This is the new normal lunch in the United lounge. As I’m sitting here, my travel agent is in contact with Viking as Iceland has just recalled the cruise before ours to Reykjavik because of a positive Covid case. We have been told that ours is a go and with Sally already in Reykjavik shopping for me, I am going. See you later this month, hopefully.

Sally has found my beer gloves or as I like to call them, hot chocolate gloves.

Im on a flight from Houston to Newark with a bunch of immigrants with their clothes in plastic trash bags. \240They all have envelopes with their flight numbers and times and destinations on them. You are paying for this.

With the beautiful pipe organ inside the church.

You can also go to the top of the church and see the entire city of Reykjavik. Reykjavik has a little over 340,000 inhabitants.

Reykjavik was settled in 874 by poor Norwegian farmers. \240Keflavík airport was started as a US Naval base. It was occupied until 2007 by the US then became he national airport for Iceland. \240The training for the first 2 missions to the moon was done in Reykjavik because the landscape is similar n

Some of the street art in Reykjavik. They call this the right to be different not Gay Pride.

We then we to a gin and scotch distillery tour. Met a guy that went to the same college I did in Macon. It’s a small world.

Finished up the night with lobster soup in a fish market right on the water.

Helicopter tour postponed until Sunday due to weather.

Another long day tomorrow when we do Golden Circle tour and board ship.

Still have to try rye bread ice cream.

Lobster soup. Huge chunks of fresh lobster.

Sheep

Beautiful weather today

The geothermal water areas from which hot water is transported to Reykjavik.

Area where tetonic plates are separating by 2-3 centimeters per year.

Typical garb needed due to bugs called midgies.

Parliament building on right. Church on left.

Tetonic plates

Inside the church

Icelandic horses

Gulfosswaterfall

Geyser

Lunch in tomato greenhouse. Tomato soup, bread and tomato beer. Delicious

Tomato greenhouse and restaurant. They serve 400-500 liters of tomato soup a day and are only open 4 hours a day.

Kerid National Park. The crater left by volcano. The water color was just beautiful. \240The water does not drain from the crater. It rises and falls according to changes in the water table.

Rye bread ice cream. Really is delicious.

View at dinner

Indication of the fog and why helicopter tour was cancelled.

Back to the ship for a nap and dinner at my favorite restaurant on board, Manfredi’s. Tomorrow is a 2.5 hour private nature cruise and fishing in the Atlantic. Stay tuned.

Victoria House. Oldest structure in Iceland.

Oldest sea weary boat. Isafjordur style. Has to be put in water once a year.

Puffins

There are over 100,000 puffins on Vigor Island.

Felicity, her husband and their son,live on Vigor Island. They purchased it in 2015 along with her brother. They have electricity and well water. They gather eider down to sell in Germany where they make garments and bedding for export to Japan. \240They sell approx 3,000 kilograms per year.

The oldest windmill in Iceland is on Vigor Island.

We also went on a nature cruise and saw 8-10 humpback whales. It was very cold.

Whale breaching

Whale tail.

Video of pilot whales

Pod of pilot whales

Money shot of whale tail

Tunnel through the mountain

View from our room

Rainbow Road

There is a little shop on Rainbow Road where 14 women and 2 men make all the products in the store. There are handknitted sweaters, hats, and socks and wood carvings.

Some of the beautiful wood carvings

A different view of the waterfall.

A monument to Otto Wathne.

It’s 10:53 pm here. Sunset is 10:50 pm Sunrise is 3:14 am

We also visited Diamond Beach and saw a couple of seals in the water. Diamond Beach is named because the pieces of ice that break off the glacier wash up on the beach.

Diamond Beach

Picture from our balcony today.

B

It was cold and a driving rain

Solheimajokull Glacier. In about 50 years, this glacier is predicted to be gone. It is retreating at rate of 100 meters per year. \240It is the 4th largest glacier in Europe. About 10% of the land in Iceland is glacier.

As we stood there the iceberg and glacier totally disappeared behind the fog.

We stopped in Vik for lunch and short shop. Vik is the only town on the sea that has no port. It is mainly lodging and shopping for locals and tourists.

Vik is recognized by it’s Church on the Hill.

Basalt columns are formed when magma cools slowly and cracks into columns. The columns stand perpendicular to the cooling surface.

Basalt columns cave

Black sand beach

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall

The Westman Islands consist of 9 islands. As close as we will get to them.