The Break Dancing in the daily program actually, successfully, caught us out, and it was only when the Captain thanked everyone who had taken part in the bungee jumping, that the penny finally dropped. Today, being April the 1st, we should also have twigged that ‘Water Skiing with Rolando’ might possibly not be quite what it seemed. I gave my final full, project-driven class today, thanked everyone for turning up and encouraged folks to bring along their work in preparation for tomorrow’s Grand Exhibition. There will be a single session in the morning, which will be billed as a ‘finish things ..read more

An exhibition of everybody who has taken part in the art classes is always a good way to wrap things up, and today’s show didn’t disappoint. Since we were sharing the space with the crafters, it was advertised in the daily program as an ‘Art and Craft Exhibition’, due to start at 3pm and finish at 4pm. We used the plastic boards from the classes, two at a time taped into a tent shape, to show as many of the paintings as possible within the space provided, and to give it a little three-dimensionality, instead of just placing them flat on the tables. I would love to plaster the walls with them ..read more

Today, we arrived in our final port; Flam. or to be more precise… Flåm While many passengers had booked to take the famous train ride up the valley, we’d already decided we were going to go for a walk up to Brekkefossen Waterfall, a trek that would require a lunchtime sandwich. At breakfast, I ordered an extra sausage and bacon, and an extra slice of toast with which to make such a sandwich. As we headed for the gangway, after breakfasting, we bumped into Rolando, who told us that we had been invited to attend someone’s 89th birthday party. I say ‘invited’… it was more like an instruction to ..read more

We’re back at sea, heading towards our final port stop, Flam. Due to having lost a port early on (Alesund) because of the bad weather in the North Sea, it means, with all the shifting about, that I’ve ended up with an extra sea day, and an extra couple of classes. Being prepared, I always provide backups in my class lists to Saga, in order to cover such unforseen eventualities. On this occasion, I chose to drop in ‘Blues Afloat’, a small boat exercise which always seems to go down quite well. In fact, it’s been a while since I ran the workshop myself, which reminded me just how much I enjoy p ..read more

Today has been our second full day in Alta, and we decided we would spend it climbing a hill we’d spotted from the ship, and also walked past, on the way back from the town centre yesterday. There was only one thing bothering us slightly; despite it not being a particularly mountainous hill, it did appear to be entirely covered in snow, and from the icy conditions underfoot around the port area, we were kicking ourselves for not having brought our spikes with us. A fellow passenger in The Grill at breakfast tipped us off to the fact that spikes had been handed out to the passengers, and that i ..read more

Having arrived late afternoon yesterday, today was our first full day in Alta. It was also the first day since leaving Bergen that we had the luxury of not having to bound out of bed at the crack of dawn to set up for art classes. Needless to say, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before heading for the gangway, and the quayside, where we caught the shuttle bus into Alta. The journey took no more than about 10 or 15 minutes, and once we’d climbed off the bus, we started walking towards the Northern Lights Cathedral. Entrance fee to the modern-looking cathedral, which was built in 2013, is 50 N ..read more

Not a lot happened today. Not every day can be an epic, filled with excitement and adventure – in fact, those sort of days need quiet days to make them seem as good and fulfilling, as they do. Having said all that, the sea was a bit rough this morning, and I find I expend lots of enegry just to stand still. For the art class, it was Northern Lights Day. Whichever way you look at it, painting the Aurora Borealis in watercolour isn’t easy. It’s all about the timing and saturation of colours, of course, but even after painting it myself several times over the years, it never gets easier. It’s a l ..read more

A reasonably unremarkable day was made only slightly stressful by the ‘Perspective’ art session (perspective is always troublesome) and a minor misunderstanding over the Amalfi Restaurant’s lunchtime arrangements. We were told that, because the Amalfi was not being used for lunch, it would be okay to leave the art stuff out after the morning class, in readiness for the afternoon class. Having retired to our cabin after the first class, therefore, it came as a bit of a surprise to receive an urgent telephone call from Ronaldo (the assistant cruise director) passing on a message from the Amalfi ..read more

Today we have been in Bergen, Norway. We arrived last night at 10pm, so when we awoke we were already there, and able to finally see our surroundings in daylight. To be honest, it was just nice not having to be up at the crack of dawn, and to be able to enjoy a relaxed breakfast at a gentle, civilised pace. Once we’d finished our bredakfast we headed ashore, using the Maps.Me app to navigate our way from the cruise terminal to the Vagen Harbour and the town centre, where our first objective was to visit Bryggen and seek out a shop selling exclusive Christmas Tree decorations. Bryggen – Berge ..read more

Our second day at sea has been what you might call a little rocky. As the day progressed, so the sea has changed from having a gentle swell to sporting horizon-to-horizon wild, white horses. The ship’s clocks also went forward by one hour last night, all of which has contributed to a slightly reduced turnout for the art classes… that’s my excuse anyway, and I’m sticking to it. Today, I had them painting a Lake District scene with a single colour – also known as a ‘Tonal Study’ in Paynes Grey, which seemed to go down well. Once again, we had to clear everything away after the morning session in ..read more