Akureyri

Tuesday we took a tour from Akureyri to

Godafoss waterfalls and Lake Myvatn. We

also visited a Botanical garden and passed

through lava fields and geysers.

The weather was nice and the scenery was

spectacular. All in all a very nice ay.

 

Isafjordur

 We FINALLY put our feet down in Iceland.

Monday we were in Isafjordur. We were supposed

to dock but another ship got in ahead of us and

took our parking place. I appeared the tender

operation was going to be long but it was not

so bad.

 The weather was not looking great but when

we got ashore it was very nice, temperature

in 50’s. Just before we boarded return tender

it felt like temp dropped at least 5 degrees.

We definitely chose the right time to go ashore.

 Isafjordur is a small town surrounded by

mountains and ocean. We walked through

town which was very nice. The local Lutheran

Church was a most unusual design with

cemetery right out front. A former hospital

had been converted to a library and cultural

center.

 I thought tendering was not our best option,

but after walking the deck after dinner I’m

glad we were in the harbor.

 There are places you cannot describe, you

cannot photograph, you can only experience.

This is one of them. And this is only our first

port in Iceland!

Views of Nanortalik

Nanortalik, Greenland

The view from our anchored ship in Nanortalik,

Greenland was spectacular!

Icebergs and more icebergs and a lovely town in

the distance.

We had a lovely but cold day in Nanortalik. We

did a walking tour led by the on board pianist,

watched children fold dancing, visited an

outdoor museum, and just walked around

the village.

 

We slowly sailed away with icebergs all around;

definitely not your everyday view. It’s one of those

scenes hard to describe and best experienced

in person

 

 

Dining Friends

We prefer to arrange for anytime dining and then

try to find a table we like and reserved it for the

remainder of the cruise. We like a table for two

adjacent to another table for two. That way we eat

at our own pace but have someone to talk to.

 We have a nice table by the window and have

had several neighbors but we now have a

permanent couple who are delightful. I am slowly

gathering information about them.

Since they are older than us and seemed very

comfortable with each other I asked them how

long they had been married. They answered

at their church. I haven’t got complete story, but

one of them must have been new to that church. 

When they decided to marry, the church ladies

took over and things were not as simple as they

had planned.

Bill was a chemical engineer and worked in

Intelligence in WWII. He had one year of college

and was in Germany in 1944 and 1945. I haven’t

found out their ages (yet) but he must be around

90.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Icebergs, Etc

As we were preparing to sail from Red Bay, the captain

Advised us we were unable to sail to Cartwright. Not only

Are there a lot of icebergs in the area but visibility was

problematic. Large icebergs are not as much concern

as small ones because they are well charted and show

up on radar. He would have to slow down if visibility

became bad.

 This morning he was on “Good Morning, Veendam”

and explained more about the difficulty in trying to

make port. The ideal anchor spot needs good conditions

to access. The other anchor spot is about 1½ miles or

a 35 minute ride. 

Any delay in leaving Cartwright would make it very

difficult to reach N anortalik, Greenland. Currently

we are optimistic that we will get there, but tendering

is always an unknown until you get closer to area

and learn about current conditions.

 

---

 

Scenes of Red Bay, Labrador

Saddle Island

Red Bay

 

Red Bay

Linda and local

Replica of  whaling ship