Viking Jupiter Cruise United Kingdom & London 2 - 10 July 2025

Our first stop after crossing the North Sea from Norway was Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Our excursion was to the uninhabited Mousa Island to see the Mousa Broch. This broch is a 40-foot high 2500-year-old dry-stone double-walled cylindrical structure that historians have not yet fully decided its significance - maybe housing, defensive lookout or spiritual.

Mousa was treeless, but had beautiful little flowers

We had a French cooking class on the ship. There were 11 students and a lovely Mexican woman as our chef. Since I was the least experienced cook, I was appointed sous chef. The menu included seafood soup, filet mignon with chorizo salsa and leak-goat cheese fondue sauce followed by chocolate mousse dessert. It took 3 hours to prepare and eat but it was delicious. Best steak ever!

The seafood soup

One of our few drizzly days. We took the shoreline walking tour near Stromness, the second largest town in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. The principal industries here are beef cattle, dairy, both cattle and goat, tourism, and fishing. The milk produced is said to be extra rich in cream making the ice cream some of the best. We could not confirm the claim though we tried!

As the Jupiter prepared to depart, we were informed by the captain that we would be skipping Edinburgh because high winds would prevent safe operation of the tenders needed to go ashore. Everyone was disappointed. We will miss our day trip the St Andrews golf course. Our alternate port of call will be Dover making July 4^th a sea day.

I took a tour of the bridge on our day at sea. Discoveries: ship uses diesel-electric propulsion, one large and one smaller engine for each of two propellers, confirmed “station keeping” feature mentioned earlier, but individual propulsion components must be manipulated (there is no single joystick), retractable stabilizing wings mid-ship are used to minimize roll on rough seas.

 

More delicious food from one of the specialty restaurants

Our Viking Jupiter in the background

A walk on the "white cliffs of Dover" to a lighthouse

Canterberry Cathedral

Old church in Dover

The Canterberry Cathedral Garden with church buildings

Seen on the way up the Thames to our final stop, Greenwich, London

Tidal barriers on the Thames

London Activities

Lauve arranged at the Hilton Hyde Park an "early" (real early!) celebration of our anniversary

Hampton Court Castle used by King Henry VIII 

The play, Six and the Vaudeville Theater about the 6 wives of Henry VIII

ABBA Journey concert was, in a word, spectacular! An overwhelming combination of sound, light and sight. The arena was purpose built in 2022 for this virtual concert by the Swedish group, ABBA. The show is performed by life-sized, animated CGI avatars of the four members, restored by technology to their pop star primes using motion-capture technology of songs and dances performed in a studio in Sweden. A live 10-piece band and a spectacular light show accompany the performance. It was so real that after a while I stopped trying to figure out how they did it. The show is scheduled to run through 2026 making me hope for the potential succession by a Beatles virtual concert.

One of our favorite London buildings, on the south edge of Hyde Park is the Royal Albert Hall. Built around 1890, it has hosted almost all notable performers over time and continues to operate. The white discs in the ceiling were added to improve acoustics. 

Little Venice guided tour in Paddington

The London canal system was developed to transport goods to the docks at the beginning of the industrial revolution but soon was replaced by rail. Now it is a very upscale neighborhood.

Alan Turing's birthplace. Little blue plaques are all over London celebrating famous people.

The Prince Alfred Pub has been in existence since the Victorian times. Built in 1856, when public gathering spots were segregated by class and gender with walling (snob screens) in different areas of the pub with access only through very low doors. The semi-enclosures were called snugs. 

Besides snob screen and snug, our guide added another new word for us: gazumped - to make a higher offer for a house than someone whose offer has already been accepted by the seller and thus succeed in acquiring the property.

A ceiling at Harrods, the place to shop if you want $500 shoes and the like

Kensington Palace and Queen Victoria

Our Kensington Palace tour covered Queen Victoria's upbringing, highlighting the political and social role of the drawing room. During the November–May "season," only the elite attended evening court sessions, with strict rules prohibiting coughing, sneezing, or leaving while the king was present. If a lady needed to pee an attendant would discreetly place a gravy boat looking thing in her crotch from behind and remove it when she was finished. The women would have to continue her conversation without showing any sign of what she was doing.

High tea at the Kensington Palace Orangery - elegant and tasty too!

One of our favorite places in Hyde Park - Italian Gardens and our farewell to London before a smooth trip home.