SHUMAN TRAVEL – Shuman Travels

Norway Fjords – Bergen

August 29, 2018 by Susan Shuman, posted in travel, Uncategorized

Our final stop, which is quite sad for us, is Bergen, Norway. We have enjoyed Norway so much. We pulled into port on a rainy, foggy day. I believe that Bergen gets a lot of rain, so we were prepared with umbrella and Eric even donned a plastic poncho for part of the morning. First thing we did once we left the Norwegian Jade is hop on our favorite tour bus – the Hop On/Hop Off Double Decker bus. Lucky for us, one of their stops was right next to the port we had just docked in. That makes for a much easier tour time in the rain.

Our first Hop Off spot was the Funicular to ride up to the top of Mount Fløyen. Too bad it was raining, because up at the top there is tons of fun things to do in a nice weather environment. Hikes to lake, a troll trail, and park fun for kiddos. It was raining pretty good at that point, so we snapped off a few photos from the top to the city down below, made a bathroom break, and hopped back on the Funicular for our fast ride back down to our Hop On bus tour of the city of Bergen.

We rode around the city listening to the tour for a while, then we hopped off to visit the museum in Bergen. Det Hanseatiske Museum og Schoetstuene (Hanseatic Museum) was pretty spectacular. The history of that old fishing merchant building was very interesting and you felt for those apprentices of long ago. The building is quite old and climbing up to the third floor on those squeaky boards gave me quite a fright. After the museum tour, we walked over to the fish market and had a reindeer hot dog and pastry. It was quite delicious. Still raining pretty good, so we got back on the bus, and road around the city for a few turns. Once we tired of the bus, we decided to head back to the ship and take up in our favorite spot – our balcony.

Bergen, even though the weather was rough for pictures, was very nice. It was the biggest City we visited of Norway on our trip. There were several cruise ships in port along with ours, so it was more crowded in town, than any other port. Of course, as we began to sail away, the sun came out in force. We were sorry to not get great sunny photos of the Harbor area in Bergen. Nonetheless, we had a great time and even enjoyed the rain!

Didn’t bring his camera out in the rain, so not great photos 😦

Fog cleared up a little on top of Mount Floyen

Everyone enjoying the view through the raindrops

Merchants dining room in Hanseatic Museum

Our lunch to share – Reindeer Hot Dog and a pastry

Back on ship and rain is clearing a little

Ship ready to Sail – Rain is clearing a lot

Norway Fjords-Olden Nordfjord

August 27, 2018August 27, 2018 by Susan Shuman, posted in travel, Uncategorized

Today’s port was Olden, Norway. Once we left the ship (Norwegian Jade), we made our way over to the tours that were selling tours right off the boat. We decided on the two-decker bus and as soon as the bus filled up, we were on our way. The village of Olden was quite small, but had a beautiful landscaping, as we past by many farms on the route to see the Briksdal glacier. Really pretty farmland was passed on the one lane road we traveled through the valley towards the glacier. Sometimes the drive was scary. Fast drivers, buses meeting at a curve, and squeezing by or back up on the lane. The view of the lake, river and then the glacier coming into our view was just breathtaking. We don’t know how people could ever get bored of those views.

As we headed back to the ship, we again took up our spot on the balcony to sit and watch the NordFjord go by. It was magnificent! So many picturesque farms and beautiful waters. We were even treated to a wonderful rainbow as we were sailing in the Nordfjord. Eric and I loved the Fjords.

So beautiful, can’t stop gazing at the fjord

Fred Olsen ship mooring out in the Fjord

Eric in his comfy clothes enjoying the fjord

Norway Fjords cruise – Geirangerfjord

August 24, 2018 by Susan Shuman, posted in travel

If you are following our trip in the Norway Fjords, this would be our second day on our ship as we travel along in Norway.

One of our favorite days aboard the Norwegian Jade was sailing down the Geirangerfjord. It was spectacular! Eric and I spent the whole day sitting on our balcony just immersing ourselves with the sights and sounds of the fjord. Our photography doesn’t do justice to this magnificent nature experience, but we share them anyway. Eric was in heaven as he stood on the balcony and snapped photo after photo of the Norway landscapes. I just watched and enjoyed the experience of his happiness. We even had our dinner delivered to our room and ate out on the balcony. This day was worth every penny of the cruise! Our room steward even popped in and told us she would clean as we stayed on the balcony. I’m sure she was use to people not wanting to leave their views.

These mountains that surround the Geirangerfjord were sharing so many different sights as we passed by. Waterfalls, trees, farms, villages and single homes sitting high on the mountains. All beautiful and mysterious too. We wondered aloud how people could live on the side of a mountain, where no roads were visible from our viewpoint. Even more spectacular, we wondered how any of these structures were built. It was an experience neither of us will ever forget.

The water of the Fjord was such a marvelous blue/green or green/blue solely dependent on your viewpoint. We learned later that the color is caused by the particles that come from the ice melting from the glaciers. Just amazing!

One of the excursions you can take from this ship

Friaren – See the bottle in the waterfall

Norway Fjords cruise – first stop Alesund, Norway

August 20, 2018August 20, 2018 by Susan Shuman, posted in cruise ship, travel, Uncategorized

Eric and I are cruising the Norwegian Fjords! This is Eric’s dream trip. He has wanted to see the Fjords for many years. I think I would of wanted to for all these years, if I had any idea how breathtakingly majestic they would be. Every turn was more beauty, more awe! Our cameras did not catch the magic of the Fjords in any way. Seeing them in person was something I will never forget. It was like seeing a movie where you can’t believe the scenery. Below we share a few of our experiences through photography as we made our stops along the way of our cruise on the Norwegian Jade from our favorite spot on the ship, our balcony. Also, the port stops were fun and quaint. How I would love to live in Norway if it wasn’t so cold half the year! I’m usually not at a lost for words to describe places, but for Norway I am. Just beautiful!

Our first port stop is Alesund, Norway. Alesund is at the beginning of the Fjord, and is also named Norway’s most beautiful town. We toured the stunning town and Art Nouveau architecture on board the City Train Tour. It was both fun and informative of the town history and culture. It took us to all the spots we wanted to see, and told of spots we wish we could of traveled to. As we traveled through our first Fjord, we both were stunned by how picturesque and gorgeous Norway is! As I said above, the photos just don’t do it justice, and since we were there during a rainy week, I’m sure sunny photos might help with sharing how just magnificent this country really is. How green the mountains, and how blue the water was.

A drop in guest as we enjoy the Fjords from our Balcony

The streets of Alesund and the many Art Nouveau buildings

Eric takes my photo by the waterways of Alesund

Sun breaks through the clouds, as we approach Alesund

Sitting in the train, waiting for our tour of Alesund

View from the top of the Troll Mountain or Fjellstua

Our first glance at the city below – Alesund

Everyone walking around the city on a rainy day

Us pinching ourselves, that we made it to Norway

Hamburg, Germany

August 17, 2018 by Susan Shuman, posted in travel, Uncategorized

Hamburg, Germany

https://shumantravelsphoto.wordpress.com/2018/08/17/hamburg-germany/
— Read on shumantravelsphoto.wordpress.com/2018/08/17/hamburg-germany/

New York, NY during the Holidays

May 18, 2017May 18, 2017 by Susan Shuman, posted in new york, travel, Uncategorized

AS we enter the summer months here in the Central Valley, the heat is reminding me of the cold weather we have left behind. My mind is wondering to the trip Eric and I took last December to New York. It was for my birthday, and we had never been to the Big Apple. Eric said I could pick wherever I wanted to go for a cruise and I knew the two places I wanted, a Bahama Cruise out of New York!

WE flew in and didn’t have much time for site-seeing that first day, since we were getting on a cruise ship in several hours. We decided to jump on the Staten Island Ferry and cruise around the bay. It was super chilly that day, but didn’t keep us from enjoying the sites of the city. It really is a fabulous place to go, as Manhattan has so much to see and do. We had purchased the City Pass but we saved those for the days after the cruise, when we would have more time to enjoy the several places the City Pass would take us to.

AS we were settled in our cabin on the Norwegian Breakaway that afternoon, we sat on our cold balcony leaving port, staring at the Statue of Liberty as we sailed by. It was a very surreal moment as we had seen this emblem of pride of our Country on so many medias, but never in person. She is quite a magnificent site to behold. As soon as she was out of site, we left the balcony to warm up. No better way to warm up in December than to travel to the Bahamas!

AFTER the 7 day cruise, we returned into the Manhattan Port early on a Sunday morning. We jumped in a town-car and traveled through the busy streets to our hotel room at the New York Marriott Marquis in Time Square. The sites and sounds were amazing. So many people crammed in the area. Our room looked right out on the Times Square Ball that would be dropping in just a few weeks on New Year’s Eve. We hurried down to the lobby and out the door into the maze of people. We walked a few steps and jumped on the Big Bus Tour and spent several hours traveling around the city and hearing all the tour guide shared about the places we were now seeing in person. It was amazing.

City tour from Bus – Trying to Believe we are really here in the City

Riding Past the Iconic NY Christmas Tree @ Rockefeller Center

USING our city passes to tour Rockefeller Center’s TOP OF THE ROCK, traveled to the Statue of Liberty island, and Ellis Island, and spend time at the 9/11 Memorial, was a busy day. We walked around the city too, taking in the Christmas decorations and lights. The evenings in New York City were better than we could of even imagined, but the cold air took away our breath. The food we had was great too. We tried the pizza of course, had a sushi dinner, and had lunch at Tavern on the Green in Central Park, even getting a piece of birthday cake which I have to admit was amazingly good. It’s quite extraordinary how much is crammed in that city and the iconic buildings and places to visit are not to be missed.

THE magnificent history of the New York City seen in film was even more memorable now that we have seen it with our own eyes. I can’t wait to return someday, to see all the things we missed. You can never tire of that beautiful City! NEW YORK….

	theitinerary1 on Norway Fjords-Olden Nordfjord
	Susan Shuman on Norway Fjords-Olden Nordfjord
	Norway Fjords-Olden… on Norway Fjords-Olden Nordfjord
	Norway Fjords-Olden… on Norway Fjords-Olden Nordfjord
	ericshumann1 on Norway Fjords-Olden Nordfjord