Travels in Fire and Ice Day 7 - Djupivogur and Black Beaches

I woke up this morning to a lot of fog. We weren’t getting yesterday’s sunshine back. The ship was still coming into port when I was at the gym, but dropped anchor before breakfast. I was the only person in the gym that morning with the exception of one woman who came in to weigh herself on the gym’s scale. I guess at this point most passengers are giving up on the gym thing.  Everyone has eaten and drunk past the point of caring.

We had breakfast in the main dining room and returned to our cabin. Our excursion wasn’t until the afternoon, so we had a few hours of free time on our hands. I was still tried even though I thought I had a good night’s sleep. 

I read and napped a bit. I felt guilty about that. I am on vacation in this incredible country and I was sleeping it away. But I told myself there weren’t many other choices. The ship was anchored and not docked, so I couldn’t easily leave the ship and take a walk in town without waiting to board a tender (one of the disadvantages of cruise vacations is how trapped you can feel on a ship even in port).  There weren’t many interesting onboard activities on offer that morning.  It was too chilly and damp for a walk on deck.  I shouldn’t feel guilty for staying in my cabin a couple of hours.

Then I ended up back at the track on the upper deck walking around obsessively.

We headed for our tour after lunch.  This was a hike across a black beach, colored by volcanic ash. There were no active volcanoes in east Iceland so this was from older eruptions.  

We saw some seabirds and ducks in the ponds leading up to the beach.

(None visible in these photos of the ponds I realize)

There were no reindeer in the area, but one did come through shed an antler at some point.

The beach itself was pretty and had many interesting rock formations, but the day remained cloudy and foggy so there wasn’t good light for photos.  

(This is the beach in July?)

(I left my mark on the place)

We headed back to the ship close to sailing time.  It was formal night, so I was excited to put on a dress and try to look pretty again.  Kevin, Erik, and I met up at the S.A.L.T. Bar before dinner. It is a small specialty bar that focuses on cocktails and spirits inspired by the ship’s destination, in the same way the S.A.L.T. restaurant focuses on local foods.

I began my evening with a cocktail called Selene the Moon, which may not be Icelandic, but celebrates the Silver Moon ship with local gin.  Here is a video showing the gimmick behind it and why it’s special.

I had a second cocktail with maraschino liqueur and Prosecco that wasn’t as good.

We returned to the S.A.LT. Restaurant for dinner.  

Roast beef open faced sandwich canapé (not pictured), lamb chops, and chocolate cake were my menu choices for the evening. Lots of Pinot noir as well.

Retired to the cabin early because I had too much to drink to do too much else. We are leaving Iceland tonight and tomorrow we will stay for a short while in the Faroe Islands. 

Looking  forward to that. I have been fascinated by the Faroe Islands for a few years.