Grundarfjordur - July 22, 2021

Overnight the seas flattened and the ship settled down around 3 am. We were up at the crack of 9 am to prepare for our shore excursion at noon. The wind direction was unfavorable for the ship to tie up at the dock.

We dropped anchor in Grundarfjord harbor and used the lifeboats to ferry to shore. We were met by Snaefeliness tour bus and had a 30 minute ride through the country side to Djupalonssandur. This fishing village was first settled by the French.

We climbed aboard a tour boat and cruised out to several small islands to go bird watching.

We saw many gulls and puffins. The puffins are not good at flying. They are much better swimmers than fliers.

On the way back to the ferry dock the crew set a drag net to collect shellfish from the sea bottom. They dragged the net for approximately 10 minutes and brought aboard a bounty of seafood. This included sun stars, star fish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and scallops.

The crew shucked the scollops and passed them around for us to eat. They also served sea urchin row.

We returned to the dock and walked around the fishing hamlet Arnarstapi. The town is built on a hill so almost every house has a water view.

We made a stop the Lutheran church.

Above the alter is a painting of a blonde haired, blue eyed Madonna floating over the mountains of Iceland.

Our tour bus took us back to Djupalonssandur and we returned to the ship. Tonight is the ship’s welcoming dinner. Priscilla and I will wear our fancy outfits.

Here is a quick catch up on fun facts that I have not previously mentioned.

Reykjavik means -“ smoke cove”. The early settlers observed billowing steam rising from hot springs in the area.

The Icelandic weather is very changeable because it is located at the confluence of the warm north Atlantic Ocean and the cold Arctic Ocean. The Norwegian Sea is on the east side.

I mentioned that Iceland is the size of Kentucky but another comparison is it is 75 times smaller than Australia.

Iceland has the lowest energy costs in the world because they generate electricity with solar and geothermal energy.

Reykjavik was first settled by Ingolfur Arnarson in year 874.

There are 141 passengers on our ship and 117 crew members. The majority of the crew are below decks and we never see them.

There are no snakes and no mosquitos in Iceland.

Tonight our ship will sail north to the Island of Grimsey and we will cross the Arctic circle tomorrow.