Sunday, September 4th, 2011: Reykjavik, Iceland
Bob: At dawn the Crown Princess was already just outside Reykjavik, waiting for the harbor pilot I would assume, so we had a good chance to walk on deck and take pictures as the Captain worked the ship in shore to the cruise ship dock. When docked, we had a view out over the industrial dockside area over toward Reykjavik in the distance, but the view was dominated by containers and a really ugly scrapyard with a recycling center. But when I walked just across the deck and looked out over the fjord on that side, I was looking at untouched verdant islands in the fjord and a pristine range of low mountains just beyond. Seldom if ever have I encountered such a stark contrast in the view from opposite sides of the ship, and I dubbed the two scenes "Beauty and The Beast"! |
Monika: We woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the islands outside of Reykjavik. We had such an easy walk to the sun deck to take pictures that we were out on deck 16 in no time joining the Japanese passengers with their much fancier cameras. But the views were spectacular and sometimes eerie. We had been in Reykjavik two years ago with Phyllis and Lois and done the Golden Circle Tour seeing Thingvellir, Geysir, and the waterfall Goldafoss (see Wanderung 21). This time we had signed up for a swim in the Blue Lagoon. But that did not start until 1:15 so we had the morning to explore the city. |
Bob: We had signed up for a trip to the Blue Lagoon in the afternoon but our morning was still free, so we decided to walk into Reykjavik, have a look around, and try to see the old Norse Eddas for which Iceland is famous in the cultural museum there. The walk from the ship to town, however, turned out to be at least 2.5 miles, so it ended up being quite a hike! Once we got out of the industrial dockside area, however, the hike was not without its interesting points. We ran across a set of very nice, modern, sober sculptures scattered around a big white building with a huge glass wall, and I assumed, correctly as it later turned out, that this was an official modern art and sculpture museum. Just to one side of that rather staid and formal-looking museum was a completely contrasting set of sculptures that appeared to be just sitting around the front yard of an artist's home. That artist, however, specialized in what I would term "junkyard sculpture", a set of odd, whimsical pieces constructed of welded together, ah, junk, basically. Me being me, these oddball pieces appealed to me at some more basic level than the official sculptures at the museum; probably that was the funny bone level. One piece in particular I dubbed the "flying purple people eater" because it had a central cone with one big eye painted on it, and a tassel attached that could loosely be interpreted as a single horn. |
Monika: The ship docked about 2.5 km from the downtown area, an easy walk for experienced Volksmarcher. The sun was shining and there was a nice walkway right along the waterside, so what better way to start the day? After a short walk we came to an art museum with many statues standing outside. We enjoyed walking among them and taking pictures. |
Bob: My appallingly juvenile sense of humor assuaged, we continued walking when we chanced upon Liz and Peter sitting on a bench. They were also headed into town, so we joined forces, so to speak, and Peter, the good brigadier general that he was, led us off to town at a bracing marching pace. They were such easy and entertaining people to talk to that we arrived in town before we knew it, and even stumbled onto the Cultural Museum that houses the old Norse Eddas. The museum didn't open until 11:00, however, so Liz and Peter continued marching uphill to the large, striking, modern church that is a focal point of Reykjavik's skyline. Being both less ambitious and somewhat more pressed for time (as we figured we should get back to the ship by 12:00 or so to have lunch and make our afternoon tour), Monika and I opted to meander around the central harbor section of Reykjavik. We passed by both the Government House that has the executive branch of Iceland's government and the Parliament Building, which was modest but probably adequate for a country with only 300,000 people or so. |
Monika: A little farther on we met Peter and Liz who also were walking into town, so we walked together. The Brigadier set off with Bob at a good clip while Liz and I walked behind chatting away. The two really are delightful. In between we took pictures of a beautiful, elegant Viking ship made out of metal. When we got into town we parted company. They wanted to walk up to the Domkirke while we just wanted to have a short look around and also stop at the Kulturhaus where there was an exhibit of the old Edda manuscripts. In town we admired the old houses. We walked by an old church and since it was Sunday the pastor was standing in the doorway and came out to chat with us a little. I was amused that he was wearing one of the white, large, pleated white collars which I was used to seeing from the pastors in Hamburg. He was very cordial and told about having visited Washington. Right next to the church was the Parliament building, a very simple, unassuming building. |
Bob: It was nice to be able to take the time to stroll along and really look at the architectural features of many of the older houses and buildings. They were all quite unique and I thought several of them were quite pretty. The most curious thing we ran across, however, was a tree whose lower trunk was covered in custom-knitted pieces of Icelandic wool. The pieces had distinct, very colorful patterns knitted into them, and then someone had sewn them together around the trunk, maybe to keep the tree warm?? Only one tree among several in a small grove was decorated thusly, and I did wonder if that caused any envy or perhaps even embarrassment amongst the group of trees when they chatted with each other. After branching off to see a small lake complete with ducks, geese, and swans vying for tidbits tossed by tourists and local folks, we circled back to the Cultural Museum. Unlike tourist shops, they did not accept any foreign currency but did accept credit cards, and thank goodness I had brought along my MasterCard. We charged our entry fee and spent the better part of half an hour looking at the displays of the old Norse Eddas. Both the nature of the displays and the physical appearance of the old volumes themselves reminded me very much of the Book Of Kells exhibit that we had seen in Dublin Ireland earlier that year (Wanderung 24). The old Norse volumes were hand-scribed on vellum, and some of the initial capital letters were highly embellished in exactly the same manner that the Irish monks had illustrated the Book Of Kells. Very interesting to see 800-900 year old books, but of course no photography was allowed as bright light damages them. |
Monika: We walked on to the little lake in the middle of town. There was the very modern town hall and lots of waterfowl being fed by locals and tourists. A few swans with yellow beaks decided to join the feeding frenzy. It was time to head back to the Kulturhaus (English: Culture House or cultural museum), which was opening at 11:00. From there we still had a 45 minute walk back to the ship, and with lunch and having to be ready by 1:15 for the afternoon excursion, we knew we had only 30 minutes for the museum. So we concentrated on the first floor, where they had explanations of the different old manuscripts and then we actually saw the Eddas. Some books were just simple script, others ornate like the Book of Kells. The whole exhibit reminded me a lot of the Book of Kells exhibit in Dublin, Ireland. |
Bob: There was more to the Cultural Museum, of course, but we really had to hustle to get back to the ship. We found the trip back felt much longer and far more exhausting than the trip out, and I'm sure that was due simply to the fact that we were not having an interesting chat with Liz and Peter along the way. Arriving back at the ship somewhat footsore and weary at 12:15, we had a very quick lunch at the buffet and then packed our rucksack with bathing suits and towels for our afternoon excursion. Although we had booked the German language version of the trip because the English-speaking version had been sold out, it turned out that only two out of the 12 folks on the tour were solely German-speakers, so the tour guide decided to speak English. She filled us in on the history of Iceland and tidbits about the lifestyle during the 40-minute drive to the power plant beside which the Blue Lagoon is located. |
Monika: The walk back to the ship seemed long without the company of Peter and Liz - they reported the same feeling later at dinner. But we got back to the ship in good time for lunch. We reported to the Princess Theater in plenty of time. The English speaking tour to swim in the Blue Lagoon had been sold out so I had bought tickets for the German speaking tour. This turned out to be a small group, 12 people and only 4 were German then there was one French couple and the rest American like us who thought you did not really need the language to swim. The bus took us through the suburbs of Reykjavik and then on to the lava fields until we could see the steam coming out of the power plant that was the foundation of the Blue Lagoon. |
Bob: That location is not accidental, however, because the lagoon was formed when the geothermal hydroelectric plant there first tried to recycle the used hot water back into the aquifer underlying the power plant. The silicates in the discharge water clogged up the pores in the lava rock leading down to the aquifer, and once all the pores were sufficiently clogged up a small lake formed on top. Since the discharge water was still relatively warm, the local folks started using it as a bathing pool and soon it became a tourist attraction for both Icelanders and foreigners. The warm, silica-laden and mineral rich waters also provided a habitat for some blue-green algae, which gives the lagoon a true bluish tint. The water is not quite as dense as sea water, but more buoyant than normal fresh water, so I enjoyed bobbing around in it and could ALMOST float on my back without sinking, something I have always wished I could enjoy. We stayed in almost two hours but then had to hustle back to the bus, snapping a couple of quick photographs on the way. The bus dropped us off back at the ship, but boy were we surprised when we tried to comb and brush our hair for dinner that evening. The silica coating of the hair strands made them tangle in an almost unbelievable fashion; I had to use several applications of hair conditioner to finally comb the tangles out of Monika's hair, and she had similar difficulties dealing with mine. But we did get down to dinner on time where we rejoined Liz and Peter for another fine meal while the Crown Princess pulled out of Reykjavik. After dinner I tried to do a Sudoku, but I was so tired that I literally fell asleep at the switch and turned in for the evening. |
Monika: The bus took us directly to the Blue Lagoon. This is a swimming pool that was created by accident. The geothermal power plant that was built in the 1970's started discharging the water into the surrounding lava fields, figuring it would just dissipate. But the water was so rich in silicates that it clogged the pores of the lava and slowly filled in the hollows to create a pool. Local youth would start coming to swim the hot waters and soon somebody figured out they had a good thing going. They also found out that the silicate rich water is good for the skin and helps cure skin diseases. So now there is a hotel, a clinic, and the swimming pool complete with restaurant. The changing rooms had lockers you could close with you entrance arm band that must have some unique chip. The lockers were all taken, after all it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, but Bob and I left everything of value in a big locker downstairs. The pool itself was really big, and you did not really get the feeling of crowdedness. The water was about 97 or 98 degrees and there were a few places that were hotter. But if you felt too warm you just had to stand up and let the air, which was only 65 degrees, cool you down. The water depth varied from waist high to where I had to stand on tiptoes. There were stations where you could get silicate by the spoonful and slather it on your face. I prefer not to have stuff on my face, so I abstained. Bob and I just walked around the area, and enjoyed the warm water. At one place was an actually bar, you could by a beer or cold drink right there in the water. At the bar the charge was put on your bracelet, and you paid when you left. I checked prices and found that half a pint of beer was about $9. That's double what it is on the ship, so I decided it was not worth it. We spent almost 2 hours relaxing in the waters before it was time to get back to the bus. Of course, we had to take a few pictures, so we were the last people on the bus, but since there were few Germans on this German speaking tour we were not scolded. Back at the ship we got ready for dinner, compared notes with Peter and Liz, and then just headed up to bed. It was a wonderful but exhausting day. |
| 3Previous Day |
| Next Day4 |
| Index |
| Prolog | Map of Drive in England | Map of Transatlantic Cruise | Epilog |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||