The ship docks at 3 PM, meaning that we do not have a lot of time to explore the nearby town of Haarlem. We opt to take the bus, and join many other passengers at the bus stop. We have to change buses in the nearby town, and our trip to Haarlem is fairly easy. One of the locals is kind enough to give us information for catching the buses for our return and he also set us on the right direction to the old city of Haarlem. We arrive as the light is beginning to fade and we enjo

When I was about 11 years old, I went to see A Song of Norway, a movie that promised to be every bit as absorbing as The Sound of Music but failed miserably. Although it was the story of the struggles by Norwegian composer, Greig, most of the context and nuance was lost on me. However, despite my total disinterest in the storyline, I was captivated by the stunning natural photography, especially of the autumn colours. I remember to this day, scenes of dark green pine forests

Our ship arrives in Oslo sometime after midnight. I don't notice that it has stopped moving but it's a nice surprise to see buildings through the window when I wake up. It is still dark because way up here, the day doesn't start until well after 7am. Our balcony is wet and the glass sliding door has rivulets of water rolling down to the floor. Heavy, relentless rain is belting into our side of the ship. It's no better later when we arrive for breakfast. Huge drops are forcing

...and so, against my will and the wills of the other passengers, our ship clears Alesund and turns towards the south. A bad storm in the northern regions of Norway has halted our progress, ripped our itinerary to shreds, and we are now heading south to Bergen. Since it is surrounded by water and mountains, Bergen experiences 200 days of rain per year. We step off the Regatta and wonder whether today is going to be one of those 200 days of rain as I feel a drop here and there

This is our second stop on our Norway adventure and although I am not in the habit of comparing places, Alesund is every bit as beautiful as Stavanger. There is an eeny-weeny problem, though. This cruise is not on the general cruise schedule and the tourist information centres are not aware of our arrival. This makes it difficult for us to take advantage of the types of tours not related to the ship. We have booked an afternoon tour and have some limited time this morning to

Believe it or not, yesterday's sea day was much appreciated. Not that we were idle, because there was plenty to do onboard. We elected to attend the three enrichment sessions, which would provide information about what to expect during this voyage. Since I had not selected a shore excursion for Stavanger, I am quite confident that we can get around the town and see the main attraction under our own steam now that we are armed with lots of information about the town. We are le

We arrive in Copenhagen in the late afternoon on Sunday, 18 October 2026. It has been a long and arduous flight from Melbourne, one that I would not like to repeat. However, no matter how horrible the flights were, it is a joy to hear my customs guy welcome me to Copenhagen and to tell me that my forthcoming trip to Norway will be wonderful. Our hotel is right on the waterfront, and I suspect Australian travellers are the only guests. We do hear a lot of Aussie accents as we

I'm not sure whether the clothing I have packed is good or bad, whether it will pass or fail. The suitcases are packed with thermals, wet-weather gear, beanies, scarves, gloves, and waterproof coats. I hope it is enough for our next adventure. Our ship leaves Copenhagen on Monday 19 October 2026 and I carry as much anticipation for not only a good trip, but one that includes the Northern Lights. You will be the first to know if we are lucky enough to encounter the elusive and

31 July - 2 August 2026 I hear the ship grinding and groaning as it shudders to a halt alongside a long pier. Outside the balcony is an ancient watchtower on top of which stands a tarnished bronze statue of Santa Fermina, the patron saint of Civitavecchia and protector of sailors. She has certainly protected the passengers and crew of the Silversea Silver Muse. But it is now almost time to leave the ship, locate our luggage, and find the bus that will transfer us to Rome this

30 July, 2026 We wake up to the news that Mt Etna, which we climbed two days ago, has blown its top. Mt Etna is meant to be the oozing lava type volcano that rarely erupts, but judging from the photos on the news, it has turned into a Stromboli-type fireworks volcano. That's a bit exciting, but thank goodness it happened today and not two days ago. Back to today's excursion! Today is our last real day of our cruise because tomorrow, we will disembark this ship in Civitavecchi

29 July 2026 Yesterday's lecture had been about Palermo with highlights from its long history from Greek colony to Roman republic to Arab rule to Norman Conquest to Kingdom of Sicily to unification with Italy. In other words, the history of the world is encapsulated inside this tiny island, and to be honest, for people like us in holidaymaker mode, it is not so easy to follow. Like all previous lectures to date, we are led into an exciting array of invasions and overthrows, o

28 July 2026 Yesterday's sea day was a chance to relax and to gather my strength for today because I am going mountain climbing this morning. We sail into Giardini Naxos, Sicily this morning and anchor not too far from the shore. We will be getting a tender in again this morning. Thank goodness there is no sign of the two humungous ships that we came across two days ago in Kotor. Mount Etna dominates the landscape and there is a cloud over the peak. Along the coastline are li

26 July 2026 We zig-zag back across the Adriatic overnight, arriving in Kotor, Montenegro in the early morning. We had to get up very early because the way into the city was spectacular and we did not want to miss it. Fjord-like, the high rock walls of a sunken river valley sometime during or after the last ice age provides us with spectacular views. An absolutely monstrous ship, the P&O Azura, is shadowing us and anchors not too far away from us. We are using the ship's tend

25 July 2026 Overnight we cross the Adriatic Sea, landing in Bari, located on the 'heel of the boot' that is the shape of Italy. It is a later start today being 9:30 AM and our tour leaves the pier exactly on time. After a quick drive around the old and new cities, which stand side by side, our shuttle buses stop is pointed out before the bus returns to the promenade and the entrance to the old city or Bari Vecchia. We walk through an archway, which leads to a narrow laneway

24 July 2026 Another early morning and another day venturing out of the city. Today our bus will take us to the beautiful Konavle Valley to experience some aspects of traditional Croatian life. After a forty-five minute drive from the city of Dubrovnik, we arrive in Gruda, where Antonia Ruskovic has maintained the tradition of handcrafted silk production. Antonia, an artist is not in attendance today, but her assistant, an expert in wholly hand-crafted silk production provide

23 July 2026 One thing about travelling in general and this trip in particular is that I am absolutely forced to get up early each day ahead of our pre-booked tours. Today, after docking in the Croatian city of Split, we quickly find our tour bus and wait for the remaining passengers to join us. We have selected a tour that will bring us out of Split to the UNESCO historic town of Trogir, an ancient walled city, which was first settled by the Greeks around the 3rd century. Tr

22 July 2026 After leaving Venice, we cross the Adriatic Sea overnight, waking up to the grinding noise of the ship berthing at a pier. We are on the Silversea Silver Muse, a ship with approximately 600 passengers, small by current standards, and very elegant. Our room is larger than I have experienced with other cruise ships but you won't hear me complaining. I lean over our balcony watch the activity on the pier. Some people are already disembarking ahead of their excursion

18-20 July 2026 We arrive at our hotel near Desinzano on the banks of Lake Garda. Villa Garuti, a faux castle complete with battlements, will be our home for the next three nights. Since our rooms are ready when we arrive, we have the afternoon to explore. We take the free shuttle into Desinzano and explore the lakeside resort town. The town itself dates from the Bronze Age. When the Venetians controlled this area of Italy, they rebuilt the old port in 1454 to make this a com

17 July 2026 It rained overnight giving us the idea that perhaps it will be a little cooler today. We have a very early start today and we are bleary-eyed as we hop on the bus on the dot of 7:30 AM. We travel along the side of Lake Iseo for a few kilometres before branching off onto a narrow road. Susanna, our guide tells us that her decision to leave early is to avoid the expected heavy holiday traffic on the narrow roads between our hotel on lake Iseo and Tirano, which is o

16 July 2026 It’s time to say goodbye to Baveno and move onto our next lake. Como will not be our final destination today, more an interlude for now. The Italian weather does not fail and we have yet another hot day ahead of us as we pack ourselves into the bus, adjust the air-conditioning and wait for the bus to chug up the hill, leaving Baveno behind. Susanna, our guide fills us in on the history and geography of this region as we first travel south, then to the north towar