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Day 4 – Akureyri, Capital of North Iceland

Akureyri (English “ah-kuh-rair-ee”; Icelandic “ah-kyr-ey-ri”) is one destination I really want to spend more time in if/when we return to Iceland! Nicknamed “The Capital of the North”, it is the second largest town in Iceland with a population of around 20,000. Akureyriis 90km/54mi from the Arctic Circle and sits at the head of Iceland’s longest fjord, Eyjafjörður, which stretches 60 km/36 mi to the Greenland Sea.

Akureyri was founded in the 9^th century by Helgi Eyvindarson, who was born in Dublin but was put into foster care in the Hebrides. When his parents reclaimed him two years later, he was so emaciated that they nicknamed him magri (The Lean). Helgi was a peaceful man and granted land to several families who settled in the area. That peace ended a couple of hundred years later when the Sturlungar clan, at the behest of Hakkon IV, then King of Norway, stirred up trouble in 1220 while attempting to bring Iceland under Norwegian rule. The conflict ended in 1264 when both sides kissed and made up.

In the mid-1500s Danish merchants used Akureyri as a trading post and warehouse, returning to Denmark during the winter. People started settling there permanently in 1778. The Danes introduced the locals to agriculture in the 1800s and the town started to grow substantially in 1862. Fishing, fish processing and farming became the main industries.

World War II dragged Akureyri into the 20^th century after Britain, Canada and the US “preemptively” invaded Iceland to keep the Germans out which, understandably, did not sit well with the residents. The Allies based the Norwegian-British 330 squadron in Akureyri. (The British built bases in Reykjavik and near Selfoss; the Americans built Naval Air Station Keflavik, part of which is now Keflavik International Airport.)

Today Akureyri’s main economic sources are fishing (Samherji hf, Brim hf), higher education (The University of Akureyri-founded 1987), the Einstök Ölgerð brewery, and tourism. Akureyrarflugvöllur is an international airport serving destinations in the rest of Europe as well as regional flights from Reykjavik.

We disembarked and boarded our bus after another delightful breakfast courtesy of Viking Mars room service. Our tour guide today was a very personable young woman from Poland. The first thing she pointed out after we left the dock area was the heart-shaped red traffic light. They were put up to give people a sense of community and hope after the island’s banking system collapsed in 2008, decimating the Icelandic economy. On the bright side, Iceland sentenced its bankers to a combined 96 years in prison instead of bailing them out.

We took the main road out of the commercial district and turned on to a street running through a residential area with charming houses on our way to the local ski resort. (WordPress can’t accommodate the video I shot but you can view it here on Google Photos.)

This is Skautahöllin Akureyri, run by the Skating Club of Akureyri. It is open to the public and hosts the SA Víkingar hockey games, figure skating shows and curling championships. Ya gotta have something to do during those long winters.

From here the road made a gradual incline to Mt. Hlíðarfjall Ski Centre which looks rather bleak with no snow. Check out the current conditions with their webcams.

We had a great view of our ship in the harbor.

I commend the person or persons who took the time to look up all the distances to ski resorts around the world from here.

The bus took us back down the mountain to town, where we stopped at the Akureyri Botanic Garden. Founded in 1912 by the all-woman Akureyri Park Society, it began as a recreation area and attraction for the town and was the first public park in Iceland. The municipality of Akureyri took over and started the Botanic Garden in 1957.

Many of the plants are Arctic or Alpine, native to Iceland, but there are several thousand other plant species.

We took far too many pictures to fit in this blog; you can view all of them here.

Peg had difficulty navigating the gravel pathway, and I got tired of walking, so, predictably, I stopped here at LYST coffee shop to enjoy a cappuccino and people-watching.

We left the Botanic Garden and drove by an amazing site, at least for Americans living in colder climates. The air temperature was about 58°F/14°C but there were many people swimming in the outdoor Akureyri Thermal Pool, which has indoor and outdoor pools, hot tubs and a cold bath, waterslides, and areas for sunbathing, all heated geothermally. Our guide explained that Iceland encourages physical activity for all and the island has the highest percentage of people engaging in exercise in all of Europe. Even the smaller towns in the country have community pools

The bus continued to the harbor, passing Akureyri’s landmark Lutheran church, Akureyrarkirkja. Built in 1940, it was designed by Guðjón Samúelsson, the architect who created Reykjavík’s majestic Hallgrímskirkja, and has a 3200-pipe organ, a floating crucifix, and a ship suspended from the ceiling, paying homage to an old Nordic tradition of votive offerings to protect those at sea. This link takes you to the church website.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons by Biekko. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

The last point of interest was Hafnarstræti, Akureyri’s shopping district featuring stores, restaurants, bars and lodging. If you’re young and looking for a bargain, you can stay in a capsule sleeping pod at Hafnarstræti Hostel for about $60/night. Hey, Booking.com gives it a 9.4, so it can’t be bad!

We stopped at the port gift shop before reboarding the ship. Peg checked out the Icelandic wool sweaters which are beautiful but very rough. I picked up a couple of sausages which I discovered were made from leftover pork parts when I translated labels! Peg got chocolate bars and hard candy for the family, along with this figurine. Leppalúði (“lep-u-loo-ti”) is “the lazy husband” of Grýla (“Gree-la”) and the father of Iceland’s 13 Yule Lads , trolls who make their appearance nightly from December 12 until Christmas. (There is also a giant Christmas Yule Cat that eats children who haven’t gotten new clothes for the holiday!)

We were too late for lunch in the World Café when we returned and opted for the Pool Grill, just off the pool deck. One can get burgers, sandwiches or hot dogs and there’s a soup and salad bar. We opted for the famous Icelandic hot dogs which are longer than the standard American dog and made from lamb instead of beef or pork, but still tastes like a regular hot dog.

After lunch I headed for the Nordic Spa on Deck 1 at the front of the ship, down a hallway past the Living Room, passing a shop, a hair salon and a fitness center along one side of the hall. The opposite wall was done in a faux-birch paneling and there’s a built-in seating area across from a check-in station.

Peg had recommended I book a massage before our trip. I had signed up for a deep tissue massage, ignoring her sage advice to choose something more relaxing. I’ve had lower back pain for decades and really thought this would help. This Healthline article touts deep tissue massage as offering “both physical and psychological benefits. It can relieve muscle pain and stiffness and provide stress-relieving relaxation for the body and mind.” Silly me.

The young man at the desk took me to the men’s locker room. There is a long counter as one enters; large, fluffy grey bath towels and smaller hand towels sit in wall mounted shelves above it. A swimsuit water extractor/salad spinner was built into the near side, just opposite the door. A naked old guy was using the extractor, standing in front of the same door through which my female masseuse would enter several minutes later

The rest of the locker room was impressive, There were two showers and a restroom on the right and a bank of lockers on the left. Each open locker contains a three-quarter length white robe, a towel, and a basket with foam slippers. The user locks it with the ship keycard after closing the door; it can only be opened with the same keycard. (I suspect the staff can override the lock in an emergency.) A sauna and a “cold plunge;” a four-foot-deep pool of really cold water, were at the end!

An L-shaped hallway led around the back to the main pool room, which featured a small “geothermal” hot tub sitting inside one corner of a larger pool. (I don’t know what made it geothermal since the water temperatures seemed to be the same.) There were several loungers on each side of the pools and in a larger area between the steam room and the “snow room” just opposite. One is supposed to enjoy the “refreshing” cold amidst gently falling snow, but all I saw was a pile of partly melted snow against the wall.

I sat in one of the chairs along the wall and listened to soothing music while contemplating nothing in particular until my masseuse , a tiny Indonesian woman, called me from the locker room door and led me to one of the massage rooms. There are few words to describe the ensuing thirty minutes except to say that by the end I felt like the suitcase manhandled by the gorilla in the memorable 1971 American Tourister commercial. Next time I will listen to Peg. (No, you won’t. You do whatever the hell you want!” )

After another delicious dinner we went to the Atrium on Deck 2, overlooking the Living room, and listened to the nightly flute/piano duo, then retreated to our stateroom where we listened to one of the port talks on Viking history (which is when I learned the origin of the Bluetooth symbol). We skipped the ABBA tribute later that evening in The Theatre, opting to open the celebratory bottle of champagne we’d been saving.

Follow these links for more information:
Akureyri, the Capital of North | Culture, History and Activities
The Ultimate Guide to Akureyri in Iceland

Featured Image: Downtown Akureyri seen from Vaðlaheiði. Skapti Hallgrímsson, 17 October 2020. This file is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 All other photos are mine except where noted.

Timmerman’s Supper Club

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(Note: I’m taking a short break from the Iceland travelogue.)

Peg and I went to Galena, IL, a quaint town cum tourist trap in the northeastern corner of Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from Iowa. One of our food destinations was a supper club in East Dubuque.

Anyone who lived in the Midwest in the middle of the 20^th century is familiar with the supper club. Initially an alcohol workaround during Prohibition (private clubs could sell liquor to members), supper clubs became social destinations during the 1940s through the 1960s. They were family-owned restaurants often on the fringes of rural towns and provided patrons with the classic evening out. One started with cocktails at the bar followed by dinner and ended with after-dinner drinks and dancing.

Men often ordered an Old Fashioned: simple syrup or a sugar cube dissolved in a bit of water, bitters, ice and bourbon or rye, garnished with a Maraschino cherry. Others popular drinks were the Manhattan (rye or bourbon, sweet vermouth, bitters and the cherry) or the classic Martini (gin and dry vermouth garnished with a pimento-stuffed green olive or lemon twist). Cream drinks were popular after dinner, mostly among women, and were often made at home with ice cream when blenders became affordable.

Classic Cream Drinks
•Brandy Alexander: brandy or cognac, crème de cacao, cream.
•Pink Lady: gin, applejack, lemon juice, grenadine and a small egg white, shaken and garnished with a Maraschino cherry.
•Pink Squirrel: crème de Noyaux (or Amaretto, but it won’t be pink), crème de cacao, cream.
•Grasshopper: crème de menthe, white crème de cacao, cream.

The dining experience was very predictable. While perusing the menu, the waitstaff would bring a relish tray with carrot and celery sticks, diminutive sweet pickles, olives, radishes and green onions along with packets of Club Crackers and those dry “breadsticks,” served with a dipping sauce or a spreadable cheddar we knew as “Bar Scheeze.” One could get shrimp cocktail or oysters for an appetizer.

Entrees were traditional American cuisine: steaks, chops, and chicken. Supper clubs usually had the Friday Night Fish Fry and Prime Rib on Friday and Saturday nights. Meals came with soup and salad (iceberg lettuce, a strip of carrot, a little red cabbage, maybe a tomato slice). Salad dressing options were usually oil and vinegar, Thousand Island and French, which you spooned from stainless steel three-bowl condiment server the waitstaff whisked from one table to another. The classic baked potato with sour cream and chives was standard. All this came with hot bread or rolls and butter.

Dessert and coffee came after dinner and before dancing. Any leftovers went into a paper “doggie bag,” often imprinted with a happy cartoon dog. There were no polystyrene containers or foil trays with non-recyclable plastic lids.

My brother-in-law’s mentioned Timmerman’s Supper Club in East Dubuque, IL when he heard of our plans. He and his sons often go to the casinos in Dubuque during their annual golf outings at Eagle Ridge in Galena. “It sits on a bluff overlooking the river. Zimmerman’s or something like that. We’ve never been there but maybe you can check it out.” (I didn’t know that Peg had already made a reservation.)

We headed west towards East Dubuque on US-20, a four-lane running through rolling hills. We’ve had a warm summer and early fall, so there was very little color in the trees; it would probably be spectacular in another two weeks. About twenty-five minutes later we turned on to Timmerman drive, a rather steep hill leading to a cemetery on the left and a ridiculously large parking lot on the right. I let Peg out under the canopy at the entrance before parking and joining her.

It was like going back in time 60 years! Think of Kellerman’s from Dirty Dancing.

The building is brick and concrete block, painted a warm cream color. There are portraits of the founders in the entry, above the wheelchair lift. Wrought iron railing, covered with many years of paint, lead up the stairs and along the waiting area. The doors and trim are all a dark walnut; the swinging doors to the kitchen have the old diamond windows.

The dining room is the size of a basketball court with high ceilings, laminated wood beams and acoustic tiles on the ceiling. There’s a large, blue sailfish mounted on the wall above two large china cabinets. Enormous plate-glass windows in aluminum frames, tilted out about five degrees from the vertical and running from the ceiling almost to the floor, look out over the Mississippi. Bluish sunscreens and motorized canopies shield patrons from direct sunlight until the sun goes down, when the staff retract them to maximize the view.

There are large valances running the length of the windows, with narrow tied back largely decorative drapes hanging about every 10 feet. I noticed three of the old wood and black grille loudspeakers mounted near the ceiling.

Tables seating two to eight people are positioned strategically throughout the dining room, allowing the waitstaff to move among the maximum 200 guests with grace and style. There is a half-wall in front of the kitchen entrance, topped with a decorative wooden lattice. The Palisades Room, to the left of the main dining room, has a private bar and is available for social events. (I suspect it was used for dancing during Timmerman’s heyday.)

The wait staff are all dressed in black. The high-school aged busboys wore black pants, long-sleeved white shirts and black bowties. They reminded me of my days bussing tables at the Lamp Lite Room at the Bowl-Mor in Streator, IL, minus the bowtie.

The hostess took us to our table and left us with menus, large, faux-leather-bound things with printed pages inserted into stitched plastic protectors. After we were seated our waiter gave each of us a slice of cornbread and took drink orders. Peg wanted a dry Beefeater martini with extra olives while I went off the board and got the Pomegranate Martini (citrus vodka, triple-sec and pomegranate juice) instead of the usual gin and tonic. We ordered the stuffed mushroom appetizer while perusing the menus; the aforementioned complimentary relish tray now cost nine bucks. Nostalgia ain’t cheap!

We toasted twenty-five years of marriage, having done that without strangling each other and defying the odds a couple of people had given us, as we watched the sun set over the river.

Peg ordered a ribeye with a baked potato (with sour cream, of course); I opted for the fried walleye and wild rice medley as the only time to get walleye at home is at Culver’s during Lent. Peg’s steak came on the classic sizzling steak tray, the wooden base darkened by the heat of many years. My walleye took up the entire platter; the rice came in an oval side dish.

Our waiter cleared the table once we’d finished, and Peg’s leftover ribeye had been saved in a black takeout container. He then brought us an anniversary dessert-a warm chocolate chip cookie drizzled with chocolate and caramel, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a single birthday candle.

Getting back to Galena was a bit challenging. We had to make a right turn (the median made turning left impossible), which took us over the bridge into Dubuque. I turned onto US-61, missing the first and only opportunity to loop back around to the bridge. We passed by Q Casino before crossing over another bridge into Wisconsin and then back into Illinois on a winding two-lane. We were finally pointed in the right direction and made it back without hitting a deer on the now pitch-black highway.

It was a perfect conclusion to a memorable weekend.

If you want an illuminating look at the supper club experience, check out Sherry Ott’s Exploring the Culture of Wisconsin Supper Clubs

Day 3 – Ísafjörður and Bolungarvík

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As we pulled into each port, we were awakened every morning by the cheery voice of our Cruise Director, Katy Syrett, a dark-haired Scottish beauty who also sings and dances in the after hours. It reminded me a bit of the daily announcements that greeted Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner, without the sinister undertone.

Ísafjörður (“ee-sa-fyo-tthur”) is the largest town in the Westfjords, which is relative, given only 2,700 people live there permanently. It is located on the Skutulsfjörður (“skoo-tuls-fyo-tthur”) fjord, a branch of the larger Ísafjarðardjúp (“ee-sa-fyo-tthar-djup”) fjord. In 2023 Ísafjörður extended the port to accommodate larger cruise ships, but also set a limit of 5,000 passengers disembarking per day to avoid overwhelming the town’s resources.

Our ship docked near the Naustahvilft Troll Seat, (“noy-stah-klift”) a large depression in the mountains next to the fjord. According to legend, sunlight turns trolls into stone and Naustahvlift was created when a troll hid in the hollow in the cliff to avoid the approaching dawn. Her enormous weight turned it into a seat; the adventurous can hike the trail and take in a spectacular view of Ísafjörður.

Today’s activity was touring Ísafjörður and Bolungarvik (“bol-un-gar-vik”), a small fishing village about 8 miles north. We disembarked from Deck A, the lowest passenger-accessible deck, this time through a narrow corridor and on to a long ramp with a very slight decline. Getting back on the ship was a bit of a nightmare as we ran into people headed out for the next tour. After that, the staff started staggering departures and arrivals.

Our tour guide was a pleasant and amusing young man from the U.K. who was far easier to understand and more personable than our native Icelandic guide on Sunday. We passed by two men loading a stretcher into a hearse as we were leaving the dock. I don’t think it was anyone from our ship, but you never know.

The bus meandered through the narrow village streets, past small guest houses and hotels in the city center. Our guide pointed to a construction site where Ísafjörður is adding land mass into the harbor to build student housing for the University Centre of the Westfjords, whose enrollment increased substantially after COVID restrictions were lifted.

We headed out of town on the narrow highway hugging the shoreline. We saw four large, circular structures jutting out of the water; these are open-net salmon farms which contribute to the economy, but at a cost. Farmed salmon have escaped from the pens, threatening the survival of wild salmon, whose global numbers have been dwindling. Sea lice and the pesticides used to treat them, along with the salmon’s own waste, pollute the water and may cause dangerous algae growth.

The bus entered the Bolungarvíkurgöng (“bol-un-gar-vik-uhr-gung”) Tunnel a few miles further along the road. The tunnel, 5.4km/3.36mi long, was opened in 2010, bypassing the treacherous coastal road which was susceptible to rock falls and avalanches from the Óshlíð (“ohs-lith”) mountains. The tunnel is well lit and there are turnouts along the way for passing.

*Entrance to Bolungarvíkurgöng. Christian Bickel, 2011.* *License* *CC BY-SA* *2014*

The Vestfjarðagöng (“vest-fyar-tha-gung”)Tunnel, west of Ísafjörður, is the longest tunnel in Iceland and has three arms which meet in the middle. That would have been an intriguing sight!

*Entrance to Vestfjardargöng.* *Bromr, 2009.* License CC BY-SA 2014

Trolls, elves, monsters and ghosts are part of Iceland’s storytelling heritage. Most Icelanders hedge their bets and won’t openly deny their existence…just in case. So, when the Bolungarvíkurgöng tunnel was being excavated, the construction workers started the day by apologizing to the trolls within the mountain for disturbing them…just in case.

Bolungarvík is a small coastal village (pop. 1,022), founded in 940 AD. It was one of the largest fishing stations in Iceland for centuries. Fishing and fish processing became the primary source of income at the end of the 19^th century. The town was inaccessible except by boat until 1950 when the first road to the village was completed. Between April and September sport fishermen flock to Bolungarvík angling for cod, redfish, haddock and halibut. (The average halibut is 100kg/220lbs!)

According to legend, Þuríður (“thur-ee-thur”) Sundafyllir and her brother, Þjóðólfur (“thyo-thol-fur”), the founders of Bolungarvík, got into a pissing contest after Þuríður granted her brother all the land he could fence in one day. Þjóðólfur didn’t fence as much land as he’d anticipated and became angry when his sister wouldn’t let him have any more. Out for revenge, he tried to steal one of Þuríður’s oxen, but she caught him.

The siblings were also sorcerers and cast spells on each other. Þuríður said, (and I’m paraphrasing), “Yo, sheep dung for brains! For trying to steal my ox, you shall become a rock that birds will defecate on for eternity!” Þjóðólfur turned to stone and fell into the bay, where birds shit on him until 1936 when, according to the locals, he mysteriously disappeared.

Þjóðólfur retaliated. “You wanna play that game, bee-yach? YOU shall forever become a rock where the winds blow the strongest.” And with that, Þuríður turned into a stone that sits at the top of Óshlíð. How he managed to cast a spell when he was already turned to stone was never explained in the legend.

We drove through town and stopped at Félagsheimilið Bolungarvík, (“fya-lath-shay-mi-lith”) the town’s community center, where a local musician performed two of his own compositions. The first was about an obscure wrestling tradition, (possibly Glíma (“glee-ma”), but I wouldn’t swear to it) and the second lamented the long Icelandic winters. Both were in Icelandic, so we couldn’t understand any of the lyrics, but he was passionate.

We reboarded the bus and on our way out of town our guide talked about the Arctic Tern, a bird that one site described as “so graceful and yet such a nuisance.” Instead of picking secluded areas, terns build their nests wherever the hell they want and become very aggressive if an unsuspecting human wanders near the eggs. They will dive bomb one’s head and, if they are particularly miffed, shit on you for good measure. Our guide was once attacked trying to draw the terns away from the tourists in his charge.

The bus turned around across from Óshólar (“oh-sho-lar”) Lighthouse and drove back to the Ósvör (“ohs-vur”) Maritime Museum, a 19^th century replica of a fishing station. There are three small buildings: a fish drying platform, a salting shed, and crew quarters with tools. An old fishing boat sits on the beach. The museum’s guide is dressed in traditional sheepskin fishing gear, minus the fish oil waterproofing actual fishermen used, which gave it an offensive smell! The path to the buildings was rocky and somewhat steep, so we skipped this part of the tour. (Note to self: next time bring the walking sticks you packed!)

*Ósvör Maritime Museum. Diego Delso, delso.photo, License* *CC BY-SA* *2014*

*Traditional Fisherman, Bolungavík, Iceland. TommyBee. Public domain*

The bus took us back into Bolungarvík where we turned around again and headed back to Ísafjörður. We went through the town center, past the local hospital and Íþróttahúsið á Torfnesi (“ee-throw-tha-hoo-sith”), the Torfnes Sports Hall, then west out of town to the Bunárfoss (“boo-nyar-foss”) Waterfall in the Tungudalur (“toon-goo-tha-lur”) Valley, where our guide promised us we would sample a glass of the purest water in Iceland.

Bunárfoss is not as spectacular as Seljalandsfoss or Skogafoss, but it’s still impressive. The more physically fit can climb 80m/262ft to the top of the falls for a view of the valley below. The waters continue in a gentle brook.

We got off the bus and the driver handed us plastic cups while our guide filled a restaurant style plastic pitcher with water from the stream, doling out samples to the curious. He then noted the water was so pure because there were no sheep in the mountains to contaminate it. It tasted remarkably like…water.

*Our group, waiting to sample the waters.*

Thirst quenched, we handed our cups to the driver and boarded the bus. Satisfied we were all accounted for, our guide told us a tale about a different tour.

“Before leaving, the driver asked if anyone was missing. No one spoke up so he pulled out of the parking lot. Just then he noticed a woman in the road behind him, waiving her hands frantically. He stopped and said ‘I thought no one was missing.’ A man a few seats back said, ‘That’s my wife. She’s always late for everything, so I thought this would teach her a lesson.’ “

Dead man walking…

On our way back to the ship we passed the Tungudalsvöllur (“toon-goo-tha-lur-vote-lur”) Golf Course: 9 holes, par 70 and a three-month season. Probably the only thing my brother-in-law would find worthwhile about this trip.

I investigated “Things to do in Ísafjörður” when I began this blog post and discovered there are two ski resorts on the mountains above Bunárfoss. Tunguladur, for downhill skiing, has 3 lifts and a ski lodge. Seljalandsdalur (“sel-ya-lands-da-lur”) is for cross-country skiing. I’m writing this during the second week of September and Ísafjörður already has snow and winter weather warnings!

Easter in Iceland is a five-day national holiday, from Holy Thursday until Easter Monday, and an opportunity for the hardy to “…flee to Iceland’s winter resorts where they ski from dawn until dark, get wasted on Black Death eat buried shark and boogey until breakfast.” (Black Death is Brennivin, Iceland’s version of aquavit, a variety of herb-flavored liqueurs that are not for the faint of heart. Chicago’s ghastly Jeppson’s Malört is another version of aquavit.)

Read Andrew Slough’s colorful account of Easter in the Westfjords here: Iceland: Skiing Isafjördur’s Chutes.

Next port of call: Akureyri. The “Capital of the North,” the Botanical Gardens, and a grand view of the town from their ski-resort.

Featured Image: Hansueli Krapf, 2002. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. All other pictures are mine except where noted, and are used under the Creative Commons Share Alike public license. Click here for details: CC BY-SA.

Day 2 – The Southern Coast of Iceland Tour

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We had signed up for the “Panoramic Southern Coast of Iceland” bus tour, partly because the activity level was described as “easy,” but that was a big mistake. It turned into nine exhausting hours of getting on and off a bus, hiking across rocky paths (which limited Peg’s exploring), and enduring an obnoxious, older (60s) but completely able-bodied couple who defiantly were the last to get back on at each stop, despite our guide’s repeated warning, “We are on a tight schedule.”

The tour bus left at 7:30am; it’s a good thing we had gone to bed early and had adjusted to the time difference. Room service arrived at 6:30am; I grabbed one of the bathrobes to avoid opening the door stark naked. We had a delicious light breakfast, then grabbed our jackets, the QuietVox modules, and Peg’s Rollator, and headed for the elevator. We scanned our room cards at the ship’s exit point, walked down the ramp and through the terminal checkpoint, and then stood in line outside waiting for our bus. Getting off the ship was much easier this time as we were at low tide, and the ramp wasn’t as steep.

Our bus was the third in line, and we were afraid we’d have to walk to it, but the first two buses departed and ours took their places. The bus driver loaded Peg’s rollator under the bus and our tour guide took our tour passes and welcomed us on board. We headed for a pair of seats in the middle of the bus. Before we left our tour guide had us turn our QuietVox sets to Channel 3 and made sure we could hear her through the headphones. (One of the tourists later deduced the channel always corresponded to the bus number.)

One might be forgiven for expecting the bus to have nice, comfy wide seats with generous leg room as seen in movies. Our seats were closely spaced, firm and built for skinny Europeans instead of fat American asses-worse than airline steerage class. The seatbelts were barely long enough and trapped us in uncomfortable positions. After the first rest stop, we moved to the five seats along the back and had much more room.

It was overcast and drizzly as we headed south from the terminal to Route 49, then east to Route 1, known as the Ring Road because it circles the entire island. After several minutes the outskirts of Reykjavik disappeared, and we were in the rugged countryside. Our guide pointed out steam coming from thermal vents near the road.

Geothermal energy provides Iceland with about twenty seven percent of its electrical power; hydroelectric power makes up the rest. Superheated, acidic steam collected from deep wells powers electrical turbines. Heat exchanges warm the water that is used to heat about 86% of Iceland’s homes and businesses. And geothermal water provides Iceland with its famous spas. (The Blue Lagoon isn’t a natural formation; it was created when the Svartsengi Power Station released geothermal brine was released into the lava field.) The guide at our last stop, the Lava Centre, told the group that his monthly electric bill is about eight bucks because electricity is so cheap.

Unveiling the Secrets of Iceland’s Geothermal Energy

We passed an airfield marker which seemed completely out of place as there were no visible hangers or aircraft. I discovered this is the Sandskeið glider port; here’s a video of a glider in flight. (Seriously, someone tell me when Iceland has sunny days, because it never looked like this during our trip!)

Hveragerði
The mist turned into fog as we gained a few hundred feet in altitude, then dissipated as the highway descended towards Hveragerði (pronounced: KVER-ah-ger-thhi). An earthquake in 2008 devastated much of Hveragerði; when the town rebuilt, it expanded its greenhouse industry, becoming Iceland’s “greenhouse capital,” providing the island with fresh produce year round, including tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, lettuce, red and green peppers, mushrooms, herbs and cut flowers. Carrots and potatoes grow outside in geothermically warmed soil. One can tour the Friðheimar family farm, learn about greenhouse production, enjoy fresh tomato soup, fresh tomatoes with Burrata cheese, and visit Icelandic horses in the farm’s stables. (Do not, under any circumstances, refer to them as “ponies!)

Selfoss
We crossed the Ölfusá river into Selfoss, a commuter town about 30 miles from Reykjavik. Selfoss means “Seal Falls” in English, but there are no seals and no waterfalls. It’s a pity we didn’t stop here because the town has a lot to offer. Having also suffered significant damage from the 2008 earthquake, Selfoss rebuilt a New Downtown, a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly area with shops, restaurants, and recreations of buildings from Iceland’s past, like the Old Dairy Food Hall. Skyr, the thousand-year-old Icelandic yogurt, is mostly made in Selfoss. The Bobby Fischer Center houses memorabilia of 1972 chess champion, who lived in Selfoss from 2004 until his death in 2008.

Hvolsvöllur
From Selfoss we headed east, stopping in Hvolsvöllur (pronounced “Kvols-vol-yur”) for a bathroom break at the N1 fuel and charging station’s Nesti grill. The bathrooms are exceptionally clean, and the staff is very friendly. I bought a couple of water bottles and some chocolate. We would stop at the Lava Centre here on our way back, but it would have made more sense to do it first, since we were exhausted by that time. We continued on to Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.

Sheep May Safely Graze
We saw sheep grazing along the highway, sometimes on the wrong side of the fence. There are an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 sheep in Iceland, outnumbering the human population. Icelandic sheep were susceptible to diseases introduced by selective breeding in the 19^th century so now importing sheep is illegal. The subsequent isolation produced a very pure strain, and Icelandic wool is unique-and scratchy! Peg’s hand became very irritated after feeling a sweater in one of the gift shops.

Sheep breeding begins in November; they give birth in May, a time known as Sauðburður. Then all the sheep are turned loose across the countryside for the summer. Free-range grazing is much cheaper than buying feed and, if a few of them are lost falling off a cliff or being hit by a car (sheep are apparently not very bright), it isn’t a big loss. Lamb is one of the main animal proteins in the Icelandic diet (the other is fish), and most lambs go to slaughter when they are 4-5 months old, undoubtedly disturbing the increasing numbers of vegans in the country.

Smölun, the annual sheep gathering begins in September. Farmers, their families and friends gather to herd the estimated 380,000 sheep into Réttir, large pens where they are sorted by earmarks, then sent back to the farms for the long, cold Icelandic winter. The roundup concludes with Réttarball, a celebration with live music and considerable amounts of alcohol.

Sightseeing by bus can be rather disappointing. You get off the bus, wander around the site for fifteen to twenty-five minutes, maybe relieve yourself or buy tchotchkes at the requisite gift shop, before being herded back onto the bus like cattle. It seems none of the tourist attraction parking lots are paved; they are covered with pieces of black rock which makes ambulating difficult for those with walker, canes or poor balance. Peg stayed on the bus during many of our subsequent stops.

Seljalandsfoss
Seljalandsfoss (pronounced “selya-lands-foss”) is fed by melting water from the nearby Eyjafjallajökull (pronounced “ay·uh·fyaat·laa·yow·kl”) glacier which covers the volcano that erupted in 2010, disrupting air travel in across Northern and Western Europe. The water plunges almost 200 feet to the meadow below. If one is in good physical shape, there is a foot path from the parking lot that winds around the back of the falls, providing a spectacular view and a good soaking. (One foresighted couple brought light rain pants.) I made it part of the way up the hill, took a few pictures and went back to Peg, who was waiting on a bench next to the parking lot.

*The stairs leading to the path behind the waterfall*

Reynisfjara
We continued on to Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, (pronounced “ray-nis-fyah-ra”) about 36 miles farther east, which lies at the base of Mt. Reynisfjall. Reynisdrangar, large basalt columns, lie just off the beach shore and were used in Game of Thrones Season 7. According to legend, they were formed when two trolls tried to grab a passing ship, but when the sun rose, they turned to stone. Another legend says two different trolls murdered a woman; her husband found them, dragged them into the sunlight and turned them to stone.

The beach can be dangerous. Visitors have lost their lives when large “sneaker” waves, up to 120 feet tall, suddenly appear and pull anyone too close into the ocean. Our guide warned everyone to stay well away from the water’s edge, but predictably some people threw caution to the wind.

Vik
Vík í Mýrdal, Vik for short, is a small village 3 miles east of the beach as the crow flies, but 7 miles by road. It lies directly south of the Mýrdalsjökull (pronounced “myir-tals-yo-kʏt”) glacier which covers the Katla volcano, which last erupted in 1918. Residents know they have only 15 minutes to evacuate if there is another eruption, as melting glacier water would quickly obliterate the town.

The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption covered Vi kin ash. In 2021 Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur and writer/producer Sigurjón Kjartansson created KATLA, a mystery-drama television series for Netflix. The plot: a year after Katla erupts, people thought to be dead or missing begin to reappear out of the ash. This creates conflict for the residents who eventually realize they are changelings, not their departed loved ones. I highly recommend checking it out.

Skógafoss
Despite the proximity, Vik wasn’t on the itinerary. Instead, we drove back to Skógafoss Waterfall, a thundering spectacle 200 feet high and 82 feet wide. The water’s source, The Skógá River, originates near the Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull glaciers. The hardier and more adventurous can hike the five-mile Skógá Trail to the bridge at the head of the river, AFTER climbing the 527 steep steps to the top of the falls. Spray from the falls creates single or double rainbows when the sun is out.

*The long climb to the top of the falls*

As with many other sites, Skógafoss comes with its own legend. A Viking settler, Þrasi Þórólfsson, hid a treasure chest behind the falls in 900; the first person to go behind the falls will find riches.

There are three places at the falls for overnight stays: Hótel Skógafoss, Hótel Skógá (both owned by EJ Hotels) and the Guesthouse Skógafoss. Campsites next to the lodging provide an alternative; there’s a parking lot beyond that. A new parking lot was under construction when we were there. The tourism industry has criticized the project, noting the increased distance to the falls (500m or 5.5 football fields) will negatively impact the elderly and disabled.

The parking lot was uneven, and Peg stayed on the bus. I wandered around a bit and took photos of people hiking up and down the stairs to the lookout point.

For some reason, this guy decided to lie down in the wet gravel and take a nap. No, he wasn’t dead.

We boarded the bus, again waiting for the recalcitrant couple, and headed towards Boutique Hotel Anna, midway between Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss, for a buffet lunch. They put on quite a spread with a delicious salad, beef roast, vegetables, bread and desserts. Sated, watered and rested, we got back on the bus for our final stop.

Lava Centre
The Lava Centre is in Hvolsvöllur, where we made a pit stop at the beginning of our tour. Our visit started with a 15-minute high-def film of volcanic eruptions around the island. We then gathered around a large map in the reception area while our museum guide explained the geology of the island’s volcanic systems.

From there we walked down a long, dark tunnel chronicling eruptions of years past.

Photographer: Magnus Elvar Jonsson. Used with permission of The Lava Centre

The corridor led to another room where we learned about the earth’s evolution. The handrail around the display moves the image through time, from the hot ball of rock 4.5 billion years ago, through the shifting tectonic plates and island’s geography to the present.

We then continued through another short passage where one can experience an earthquake by standing on a concrete pad which vibrates violently, accompanied by an ear-splitting explosion. The exhibit ends in a room with a simulated mantle plume and lava flows.

Lava Plume. Used with permission of the Lava Centre

Lava Flow. Use with permission of The Lava Centre — Photographer: Magnus Elvar Jonsson. Used with permission of The Lava Centre

The trip back was an hour and a half; at one point the fog was so thick we wondered if the driver could see the road.

Finally, we were back at the port; we boarded the ship and headed to our stateroom for a short rest.

We went to the World Café for dinner at 6pm, but it was a feeding frenzy of old people who appeared not to have been fed for days. So, we took the elevator down to The Living Room. There’s a bar that serves soft drinks and cocktails, charged to one’s room, but coffee, tea and pastries are available for free. We had drinks and relaxed on comfortable chairs while a piano and flute duo performed classical pieces.

World Café
The World Café is a large, horseshoe-shaped venue on Deck 7, in the aft third of the ship just across from the elevators. Tables for two to six or more sit on the perimeter; the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows provide light and views of the sea. Each side starts with a drink station where one can get juice, water and ice; the coffee machine dispenses hot water for tea, hot chocolate and creates espresso/cappuccino, adding foamed or steamed milk automatically from an adjacent dispenser.

Food is served from buffets in the middle of the Café, starting with appetizers, moving on to main courses, and ending with a bread/dessert bar. One side usually has pizza slices. There’s a specialty station along the back where one could get more exotic noodle dishes (Asian and Italian). A full-service bar across with bar stools and tables faces the specialty station. The kitchens are in the interior of the food service areas. Doors on either side of the bar open onto the Aquavit Terrace for outside dining. Guests can also take a dip in the hot tub and infinity pool.

The waitstaff brought water to our table and took orders for soft drinks, wine, beer or cocktails. I usually started with sashimi – raw salmon or scallops with pickled ginger and wasabi. Peg opted for a salad or some soup. The entrées changed every day but usually featured lamb and fish with a variety of sides. We were impressed by the hefty sneeze guards over the food, and by the entrée descriptions which listed potential allergens (nuts, wheat, milk, egg).

Dessert choices included a variety of small (one or two bite) cakes, brownies, cups of mousse and a nice selection of ice cream and gelatos. Peg often had tea with dessert and I would get a cappuccino from the self-service machine.

The ship left port as we finished our dinner, headed for our first stop on the cruise. Our tired bodies sank into the soft bed and sleep, again, came quickly.

Next: Day 3 – Isafjödur and Bolungarvik. Trolls and tunnels, a troubadour and a fisherman, and another waterfall.

Aerial View of Selfoss. (C) 2024 bySteinninn. Used under Creative Commons License BY-SA 4.0.
Lava Centre photos used with permission.

Day 1 – Embarkation

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Arriving in Reykjavik a day ahead to recuperate was a very good idea. Going from the airport directly to the ship would have left us more exhausted than we already were.

The Skarfabakki Harbor Cruise Terminal is about three miles from the hotel, and a much cheaper cab ride. We were fortunate that our ship, the Viking Mars, docks at Skarfabakki 315. Other ships dock down the street at Skarfabakki 312, a long hike from our drop-off point The old terminal was demolished to make way for a new terminal scheduled to open in 2026..

The ship’s crew took our luggage after the cab dropped us off; Viking has set up a temporary facility that made boarding (“embarkation” if you want to be formal) efficient and easy. We entered this building, showed our passports and boarding passes, and walked outside to the boarding ramp. High tide made for a steep climb, but one of the crew took Peg’s Rollator ahead while she grabbed the railing.

Once inside the ship, the staff scanned our boarding passes, which put us into their system, gave us our room keycards, and offered us a hot, wet washcloth and glass of champagne. Then, they directed us down the hallway to The Restaurant where another crew member went through the mandatory safety evacuation protocol: how to put on the life vest and where to go if needed.

(At this point, I recommend getting a lanyard for your keycard. Otherwise, you’ll be fishing in your wallet or purse for the damned thing and risk losing it, as I did.)

We had to wait until 1p.m. before we could get into our rooms, so we went up to the World Café, a self-service buffet, on Deck 7 for a bite to eat.

After lunch we made our way to our stateroom, a long walk almost to the end of the narrow hallway. Our cabin steward, a friendly Indonesian man, greeted us by name. “Dr. Rivera and Mrs. Sullivan.” (All future greetings were an enthusiastic “Dr. David and Mrs. Mary!”) Our suitcases sat outside our stateroom door. He pushed them into the room and then hefted one of them onto the large vinyl pad covering the foot of the bed to protect the bedding while unpacking before orienting us to our room.

My fat ass in the doorway of our stateroom

The large sliding glass door at the end of the room opens onto a veranda with two chairs and a small table. An armchair sits just inside. There’s a couch to the right of the chair; a large wooden tray with Viking brochures and a copy of The Viking Daily – with a synopsis of the port stop, a morning-to-evening list of the day’s onboard activities, departure times for shore excursions, the dining hours, and a ship services directory with phone numbers – sits on a coffee table in front of the couch.

The long desk has drawers for storage at the near end and a mini fridge at the far end stocked with Sprite, regular Coke and Coke Zero; Carlsberg beer; tonic water; travel bottles of Bacardi Rum, Beefeater Gin, Smirnoff Vodka, and The Famous Grouse Scotch; two small milk chocolate bars, and two bags of nuts, all replenished once a day. (Our steward switched out the regular coke for Coke Zero after Peg left him a note saying we didn’t drink sugared pop.) We had a complementary bottle of champagne and two flutes waiting for the right time to celebrate.

The middle of the desk opens up to a lighted mirror, a pair of binoculars and abundant storage for cosmetics and toiletries. The devices next to the hair dryer are QuietVox audio receivers used for self-guided tours or for one’s tour director to herd the cattle back to the bus.

The king-sized bed has four pillows (Peg asked and received an extra), a comforter, sans top sheet, and a “Traditional Norwegian Marius-weave blanket.” Each side has a night stand with 110/220V outlets, two USB charging ports and a wall lamps. The switch just above the electrical bar turns on the nightlight for bathroom trips. The two little silver circles are reading lamps.

A credenza with even more drawers and two shelves sits across from the bed. The ship supplies a large carafe of water and two lovely blue drinking glasses, along with a card that said, “if you like these items, they are available for purchase.” Subtext, “if you steal these glasses, we’re gonna add $200 to your tab!”

A 42” television is mounted on the wall above. There are several programming options: movies, TV series, news channels (Fox, CNN, BBC), a variety of music choices whose categorization left much to be desired, broadcasts of previous lectures (which is how I found out Bluetooth was named after Harald Bluetooth, a 10^th century Danish and Norwegian king), and the perpetual view from the bridge camera, overlaid with classical music. My Cousin Vinny was one of the movie selections; however, we didn’t think showing Lifeboat and Titanic on a cruise ship was a wise choice.

The bathroom was superb! It has a heated floor which is so efficient I had to turn it off because the temperature became stifling. There are drawers on each side of the sink and toiletry racks for Viking’s “Premium Freyja® toiletries” on either side of the anti-fog mirror. We found large, fluffy towels and washcloths under the counter.

The wall-mounted toilet is very efficient and very loud when flushed. I’d like these in my retirement house because cleaning the bottom of a floor-mounted toilet is a colossal pain.

The shower is more than adequate despite appearing rather narrow in this picture. The knob on the left turns the water on; the one on the right controls the temperature. I discovered a button on the back that overrides the water temperature limiter if one wants hotter water. The water flow decreases if one opens the shower door while the water is running. I should note that showering while the ship is sailing requires some caution. Peg only showered when the ship was in port to avoid being hurled out the shower door in rough seas.

There’s abundant closet space opposite the bathroom with a lot of wooden hangers on one side and more than sufficient drawer space on the other, hidden by sliding doors with magnetic catches. There are two decent sized robes on hangers, and a wooden box on the floor holds two pairs of complementary slippers (I could only get half of my foot into one) and a bright red Viking umbrella for rainy shore excursions.

A shelving unit next to the closet houses a Nespresso coffeemaker, a safe behind a cabinet door, and more drawers, one of which housed a horse hair lint brush, a shoe shine brush and instructions for complementary clothes pressing, returned the next day.

After unpacking, putting drawer things in drawers and hanging things on hangers, it was time for another nap. We woke up around 5:30pm and arrived at The Chef’s Table just before it opened for dinner.

There was a line of people waiting at the restaurant desk to make reservations for the ship’s two specialty restaurants: The Chef’s Table and Manfredi’s Italian Restaurant., (Our booking class had allowed us to make reservations 70 days before the cruise departed, so we were all set.) Our host took us to a table in a bright corner near the back, next to the windows.

Our four-course menu started with the “Amuse Bouche,” a fancy name for appetizer that conjures an image of Beavis saying, “funny bunghole.” The Goan Potato Chop was a light vegetable and cheese stuffed croquette, served with Soave Classico, an Italian white wine. The first course was Chili Soft-Shell Crab in a light tomato-chili sauce, paired with a nice glass of Pinot Grigio another Italian white. (You can probably guess where this is headed.)

I’m not into food porn; I started taking pictures when our palate cleanser, a lychee, guava and cranberry juice granite named Red Lotus arrived.

Our main course was Thai Spiced Rack of Lamb with eggplant, sweet chili and my sister-in-law’s nemesis, the dreaded baby corn, served with a ruby-red Rioja Tempranillo.

Dessert was a delightful Yuzu Cheesecake, whose namesake fruit provides a lemon flavor, along with fine ruby port.

An amateur restaurant critic seated with a foursome just behind us weighed in on the main course. I thought he might be a Texan, but he mentioned being from Oklahoma in passing. “Well, the lamb was very good but I’m kind of a meat and potatoes and beer guy.” Icelandic animal protein sources are largely lamb and fish, although beef would be available on the cruise.

He and his wife were celebrating their 40^th anniversary; the waitstaff presented them with a chocolate ganache-covered mousse, the size of a small curling stone, along with a glass of champagne. The couple at the table next to us were celebrating their 50^thanniversary and must have married young, because they didn’t appear to be terribly old; their mousse and champagne arrived shortly after.

Not to be left out, our waiter brought us a berry mousse covered with a strawberry ganache. And a glass of champagne. By this time my photographic skills were sorely lacking.

Fully sated and slightly toasted from the wine we had with dinner, we headed back to our room for bed. Our waiter graciously offered to send the leftover mousse to our room for us to enjoy over the next couple of days.

There’s no chocolate on the bed with the turndown service, but neither did we find the whimsical towel creations on the bed which are popular with other cruise lines that seem intent on forcing your happiness. I hung the room service request for breakfast outside door and sank into our nice soft bed. The Southern Coast of Iceland bus tour started 7:30am, an ungodly hour to be doing anything.

The best thing about dinner? Peg didn’t need time to “wind down” while fighting sleep. A few minutes under the covers and she was out.

Next: Touring the Southern Coast of Iceland by bus. Geothermal power plants, black sand beaches, waterfalls everywhere and a stop at the Lava Centre.

Notes from Dr. Dave

Musings from forty plus years as an OB/GYN and a writer.