The Northern Isles Day 11
The Northern Isles
Day 11 – Sunday, July 20, 2003 – ms Rotterdam – At Sea & Reykjavik, Iceland
We were in the port at Reykjavik, Iceland when we got up at 7:15. This is the most northern most capital in the world. They have 170,000 people of their 266,000 people living in the capital. There is a heavy overcast but we see sunshine poking through the clouds to the north. The temperature is nice - mid 50's this early in the morning.
We showered, got dressed and went to have our usual breakfast. It is on the starboard side of the ship so we see the dock and some warehouses. But they look new. The whole city looks new as much as we can see. Lots of glass and aluminum. The dock looks very clean and accessible.
We have planned to meet Bob and Susan at 9 AM, go out and get a taxi to take us to places we want to see. We had decided yesterday that we would go and see the Blue Lagoon and then return to the capital to walk and shop. I have not sent out any e-mails for the last several days so it was important to do that to let Eduardo know we were fine.
Right a nine Susan and Bob knocked on our door and we left. We walked all the way forward and then went down past Deck 1 to get to the gangway and the dock. Once there we looked at the bus providing complimentary shuttle service from the ship to town so we would be able to recognize it if we wanted to use it.
Then I went to a taxi driver of a white Mercedes and asked him if he could do the places I had written on a sheet of paper. He gave us a quote of $300 for all the stops.
We were taken aback. We thought maybe the four of us for $200. Bob negotiated to $250 with the plans we would return to the old town city center by 2 PM - approximately 5 hours. Compared with what Holland America wanted for the same trip we would save $150 for the 4 of us.
We hopped in and we were off. Bjorn (Buddy, as he is called by his USAF buddies from the air base north of the city) gave us some information about Reykjavik. There is no military here so the US provides the service. Most American fast foods are here - Dominos, Pizza Hut, KFC, etc. but not Starbucks nor Burger King. His country is completely Americanized.
We commented about the city being so modern. He said that the people of Iceland take great pride in keeping it clean. As we saw earlier, everything is really new. Even in the old city, it is painted and well maintained. No graffiti at all.
He mentioned that the Icelandic people are very peaceful, there were only two murders in the whole country last year. People may own rifles but no guns. The police do not have guns - just night sticks. They have the longest established legislative system in world - from the 900 AD. Vehicles and gasoline are very expensive.
Toyota is the primary brand used here, cheaper and well constructed. No American cars on the road. Some Audis to go along with the Mercedes used by the taxis. They use electricity that is produced by the steam generators from their underground natural resources.
There is no pollution to speak-of. There is a huge campaign to plant trees. Most of the areas we saw had no trees - just moss and little flowers - so they are asking people to plant trees and to donate money to help this.
Their major industry is fishing although only 12% of the population is employed in this endeavor. He told us that the fishing industry is not seen favorable to the young who go into other business. They also use greenhouses, heated by the thermal waters.
We drove quickly out of the city on streets/roads that were impressive. New, smooth, and well maintained. We drove out on to volcanic peninsula of Reykjanes and to the lava fields.
All the way to the Blue Lagoon we saw the sea to our right. The terrain is very different - lava beds/rocks all over. We went through the fishing town of Hafnarfjordur. When we made the turn to enter the Blue Lagoon the lava rocks were all around us. We asked him to stop so I could take some pictures.
This area has the rocks covered by a moss/lichen that is SO soft to the touch or when Bob laid down on it. Their summer flowers are minute but are all over. Any patch of dirt and they spring up. Tiny pink, purple, and yellow ones.
He left us off at the front entrance of the Blue Lagoon and went to park the car. We entered, paid our admission fee (Visa credit card) in Icelandic Króna. They gave us a bracelet with a programmed chip that allowed us to go through the turnstile and into the locker room.
I found a locker, put my clothes in it and then used the bracelet to lock it. We were asked to shower before we entered the pool and it was wonderfully warm. There was a slight sulphur odor but it was entirely acceptable.
We took some pictures of ourselves in the water with the steam rising around us. We stayed for a little over an hour in this soothing mineral rich warm waters and used some of their silica gel all over our bodies.
We headed south from the Blue Lagoon to the fishing village of Grindavik where we passed the ocean dotted with little fishing vessels. We traveled the southern shore of the peninsula through barren lava fields with not a tree in sight.
Once we swung on to the road to Krisuvik, we proceeded on dusty crushed lava gravel roads. It was a hilly, narrow, and winding road that at times was wide enough for only one car.
We stopped at Seltún where we saw a geothermal area with powerful jets of sulfurous steam escaping from vents deep in the earth. We proceeded NW past the huge Lake Kleifarvatn, in a very stark, moon-like surroundings, that lost some of its water level when the earthquake of 1992 struck the area.
Circling back to Hafnarfjordur, we passed a strange looking drying racks and asked Bjork to stop to get a closer look. Much to our surprise, there were thousands of fish left to dry on these arbor like racks. The smell was most pervasive. These would then be sold and shipped to China for their use.
Once close to Reykjavik, we stopped by Bjork mother’s house where he gave us KLANISH - a pastry to eat with the morning coffee. We drove through the surrounding areas, showing us the architecture and homes of the city and its outlying neighborhoods.
He then took us to the “PEARL”, four thermal water storage unit with a visitor’s center in the middle and a high rise rotating restaurant on top. It is called the Pearl for its silver metallic rounded glass roof that makes one wonder whether there is a Pearl sitting on top of the small mountain.
Right on the waterfront, near downtown, he took us to the Höfdi House, the site of the Reagan/Gorbachev Summit on October 11 and 12, 1986 that was to bring the end of the Cold War.
We then went to the Hallgrim’s Church (huge modernistic Lutheran church) and saw the huge statue to Lief Erikson. The steeple is a Reykjavik landmark. We then finished the tour with Bjork in downtown Reykjavik where he left us off and we paid him.
Instead of having a formal lunch (2:30 PM) we decided to grab a hot dog at a roadside stand. We had been told that it is a culinary landmark in the city. While we were there, standing in line to order and then eating this true foot long dog, we saw close to a hundred people order from one person establishment. And they took credit cards!
Susan and Bob did some shopping and we looked for an internet, finding a great one at the city center, called Ground Zero, where I paid $4 for 40 minutes. We were able to send messages to every one detailing our problems onboard and catching up sending the daily journals and pictures.
We walked back to the ship, following their city walking/bike path that followed the very clean harbor area. There were statues, places for picnics, park benches, drinking fountains and overlooks.
We found the ship after a 45 minute brisk walk out of town and up the coast to the commercial harbor. After looking back at the varied HA tours, we were able to combine all of the sites of three different tours and saved over $100 per person by having our own personal guided tour.
At 7 PM the ship was ready to sail. As it began to move out of the port we could see the city behind us. At 7:15 we went to the Crow’s Nest and were so surprised when we saw how many people had found our little hideaway. They had gone there to see the ship’s exit from Reykjavik and to have a drink and dance.
Haidee helped me find seat overlooking the ocean and we had some drinks and appetizers again. They do take care of us. We went to dinner at 8:15 and we were able to see the ship navigate the channels out of the harbor and the surrounding lands.
Even as late 10 PM we were still in the channels sailing WSW, not South East as we will travel for the next day. At 10 PM we returned to our rooms to find another notice about the one hour time change. The sun is still high in the sky and like last night, it will never get dark this far north.
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