Travels in Fire and Ice - Day 4, Akureyri and Jewels of the North

I woke up this morning to see the ship pull into the Akureyri, (Iceland’s “Northern Capitol”)Fjord. It was a beautiful sight.

We had a tour of Iceland’s Jewels of the North. They are some of the country’s northern natural wonders. It was a quick morning.  As soon as I returned from the gym and cleaned up, we had a quick breakfast in the coffee shop and boarded our bus.

We began our day at the Godafoss Waterfalls. Legend had is that when Iceland converted to Christianity around the 11th century, there was a chieftain who was a holdout. He finally converted and threw his pagan idols into the falls.  Not sure if the story is true, but the falls are stunning.

The river that flows into them is a glacial river. That means it carries the glacial “milk” of minerals and debris. It turns the water a stunning shade of bluish gray.

There were pathways all around so we could view the falls from the bottom and from the top.

Our next stop was and Lake Myvatn. The lake is a shallow wetlands area, whose geology was formed by the local volcanic activity. It is home to many species of waterfowl. We also saw some Icelandic horses hanging out lakeside.

Then we headed to Dimmuborgir, a lava field in a dry lake bed. The lake bed is dry because the lava dammed it off.  We saw all kinds of local flora here as well as stunning lava formations.

At this point we had an included lunch at the visitors’ center cafeteria. We had no choice over what to eat. We were served a delicious coconut curry soup and then a main course of  arctic char,  I was starving. Could I make myself eat fish to fill my stomach? Maybe the fish wouldn’t be too fishy tasting. 

I cut off a piece and stuck it in my mouth. I tried not to laugh. At first I thought I might tolerate it, but the more I chewed through it, the worse it began to taste. It was miserable. I was making the unhappiest, most disgusted face as I realized I was committed to seeing this bite of fish through to the end.  I finally swallowed it and decided I wasn’t going to keep trying to eat that fish. I took another roll from the bread basket and hoped I wouldn’t feel hungry before I returned to the ship.

Our final stop was to the Krafla caldera. This place is a lot like Yellowstone with its steam vents and boiling mud pots. Unlike Yellowstone, it is surrounded by hills that were once mined for sulfur. When you look at the bare landscape and see the steam everywhere and smell the sulfur, I think it must be how some people imagine Hell to be like for those who believe in that.

On our return to the ship we stopped for a view of the city and our ship.

When we returned we had a few hours before dinner.  I went to my beloved Panorama lounge to read and enjoy an afternoon cocktail.  The internet on the ship was working again, and I was able to finish my post from the day before.

We met the family for a late dinner.  We are in the ship’s lounge and tapas bar called Silver Note.  A singer and pianist entertained us during the evening.

My dinner was a “mushroom mousse” with poached figs and goat cheese, lamb loin over risotto, and something called a “sugar volcano” for dessert.  How can I not eat a dessert called sugar volcano? (It wasn’t much different from the dessert I had the night before.)

The ship was sailing away at this point.  We heard whales are known to swim around the end of the fjord so we went to the small observation lounge at the fore end of the ship to see if we could spot any.  They’re some spouts and tails in the distance, but nothing major.  While we were there Kevin and I played Bananagrams with Erik and Penelope while Janeth and Charles worked on a puzzle.  By 11 PM I had too much stimulation and too many cocktails (alcohol units: 4) and needed to go to bed.

On to Husavik.