Adventures of Beth and Dan: Djúpivogur, Iceland

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Djúpivogur, Iceland

I won’t confess to you that I know how to pronounce this name other than you day it quickly like Jue p gor!! This was a tender port for us arriving at 8 and all aboard at 3:30. The weather was foggy, cloudy and about 60 degrees. We dressed with gloves, our heavy coats and gloves. We had no tour here so we just did our own thing.

Iceland has Europe’s largest national park. The population of the country is 300,000. They established their independence in 1944. 100% of their power is renewable energy being geothermal and hydropower.

Fewer than 500 residents live here. The town was immaculate and the homes well taken care of. It was extremely green and the amount of grass in the town requires constant mowing on a big scale! Like all Icelandic towns this one has a rich musical heritage and they are proud of that. They draw their livelihood from the sea with much of their cultural centered around the ocean. It is basically a small fishing village on the eastern coast. They are also known for recording the highest temperature inIceland June 1939 reaching 87 degrees! The area was first occupied by Irish monks but wasn’t considered properly settled until much later with two main indigenous families. We found the town to be friendly. They say it is an outdoorsman’s dream with plenty of hiking trails, fishing and a quiet remote location. The oldest house is called Langa- Bud built of life being called nstructed in 1790. It is now the towns cultural center containing also a museum, a gallery for local crafts and a coffee shop. We spent about two hours walking throughout the village. Once back onboard we enjoyed a hot cup of tea and settled in on a lounger by the covered pool with some good reading material.