14-Day ~ Midnight Sun (July 2019)
Holland America Line
Start Date: |
July 7, 2019 |
End Date: |
July 21, 2019 |
Midnight Sun (July 2019) ~ Knitting Cruises Description
14-Day Voyage of the Midnight Sun Knitting Cruise
w/ Beth Brown-Reinsel
Join Craft Cruises on a northerly journey up the rugged Norwegian coast when the days are long and temperatures are pleasant. The long number of daylight hours makes this one of the most scenic cruises in the world. The midnight sun is a phenomenon that happens every summer north of the Arctic Circle allowing the gorgeous coastal-scenery to be enjoyed every waking moment.
Explore steep-sided fjords, stunning mountains and sweeping valleys while being pampered onboard Holland America's newest ship, the ms Nieuw Statendam. Along the way you'll learn new knitting techniques while calling on quaint ports, frozen-in-time, where Norwegian tradition reigns strong. Visit yarn and sweater mills, learn about traditional Norwegian costumes and textiles, visit quaint churches and see farming systems dating back to simpler times when families peacefully sowed barley, rye and oats while raising cattle, sheep and goats yielding just enough food to support their families.
Onboard, Beth Brown-Reinsel will be offering a range of her most popular classes including everything from Traditional Beginnings, a Historic Cast-On Class and Norwegian Mittens to Traditional Gansey Techniques and Fair Isle Tams.
14-Day Voyage of the Midnight Sun Knitting Cruise - Highlights
- Visit Weldraad, Amsterdam's leading yarn shop for natural fibers produced using environmentally-friendly processing methods.
- Attend a presentation about traditional Dutch Ganseys and learn the stories behind these Dutch fisherman sweaters. Like their British counterparts, Dutch Ganseys gave fisherman the warmth and protection needed to survive the harsh conditions of the North Atlantic.
- Shop at Stephen West's yarn shop in Amsterdam 'Stephen & Penelope's Fine Yarns.'
- In Eidfjord, see the most spectacular waterfall in Norway, Vøringsfossen while enjoying alpine plateaus offering spectacular views.
- Take a tour of the Oleana Sweater factory, located on a scenic fjord near Bergen, and shop in its outlet.
- Visit the Dale of Norway sweater store in Bergen.
- Shop for yarn at Husfliden, Norway's hand-craft guild store while admiring their selection of fine traditional Norwegian costumes.
- Learn about this dramatic landscape, climate and Norwegian culture on a less adventurous scale at the Hardangervidda Nature Centre in Eidfjord.
- Explore Alesund, a picturesque fishing port at the mouth of Stor Fjord spanning two islands where visitors will be enchanted by its cobbled streets, art nouveau architecture, stone towers, spires and medieval facades.
- Learn about the rebuilding that took place after the fire that destroyed Alesund, making it Norway's most beautiful city today.
- Take a walk through Trondheim, Norway's oldest and third largest city, founded in AD 997 as a Viking seat of power, and the home of Norway's crown jewels.
- Take one of the steepest narrow-gauge railways in the world winding through sharp curves along the shores of Trondheimsfjord, the third longest fjord in Norway, before walking into a steep, yet colorful, 300-year old copper mine inside the fjord.
- Cruise into the Flåm, the innermost part of the 127-mile Sognefjord, the longest and narrowest, in Norway, alongside of Aurlandsfjord, Norway's most spectacular fjord, with its glassy waters and snow-frosted peaks towering more than 3,000 over the water.
- In Flåm, where there is no place to look but up, take the steep Flåm Railway, a masterpiece of engineering, climbing from sea level to 2,800 feet, to the overwhelming Kjosfossen Waterfall where you'll take the most stunning photographs of your life.