The Merlion: Guarding Singapore’s Soul and Shaping Its Identity
By Dr. Bryan Babcock, Resident Historian
In the bustling metropolis of Singapore, where futuristic skyscrapers pierce the clouds and serene green spaces offer pockets of calm, stands a creature both mythical and familiar. Part lion and part fish, the Merlion is more than a statue; it is a national symbol embodying Singapore’s history, values, and identity.
Denise and Kendall Wagner
Its presence in Marina Bay is a testament to the nation’s journey from a humble fishing village to a global powerhouse. To understand Singapore, one must first understand the Merlion.
Historian’s Note: During the 2025-2026 World Cruise, I challenged guests to capture the essence of this landmark. Congratulations to Kendall and Denise Wagner for their creative winning submission!
The Sydney Opera House: Engineering Marvel and Architectural Saga
By Dr. Bryan Babcock, Resident Historian
On the edge of Bennelong Point, where the Pacific spray meets Australia’s bustling heart, sits a structure that redefined 20th-century architecture. The Sydney Opera House is more than a performing arts venue; it is a miracle of engineering, a tragedy of political interference, and the ultimate symbol of a nation’s cultural voice.
Nancy and Al
To understand this landmark is to explore a story of impossible geometry and a visionary architect driven to exile.
Historian’s Note: During the 2025-2026 World Cruise, I challenged guests to capture the essence of this landmark. Congratulations to Kendall and Denise Wagner for their creative winning submission!
Join Dr Bryan Babcock for a profound discussion. It will be thought-provoking and tackle one of humanity’s most enduring questions: What is the meaning of life? This session invites participants to explore philosophical, spiritual, and personal perspectives on life’s purpose and significance.
Each cruise I give the passengers a challenge to identify some important location. This cruise, the Viking Resident Historian challenge had two tasks. Find something with the name or image of Sir Thomas Raffles (for a great book on Raffles click the link). Then, take a selfie. Several teams were up to the challenge and submitted pictures. Julie and her team were the most creative – well done!
Julie and Her Team
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles is synonymous with the founding of Singapore. He is also associated with the broader history of British colonialism in Southeast Asia. Raffles remains a significant figure in both historical and contemporary discussions. His life and legacy reflect his role as a colonial administrator. They also highlight his contributions to natural history. He made significant impacts on education and cultural preservation. This blog post delves into the multifaceted importance of Raffles. It explores his achievements and the controversies surrounding his legacy. The post also examines the lasting impact he has had on Singapore and the region.
Petra may be best known as the site where Indiana Jones finds the Holy Grail in the movie India Jones and the Lost Ark. However, the beauty of this location and it’s tombs are a definite bucket list location and many travelers.
Each cruise I give the passengers a challenge to identify some important location. This cruise the Viking Resident Historian challenge was to find the Treasure at Petra and take a picture including the Treasury and a Camel. Several teams were up to the challenge and submitted pictures. However, Mike and Patty Bee were the first to send a picture – well done!
Mike and Becky Baker
T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) writes to a childhood friend in February 1914 … “Petra, is the most wonderful place in the world, not for the sake of the ruins, which are quite a secondary affair, but for the color of its rocks, all red and black and gray with streaks of green and blue, in little wriggly lines….and for the shape of its cliffs and crags and pinnacles, and for the wonderful gorge it has, always running deep with spring water, full of oleanders, and ivy and ferns, and only just wide enough for a camel at a time, and a couple miles long. But I have read hosts of the most beautiful accounts of it, and they give one no idea of it at all…so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here…Only be assured that til you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be.”
Regina Ranish Photo by Jan Atkinson
Our Viking Neptune visited Petra and we were able to spend the day exploring this site rich with history and beauty. One of the highlights is to visit the “Treasury.” The building is not a palace, but is actually a burial tomb for the Nabatean King Aretas IV in the 1st century AD.
The nickname the Treasure is because early bedouin thought the urn at the top of the façade held vast riches. One legend is that the Egyptian Pharaoh and some of his armies escaped the closing of the Red Sea by Moses and created the Khazneh by magic as a safe place for his treasury, and continued in his pursuit of Moses. This led to the name Khazneh el-Far’oun, “Treasury of the Pharaoh.” The decorations on the front of the tomb are full of various figures from mythology and the afterlife. On top are figures of four eagles that would carry away the souls. The figures on the upper level are dancing Amazons with double-axes and Isis. The entrance is flanked by statues of the twins Castor and Pollux who lived partly on Olympus and partly in the underworld. In contrast to the elaborate facade, the interior comprises a plain main chamber and three antechambers.
Viking Resident Historian Challenge – Find Princess Grace of Monaco
Viking Sea August 14, 2022
Mediterranean Odyssey – Monte Carlo, Monaco
Winner: James Steinmeier
Winner: James Steinmeier
This cruise the Viking Resident Historian challenge was to find the location of a statue or picture of Princess Grace of Monaco somewhere in Monte Carlo Monaco. Several teams were up to the challenge and submitted pictures. However, James Steinmeier was the first to send a picture – well done James!
Princess Grace of Monaco
Grace Patricia Kelly (Nov. 12, 1929 – Sept. 14, 1982) was an Oscar-winning American film icon who became Princess of Monaco after marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kelly was born into a well-known Catholic family of Irish and German origin in the U.S. city of Philadelphia. After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1949, Kelly began appearing in New York City theatrical productions and over 40 live drama productions broadcast in early 1950s Golden Age of Television. She gained stardom from her performance in John Ford’s adventure-romance Mogambo (1953), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the drama The Country Girl (1954). Other notable works include the western High Noon (1952), the romantic comedy High Society (1956), and three consecutive Alfred Hitchcock suspense thrillers: Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955). Kelly worked with some of the most prominent leading men of the era, including Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Ray Milland, James Stewart, Bing Crosby, William Holden, Cary Grant, Alec Guinness, and Frank Sinatra.
First Runners Up: James and Tom!
Princess Grace appeared on the cover of the January 1955 issue of Time Magazine. The magazine hailed her the top movie star who brought about “a startling change from the run of smoky film sirens and bumptious cuties”. She was described as the “Girl in White Gloves” because she wore “prim and noticeable white gloves”, and journalists often called her the “lady” or “Miss Kelly” for this reason as well. In 1954, she appeared on the Best Dressed list, and in 1955, the Custom Tailored Guild of America listed her as the “Best-Tailored Woman”
2nd Runner Up: Rick and Pauline Hartje
Kelly retired from acting at age 26 to marry Rainier, and began her duties as Princess of Monaco. Hitchcock hoped that Princess Grace would appear in more of his films that required an “icy blonde” lead actress, but he was unable to coax her out of retirement.
Grace and Rainier had three children: Princess Caroline, Prince Albert, and Princess Stéphanie. Her charity work focused on young children and the arts, establishing the Princess Grace Foundation to support local artisans in 1964. Her organization for children’s rights, AMADE Mondiale, gained consultive status within UNICEF and UNESCO. Her final film contribution was in 1977 to the documentary The Children of Theatre Street directed by Robert Dornhelm, where she served as the narrator. The documentary was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Princess Grace died at the age of 52 at Monaco Hospital on September 14, 1982, from injuries sustained in a car crash the previous day. She is listed 13th among the American Film Institute’s 25 Greatest Female Stars of Classical Hollywood Cinema. Her son, Prince Albert, helped establish the Princess Grace Awards in 1984 to recognize emerging performers in film, theatre, and dance.
This cruise the Viking Resident Historian challenge was to find the location of a Venetian winged lion of St. Mark somewhere in the medieval walled city of Kotor Montenegro. Several teams were up to the challenge and submitted pictures. However, Crystal and Josael were the first to send a picture – well done!
Crystal and Josael Gomez
As you approach the Sea Gate, Kotor’s main arched entry that was built in 1555, look to your right to see this carved panel of the Winged Lion of Mark on the Valier Bastion. It represents Saint Mark the Evangelist and the open book is St. Mark’s Gospel. This image was the symbol for the Republic of Venice when they ruled over Kotor from 1420 until 1797. The San Marco Lion remains an iconic image in Venice, Italy.
The Venetian lion appears in two distinct forms. One is as a winged animal resting on water, to symbolize dominance over the seas, holding St. Mark’s Gospel under a paw. These animals can be seen all around the Mediterranean, usually on top of a classical stone column.
The Latin words engraved on the book are Pax Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus, which means Peace unto you, Mark, my Evangelist. If the book is open then the city was at peace with Venice. If the book is closed then the city was in rebellion with Venice at the time the sculpture was created. Other elements often included in depictions of the lion include a halo over his head, a book, or a sword in its paws.
This cruise the Viking Resident Historian challenge was to find the location where Hera’s Priestesses create fire every four years and take a picture reenacting the event. The Brabec and Guzan family rose to the challenge and were first to submit their picture — WELL DONE!
Brabec and Guzman Family – Hall of Fame Winners – Viking Sea July 24, 2022
The idea for the Olympic flame was derived from ancient Greek ceremonies where a sacred fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics on the altar of the sanctuary of Hestia. Sacred fires were present at many ancient Greek sanctuaries, including those at Olympia. Every four years, when Zeus was honored at the Olympic Games, additional fires were lit at his temple and that of his wife, Hera. The modern Olympic flame is ignited every two years in front of the ruins of the temple of Hera.
When the tradition of an Olympic fire was reintroduced during the 1928 Summer Olympics, an employee of the Electric Utility of Amsterdam lit the first modern Olympic flame in the Marathon Tower of the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. The Olympic flame has been part of the Summer Olympics ever since. The Olympic torch relay was first introduced to the Summer Olympics at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
