Archive for August 27th, 2007
Colors & Contrasts Define a Grand Adventure
Our North Cape excursion ended the day with a great zodiac cruise around the seabird cliffs. The contrast between Norway and Russia is unbelievable and amazing to witness. Someone commented that it’s like going from a black and white movie to a color movie… from bleak Soviet-style apartment blocks to charming little houses with lace curtains, neatly manicured lawns, and lots of flowers.
The leaders and many passengers are still in heaven after seeing the nuclear powered icebreakers in port in Murmansk; we even saw the famous nuclear battleship named Peter the Great. Olga Stone plays the piano like I have never heard before and got continuous standing ovations throughout the two trips. All in all, the contrasts between Svalbard, Russia, and Norway - the amazing ceremonies and beautiful landscapes have made these trips truly special. The highlight today was the Sami reindeer herder standing in front of his tent telling us reindeer stories… When his cell phone went off and he had to get it out from under his reindeer skin tunic, everyone cracked up!
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