As we headed north from Newfoundland to Greenland through the chilly North Atlantic, we had two days at sea. Wednesday morning found us up early as our captain told us we might be able to see icebergs but fog was predicted to roll in mid-morning and remain for the next two days. After looking out the window at 6, all we saw was blue sky and sea but by 7, there were a few smaller icebergs beginning to pass by. So it was out on deck to see what we could. However, the biggest iceberg of the morning was the one we observed from our stateroom earlier; we later found that the captain had diverted out of his way so we could see them.
On sea days, we typically have breakfast in the main dining room and are randomly seated at tables for four. On each day we have met interesting people and today was no exception. We met a couple from near Vancouver. Otto was born in Holland and Ida in the Philippines. We told them that they were the third couple in a row where each spouse was born in different countries and had settled in Canada. They were a wealth of knowledge about world travel, offering several excellent suggestions. We find we are such rookies when it comes to travel!
We had hoped to attend Cruise Director Bruce’s “Good Morning Maasdam”, a takeoff on morning TV’s interview shows, but once again time got in the way. We wanted to hear Travel Guide, Barbara Haenni’s, informative presentation on things to see and do in Reykavik, Iceland. Once again, virtually without notes, she gave historical information and lots of description of things to see in that far northern city. As she finished, we remained seated for the next speaker, Tim Runyan, a Professor at East Carolina University, speak on “What’s under the Ship” – mostly about the topography of the sea floor and various shipwrecks including the famous and the infamous Titanic.
After lunch and laps around the deck, we attended an absolutely fascinating presentation on “What is Linguistics?”, by Ron Barasch, Professor of Linguistics at University of California at Irvine. Anyone with an interest in English language and other languages would enjoy what he had to say.
The predicted fog never materialized all day long and, as we moved farther north, it was still somewhat light after 10 PM – a further bonus to our trek north. However, the downside is the predicted high of 43 on Thursday. Predicted high for Chicago is 90!
As we pushed farther north on Thursday, temps continued to drop and the long-promised fog took over by early Thursday afternoon. Barbara Haenni delivered one of her wonderfully informative talks about what we can expect to see and do in the two smaller Icelandic ports we visit on our eastbound journey, Heimaey and Djupivogur. Dr. Ron Barasch spoke in the afternoon on the subject of Languages of the World.
There’s never a lack of things to do on the ship when we have days at sea. Tomorrow – Greenland!
Chuck
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