Well, as usual, I'm running behind on my blog posts. We docked in Akureyri (pronounced ash-coo-RARE-ee), our final port in Iceland on the 24th. Originally settled by the Vikings in the 9th century, Akureyri is the second largest populated area after Reykjavik. It sits at the bottom of a 40 mile long fjord on the northern coast of Iceland. Akureyri is a fishing port and is only 60 miles from the Arctic Circle, but the harbor doesn't freeze. We arrived in a fairly heavy fog. I had signed up for a tour which took us out to the countryside and as soon as we left the harbor area and drove up into the mountains, the fog disappeared and it was a beautiful day with temps in the mid 60's. The tour took us to a waterfall called Godafoss (Falls of the Gods), so named because it was used for pagan rituals before the arrival of Christianity. The falls are only about 30 feet high, but the amount of water pouring over them is amazing! We then drove to see some turf houses, built of stone with grass turf used as roofing material. The stone houses were several hundred years old, but there were also some built of wood with turf roofs that were newer and the local church built of wood was only about 100 years old. The last stop on the tour was back in Akureyri at the local botanical garden. The Icelandics are very proud of their botanical gardens. This one was a good bit larger than the one in Isafjordur with some beautiful flowers. Photos.
The 25th and 26th of July were sea days. I am still amazed that the sea has been so calm, but I'm not complaining. Better calm than stormy. Yesterday we docked in Bergen, Norway. The weather is gradually getting warmer, and yesterday morning we had a very heavy rain. Fortunately, I had decided not to get off the ship since I have been to Bergen several times before. The rain finally ended just before lunch and it cleared off for the afternoon. We only stayed in Bergen until 3:00 pm.
Last night, I had dinner in the French restaurant onboard called the Verandah. There were seven of us at a private table and were served a seven-course dinner with lobster, duck liver, potato and truffle pasta, pigeon breast, chateaubriand with morel mushrooms, fancy cheeses, and dark chocolate filled with chocolate mousse and orange creme brûlée. I had not met the others at the table before - we just signed up for the dinner and hoped we all got along. We were a good group - one couple from Hong Kong, one couple from Australia, one couple from Germany, and me. It was really good - I might not eat again for a week (not).
We are at sea again today, on our way back to Hamburg, Germany. Most of the German guests will leave the ship tomorrow, but I don't know if we will pick up new guests from there to Southampton or not. I'm not planning another tour of Hamburg, although I might check out the shops if there is a shuttle bus from the ship.