My British Girlfriend, Heidi, is on a roll
With more British Humor that is droll
AND:
Sixty years of life in 5+ minutes . . . here today, gone tomorrow.
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ICELAND Chapter 6
As of Friday, Aug. 13, we had sailed to Seydisfyördur,
(SAY-this-FYUR-thur) about half-way down the southeastern coast of Iceland
This is a cute little town, based originally on fishing and nearby farms. Now, like many towns in Iceland, it has lost some population. There is an aluminum plant here, and fish processing plant, so there is employment for at least some folks.
We were taking an expedition of mountains and waterfalls by 4x4. Sounded rather rugged, but we were ready! When we woke up, however, it was very foggy, rainy and cold, so our expectations were dimmed a bit. Then we arrived at the 4x4 to discover that it was a Mercedes 4-wheel drive van. So our rugged, outdoors, bouncy ride would be much more plush than anticipated. I was disappointed, but when we saw how far we were going, it started to make sense.
There were six of us plus a guide from the ship and the driver, Toti. Toti was a local teacher (oh-oh) and part-time tour operator. He turned out to be terrific, plus the ultimate Icelander. Tall, slim, fit, with piercing ice-blue eyes and close-cropped silver hair. He was nothing like Pompous Puss from Reykjavik. His driving was excellent, and that was a good thing, given the roads.
Seydisfjördur is called the Cultural Capital of East Iceland. We got a quick bus trip through town, but most of the trip was to Egilsstadir,(AY-ill-STAHTH-eer) a town on the other side of some mountains about 17 miles away. The road proved to be pretty good coming out of Seydisfjörder, despite the fog completely covering the mountains. Toti kept telling us it was too bad we couldn’t see them. Yes, Toti, we agree.
We drove over to Egilsstadir, where Toti lives, and had a quick look around the town by van. Then we headed south and then east to follow the coast of Mjöifjördur, a long, narrow fjord. At the end of the fjord was a lovely waterfall named Klifbrekkufossar. Even in the fog it was a lovely waterfall. The fields of grasses and wildflowers between us and the waterfall offered wild blueberries for the picking. We’ve seen these in other locations, too, and Icelanders seem to enjoy a day of picking blueberries. You are supposed to eat everything you pick OR have a license to take them home. I haven’t seen anyone checking licenses, but this is a very obedient country, so they probably follow the rules.
From the waterfall, we drove most of the length of the fjord, stopping once to watch some small whales cavorting in the fjord. Lisa, our guide and whale-maven, wasn’t sure what kind they were, but thought they might be Long-nosed Pilot whales. (She looked it up later and confirmed this.)
As we neared the mouth of the fjord, we stopped at a local guesthouse in Brekka for coffee. This was called Sólbrekka. Here is the description in their brochure:
Sólbrekka offers coffee, hot chocolate and fresh waffles with whipped cream, cakes and “kleinur.” (I don’t know what those are.) Accommodation in 2 cottages (2-4 people per cottage). Sleeping bag accommodation – one 6-person bedroom and four 3-person bedrooms. Linens available at extra charge.
The “cottages” were actually trailers fastened together. Not exactly the Endeavor. The scenery, though, was pretty special: Mountains behind them, and a fjord and mountains in front.
The lady who ran the place failed to show up, so Toti called her and she sprang into action, arriving within 5 minutes. We left so that she could make coffee and fresh waffles in peace, and we went to look at the local church and some horses in a field. When we returned, the coffee was nicely set out, although it was missing the hot chocolate, fresh waffles, cakes and kleinur.
After getting Toti filled with caffeine for the ride home, we headed back. The fog was much worse over the mountains, and Toti described it as “black fog.” The road was one lane and twisting all around the mountains. Some of the corkscrew turns had no guard rail – I tried not to look over the edge. The road must have been slippery, since it was wet, but Toti did an excellent job and we arrived safely back at the ship.
We had dinner with Bob and Anita, a nice couple we met from Chicago. He worked for the FDA, I think, but is now teaching on an ad hoc basis at various schools. She is an attorney, but has a secret life as a cabaret singer. She uses a different name for her singing gigs so that her firm won’t know about her moonlighting. They were lots of fun, but we couldn’t get her to sing. After dinner, we went in for the entertainment, which was a duo called Azalea. They are a husband and wife team, but it appears that she gets all the food. If I were just listening to them, they would be fine, but we had to also look at them, and they are not ready for prime time. Anyway, they were doing a tribute to Fleetwood Mac. We got there just in time for the last song in set 1, after which Jim and I felt free to go to bed. Bob and Anita stayed for the whole show and said it was good.
Saturday morning we were in Djúpavogur, (DYOOP-ih-VOH-ur) scheduled for another 4x4 trip to the mountains and waterfalls. Feeling as though we had just done that, and seeing clouds sitting low on the mountains, we decided not to go. A day off would be fine with us. Around 10 a.m. we took a tender into town to look around. That didn’t take long, since there was hardly any town. A few fishing boats, two guest houses, and a café or two. There was a statue of something unidentifiable. The main attraction in town was the home of a man who has been collecting rocks for the last 30 years. Having had to give up a life as a fisherman after an accident in 2006, Jón Fredrik Sigurôsson opened his collection of rocks from all over Iceland. He is very friendly and knowledgeable about the rocks, and welcomes all comers. It was definitely worth a stop. Some of the rocks were absolutely beautiful, and others had, well, personality. He waters them to bring out the shine and colors. He cuts some of them in half and then polishes them in a tumbler with abrasive sand. I would have bought some, but none were for sale. He does sell cheese knives with handles made of reindeer antlers, and some jewelry, but they were expensive, so you won’t be getting any for Christmas. Sorry.
We came back to the ship for lunch, a nap for Mr. Emery and photo editing for moi, and then went to have our COVID test prior to coming home. I hope we pass, because otherwise we can’t come back to the US.
Before dinner, they opened the Solarium so that we could all see it. It is still not completed, which resulted in our being offered a big discount on our next cruise on Crystal. The Solarium is a 2-story space at the back of the ship (yes, I know it is called aft) with all glass along the back and sides. There is room for lots of deck chairs and lounges, and a pool with a floor that can be lifted for breakfast and lunch and then lowered for afternoon swimming. Pretty neat. There is a large balcony outside, as well, for sunning and observing the world going by.
We had dinner in the Sushi Bar again. I really like that spot. The chef is very friendly and entertaining to watch, and the little Japanese lady who makes the salads is a true artist.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is our last day at sea. You should probably expect only one more chapter after this one. Skal (cheers) for now.
Photos may be found at:
www.mmemery.com/Chapter-6
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This is a cute little town, based originally on fishing and
nearby farms. Now, like many towns in
Iceland, it has lost some population.
There is an aluminum plant here, and fish processing plant, so there is
employment for at least some folks
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