Alaska Cruise: Skagway and Yukon

We have arrived in Skagway. I affectionately call this the poor man’s port. Not that it’s all that bad per se but part of the port was damaged years ago in a landslide and it cannot safely disembark all the ships it needs to anymore. If you are one of the unlucky ships you have to travel by tender to the port, which we had to do. Honestly it wasn’t all that bad of a journey – we just weren’t getting the first class services we got at the other ports.

Today we are going to the Yukon and White Pass. We take a bus on the way to Canada and we take the scenic train ride on the way back. Once again we are blessed with amazing weather so it turns out to be a lovely day.

We have a hour or so until our tour meets so we walk into town to browse and get some coffee. It is early and not many places are open yet. It seems like it might be a little more lively in a couple hours.

Our bus ride to the Yukon goes almost in parallel to the train we will take later; we see it occasionally along the way. The view from the bus is amazing but we do stop briefly along the way for some great views.

We finally get to the Yukon, specifically Wild Adventure Yukon where we have some free time. There are animals to see or you can participate in dog sledding. Me being weird about animals used as entertainment skip the dog sledding but after spending some time watching the dogs ramp up for the sledding I realize that they really enjoy the work. When the dogs sense the sledding is about to begin they bark and jump excitedly. It was sad when one group of dogs start howling in sadness when they realize it is not their turn to go out. If I had the opportunity again I might actually try dog sledding.

We leave the Yukon on our way to the rail station to take the famous train ride. We have one last stop at Carcross where there is some shopping and an adorable general store.

We finally board the train for our scenic ride back to Skagway.

It’s been a long day so we return straight back to the ship. I try to stay up and have a little night fun but we have an early start tomorrow so it’s off to bed.

Olso and train to Flam

I have an early morning flight this morning from Alesund to Oslo to meet up with some friends for a fjord adventure. I book a flight too early – I am disappointed with myself because now I have to take a $60 cab ride to the airport because my flight time is too early for me to take the airport bus. I find myself not getting enough sleep last night and it is imperative I rest up so I have energy to hang out with my friends. Not much downtime is expected in this upcoming week.

I arrive in Oslo contemplating waiting two hours or so to meet up with my friend “A” at the airport who will be coming in on her international flight. I decide to wait and find a cafe open at arrivals. I order breakfast and take advantage of WiFi to get some planning done.

Eventually A arrives and we take the airport train into central Oslo. It takes a couple minutes longer than it should to find our hotel that is very close to the train station. It seems that google doesn’t give us the best directions in this area.

Our room is ready early so we are able to check in. We drop our bags and head out to lunch. We eat at a cool street food area called barcode. “A” enjoys a vegan burger while I try a mix of street tacos. After lunch we walk around by the water. One might consider this mild weather back home where I live but here they are experiencing a heatwave and everyone is out sunning along the piers near the water. It is Sunday and everyone seems to be enjoying the day. We admire the modern architecture and nicer cafes in the area. We still have some time to kill before our other friend arrives so we visit the Munch Museum.

The Munch Museum (Munchmuseet), named for the famous Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, has exhibits that displays his famous artworks as well as interactive exhibits about his life. I am impressed with this smaller museum. We enjoy our time here. Apparently the museum has multiple Scream paintings and they rotate them in and out from time to time.

We head back to the hotel to briefly rest until our other friend D arrives. She has an even harder time finding the hotel so we go on a rescue mission to find her. She unloads her bags and we meet up with one of her friends T; T lives locally and met D many years ago while she was on an exchange program in the USA. We walk down the popular Karl Johans Gate and have a nice Italian dinner at an outdoor cafe. We watch seagulls bang their big beaks on the plates of the non-bussed table next to us while others shoo the birds away. We have a good conservation getting to know the new friend. Being all jet lagged (me not really but I woke up too early this morning) we head back to our hotel. We are meeting up early in the morning to go on our two day tour of the fjords.

The next morning

The plan is to meet in the train station about 45 minutes before our train is to leave. We all have assigned seats but 2 of the group booked later and have individual seats elsewhere. We want to try to move all together. When we get on the train we realize this just isn’t possible because the train is very full. The first train is about 4 1/2 hours. We spend the time talking, visiting the cafeteria car and looking at some of the views. Our next train is supposed the be the best scenic train but there is still plenty to see out our windows.

The next train we have from Myrdal to Flam is the old style train where there are no assigned seats. We rush onto the train to try to get seats together. Jury is still out whether there is a good side or bad side to sit. We feel like there is a good view and you’ll feel like you are missing stuff no matter what side you sit on. The only bad thing is the train gets a little stuffy and you are not able to leave the windows open due to the train being really loud, especially in the tunnels. The breaks have to work hard on this steep train.

We do cool down at our stop at a large waterfall. We feel the water and the mist on us while we take photos. All of sudden music plays and a woman comes out to do a siren dance. It is a show of Huldra, a siren who lures men into the mountains. It is quite unexpected and entertaining.

Huldra

We eventually get to the town of Flam and check into our charming hotel. We grab a quick meal because we are all heading out to excursions this afternoon. We eat at the local brewery in town.

Two of us ride an RIB boat around the fjord. Our enthusiastic guide stops the boat frequently to point out sights along the way. It was expecting a rough ride but it ends up being calming. I am toasty and cozy in my suit that is provided to protect again cold and possible capsizing. I find the boat at times almost putting me to sleep.

At the end we stop at Undredal a town famous in real life for its brown goat cheese and in the fantasy world it is said to inspire the movie Frozen. The goats free roam along the mountains and come in at set times to get milked. A couple different common cheeses are made but one local cheese stands out because it is cooked and caramelized to make a distinct brown cheese. Many say it tastes nutty to them. I think it does taste nutty a little but still seems like a cheese to me. The only difference is the texture is vastly different from any other cheese you’ve had. We got to try these local cheeses as well as one sausage.

We head back from our cruise and our entire group meets up again. We decide another meal is in order. It seems like the places that still serve food at this time is extremely limited so we end up back at our trusty brewery. I share a hummus platter with my friend. It is very good.

Tomorrow we have our cruise. More on that later.

Konjic and Cold War

A couple of days before I was going to start traveling again in April I decided to follow up on some of the plans I had. I had a second stop in BiH (short for Bosnia and Herzegovina) in the town of Konjic. While I fill in the details in the itinerary it seems like it is going to be difficult to do the things I want to do here without a car. Additionally it seems like the town is light on the activities if you don’t count river rafting (and it is a bit off season to do that). I attempt to move the days I had allocated to the two other stops I have in BiH but with it is getting too complicated to change things and I am running out out of time; I decided to keep things as they are for now.

Come to find out my intuition was correct. This town would have been better for me to visit as a day trip instead of an overnight. They don’t really seem to be set up for tourism right now because either it is off season or covid decimated the tourism industry. There is a lack of dining options and entertainment. The one big attraction I do see is almost a mishap: Tito’s Bunker. For Tito’s bunker luckily a local tourism office helps me with a taxi despite neither of us speaking each other’s languages (it is too difficult to walk there – believe me I thought about walking the 6 km). In addition one restaurant I try to dine at makes me feel really stupid for being there. I know I am part of the problem because I come into the country not knowing the language but most waiters are gracious and just hand me a menu and it works well enough. The waiter in this restaurant looks at me like he is not willing to work with me at all, no menu, nothing, so I walk out embarrassed. This situation is not repeated at other restaurants but I guess I need a situation to humble me once in a while. I really would like to learn local languages but the way I travel makes it impossible. I visit way too many countries. Learning a few phrases is all I can handle most of the time.

Despite all that above, it is a lovely town. It is almost like a Swiss town in the middle of the Balkans. There is a beautiful river and beautiful mountains in the distance. My rental is a basement apartment rented by the lovely man and his wife who live above. Today he gave me a homemade baklava made by the wife – Bosnian style with walnuts.

My second day I visit the main attraction Tito’s Bunker, the bunker created during the Cold War by the very popular Yugoslav leader President Josip Broz Tito (died 1980) . Construction started in secret ( even to the local community) in the 1950’s and completed in 1979. It’s construction cost $4.6 billion to construct (more than $20 billion today). It is no wonder why Yugoslavia was under financial collapse. It was kept open until 1992 but never used for its purpose. It was closed during the war in the 1990’s. It was only rediscovered in 2011 and shortly after opened for tours. This place is nice to visit because it is a well preserved relic of the Cold War era due to being forgotten for so long. I really enjoy my visit here. You can only visit by a prearranged tour. Fortunately they have tours In English. Along with the well preserved rooms there are also recent related art installations scattered around. Luckily the travel agency that books this visit also arranges my transportation to and from here because there is no public buses to get here.

I arrive back in town and walk around for the evening. There isn’t much else to do so I suppose it is good I am leaving tomorrow morning by train to Mostar. It’s a pretty town but maybe too sleepy for me.

Last Day in Sarajevo

Today is my last day in Sarajevo. My check out is 10:00 am so I am getting a later start this morning while I pack up. I snack on my leftover cheese and bread. Last night I remembered to carry my ziplock with me so I can have what I call purse cheese – a term I coined because I love ordering cheese plates but as a solo traveler it is too much dang cheese for one person. So I am not wasting I try to save some it to enjoy later if the temperature allows or I have a refrigerator in my room. I pack up and put my bags in the lobby to explore what I may have missed.

I had potato burek yesterday and today I try the one with meat. I realize it is a mistake because not being hungry since I already had morning cheese. They give me way too much burek even though I stress I want the small portion. Also it is very greasy. I throw a big amount of it away because I don’t think it will keep well while I explore town due to the excessive grease.

I wander around and see some things I missed previously.

I stop by the market. It doesn’t seem to be a busy day today. Also I don’t see booths available to sample local cheeses like I’ve read online. I wonder if COVID took this industry out?

I walk by the eternal flame of Sarajevo for the victims of the Second World War.

I visit a highly recommended Gallery 11/07/95 and I dont regret it. The museum is a display of photographs from mostly one photographer of the time of the war in the 1990’s. The first exhibit is the photographs of those brutally murdered in the massacre of Srebrenica in July 1995. These photos and the photos of the aftermath paint a clear picture of the horrors that happened. The audio guide is essential for this tour. After there is some Sarajevo advertisements and finally a film at the end called Miss Sarajevo. I took the 30 minutes to watch the documentary. It is a very powerful documentary that focuses mostly on the school kids and students during the war of the early 1990’s in Sarajevo, set to powerful music of U2. It made me emotional because I was finishing high school and starting college at the time of this conflict. I couldn’t imagine having to dodge bullets from snipers while trying to attend college classes. We see students doing just that in this movie. If you have a chance to watch it online then do so.

This is hard to see. Basically the UN failed this town.

Miss Sarajevo, only partially based on a beauty pageant.

The museum is so emotional I don’t have it in me to visit another museum today and learn about more atrocities. I go have an afternoon wine instead. I am still not hungry but I know with my train ride it will be a while before I can eat later so I stop to get cevapi once more. Again it is very good but very filling.

I pick up my bags and head to the train station. I assume the train station was a very nice place for the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics but unfortunately it has not seemed to be renovated since. The government has a hard time with infrastructure projects post war. While waiting for my train I get in trouble for taking a picture inside. I joke that the reason no photos are allowed because they don’t want the world to know they haven’t updated the train station since the Yugoslavian era.

Despite the shaky infrastructure I am sad to leave Sarajevo. I am certain I could have spent another 3 days here with just exploring local museums and other day trips. I must return some day.

Now I head off on the scenic ride to Konjic. The train ride from Sarajevo to Mostar is supposed to be one of the top train rides in Europe. (I stop half way in Konjic). Unfortunately I choose the wrong side of the train. The sun is setting on my side and between the sun blocking and the reflecting on the dirty window I don’t see as much. It is very beautiful on the other side of the train. So I say if you take the ride in the morning sit on the right and for afternoon sit on the left (facing the direction of travel).

I arrive in Konjic to my apartment rental. I can tell already I should not have done an overnight here (I almost eliminated this as an overnight and changed my mind when hotel alterations were challenging). It is slow season here and many things seem to be closed. It is cold out and no one wants to be out I guess. Thank goodness I am still full from earlier because I cannot find any restaurants that are catching my eye.

Howth

I have one more free breakfast at my hotel since I am still enjoying the rate my friend booked. My friend is out the door when I am still half sleeping and I am sad to see her go. I have one more day in Dublin and today I am taking a day trip to the peninsula of Howth. It is supposed to be pretty out there and worthy of a day trip.

I leave at 8:30 and walk 30 minutes to the Dart station (Dublin Pearce). On the way I walk through a park I have yet to walk through. I definitely need to spend more time in Dublin. I will return.

When I get off the train I consult the trail map and admire all the boats in the water.

I pick a trail that walks the coast and go on my way. The trails are color coded and most follow the same path for a long while but mine suddenly disappears. I follow one of the other ones for a while until I get near the lighthouse and then there is a visible exit to a parking lot. I decide to head back that way. I follow the roads back into town. I want to head in to catch some fresh crab and lobster for lunch.

I am disappointed to find that I can find no fresh crab or lobster anywhere today. I am assuming they are not in season. I decide to get lunch at King Sitric Seafood Bar, the place I had picked out for today anyway. I enjoyed a snack of oysters and a cheese crab dish thing (not fresh crab apparently).

I walk around the rest of town. Noticing no crabs available anywhere. I am still a little hungry and intrigued about the half and half fish and chips (half traditional fish and half smoked fish). I wouldn’t say it tastes bad because under normal circumstances I would like it but I am absolutely sick of greasy fish and chips. I have a very hard time eating it. Unfortunately I end up tossing most of it.

After already getting the most out of the town for the day I head back by train to Dublin.

At the start of the day I had planned to come back from Howth and see the Epic museum and go see an evening Celtic show. None of that is happening. The most I can do is walk back through town, get ice cream and get another look at St Patrick cathedral.

The next morning I find my flight already delayed so I switch my itinerary to fly into a different airport in the USA.

I have one more whisky at the airport. I realize I have already gone through customs here in Dublin so I don’t need to do so in the USA. I could have carried on some bottles from duty free all the way back home if I really wanted too. I am not sure why I didn’t pick up some bottles of local whisky.

I going home for a month or so. I have a music festival, a friend coming into town, a grand birthday to celebrate in New Orleans at the French Quarter Fest, and hope to catch up with some friends and family back home before I go out to travel again.

After two months what have I learned?

I am heading home after two months of traveling.

What have I learned from this go around of traveling, because really for me traveling is about learning and growing and not necessarily relaxation.

I can no longer stay in moist climates or moldy/moist lodging for too long or I will have sinus issues.
Some people’s idea of paradise can be hell for others – Bali. There are plenty of good things about Bali but for me the bad outweighed the good.
Even with my broken body and advanced age I can still do many things with time and patience (surfing). Imagine what I could have accomplished if I didn’t get sick during my surf week!
I value my alone time but I also don’t mind much having travel companions. In fact it is quite nice.
I am amazed of how friendly and accepting people can be outside of the USA. At home I feel invisible most of the time outside of my friend group or network. While traveling people see me and are generally interested in me. It is a good feeling and makes me try to come out of my shell to reciprocate.
Many of my “issues” are due to the standard American lifestyle and diet. Over the weeks of traveling I noticed my need for over the counter anti-acid medicine and topical pain cream lessened and almost disappeared. I hope I don’t go home a return to like it was before.

Catch up with you soon when I am back on the road.