once more in search of cooler temps.

    🔹 Bags are packed … zippers to be secured with zip ties tomorrow morning … just in case we have something to add at the last minute.

    🔹 Check-in is completed for Lufthansa — the carrier that will take us from Bologna to Bergen tomorrow … via Frankfurt. Boarding passes are saved to the iPhone wallet for easy access.

    🔹 Mui took the recycling out to the street bins; he’ll take the trash down after breakfast.

    🔹 Most of the ‘temporary shut-down’ checklist for the apartment has checkmarks in the completed column. We’ll take care of the rest before we lock the door.

    See you at the airport!    Read more

  • Escape the Heat (August ‘26)
    Our itinerary for the NCL Sun cruise.

    NCL Sun: Cha-Ching!

    July 23 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 82 °F

    I haven’t written much thus far about the short cruise we’ve booked on NCL Sun. The lack of words was primarily because until final payment, there was a chance we might cancel for something better. Especially since the ship was experiencing propulsion issues that were heavily impacting the itinerary.

    As it turns out, the issues were resolved by 3 July. Which was a good thing since I found myself with no spare time to research alternatives, so we’re sticking with it.

    The final payment was made today.

    Now that we are locked in, here’s a bit more information.

     We’ll be embarking the Sun on 22 August in Copenhagen; disembarking on 29 August in Helsinki. The cruise is seven days long. No days at sea. Unlike on our Havila voyage, we’ll be calling on just one port each day 😄. Five of the ports are new-to-us … two of them in countries we’ve not traveled to before. Not a bad ratio for such a short cruise. The ports we’ve been to before have plenty of experiences for us to enjoy, so we don’t mind returning.

    When we disembark m/s Havila Castor in Bergen on 19 August, we will fly to Copenhagen for a few days pre-cruise. We have not added post-cruise time when we disembark in Helsinki as we spent about a week in the city before and after our 2014 icebreaker voyage to the North Pole. So straight back to Bologna once we are back on land.

    I still need to do some research on the ports we’ll be visiting. But finding time to do so is at a premium. I have a feeling we just might have to wing it! Any suggestions on things to do would be welcome … leave a comment.    Read more

  • Escape the Heat (August ‘26)
    Our ship ... our itinerary.

    BKB: 12 Days … How Many Ports!?

    July 1 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 90 °F

    BKB, in the vernacular of Havila passengers, refers to the Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen roundtrip coastal voyage. It’s the itinerary we booked.

    Over the 12-days it will take M/S Havila Castor to complete the route, we will be stopping at 34 different ports.

    No, that’s not a typo.

    There will be 34 ports of call on the way up north. And 34 again on the way down south.

    How is this possible?

    Well, remember, m/s Havila Castor is not a cruise ship. Rather, it is better described as a ferry that conveys everything from mail to people from one place to another.

    While there are stops of 3-4 hours in some ports … and occasional 1- to 2-hour stops as well, most are just long enough to drop off or pick up mail and goods, and embark or disembark passengers … 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes. Also, stops are made at all hours of the day and night. The ports you miss while you’re sleeping in one direction you stop at during daylight in the other direction.

    You get the idea. Essentially, we will be passengers on a working ship.    Read more

  • Escape the Heat (August ‘26)
    Sketch of an SSD cabin ... base photo from the Havila website.

    SSD on m/s Havila Castor

    June 30 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 93 °F

    SSD, in this instance, does not mean Solid State Drive.

    Rather, it is the booking code for the cabin category we opted for on our BKB voyage.

    Our cabin — 4308 — is a Seaview Superior Double … deck four, midship. It’s portside, so we’ll be able to peek out for a glimpse of port operations because the Havila ships always dock on port … or so we’ve been told.

    No balcony, alas … the veranda cabins were a bit too pricey for our budget. No worries … I understand there are some lovely lounges around m/s Castor … and, of course, quite a bit of outdoor space that we can take advantage of when we want to be out and about.    Read more

  • Escape the Heat (August ‘26)
    We'll be making the Norwegian coastal journey on m/s Havila Castor.

    Our Vessel: m/s Havila Castor

    June 29 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 99 °F

    When you search the web for a ship named m/s Castor, AI asks you which one? The new ship? Or the historic ship? Of course, adding Havila to the search, would eliminate the question.

    Anyway, the historic vessel was built in 1936 as a fishing galease … a ketch. It was later converted to passenger charter. In 2024, it was permanently moved onto land in Bogense, Denmark as a local landmark … a museum ship. It would be fun to see this vessel, but our limited time in Copenhagen after our Havila journey won’t allow us to do so.

    As for the ship we will be sailing — m/s Havila Castor. It is a modern, eco-friendly vessel built by the Tersan Shipyard in Türkiye and delivered to the company in April 2022. Mui’s already planning a scavenger hunt to find the builder’s plate after we embark the vessel in August.

    One of four sister ships operated by Havila between Bergen and Kirkenes, the vessel has a passenger capacity of 640 … traveling either in cabins or deck chairs … doing one way, roundtrip, or custom itineraries … the latter referred to as port-to-port.

    One of the reasons we chose Havila over Hurtigruten is the more eco-friendly fleet the company operates. Castor and its sisters feature large battery packs that ensure zero-emission sailing through fragile fjord areas. In fact, this ship made history on 2 June 2022 as the first cruise ship to operate in the world heritage area of Geirangerfjord emission-free.    Read more

  • Escape the Heat (August ‘26)
    Base photo from the Havila Voyages website.

    Havila Kystruten or Havila Voyages

    June 28 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 99 °F

    “We are sailing in the world heritage. So should the generations to come.” ~~ Per Sævik, owner and founder of Havila Kystruten ~~

    So which name is accurate?

    Actually, both are.

    Havila Kystruten — the latter a Norwegian word that translates as “the coastal route” — is the registered name of the company with which we are doing our August ‘escape the heat trip’. The more commonly used Havila Voyages name is the international brand.

    Havila is a shipping company … one that is continuing the tradition of plying the Norwegian Coastal Express route that was first established in 1893. What began as a mail, passenger, and goods service between Trondheim and Hammerfest has over the years been extended to serve the coastal communities between Bergen and Kirkenes.

    While we will be spending a great deal of time at sea on this 12-day voyage, this is not really a cruise. At least not in the sense of traveling on a ‘cruise’ ship. And certainly not in the sense of visiting a port a day. More on that later.

    Looking forward to a new-type-of sea voyage.    Read more

  • Escape the Heat (August ‘26)

    August Escape Prep Work

    June 27 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 97 °F

    With the Dolomiti the more imminent of the two ‘escape the heat’ trips we’ve got on the calendar, it took us awhile to get back to logistics planning for our August voyages.

    📌 AIRFARE … First and foremost … check for posted August transportation strikes in Italy. That’s not to say that a last minute “sciopero” won’t rear its ugly head, but worth checking anyway. Sadly, the calendar only goes out to the end of July, so we’re going to have to pay Russian roulette with at least our outbound flight.

    * Bologna - Bergen … Lufthansa with a connection in Frankfurt.

    * Bergen - Copenhagen … SAS nonstop

    * Helsinki - Bologna … FinnAir nonstop

    📌 LODGING … Apartments with laundry facilities booked for both Bergen and Copenhagen. OMG the prices!!!!

    📌 TRAVEL INSURANCE … Havila Kystruten requires trip cancelation/interruption and medical/evacuation coverage. This was a bit of a challenge since we are already outside the USA, but Mui managed to find a suitable policy through IMG.

    📌 NCL CABIN ASSIGNED … We wanted a balcony cabin. The only way to get it was to accept a guarantee … i.e. let NCL assign one. It took just two days for them to assign us to a BB cabin on deck 8; sandwiched between other passenger decks; midship. We done good it seems.

    📌 NCLH STATUS HONORING PROGRAM … The NCLH family — NCL, Oceania, and Regent — now recognize a passenger’s status on any of the sister cruise lines.

    We are Gold in NCL’s Latitudes Rewards; Diamond in Oceania’s Club. I sent an email to the powers-that-be to request the status match. Received a response within two days granting it. What this means is that we will have a few additional perks to enjoy.

    📌 EXCURSIONS … Port planning has yet to commence.    Read more

  • Escape the Heat (August ‘26)

    Barebones

    June 22 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 95 °F

    Well, not quite ‘barebones’ since we have booked the two main elements of our ‘August escape’. But we still need to flesh things out.

    After several days of back and forth discussions, we have a plan to go to cooler climes over the summer months.

    July will be in Italy … and will rightfully be covered in the “Italy: Ciao Bella” trip (https://findpenguins.com/8pccjefaitoru/trip/68e…).

    Details for August to follow, but here’s a quick outline.

    First up … a Norwegian Coastal Voyage with Hurtigruten’s competition … Havila Kystruten. This one is locked in quick-set concrete … paid in full; non-refundable.

    Next … a Baltic cruise on NCL. Seven days only 😢 … limited necessarily by timing and the need to stay within the Schengen Zone while we await our Permesso di Soggiorno for Italy. We could possibly jiggle this, but as difficult as it was to find an itinerary that suited our requirements, I doubt that we will touch it.

    Somewhere in there will be a couple of short city stays. Locations determined as our embarkation ports; airfare and lodging pending.

    The checklist of pending logistics is ready, but our brains need a break. So, we will tackle the details another day.    Read more

    Trip start
    August 4, 2026