Akureyri, Iceland

Hello from Akureyri, Iceland!

View from the ship

Before I get started on today, I need to go back to very early this morning. Actually, I need to go back to 2014 when I took this sunset picture as we were flying over Greenland. It's an image I have kept in my mind ever since as being the most unique and spectacular sunset I've seen in my lifetime.

Sunset over Greenland, November 2014

Now fast forward to this morning at a little after 2 AM when I got up to use the bathroom and saw this out my balcony door. We've got ourselves a picture (three pictures with no edits or adjustments!) of the most unique and spectacular sunrise I've seen in my lifetime. Based on the ship's position at the time I think it occurred over Greenland but if not it was most definitely over the Greenland Sea. The pictures don't do the color of the deep reds any justice. What I saw is something I will not forget. 

The beauty of the vibrant colors can't be described

So back to today. While half the world is experiencing extreme heat it was a cool and crisp morning here with the day starting out in the 40s.

Cool enough for steam to be coming off the warm waterfalls

When I was in Akureyri last month I took the Hop On Hop Off bus. (You can read about that visit here.) But today - even as late as breakfast time - I still hadn't put a plan together for this visit. 

You can bet any plan would not include a line like this one

Being the bar of cucumber melon bath soap I brought from home (that I haven't been able to smell once yet) was down to a sliver I knew I was going to have to buy some new soap somewhere. I did a little quick Google search and found a grocery store away from the tourist areas but close enough I could scooter on over to it. If I can hang in a mall in Poland I can go shopping in a grocery store in Iceland, right?

It couldn't have been any easier to get to the Hagkaup store. Leave the ship and go straight on Gránufélagsgata. I could turn on Laufásgata but it would take me more into the industrial area but as a single solo woman I wanted to stay on the main strip. I felt safe the entire time, but you can never be too careful. 

Instead, scooter down to Hjalteyrargata and take a right.

Truth be told, I just made sure I stayed on the
"G" street name until I got to the "H" street name

Follow Hjalteyrargata until you see the gas station on the left and the store is right behind it.

There it is!

And the ship is behind me, hiding in the trees. 

I feel much safer when I'm in an unknown area if I can still see the ship

Everyone in the store was a local and other than me not a tourist in sight. I took a few pictures inside the store but didn't want to attract attention so I keep the picture taking to a minimum.

I contemplated picking something up but everything was in Icelandic

Other than the soap, I had my eye out for something else. When Ed and I were here years ago we found a couple food items we really liked. I kept pictures of them in case we'd ever get back to Iceland again someday and lo and behold they had them in the store. Skyr is a thick Iceland yogurt high in protein (yum, yum) and Hrískökur are rice cakes with a chocolate layer (double yum). So of course I loaded up.

Snacks to last for at least a couple weeks

I also spied something I've been wanting to try. I've seen these throughout Norway and Iceland and since I've been skipping carbs (other than my birthday day) I've been skipping buying one. But I bought one today and ate the whole thing when I got back to the ship.

Bakariliō focaccia meō pepperoni = pepperoni foccaccia

I was proud of myself for being brave and acting like a local and getting myself to the store on my own. But when I got back to the ship and looked to see if I could tell where I had been I kind of got an ego check. I guess I didn't wander as far and wasn't as adventurous as I had thought.

Pink circle marks the spot

But I figure when I'm at home I don't do tourist things every day so when I'm on the road (or the sea) it shouldn't be any different, right? So I'm okay with today, and since we're here one more time next month I'm really okay I stayed local. 

Tomorrow we're in Grundarfjördur, Iceland. It's a new port for me, it's a tender port, and it's another port where we have to do a face to face immigration. This time it's with the Icelandic officials so we'll see how that works. See you then!

Not Seydisfjordur, Iceland

Hello from not Seydisfjordur, Iceland. 

Near the entrance to the fjord

We've had pretty rough seas these last few days and I'm sure more than a few passengers onboard (and some crew who were seasick) would have loved to be able to step foot on solid ground today. As I was hanging in bed this morning looking out at land I thought we might make it. As I saw mountain after mountain I soon realized I was starting to see the mountains repeat themselves.

It didn't take me long to realize we were going in circles and the marinetraffic.com tracking proved it.

Thanks to the strong winds outside and inside the fjord our port day became a sea day. I think we all would have been fine just circling all day instead of heading away from land and encountering rough seas all over again.

All day long

The waves even tore my bathroom door off its whatchamacallit. 

Since I was in Seydisfjordur last month and did everything I could think of doing I didn't cry over spilt milk or missed ports and took today to give myself a birthday present. Basic manicure and pedicure (no polish, please), men's style haircut (love my spiky hair), and a quick massage. 

And that pretty much was the day. So surprise, no other stories to tell! 

Just kidding.

Let's go back to yesterday...

I made sure to get myself a special breakfast combo. 

Notice how I was still able to keep the glasses even?

First time I've had pancakes in years. Oh. My. Goodness.

I saved this for my dinner dessert

Lunch was the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon. The cutoff was a little lower this cruise with 400 and some days required to make the lunch. The menu was a nice one as usual.

I tried hard to get something to eat with some kind of flavor, but nope

Crunchy shrimp and tender fish were the perfect texture combination

Desserts are always so pretty

Unfortunately for me, the gal who would rather fly under the radar, the entire room sang Happy Birthday to me. I think my face turned as red as the raspberry in the dessert. I was presented with the typical Princess birthday/anniversary/retirement chocolate cake and thankfully they divided it up for the table to share.

Okay, now I have no stories left to tell!

Tomorrow we're in Akureyi, Iceland where I have no plans but better figure something out soon.

Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland

Hello from the Shetland Islands! Today we anchored outside the town of Lerwick and it took two pictures to get the entire place in.

Our face to face immigration went smoothly this morning and I was even able to stop in right after breakfast instead of having to wait until my assigned 10:40 time. I learned from when we had UK immigration earlier this summer to go when the line is short since they don't check the assigned times anyway. Clearing immigration sooner meant I could get my tender ticker sooner which meant I could get to shore sooner. 

Being it was Sunday and most places were closed I had no plans for the day other than looking around - and taking pictures while I was doing it. 

If I saw an incline I turned around. I'm done with hills for a while.

If I saw steps I turned around.

If I saw a very narrow walkway only as wide as a manhole cover I turned around. This one was named.

I scootered over several different surfaces.

Took the obligatory sign picture. Finally, one in English I can read!

Thankfully I went ashore early enough and was able to avoid the crowds. By the time I was ready to head back to the tender the streets were getting full, and when I was on the tender back to the ship I could spy the Azamara ship coming in to drop her passengers here, too. 

Azamara Pursuit

Island Princess, my home away from home

I spent the rest of the afternoon on my balcony watching the sheep graze (and hearing them bawl ever so often) on the green Scottish hills. The limits of phones-turned-into-cameras make the little white dots hard to see, but they are there.

I wasn’t alone out there. Go away bud, I’m not eating!

Tomorrow is a sea day (I love those) 

and the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon (I love the good food they serve) 

and my birthday (I love those - NOT). 

But I'm on a ship having an amazing adventure so I won't be complaining a bit. 

Tuesday we'll be back in Seydisfjorder, Iceland for our second visit of the summer. See you then!