In which we embark...

 The fly-in from Amsterdam to Bergen was lovely.  There was a little cloud cover, but we could clearly see the ragged coastline ("all the fiddly bits" as they say in Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy!), covered in brilliant white against the deep blue of the sea. This leg of our trip was the only portion where we didn't have premium economy, but it  was blessedly brief in comparison to the 8+ hours overnight. FYI, the comfort plus section on that long haul was more like domestic first class than coach. When I stretched my arm forward, I could not touch the back of the seat in front of me and there was one fewer seat in each row than in the back of the plane, so we really did have more space without paying business class prices. (I truly am my father's daughter, and he's...thrifty, shall we kindly say?)

The DH is holding our dinner menu for the overnight flight on Delta.

We were met by a friendly young man who helped us to the waiting bus and then disappeared with our largest suitcase, which I was relieved to see made all the transfers along with us! It would reappear later in our stateroom. We however whisked off to the heart of Bergen's harbor and the beautiful Viking Venus. Embarkation was seemless and we only had to show our passports, not our CDC cards. 

Bergen is a very old city, but it's been rebuilt so many times, due to fires, explosions in the harbor, and other general misfortunes, it looks quite modern in places. But there are rows of quaint, brightly painted buildings along the wharf that date back to the Hanseatic League (a medieval trading syndicate) times.

The Brygga, the historic trading district

Embarkation was seamless. We only had to show our passports, not our CDC cards. After individual safety briefings given by a crewman in the Star Theater (who acknowledged when I asked that even if I wear my life vest correctly, I'd only have a few minutes to bob around in the North Sea)! Then we went to Cabin 3021 to watch the requisite video muster drill on our stateroom TV. So much nicer than the "cram everybody together on the Promenade Deck" muster drills we used to have to do pre-Covid.

Exhausted as we were, we determined to stay awake in the hopes of resetting our body clocks. So after we unpacked, we donned our swim suits and went down to the thermal suite to soak in the thalassotherapy pool and get horizontal on the stone loungers for a bit. It was a slice of heaven!

Supper was in The Restaurant, where we were served by a fine young man named Vlad. I had a steak and the DH chose the sea bass. After dessert, we had just enough time to make our way to the Star Theatre for the evening show at 8:30. It features Tor Jaran Apold, a hypnotically lyrical violinist, who played from the "Norwegian Songbook," renditions of songs from his childhood. They were almost universally sad, yet in a satisfyingly melancholy and hauntingly beautiful way. (As someone whose been married to a son of Norway for almost 47 years, this music explains a lot about the Norwegian psyche!)

Unfortunately, my eyes kept drifting closed and I jerked back to wakefulness several times. We were in bed by ten and it's a good thing we set an alarm for our early excursion because I don't think I moved all night. 

We are delighted to be back on a Viking ship!