Program 641a: Finding Europe in America; Cruise Ship Nightmare; Iceland Backcountry

Hear what it was like to endure a near-catastrophe on a cruise ship, caught powerless in a freak winter storm, off the remote coast of Arctic Norway.

Learn to respect the power of the wind, when you venture into the backcountry of Iceland.

And look for little corners of Europe in the New World — sometimes in surprising places.

It's quite a getaway, on the next Travel with Rick Steves.

• This is a re-edit of a program that first aired in June 2021.
• We include natural sound from the actual incident Chaney Kwak endured on the MV Viking Sky, midway through his segment, as he describes the damage the rolling of the ship caused. At 28:36, the sound of the "eight bells" ship alarms is included, at a reduced level, under their conversation and music. Don't be alarmed when you hear it!

• Samantha Brown, host of the "Places to Love" public TV travel series
• Travel writer Chaney Kwak, author of "The Passenger" (Godine)
• Tour guide Yorick Harker

• Samantha Brown hosts the "Places to Love" travel series on public TV.
• Chaney Kwak writes about his experience on the Viking Sky cruise ship, when it nearly ran aground off the Norwegian coast in a severe winter storm in March 2019, in his book "The Passenger."
• A Cruise Critic review of the Viking Sky cruise ship, now that it's been fixed up again.
• The safe.is website has information to help you venture safely onto the backroads of Iceland, and to help track your whereabouts on the country's gravel backroads. Road and weather updates in English are on the road.is website.
• Visit Iceland tracks the latest on volcanic eruptions on the island, and suggests how visitors may safely view them.
• Yorick has used, and recommends, Iceland Camping Equipment in downtown Reykjavík for arranging equipment rentals for the backcountry.
• Rick's senior writer/content director at Rick Steves' Europe, Cameron Hewitt, presented a one-hour talk in 2018 about planning a visit to Iceland.
• The Rick Steves online guide to Iceland.
• Yorick recommends exploring the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, north of Reykjavík, which includes the Vatnshellir Cave that inspired Jules Verne to write about the underworld.

• "My favorite place for a feel of Great Britain is in Cape May, NJ. The homes are mostly Victorian. In November, they have a Sherlock Holmes weekend. In December, a Charles Dickens Christmas. There is a B&B there named the Queen Victoria, with themed rooms, such as: Crown Jewel, Westminster, Prince Albert, Windsor, Prince of Wales, Westminster, Knightsbridge, etc. Cape May is a must see. America's original seaside resort." (e-mail from John in Trenton, New Jersey)
• "My wife and I cherish finding family-run restaurants in Europe that provide excellent food, pleasantly slow service and beautiful hospitality. I can still remember our incredible waiter serenading us with funny Spanish sayings on a quiet plaza in Córdoba while his wife cooked. Or being crammed cheek to jowl in a hole in the wall in Rome for the best slice of pizza. These experiences are here in America too! From an Italian family-run pizza joint to a husband and wife from Lebanon that run our favorite Mediterranean place." (e-mail from Barrett in Dallas)
• "I live in Boston, and there are many cute restaurants, brasseries, and bistros to remind me of my travels to France — I'm all about a good Croque Madame! But when I really need a France-fix, I head to Canada. Montreal and Quebec City really feel French (except for all that poutine!). I'd really encourage your listeners to take the quick, cheap trip north when France is calling but it's impossible to get to!" (e-mail from Eric in Boston)
• "I haven't yet had the pleasure of visiting Iceland. Doing some backcountry exploration there sounds fantastic. Are there resources to rent equipment, such as tents, hiking poles, and cooking gear, or do you recommend bringing it from home?" (Nicole in Victoria, British Columbia)
• "We were in Iceland, January 10–15, 2020. The wind gusts were over 90 mph, resulting in cancellations of many of our excursions. Is this common in the winter?" (e-mail from Lisa in Glenview, Illinois)
• "I'd like to be a little more active on a three-day layover in Iceland than driving around the Ring Road. What do you recommend for exploring Iceland's backcountry in that time frame?" (e-mail from Paige in Buffalo, Wyoming)

• Medeski Martin and Wood, "Chubb Sub," Cross That Line (collection) / Ryko
• Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra, "That Happy Feeling," James Last and Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra: Back to Back / Universal Music Beyond
• Piano intro to John McCormack, "Off to Philadelphia" (Edwin Schneider, piano), Songs of My Heart / EMI Classics
• Gunnar Madsen, "Er der fler hons I Honsepold," Drommen der blev til virkelighed / (self-released - Denmark)
• Light Music Society Orchestra, Vivian Dunn cond., "Little Suite I: March (Duncan)," British Light Classics (collection) / Warner Classics
• Sergio and Odair Assad, "Suite Troileana," Saga Dos Migrantes / Nonesuch
• City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, "La clé de la victoire," The City of Lost Children (soundtrack) / Point Music-Polygram
• * The New England Music Collection, "Blow the Man Down," The Wind In the Rigging / North Star Records
• City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, "Le voyage du Reve," The City of Lost Children (soundtrack) / Point Music-Polygram
• Cincinnati Pops, Erich Kunzel, cond., Satie-inspired intro to "By the Sleepy Lagoon," Sailing / Telarc
• Aphex Twin, "Grey Stripe," Selected Ambient Works, vol. 2 / Sire-Warner Bros.
• Ennio Morricone, "Refusal," The Mission (soundtrack) / Virgin
• Minnesota Orchestra, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, cond., "Dance Suite: Moderato (Bartok)," Dalí: Musica Surreal (collection) / Museum Music
• Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, "Piano Concert in A minor-I: Allegro molto moderato (Grieg)," The Nordic Experience, disc 2 (collection) / Warner Classics
• Michael Whalen, "The Survivors," Titanic: Anatomy of a Disaster / Spout
• Hege Rimestad, "Delivering the Light," Nordic Roots (sampler) / Northside
• * Michel Donato and James Gelfand, "Timeless," Beyond Rubicon (collection) / Disques Rubicon
• Rembrandt Trio, "Humoresque No. 7 (Dvorak)," The Dorian Stereo Morning Sampler (collection) / Dorian
• Junius Meyvant, "Signals," Floating Harmonies / Record Records
• Maire Brennan, "Against the Wind," Celtic Heart (collection) / BMG
• Sigur Ros, "Staralfur," Agaetis Byrjun / XL Recordings
• Instrumental intro to Bjork, "Visur Vatnsenda-Rosu," Hector Zazou: Songs from the Cold Seas (collection) / Columbia
• Martial Nardeau and Orn Magnusson, "Fjogur islensk bjodlog-IV: Alegretto grazioso," Iceland Flute Music / Iceland Music Information Centre
• Leif Ove Andsnes, "Suite No. 1 'Nordland images' for piano, Op. 5 No. 2, 'The little stone god' (David Monrad Johansen, composer)," A Portrait / EMI Classics

* Indicates filler music used during internal breaks on the broadcast

• Rick mentions Chaney Kwak's "winter cruise in Norway" in this week's billboard. Rick re-establishes when the incident happened (March 2019) in the segment B open, and in a reset at 32:12.
• John's e-mail in segment A mentions English-themed weekend events in November and December in Cape May, New Jersey.
• In a reset at 16:18, Rick says that a new series of Samantha's TV travel series is now airing.
• During the reset at 32:01, Rick mentions that Chaney's cruise ship experience happened in March 2019.
• Rick opens segment C, noting that Iceland "has soared in popularity in recent years."
• Starting at 41:10, Yorick says the visitor count to Iceland has grown from 30,000 to around 2 million now. He adds that the country's population is about 360,000, including about 30,000 workers who have arrived in recent years.
• Rick reads an e-mail from listener Lisa in Illinois at 45:27. She reports being in Iceland "in January" when severe winds cancelled many of her excursions.
• In a reset at 48:12, Rick adds that Yorick's interview was recorded before the volcanic eruptions at Grindavík, which has closed local hiking trails, but that the highway and airport remain open.
• At 51:05, Rick notes that many farms are now providing modest accommodations for the increased number of tourists in Iceland.
• Yorick laments the recent tourist crowding at 53:00, and the rubbish left behind at park sites. He calculates that six times the resident population are now visiting Iceland in a year, at 54:16.