North Cape

As TSH and Diva were not invited to the US July 4^th party, they had dinner in La Terrazza with guests from Perth, Australia. This was very lively, as there was great consternation that well travelled people from the UK had never been to Australia, in spite of having visited Singapore and this was taken as a great insult. The evening was further enlivened by the sounds of the US fireworks and the beautiful sight of many snow covered mountains on both sides of the fjord. It does not ever go dark at this latitude.

The North Cape is the most northerly point on the European land mass, an interesting point for debate as it is an island and there are more northerly islands. The scenery around it is different from further south – the mountains are not so high and the peaks are rounded instead of jagged but they are very sheer in places so that there are splendid cliffs. Surprisingly, it was not too cold and during the walk round the harbour, TSH had to shed a layer or two. There was quite a collection of small fishing boats, some of which had racks of drying fish on board.

The excursions – not participated in on this occasion - were reported to be very good, with sightings of 10 sea eagles and many puffins.

Venetian Society night, a formal dinner, produced the information that the most regular guests on board had sailed with Silversea for nearly 500 days – more than twice as many as TSH and Diva. Dinner was at the Hotel Director’s table and other guests included two who lived for many years in Bamford, close to Heywood, which is Diva’s birth place.

There is a two hour time difference between North Cape and Archangel and the adjustment was made by having one hour change overnight and one in the middle of the afternoon – a unique and strange choice.