Cheryl: Onboard, there is a Viking Nordic Museum, and I found this little exhibit interesting (and true in terms of my Viking heritage). See the images for the non-DNA test for Viking genes.

Cheryl: Our first lecture was entitled “The Vikings” and we learned about their history, geographic territory, and culture. They were exceptional explorers and seamen, intelligent and practical, and yes, sometimes they did maurade and do all sorts of bad things. But they tended to assimilate into the cultures that they encountered around Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Mediterranean. One interesting factoid was that they had good grooming habits, such as combing their hair, bathing, and changing clothes weekly, unlike most of the European peoples of that time.

Bob: The presenter was terrific. He noted that Vikings left “graffiti” all over Europe and everywhere else (click). They also left really cool Jelling Stones wherever they went (click). He mentioned how a great deal of Norse Mythology was written by Snorri Sturluson, and Marvel Studios used his material extensively to make movies (click). Finally, he noted Harad Bluetooth, a king who united Norway and Denmark. His last name was used for the modern Bluetooth computer/mobile connection technology. Every time you pair your headsets wirelessly, you are channeling a Scandinavian king (click) (who knew?).
The speaker referenced Fran Tarkington, a very early Minnesota Viking (from the NFL). Cheryl and I understood the reference; I am not sure how many others did.

Bob: There was a presentation on tourism in the Pacific. The conversation focused on the effects of the pandemic on tourism in the Pacific. Suffice it to say, the event extremly negative effects on both tourism and therefore the local economies.

Some countries used it as an opportunity to innovate either tourism or explore other means of economic growth; others just waited out the pandemic.

Bob: I attended a discussion on the island economies of the Pacific Islands. The presenter highlighted the challenges of small islands having very limited resources, farmable land, animals, and an educated workforce. Almost all supplies must be either flown in or transferred from a very large shipping vessel to smaller ones that can fit into the local harbor. It is very difficult to comprehend how remote these islands are and how difficult it is to accomplish the simplest of tasks.

Cheryl: I attended two lectures about the economics of tourism and these small island nations in the South Pacific. Like Hawaii, most of the goods that islanders need are imported and therefore quite expensive. Some islands have almost no arable land and few natural resources other than fishing. Some islands are uninhabited and have become wildlife refugees, mainly because they were used for military weapon testing decades ago. Looking forward to experiencing French Polynesian culture and taking in the natural beauty.

Mike Foreman, now our favorite astronaut, gave an overview of his NASA training. We have seen Mike throughout the ship, and he is a great guy. Very approachable and easy to talk with.

While Mike trained specifically for his space walks, he also performed a significant amount of general training: survival, water, geological, etc. The variety of training was surprising both to us (and Mike when he first started).

Bob: The following images are from the Star Theatre. Most of the talks we attend are hosted there. We also attended a Viking-sponsored recoded classical music concert at this venue. As you can see by the last image, there are state-of-the-art electronics and control.

Bob: Update from yesterday. For some reason, the post email did not include three images from Cheryl’s wildlife section. They were in the blog post but not included in the email. Not sure why. The three whale images, the best part of the section, follow.