Iceland; Green or Ice?

Some historians have suggested that the Vikings wanted to confuse other mariners so they called Greenland Greenland when in reality it is mostly ice and Iceland Iceland where it is very green!  So today we tendered for the port o Isafjordur.  We had no real plans here in the morning but did book an excursion with Holland to Figur Island which would be from 1-4 pm with the last tender leaving at 4:30.  

We felt we would traverse the city and get in some walking.  That was a good plan but Mother Nature had a way of changing our thoughts.  Another very wet and cold day met us.  If there is one thing I was not prepared for it was the amount of rain and cold that we have encountered.  I brought tennis shoes where I should have brought waterproof hiking boots or galoshes!  I have put plastic bags around my socks trying to keep them dry.  We have gloves also but they too haven’t been warm enough.  All the stores we have found were selling woolen mittens which might be warmer but not weatherproof .  We have hooded waterproof jackets and once again layered for the cold.  We listened to the lectures on this small town and had a few places we wanted to see like the museum, the old hospital, the Lutheran Church and cemetery and some of the bookstores.  Well....the church wasn’t open, the book stores only sold books in Dutch and the old hospital didn’t open till 1:00 and we were there early around 9:00!  

Isafjordur is a lovely historical capital town of the rugged Westfjord region and the birthplace of two of Iceland’s presidents.  For centuries it was a major counter of commerce and trading for the fishing industry.  Today the fishing industry is second to tourism which is a growing economic force.  Timber houses were built by wealthy foreign traders in the 18th century and are well preserved.  There are outdoor activity areas in the two large valleys in the region.  They also boast a golf course, hiking trails and ski slopes.  There are boat and air tours available at a steep cost to the traveler but you might spot the Artic Fox or a variety of cliff and valley nesting bids.  The town also hosts a lively arts and music festival called the Rock Music Festival which began in 2002.  The currency here is the Icelandic Krona (ISK) and things were expensive.  

We held out patiently waiting for our tour to begin.  Right by the tender port they had a small heated shack with free wifi so we caught up on emails and news.  Finally we noticed that our transportation to Figur Island, a 30 passenger covered boat was getting ready for us to board.  The wind was picking up by now and the air just got colder and wetter.  Once onboard they told us we would have 30 minute ride to the private island that was home to Puffins, artic tern, guilimont, and the Eider duck where eider down is harvested.  The gentleman that owns the place greeted us at an old wooden dock where we all disembarked keeping our hoods up and hands covered.  It really was the worst possible day for us to take in this preserve.  There were birds but almost all were off in the ocean which provided a poor viewing area.  Most folks were so cold and wet that they hardly wanted to take their cameras out.  Our guide, a young college student, told us to stay on the path that had been mowed and not venture off.  Most birds had already raised their young so there were no nesting sites to observe.  The only windmill in Iceland is there on the island; a very small old but still in tact mill.  The buildings that were there were in excellent condition and housed their eider down gathering facility.  This down is very expensive and we were given a demonstration of how they gather the down and how it is processed.  Most of it is sold to China!  The owners wife and daughter had prepared some traditional breads and deserts for us in a lovely dining hall with clean modern bathrooms and a commercial kitchen. We had plenty of hot tea, coffee and hot chocolate while we warmed up.  The island has power and a good supply of fresh water.  Our time there was barely an hour and with the weather getting progressively worse they told us it would take an hour to get back to the ship.  We hurriedly loaded up and had a scary ride back to the tender area.  We had to creep along taking in high winds and waves.  Several people got sea sick which was unpleasant for all of us.  When we finally docked folks couldn’t have been more relieved.  We were the last tender to get back to the ship which was almost an hour late pulling anchor.    We were definitely ready for a hot dinner and early bedtime.  

Visitor Center and looming clouds of rain and wind.

Some of the old restored wood framed homes.

Advertising for a craft and book store which was a complete outfit hung up on an outside pillar!

Coffee and bakery shop 

Fire station along the pier area and notice those clouds hanging in there...

Our boat anchored off shore..

I took several photos of gravesites; notice the names which I would need a weeks worth of lessons to be able to prounounce!

The old cemeteries were walled off and by the newer Lutheran Church

A monument to the fisherman and workers; notice the “green” landscape and beautiful flowers for such a cold place.

The old hospital which is now a community center and houses many city offices.  

A friendly furry kitty that wanted just a little attention on this cold day :)

One of the shops that sported their flag; the blue stands for the ocean that surrounds it, the white for the ice and the red for their volcanoes!

A newer hotel right by the marina and bay.

More lovely planters full of colorful flowers.

The sign shows plug ins for electric powered cars!

The Mariner Musem that we toured...

I’ll post the rest of my photos on another entry...which includes Figur Island.

Cruising with Prince Christian

Unlike most days for us we were up early by 6 am as the captain had shared with us the day before that we would want to take in all the beauty of Prince Christian Sound as we made our way through this scenic and amazing waterway heading toward Isafjordur, Iceland.  The weather was around 45 degrees and unless you were in the sun on deck you moved inside.  We watched at first from our balcony and then soon realized that to take in the entire expanse of our surroundings we would need to go out on deck 9 with the open back Lido pool area.  We dressed in layers, which we have done on most days, with our gloves, hoods and scarves and headed out with cameras.  The captain had announced the night before that if there were any weather warnings we wouldn’t go this route because the sound can be narrow with unforgiving rock boundaries; there is no room for mistakes!  I had to almost force myself to stop taking photos at one point and just take in the beauty.  

Preparing us for the journey there were several lectures about the area and on the day of the transit our EXC gal, Jessica, narrated which was broadcast on outside decks, inside on deck 10 in the crows nest and also on the forward camera channel in our rooms.  

After a few hours of capturing as much as we could on film we headed inside for some breakfast.  This was our first time since we boarded on July 30th that we actually went to the lido for breakfast.  We split a made to order omelet and had hot coffee and tea.  Even inside we couldn’t take our eyes off the scenery.  The sound has many fingers that take off the main channel.  It seemed almost a miracle that they could navigate this area and map it due to the many rivers that took off from it.  There are still a few natives that live in remote villages along the waterway.  They of course have no cars; only boats that they use for fishing and for getting from one place to another although it is a LONG way to get out of the sound by their small motor boats. As our ship approached their village banks one by one they began to make their way up along our sides with their children waving wildly and giving us those bright smiles.  A few even had their dogs with them in the boats.  There are supply barges that come by every so often bringing them necessities but their life is simple, challenging and often times lonely.  I can’t imagine growing up there or living there but I bet they look at us and have similar feelings.

The weather held for most of the day with lovely sunshine in the cold air.  At 3:00 pm we made our way from the tight channels of the sound into the open ocean where we saw more gigantic icebergs and marveled at the vast and quiet vista before us.  

At three they were to have hot cookies and hot chocolate on the bow.  We went with a few other couples down to the area feeling the extremely cold wind coming toward us through the hallway but once outside we all looked at each other and decided no cookie or drink would be worth the wind whipping our faces with freezing shards of ice!  There were only probably 8 brave souls attempting to wait for it so we made our way back in and traveled the 7 sets of steps up to the Lido to get our own hot drink.  The weather became much more uncomfortable now without the protection of the sound.  We felt the boat rock and roll.  We decided we would all have dinner together at 5:30 in the Lido and then skip the nights entertainment which was a trio of three men we had heard before, The Knights, who were nothing special.  

The next day we spent at sea still making our way to Iceland.  The weather seemed to get colder and rougher at sea.  A new performer Annie Francis was on stage. We opted to skip it too.

That night was to be the Orange Party!  Yes, I know you are asking “What is an Orange Party”?  That’s what we said too.  I bought an orangish scarf at Goodwill before we left and Dan found a kind of orange shirt ;). We understood that the Dutch heritage is celebrated with the color orange.  There wasn’t anything special for dinner and the crew didn’t dress differently till we went to the BB King stage area where they had snacks that were specially prepared for the celebration.  Many of the passengers had the orange theme going for them; one even had an orange wig on!  We enjoyed the music with a packed house of party goers.  By 9:00 we headed back to our cabin  and set our clocks forward another hour.

Inuit Village along the sound

Colorful homes built among the rocky landscape.

you can see their soccer field in the background !

Natives pining by to greet us!

An iceberg with water pouring out on the left side and it calving in the middle with a loud splash!

Dan looking for anything alive with an iceberg out off the side of the boat.  We passed huge icebergs all throughout the sound.

Rough and rugged...

Beautiful reflections all along our way.

The waterfalls were too numerous to catch!

Bundled up for the photo opportunity!

The mountain looks like it is coming right out of our bow!

The giant icefield and glacier

A large iceberg seen from inside that we passed during dinner.  

Is this August?

Lazy days have taken over since the weather outside is blustery and wet.  We meet friends around the pool deck area which is under the retractable roof and play games or cards or catch up on visiting.  So far I’m so proud to announce arhat not once have we taken an elevator in a week!  Our cabin is on deck five and the Lido is on deck 9.  The shows and lounges are on two and three with deck one being the atrium and guest services.  Our stewards keep our room tip top; we often don’t have them come in as we feel we can make our own bed and replenish our ice bucket :). They have many rooms to keep up and have the usual guests that are demanding so  we give them a day or so off.  

We watched a few good movies in our room in the afternoons or evenings and try to make it to the gym on sea days.  Dan has played pickleball a few times if it isn’t raining or blowing your socks off.  They have about 8 good players that call each other to get together.  We listen to the lectures too on sea days.  The talks mostly have covered the Sagas of the Vikings and their settlements in Greenland.  Most of the history about the Vikings was written hundreds of years after their decline which was news to me.  They were regarded as violent sword bearing beasts with horned metal hats but in reality they were farmers and fishermen.  It seeems they rebelled against the Catholic Church because they tried to convert them and shame them.  They did go to raiding and pillaging but also worked hard at just surviving.  There is confliction in the stories or sagas about their history.  Much of it has been romanticized and isn’t entirely true.  We have two presenters and often their lectures repeat what the other has shared.  

We haven’t been to the formal dining room once.  We prefer doing our own thing and just having what we like rather than sitting for an hour to hour and 1/2 sitting with folks we don’t know.  We like the view from the Lido and the more casual setting.  We get to know the waiters and enjoying hearing about their families and way of life on a cruise ship.  

The music in the BB King Blues lounge has proven exceptional and most nights after the entertainment we park ourselves for 45 minutes on a comfortable chair and sing along with the band and singers.  They also have a piano bar with dueling pianos which is sometimes fun to listen to also.

One evening we enjoyed dinner at the Canaletto which is one of their pay to enjoy restaurants.  This time it was part of the package we received from our travel agent.  Dan had lasagna and I had Veal Parmigan.  Some Arizona friends we met on the Grand Asia accompanied us and we all had way too much to eat but enjoyed all of it.

They also have been showing some of the new Planet Earth videos in the screening room.  We haven’t made it to those yet but feel we have plenty of time to do that with more than 20 days left of this voyage.  

Nanortalik, Greenland is another tender port.  We got off with a little bit better weather and actually saw some sunshine.  This is a native village which is predominately a fishing village.  Life is very simple.  None of the homes have running water ; they get their water at small blue huts positioned along throughout the streets.  Most folks don’t have a vehicle but have a boat.  Today a barge was docked right after we pulled in.  We heard that the villagers were so happy to see the supply barge because the entire town was out of toilet paper!  Most folks looked tired and worn out.  Many smoked  and we could tell that alcohol here too is a problem.  There were a few grocery stores that carried everything from toiletries, to clothing, bedding, baby items, etc.  There is one church that is historic and under renovation.  The small choir of the church performed several times on the hour singing mostly hymns in their native tongue.  For $10 you could enter and enjoy the music.  We took advantage of walking around the town and paid to partake of their Open Air Museum for $5 per person.  You could tour the old historic buildings and get some lovely vistas from several benches that were positioned along the route.  I took us about an hour to go through all the buildings and see how meagarely they existed.  We took photos of many of the wild flowers that were growing along the paths.  

Our ship in the background with many of the resident fishing boats in the foreground. 

No trees here...just rock and thin soils ...

Villagers paint their homes in a variety of bright colors which adds a certain flair to these small communities. 

Homes are built in any flat area amidst the rocks. 

Sharp jagged mountains are the backdrop for the village with that ominous fog reminding us of the weather changes coming. 

Enjoy some of the lovely wild flowers we found growing in this rugged area...

Weathered benches on perches around town to take in the serenity and peacefulness.  

The fish market...it all depends on what the fishermen bring in as to what’s for sale!

The only cafe and it was closed!

The grocery store..

Giant anchor monument to the whalers and fishermen.

The only church getting renovated.

Open Air Museum flyer

Examples of their clothing needed to survive this harsh environment.  

Example of the sod huts that were half buried to keep them warm and insulated. 

Beautiful old stone building in the museum.

Dan at the lookout tower ...

Old photo showing hundreds of natives in their handmade kayaks during whaling season. 

Beautiful reflections ...

Lichen moss and some of the old walls around the village...



The supply barge that brought essential items to the villagers.  It docked, unloaded and was on it’s way out before we pulled anchor.