Akureyri, Iceland

Today started out with bangs and clangs as I awoke with a start at 2:20 AM. I seem to be the only one who heard a loud bang followed by bumps and scrapes along the side of the ship. I guess I have had too much exposure to Titanic because when I looked at the clock, my immediate reaction was, “That’s the time the Titanic sank.” No icebergs to be found so I knew that wasn’t the problem. I have no idea what we hit (or what hit us), but it certainly wasn’t my imagination!

We were really looking forward to visiting beautiful Akureyri in the northern part of Iceland. Located near the end of Eyjafjordur (Eyja Fjord), we had been told several times how beautiful the area was, and an added bonus was being able to see it through the eyes of people who actually live there!

When we said good-bye to Grétar in Reykjavik, we had agreed that we would get off the ship and meet him at our first opportunity upon arriving in Akureyri. So we went ashore at 9:00 AM and looked to see if he was there. After 45 minutes, I returned to the ship to retrieve my cell phone and his phone number. Having never made an International call before, I went to our travel guide Barbara Haenni and asked her how to go about making the call. She replied that if I gave the number to the ladies at the Tourist Information Center, they would make the call for me. Sure enough, the call was made, and we found that Grétar had called and left a message for us, but on Chuck’s cell phone. He would be at the port to pick us up at 10:30. That gave us an opportunity to browse two small tourist shops near the ship before he arrived.

Grétar arrived just at 10:30, and we were immediately whisked away on our tour of the Akureyri environs. Our first stop was downtown. We strolled through the streets enjoying the sights and peeking in windows. We ran into our Lancaster acquaintance from the ship, Betty Falconer Bascom, and introduced her to Grétar.

As others struggled with the climb up the many steps to Akureyrarkirkja (Akureyri Church), we drove up in style and parked out front. From there we had a beautiful view of the city and the ship in port. (The ship absolutely dominated the small waterfront!) Inside we found a very modern church with picturesque stained glass windows. Three of the five lovely stained glass windows at the altar have quite a story. Back in 1939 when World War II began, the people of Coventry, England decided to dismantle and store the stained glass windows of their church for preservation, just in case. The cathedral was destroyed in 1940. Somehow, three windows had gotten separated from the others and landed in an antique shop in London. An antique shop owner from Iceland saw the windows, liked their design, purchased them, and took them to his shop in Reykjavik. The church in Akureyri was built in 1943, and at that time a member of the church was visiting Reykjavik, happened to spot the Coventry windows, and wondered if they’d work for the altar of the new church at Akureyri. He purchased them, donated them to the church, and they are now the focal point of the altar.

We headed across the fjord for a spectacular view of the snow-capped mountains with Akureyri nestled on the shore and the imposing Maasdam in the forefront. As we drove along the fjord, we could see birds nesting in the flat lands and more horses than we could have imagined. The Icelandic horse is a breed of small horses (they do not like the term ponies) that was brought over hundreds of years ago. In order to keep it purebred, no other horses are allowed into the country. Grétar told us that riding is one of the favorite sports in the area, and it was very evident when we saw a group of children finishing up what we assumed to be a riding lesson. We stopped and watched the children dismount, remove the saddles and bridles, and begin to groom their horses.

Crossing back to the other side of the fjord, we continued our journey back toward Akureyri. We stopped at a greenhouse to see the plants. It was pretty amazing to see all the pansies and petunias in full bloom in 50-degree weather. Our next stop was a delightful little Christmas shop where we browsed for Christmas decorations made in Iceland. (We had to be careful – Grétar even found something made in Cheektowaga, NY, which will mean something to our Western New York friends!) Outside, I climbed the stairs to the world’s largest advent calendar. It was a small room with paintings next to each advent “box”. The paintings and boxes related to various children’s stories – The Three Bears, The Princess and the Pea, The Match Girl, etc. Whoever designed the room had quite an imagination.

Continuing our drive, we saw a very small village where Grétar’s wife Kristín grew up. The main employment in the town had been a sanatorium, but fortunately over the years there was no longer a need for it so the sanatorium closed. We had lunch with Grétar and Kristín in their lovely “summer home”. It was first owned by Kristín’s parents. When they purchased it, they had a lot of renovation to do because the people who owned it before them had kept chickens upstairs! They must have had a real mess on their hands! The building had originally been a two-room school with a dormitory upstairs. The upstairs is now a lovely large family room. It must be a delight to settle in there during the winter and look out over the snowy landscape! Heating isn’t an issue for Icelanders as they use geothermal heating. The ever-present hot water pipe runs throughout the countryside to supply homes with hot water and heating, which is very inexpensive. (One of our onboard lecturers showed us a picture of a Jacuzzi and said that it would take about 50 cents American to fill the Jacuzzi with hot water!)

Looking out over the landscape, we could see an endless sea of trees. Grétar said that his parents-in-law had planted a million trees in hopes that some would come up. There is now a virtual forest in the area, and the fruits of their labor have paid off.

Kristín joined us on our journey back to Akureyri. We spent a while walking around town and popping in and out of shops. We also visited the newly-built (2010) cultural center, which is located near the pier. It is right on the waterfront, and it has two large concert halls. There is also a tourist center where people can book private excursions. Stepping onto the outside patio afforded us a lovely view of the harbor.

After a final drive through Akureyri, we returned to the ship. It had been a wonderful day, and we could understand why it is one of port lecturer Barbara’s favorite ports. One of our tablemates commented that she’s been all over the world, but she’s never seen such spectacular scenery as she saw in Akureyri! We are in complete agreement, and were so pleased that the weather cooperated to afford us beautiful sunshine so we could further enjoy the day!

We are now sailing once again toward Greenland and have two days at sea. Supposedly one will be scenic cruising in Cape Farewell, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to enjoy it. We were unable to get into Prince Christian Sound on our way east because of the large amount of ice, and apparently the same is true now. The captain has been keeping us apprised of the ice situation in Greenland, and we may also have to miss the port of Nanortalik. Ice is in greater abundance this year, and the port is getting blocked. Two ice maps have been posted, one dated August 15th and one August 17th. The one dated August 17th shows much more ice than the one on August 15th. We’ll just have to hope that there’s a miracle between now and August 20th, when we’re scheduled to arrive in Nanortalik.

Barb