Reykjavik, Iceland

What a beautiful view to wake up to! Thirty minutes later we were enjoying a room service breakfast. With a day in port and nothing special planned, we stayed on board and enjoyed a very lazy morning. We saw a lot of the countryside when we were here in 2024, so we decided just to take the shuttle into town and walk around a bit. The weather has turned rainy, cold and blustery, so I personally wasn't interested in spending a lot of time outdoors.

The photo below was taken from our balcony around 7:30 this morning.  

 

Mount Esja in background

 

Reykjavik, Iceland's government seat is home to half the island's population. It is a colorful city with concrete houses painted in light colors topped by colorful red, blue and green roofs. Its name comes from the Icelandic words for smoke (reykur) and bay (vik). 

Iceland is known as the "Land of Fire and Ice" due to its landscape shaped by glaciers and active volcanoes. The tiny town of Reykjavik is surrounded by ice covered peaks, volcanoes and geothermal vents. Most of the homes here are heated by near-boiling water from the hot springs.

The majority of marine activities include whale and puffin watching. 

Here are some interesting facts about Reykjavik.

It is the northernmost capital city of any sovereign state in the world. Because of it's location, it experiences dramatic light shifts, from just 4 hours of daylight in winter to the near constant "Midnight Sun" during the summer solstice. 

Meaning of the Name: When the very first Norse settler, Ingólfur Arnarson, saw steam rising from the hot springs of the area, he named the bay Reykjavík, which means "Smoky Bay".

Zero Global Fast Food Chains: There are no permanent global fast-food franchises. The last McDonald's closed in 2009, making Iceland one of the few places worldwide without them. 

City of Puffins & Literary Greats: It is the only capital city in the world with a major puffin breeding colony (located on the nearby islands). It is also highly celebrated for its literary culture, earning the designation of a UNESCO City of Literature in 2011. 

The weather has been cold, windy and misting rain on and off all day. We took the shuttle into town and walked around so I could snap a few photos and then headed back to the ship. We are not cold weather people! I'll post some of the photos I took to give an idea of what we saw.

 

modern buildings, downtown Reykjavik

downtown Reykjavik

Hallgrímskirkja, largest church in Iceland

             

plenty of cafes and souvenir shops for locals and visitors

     

     

stainless steel sculpture "Sea Voyager"

rent a scooter

This afternoon the sun came out so here is the scene from our balcony before we sailed.

 

Isafjordur, Iceland

It was a chilly but beautiful today in Isafjordur! Here are the views from our balcony when we opened the curtains this morning - straight ahead and looking to the left.

Flanked on 3 sides by towering mountains, Isafjordur is a perfect natural harbor. Fishing is the area's main source of income.

Some passengers visited the Maritime Museum; others went to see the Dynjandi Waterfall, or to see whales or puffins. Still others hiked up a short way, while a few hiked really far up (on top photo) which looked quite scary. There would be nothing to stop them if they tripped and slid their way down! 

We saw a lot of this area when we visited in 2024, so we didn't get an excursion this time. Instead we just walked around the town for a couple of hours. Viking and Princess also had large ships in this port today, so it was a good business day for the local merchants!

I'll post some of the photos I took in the order taken as we walked toward the business area. 

 

Vista in Isafjordur

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

kayaking and cold water swims (brrr!)

Maritime Museum (background)

 

kids jumping off crates into icy water

  

older ships in dry dock

teens doing water "wheelies" in harbor

reflections in Isafjordur bay

beautiful stand of lupines

 

We were awake by 5 a.m. this morning, so we were back to the ship shortly after noon. Our afternoon consisted of reading, naps, Team Trivia and Mensa (Ronnie). We had a nice dinner with a couple from Nova Scotia. All in all, a very nice day!

Akureyri, Iceland - 31 minutes of night

I mentioned in my last post that the sun stayed up almost the entire night. Tonight the sun will set at 12:58 a.m. (tomorrow morning, actually) and will rise again shortly after at 1:29 a.m. Because the sun dips only slightly below the horizon during this time of year, it never gets truly dark. So that means we will experience just 31 minutes of twilight before the sun is back up. It feels really weird going to bed at 11 p.m. with the sun still shining brightly! 

Here was the view from our ship when we woke this morning.

  

 

We're in the Land of the Midnight Sun during what is called the summer solstice. The phenomenon occurs due to Iceland's location, just below the Arctic Circle. In contrast, the winter months are just the opposite, with December and January only experiencing 4-5 hours of daylight each day. Given that I have a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder, I would have to move away during the winter months!

Here’s more info on the Midnight Sun. https://guidetoiceland.is/nature-info/midnight-sun-in-iceland

Akureyri is a town in northern Iceland in one of the longest fjords in the country. Surrounded by mountains, it is only 37 miles south of the Arctic Circle. However, it has mild summer temperatures up to 77 degrees F and winter temperatures averaging around 32 F. It is surprisingly green with lush vegetation. It was settled in the 9th century but did not receive a municipal charter until 1786. It was the site of Allied units during WWII. 

We’re in port all day so there was no big rush to get off the ship this morning. We decided to do a self-guided (with a map, of course) walking tour after breakfast. The town is very hilly and the walk was actually quite a climb. Of course I took lots of photos both ways. 

 

The church, Akureyrarkirkja (a mouthful!) is a regional symbol. Nicknamed the "ice cathedral" it dominates the cityscape from its hilltop. 

Hof Cultural and Conference Center

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We climbed the hill to the botanical garden and meandered around the gardens. After an hour or so, we walked back down to the town center and had lunch before heading back to the ship. Ronnie took a short nap and then went to run while I went to the Bistro and enjoyed an iced mocha latte while playing with my photos. As usual, I took way too many!  

        

                

lining up for a Volcano Dog

Mama, the water is cold!

goodbye, Akureyri

....and we're off to the next port