Norway's 17$ Burgers

These days, I am in Norway, in the Arctic Circle. It reminds me of Alaska. It looks and smells exactly the same. I didn't expect to be doing this run along with the usual Baltic sea run. But it's a very nice contrast to the business of Europe. Here there are only mountains and small fishing villages. The land of the Midnight Sun. I took some pictures yesterday at about 1am. It looked like 8pm after dinner.

The air is fresh and pure here. Yesterday I hiked up a mountain with a few guys from the band. I've never been more out of shape! But I no longer have a gut. It all got burned off from walking constantly in ports and climbing stairs on the ship. The lack of a car also helps I'm sure. So I'm about half way through my contract. The band just changed 3 members. The tenor sax player is from Russia. He's a virtuoso and monster player. Our jazz sets have gone up a few notches. Yesterday was a blast. We performed in the Micheal's club (the sophisticated dark lighting club on Deck 7). We also have 2 girls in the band now. Andrea is the drummer, Katrina is the alto sax player. Unfortunately, the airport lost her saxophone, so I didn't hear her play yet. We have to wait until we get back to Amsterdam. Hopefully they'll have it by then. It would be a shame to be sent back home because of this. I guess it's a nice free trip though.

After this run, there are 3 cruises in the Baltic sea left for me. I'm hoping to do a few free excursions (by volunteering for the passengers excursions). Everything is expensive here in Europe, especially in Norway. A hamburger costs about 17 dollars, no joke! That's all the news for now. I can't wait to come back home and show all the pictures to my family and friends.

Marc