Tuesday, August 15 - Isafjordur, Iceland
Around midnight after we left Svalbard, Melissa Brady snapped this shot of the island Jan Mayen as we sailed by. I thought it was pretty stunning, and I'm glad she was awake to see it!
We were at sea (Norwegian Sea) for two days, Sunday and Monday, August 13 and 14. I enjoyed having a facial at the spa on Sunday. We focused on physical fitness and using the spa. We walked 2-1/2 miles around the ship on the outside on Deck 2, used the pool, and did hot/cold treatments. We had some really good lunches and dinners at "The Restaurant" and took the opportunity to get to know some of the people on the ship a little better.
This is Brock with Joe Brady of Colchester, CT: (Note the matching Dale of Norway sweaters!)
This is me with Melissa Brady, Joe's wife. She graduated from Glastonbury High School in Glastonbury, CT! I attended my freshman year there.
Brock talked sailing with John Nagy and his wife, Kathryn Donnelly, of Florida. (Note the old curmudgeon behind her with his arms crossed! There were a lot of grouchy people like that on the boat. It helps to smile!)
John and Kathryn were continuing on the Viking Saturn to New York City.
This is Ben and Sunhi Hong of Seoul, South Korea, and Tuxedo Park, NY:
I don't have a picture of him, but one of the most interesting characters I met was Don of Minneapolis. I met him in the laundry room on our floor early one morning late in the trip and later ran into him to introduce him to Brock. Don and his wife are continuing on the ship to see more of Iceland, then sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to see some of Canada and ending up in New York City. They disembark there and go home to Minneapolis for 10 days. Then they board a different Viking vessel in Duluth, MN for a 72-day ocean cruise! They will sail through the Great Lakes and pass through the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic Ocean. From there they will pass through the Panama Canal and sail along South America, with stops to see Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands. They will make it down to Ushuaia and then Antarctica. I think Don said he then flies home to Minneapolis and will be home from it all around December 10. Don plans to see most of the world in 2023! I wonder how much he is spending on cruises this year???
Nenad made another wine recommendation to us at lunch:
Brock is starting to become a wine connoisseur!
Aside from Cleo and Nenad, I would also like to mention Kadek, a very personable waiter from Bali, Indonesia. He has 3 kids there. Once we arrive in Reykjavik, he is also leaving the ship for good, after 14 years of service! Here's to Kadek!
After 2 long days at sea, it was nice to finally see land again close up! Of course, we were never far away from another cruise ship!
Or two! It was becoming a rainy day as we came into Isafjordur, Iceland. We arrived around 7:00 a.m. We got a room service breakfast and left the ship to do our own tour of town.
There are at least three other cruise ships in town today for Isafjordur! We're not sure what the attraction was.
Our cruise ship is the prettiest by far.
A Raven was watching over us.
We got off the ship early and enjoyed a very nice walking trail that took us from the harbor into town. We ran into Ben and Sunhi Hong, who loaned us an umbrella, and we walked around town with them.
You never know what you're going to find in someone's back yard! We wonder if our friend Chandler might live here?
Outskirts of town:
Behind this statue is the hospital where our Icelandic friends Rabby and Kristjan Ragnarsson lived (in the attic) when they were first married! He started his residency here. I don't believe it is used as a hospital any more.
Walking towards the center of town. Very few shops were open early to cater to the early birds.
There was some cheerful vegetation at this home!
This house had a green house in back!
There was a bigger Green House in front!
Interesting reflection in the water...
I thought the red boat was really pretty:
It was nice to see some cheerful flowers!
Fishing boats and some heavy duty sailboats:
This boat was ready for anything! Even the Arctic!
Another cruise ship??
Brock was interested in this sailboat:
We went back for lunch on the boat, then we assumed our positions at the back of the bus for the included tour from 12:45 - 2:45 p.m. I would like to mention that on the bus, Brock started complaining of a head ache and that he didn't feel that great.
We had a very brief ride through Isafjordur, then drove through a 5 mile long tunnel to Bolungarvik village. We stopped at an auditorium where a girl played guitar and sang 3 native songs for us.
Our next stop was at a fishing village on the outskirts of town. This sign explains it all.
There were several grass-roofed huts in this area.
The insides were very dark with earthen floors. They did not use fire inside so that the buildings would not burn down. I don't imagine they could keep it very warm inside!
They would push the boat down to the sea from here, and for some reason one woman was always on board. They would go as far as Greenland to fish!
We drove back through the tunnel. I took this picture of trees because you don't see many trees in Iceland.
We stopped at this waterfall.
Brock and I hiked up to see the waterfall better and picked fresh blueberries.
Brock thought this was the only attractive house in Isajfordur.
Then it was back to the ship! I bought some souvenir puffin socks for the family outside the ship at the port. The ship left before 5:00 p.m. with the next stop Reykjavik.
We had our State Room decorated with the flags of Iceland and Norway!
Isafjordur has a population of 2900. This area seemed a bit depressed. We only saw one relatively nice house. Most needed painting. It looked like a difficult way of life. Isafjordur is an important fishing village. You would have thought most shops would open early to accommodate cruise ship tourists, but most shops didn't open until 10:00 a.m. This town did not compare favorably to most similar places we saw in Norway. Their economy seems to benefit greatly from cruise ship traffic.
Comments