Farewell Iceland - Watch out Greenland, we're on our way

Wednesday, July 26

Embarkation day.  It was a beautiful morning in Reykjavik so after packing up we went for a walk on the waterfront.  We boarded Insignia around lunch time and got settled in for our 15 day cruise.  We had time in the afternoon for a walk (Linda) and a run (Larry).

That evening we decided to eat in Toscana, the Italian restaurant on board.  We quickly found out that our love for the 7-layer chocolate cake had preceded us.  I won’t bother you with the explanation of how this all came about but we do have a reputation.  At dinner, three people, the Toscana maitre d’, the restaurant manager and the executive chef, each stopped at our table and mentioned the 7-layer chocolate cake.  Quite funny.  We decided to have Italian desserts in Toscana but when we got back to our cabin there was a piece of 7-layer cake waiting for us.  Nobody will confess to having sent it.

Thursday, July 27

This was Blue Lagoon day.  It’s one of the things everyone says you have to do in Reykjavik.  The lagoon was warm and not so blue.  The weather was beautiful, yet again, so it was enjoyable soaking and doing the mud facial thing.  We’re glad we did it and checked off our list of things to do but it definitly was not a highlight of the trip.

When we got back to the ship it was time for a highlight of every cruise - the lifeboat drill!

The sail out if Reykjavik was lovely.  Lots of birds, no whales yet.

Friday, July 28

Our return to Isafjordur, Iceland.  The last time we were here we hiked to Tungudalur waterfall.  We thought we would like to do it again but also had looked into other options like a bird cruise to Vigur Island.  It seemed that those were booked and when we arrived we found out why.  There were 2 other cruise ships in Isafjordur this day, both bigger than Insignia.  When you consider that the town has a population of 4000 it’s probable that the number of visitors exceeded the population.  So we hiked back to Tungudalur and loved it again.  We climbed up to a view point and sat there for 30 or 45 minutes, just enjoying the views and the sounds and probably ruining the photographs a few people who stopped down below.  The only downside was that, while there were some, the lupines were not as numerous or as spectacular as in 2014.

Back on board it was time to sail away from Iceland with 2 days at sea before reaching Greenland.  Iceland is a wonderful place and we’re talking about coming back to see the northern lights.

Southern Iceland Glaciers, Waterfalls and Beaches Tour

Today we went on another wonderful tour, covering the area south and east of Reykjavik.  The tour lasted for 10 hours and went a long distance but the bus ride was worth it.  It started with a drive through more of the intriguing Iceland landscape.  Of course we saw farmland, horses and sheep.

Bales of hay - getting ready to feed the livestock in winter

 The day started a bit cloudy but the weather gods were looking over us and soon the skies started to clear just in time to see a couple of glaciers high up on the mountains.  The most important one was on the infamous Eyjafjallajokull volcano which erupted in 2010 and disrupted air traffic all over Europe (except Iceland!).  More photos of that later.

Our first stop was at the Skogafoss waterfall.  It was quite impressive.  I made the long walk up the stairs to the viewing platform at the top of the falls while Linda enjoyed them from below.

Next up was the Solheimajokull Glacier.  We were able to walk close to the current terminus of the glacier.  Our guide told us how much it has receded recently.  The place where we stood to take these photos was the terminus of the glacier in 2012.

Interestingly, Icelanders are less concerned with warming temperatures than they are with changes to the Gulf-stream that may result from climate change.  The Gulf-stream keeps Iceland fairly temperate and a shift could quickly cause an Ice Age there.  Going back to Bordeaux, the French could face a similar fate if the Gulf-stream shifts and temperatures there get lower.  Bye-bye vineyards.

After a lunch stop in the village of Vik, we walked down to a black sand beach but not THE black sand beach that we would visit next.  This one was interesting but the weather had once again changed and it was windy and very cold.

It was cold but Linda is still smiling!

THE black sand beach is Reynisfjara and it was so interesting.  In addition to the black sand it featured a couple of caves and puffins nesting on the cliffs.  The caves were formed by water erosion (the waves there can be quite big and our guide warned us to be careful because big waves have come up seemingly out of nowhere and swept people away).  The erosion caused these incredible volcanic basalt formations to be revealed.

Look carefully - the 2 white dots are puffins

Our last stop was to be the Seljalandsfoss waterfall.  But we were slightly ahead of schedule and the weather had once again cleared so we made a stop to get a good look at Eyjafjallajokull.

Then it was on to Seljalandsfoss.  The waterfall was, of course, beautiful but the highlight here was being able to walk behind the falls.  And with the sun shining brilliantly we got rainbows too.  Yes, we got wet but it was well worth it.

Wet but worth it

Afterwards we tried to decide which of the tours we liked better - yesterday's Golden Circle or today's Southern Iceland.  We decided that they were both great but if forced to recommend one over the other we'd go with the Southern Iceland tour.

Reykjavik and the Golden Circle

We arrived in Reykjavik yesterday, Sunday morning, and made our way to the apartment in the old harbor area.  On the way, we began to see the contrast we were in for.  Gone were the vines, here was the volcanic landscape including an interesting golf course.

The rough is really tough!

 Also gone was the warm weather of France.  We decided that it would be an easy day after 10 days of excursions and wine tastings.  We did some walking around the area, some grocery shopping and a couple of loads of laundry.  Linda braved the cold and we went to a seafood restaurant by the harbor.

 Fish and chips for Linda and an Icelandic fish stew for me.  It was not what I expected - more of a fish and potatoes casserole and quite good.

Today we took a Golden Circle tour.  It's one of the 2 things that most tourists do in Reykjavik (the other being the Blue Lagoon.  We're doing that Thursday).  When we were in Reykjavik on a cruise a few years ago we just explored the city so we decided that it was time to venture out.  As we headed out of the city the landscape changed and then the weather changed.  Mountains, lakes and fog.

Our first stop was in the village of Hveragerdi which was hit by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in 2008.  Needless to say, there are a lot of volcanoes and earthquakes in Iceland.  We stopped at a recently built little shopping mall which had an exhibit on the earthquake.  Most interesting was that, while they were building the center, they found a fissure underground that is the place where the North American and European tectonic plates meet.  So we were able to stand with our feet on both continents.

More on the tectonic plates later.

Our next stop was at the small Faxi waterfall.  It was nice but just a prelude of what was to come.

What came next was the magnificent Gullfoss waterfall.  It was big and beautiful and we got the chance to walk close enough to get good and wet from the spray.

Next stop on the Golden Circle was the Geysir geothermal area.  Here we walked around and saw the various features bubbling and venting and also the Strokker Geyser erupting.

The Geysir geyser - no longer active

A selfie of the geezer with a geyser!

The last stop was at the Thingvellir National Park.  Here we walked to another lovely waterfall but, most impressively, walked through the rift between the North American and European tectonic plates.

North America on the left, Europe on the right

Thingvellir is also the site of the Althing, Iceland's first parliament from the 10th century.

It was an amazing day filled with beautiful scenery and decent weather.  While Iceland may not have many vines, it does have lots of horses and sheep.  The sun made a few appearances and no fog on the way back.

And no kings or queens to try to remember!