twangster

Private tour today. Back to ship around 10pm.

Day Nine - Reykjavik, Iceland With a 10am arrival we are still enroute. Evidence of a past eruption and lava flow to the ocean.

Sadly I must report we are losing Bing our suite concierge. She leaves us in Reykjavik on her way to Harmony where she is transitioning to become a Star Class genie. That is how a genie is born. Wishing her continued success in her new career.

Before I forget, the day 8 and 9 cruise compass. JW May 15 day 8 and 9 cruisecompass.pdf

Pilot boat. Not a terrible way to enjoy such a beautiful destination. Upgrading to a balcony was so worth it. Back above the Arctic Circle.

Back on board just before all aboard time, sail away soon followed. This seemed like a great opportunity to break open the Crown and Anchor sparkling wine. Cheers to wonderful Akureyri!

With our last stop complete we board the bus for the ride back to the ship. Iceland is beautiful, even through a tour bus window. Our route over the mountain pass in both directions.

Once again, video does a better job illustrating this. There was a strong wind. The fuzzy microphone cover reduces wind noise but it creates a weird clicking sound. Apologies for that, but the wind would sound terrible.

The volume of water flowing is quite impressive.

Goðafoss Waterfall. This was the real reason I booked this tour. We didn't stop here yesterday and I wanted to visit Goðafoss waterfall. I enjoyed the Game of Thrones but I'm not such a superfan as to book the excursion based on the show. The stop at this waterfall was on my list and this tour checked that box.

Back on the road our guide points out a research station for the Northern Lights. Our next stop in the distance.

Video does a better job capturing this.

Our next stop is the Hveravellir geothermal area. Yesterday we passed this area and I took some pictures as we drove past it. Today's tour stops here. Liquid mud boiling up. This is the ridge we drove over with the two tectonic plates pulling apart. A very pungent smell of sulphur was in the air. With a hissing sound steam was pouring from the earth.

Random steam rising from the ground in the middle of nowhere. As seen yesterday the crack or gap between the two tectonic plates is much wider here. These markers are from a long time ago before there were roads. It can be very foggy or snowy here so these markers were used when traveling across Iceland by foot or by horse. So long as you kept the next marker in sight you would eventually reach your destination. The roads came much later.

I know that look... QUIET! You'll wake the babies!! Our next stop was the area where the cave scene from the Fire and Ice scene of Game of Thrones was conceived. This is the cave that was attempted for this scene. However it was very cramped trying to fit the actors and crew in this small space so they captured scenes from outside the cave then re-created the cave in a studio for the actual scene in the show. The water was quite warm, warmer than bath water. Once again the two tectonic plates that split Iceland in two. This is the same crack in the earth captured earlier. Standing on two tectonic plates at the same time. Wife doesn't look impressed. The cave on the left is part of the splitting of the earth as the plates pull apart.

Early meal here. Choice of soups... ... and bread. The brown bread is called lava bread. It's made in traditional ways by finding a geothermal hotspot, putting the dough into the steam of the underground pit and letting it bake for twenty fours hours earning the name lava bread. A more recent eruption, several thousands years ago resulted in this crater, versus the lava flows that created the rough pillars many thousands of years earlier. The fake or pseudo craters I captured yesterday. After the meal as we start off again our guide plays excerpts from Game of Thrones that were filmed right in fron of where we are parked. Recognize it?

The next stop overlapped with the tour yesterday but we were given more time to explore and would later have an early lunch here. Our next stop is at Dimmuborgir but don't ask me to pronounce it. We'll take the yellow route on paved trails. A recurring theme today will be this crack in the earth. This marks the two tectonic plates of Iceland, the North American plate and the Eurasian plate. The plates are moving apart. As they do, over millions of years, lava occasionally spills from volcanoes below the surface. As a result Iceland is getting bigger, ever so slowly, over thousands of years. Kissing teenage trolls. Trolls turn to rock when they stay out past dark into the light of day. The story goes that these two teenage trolls were forbidden to see each other. So they agreed to stay out into daylight kissing as the sun came out so they would be frozen in time having turned into rock as they embraced. Our guide explains the Christmas traditions of Iceland that occur here each year.

Our first stop is along the route I took yesterday on the other tour. We didn't stop here yesterday. Parts of season one Game of Thrones were shot here but in the winter covered in snow.

On the bus we started off with a scene from Game from Thrones that was captured in Iceland. What a beautiful day. No tunnel today, we are taking the mountain pass instead. Steam rising from ground tells the story of what lies underneath the surface. Not a big fan of bus window photography but it's so beautiful here. Into the mountains. I'm glad we didn't take the tunnel this trip. There are thirteen Santa's in Iceland that descend from mountains one day each leading up to Christmas. So picturesque.

The day starts with the amazing views from my balcony unchanged. The sun is rising not far from where it set last night. Excursion for today: On the pier so early.

Standard Radiance class set up remains. I'll try to take pics later.

No icebergs encounters yet.

Back on board with 10 minutes to spare. I've started going through today's pics but then sail away commenced, so... back soon. Spoiler alert - time to book another cruise to Iceland.

Overnight in Akureyri. Next excursion meets at 6:30am on the pier. Game of Thrones - Beyond the Wall. 6:30am? What was I thinking? 🤣 Time for bed.