The funnel being repainted while berthed at Rosyth.
Expanses of scrubbed teak decking, shiny white paint and orange liferings - all very ship-shape.
Passing under the Forth Rail Bridge.
A Greek tanker and the Bass Rock.
Dinner - mmm.
The view from my cabin the next morning - newly hosed deck with man being unwisely unergetic.
Crossing the North Sea.
Luncheon curry.
Captain's Cocktail Party night.
The Boudicca's Master, Captain Jan Thommessen - also a first-rate jazz trumpeter, plays 'When the Saints Go Marching In' at the cocktail party.
Enjoying the view ahead.
Captain Thommessen's morning announcement was 'Well, we have found Bergen, so Plan A worked'. Alas, it was rather damp there.
But only 30 miles to the south, there was some sunshine. I went to sail on the new high-tech liquid nitrogen gas-powered (LNG) ferries Fanafjord and Bergensfjord.
Back onboard Boudicca, heading for Sandane and Olden:
We anchored at Olden and were tendered ashore. The pier was occupied by P&O's aesthetically-challenged Ventura.
In the afternoon, I decided to climb a mountain:
Ventura leaves Olden:
Captain Thommessen serenades her from the Boudicca's bridge wing with 'Amazing Grace' (Norwegian satire?).
Discovery at Olden - like Boudicca, a Knud E. Hansen A/S-designed beauty from the early-1970s.
Discovery overtakes us in the fjord.
The Observation Lounge, above the bridge.
Marco Polo heads for Geiranger, while we make for Alesund. That town made its wealth through fisheries. after a serious fire just after the turn of the last century, the whole place was rebuilt in the then-fashionable 'Jugendstijl' manner:
The Ali G of Alesund. He went up the street dropping the wrappings of his carry-out. I think that, in his mind, he wished he was in the L.A. ghetto, rather than bourgeois Western Norway:
Jugendstijl details:
Seabourn Sojourn leaves Alesund:
Speeding to Flam:
Athena, Seabourn Spirit and Boudicca at Flam:
En route to Gudvangen - a spectacular midday sail through the Sognefjord's mountainous scenery:
Boudicca at Gudvangen:
Me at work as we head back over the North Sea to Rosyth:
Boudicca's various restaurants; she really is a very stylish and immaculate vessel.
She also contains an impressive array of interesting mid-twentieth century artworks from the Olsen family's extensive collection. Here are just a few - though one could spend the best part of an afternoon wandering round to look at everything properly:
A most splendid ship.
