Crystal Serenity Cruise Reflections

It's time for a little reflection about our Crystal Serenity cruise around Iceland. Our day at sea and the last full port day in Reykjavik was spent enjoying time on the ship. All too soon though it was time to pack up and head for home.

We had searched several times for a tour where we could keep our luggage with us and end up at the airport but nothing we found would get us to the airport at the right time. Crystal provided a hospitality suite and transportation to the airport for those who had booked air with them. For a charge of $70/person those of us who had booked our own air could take advantage of the program. Since we had onboard credit we had not used, we were able to purchase the option for a much lower price.

Our departure morning started with our last breakfast in the Waterside, the main dining room and saying more goodbyes to staff and crew. At nine we left the ship, retrieved our luggage and went to the bus that would take us into the city to the concert hall where our hospitality suite was. It was pouring rain and windy. They loaded our luggage on a truck that would take it to the airport where we would later claim it and we were on our way.

We had only seen the concert hall from the outside. It is an unusual building and even more intriguing from the inside. Bob noticed that no two windows were alike. Must have been a real challenge putting it all together. 

There were two restaurants in the building, one on the first floor and the second on the fourth floor. Crystal had reserved the fourth floor restaurant for us. There were about 72 waiting for their afternoon flights and more coming in who had arrived on early flights for the next cruise. Refreshments were available and we settled in for a time.

When the weather let up a bit, Bob decided it was time to get an Icelandic hot dog. There is a famous hot dog stand in the city that was visited once by Bill Clinton. Of course we had to try it out. The last time I had an Icelandic hot dog it was red and really didn't taste all that good. I wasn't enthused. 

A block or two from the concert hall, we found the hot dog stand. It was already busy at 11:30 with a tour group in line before us. I glimpsed one of the hot dogs and was relieved to discover that it wasn't the red variety. Bob had said that the dogs had some lamb meat in them. I still wasn't too enthused. A hot dog, I was afraid, would stay with me on the flight home and make me uncomfortable. 

You could get the dog with the works which included mustard, a couple of other toppings I didn't recognize and raw onions. I passed on the onions and just ordered it with mustard. To my surprise, the hot dog was mild tasting, not the spicy kind and the mustard was sweet. I devoured it.

Clinton's visit.

We made the forty-five minute ride to the airport comfortably on the bus and collected our luggage, much of which had already been transferred to an area just inside the door. We tucked our heavier jackets into the outside pocket of one. It would be a lot warmer arriving home. 

The airport has you print your own baggage tags and then take them to the baggage drop. It was a little confusing (and busy) at first but one of the attendants helped us figure it out. From there it was through immigration and security and into the bustling airport. We found a sandwich and chips and water to take with us on the flight. IcelandAir does not offer anything more than beverages unless you order ahead online.

The flight home was very comfortable with little air turbulence considering the the wind we had experienced on departure. Arriving in Detroit, we started our drive home. It was eight local time, midnight in Iceland. By the time we arrived home, it was 11:30, 3:30 am in Iceland. We dropped into bed.

Three puzzles done. One left.

A couple of days later at church, someone asked me what was the highlight of Iceland. There were so many things we saw, I couldn't really say but as I thought about it, the highlight of our trip was not so much the landscape we saw but the people we met both on land and on the ship. 

A good part of our enjoyment in the trip was being with the crew and staff of Serenity again. So many familiar faces and some new ones we got to know as well. Crystal's return to the sea by a new owner who recognized what made it great in the past has been astounding in a little over a year and a half. The crew was gathered from around the world where they had scattered after the bankruptcy and at least 80% of them have returned. For them it was like coming home. It was, in a way, for us as well. 

We took a few pictures of those who cared for us as we cruised. The crew is truly the heartbeat of Serenity and it is beating strong. We look forward to the future.

Torshavn, Faroe Islands

 The Faroe Islands is a small nation made up of eighteen islands. Torshavn is the capital and main port. The island nation belongs to Denmark but is mostly autonomous. It lies southeast of Iceland. We've been here before but again, our memories differ a bit. The excursion we chose was something we both agreed we had not done before. It was to visit the island of Vagar.

Our arrival into port was late morning and our excursion did not start until 1:45. The weather had turned a bit more chilly than the previous day and the sky had clouded over. Still, the landscape was amazing as we drove to our first stop on the tour. 

Our guide was named Napoleon. I thought that a strange name for this part of the world but later figured out that it probably wasn't his real name. He was a French teacher in school and had spent a year studying in France. I'm guessing his real name was maybe harder to pronounce or the entertainer in him chose a "stage name". He was entertaining. He carried a ukulele with him that he pulled out several times to sing with. 

Our first stop after going through a long tunnel that connected  the island of Vagar with the island of Streymoy where Torshavn is located was the small town of Sandavagur. The town's name has to do with the black sandy beach. Most of the beaches in Iceland and the Faroes are black sand because of the volcanoes that formed the land. 

We stopped at the iconic church with the red roof. It was built back during World War I. Napoleon handed us each a hymnal so that we could see what the written language looked like. We turned to one hymn which his translation led me to believe it was about the story of Peter wanting to walk on water with Jesus. I'm not sure, but our guide began to play his ukulele and sing the hymn in his language.

The church had a ship hanging from the ceiling between the two chandeliers, a reference to the Vikings perhaps? In the corner at the front of the church was a rune stone from the 13th century that honors the first Viking settler to the area. 

From the church we continued on to the Mulafossur Waterfall that was significant for its plunge into the ocean. It was described as a take-your-breath-away experience. Perhaps they meant because of the brisk walk? On a windy day though the flow of water is said to blow up into the air. Other waterfalls we had passed were more like water gently flowing down stairsteps so I guess this would be spectacular by those standards. The quaint town near the waterfall has only about 25 houses. We didn't get to explore there but the village we stopped in next was very similar in size.

Our greeter resting on the roof.

A short drive from the waterfall was the village of Bour. The bus parked in a lot slightly above the town whose narrow streets would barely let a car pass let alone a bus. We walked down to the Pakkhusid, a house that was once a warehouse for the fishing industry.  Just as we neared the house a beautiful dog, maybe a collie mix, came bounding up to us, paused and waited for a greeting. As soon as I talked to him, he cuddled up and enjoyed a little scratch behind the ears and then bounded off again as if to lead the way. So sweet.

The house which dates back to 1861 was painted in black as were most of the others in the village. It's a traditional color as our lecturer on the ship had explained, it was a mixture of tar with other things to make the paint. They used it back in the day before all the colorful paints became available. Also traditional or not, most of the roofs were sod. and yes, they have to mow the roof on occasion. 

As the granddaughter of the original owners explained, the floor below the one where we were having coffee and cake was slanted as that is where they salted and dried the fish. The slanted floor would help the water to run off. The warehouse has now become a restaurant and a place for social gatherings and has been preserved as a piece of their history.

I cannot tell you much about the bus ride back which took a little over an hour. Bob is no help there. He fell asleep before I did. We were both exhausted. This was a port intensive cruise and we had been going full speed for the whole week. Have I mentioned that we're getting much older? As a matter of fact Bob even celebrated another birthday and birthdays at this age are definitely a cause for celebration.

We had to really hustle when we arrived back at the ship as we only had about fifteen minutes before our reservation at the Tastes specialty restaurant. We weren't too worried though as we knew it would not be full and they would hold a place for us. As it turned out, we were only about ten minutes late. 

Dinner is ordered at the Tastes as samples of all sorts of dishes. We had a salad, some kind of Asian dish with raw fish, churrasco steak with sweet potato sticks and Mongolian lamb chops. It was the first time I have been disappointed with a meal on the cruise. We ordered some kind of dumpling that did not resemble any kind of Asian dumpling I'd seen before and my lamb was not the lamb I remembered from the past. It had a totally different flavor and was sitting in some sort of mint sauce. I'm one who thinks mint ruins the taste of lamb. The sweet potato sticks (more like logs) were very good however.

After dinner we went to listen to the piano music in the Avenue. I ordered a pot of green tea to try to warm up. The ship seemed so much colder and I think being tired I had gotten a chill. We listened, drank tea and struck up a conversation with another couple, then Bob went off to the show which was a tribute to Billy Joel that we'd seen many times before and I went up to the room to crawl into bed. It wasn't long before I was asleep. There would be no looking for Northern Lights again tonight.

Djupivogur, Iceland

 Again we woke to a sunny day. In this part of the world those days are cherished especially as they come nearer to the four months of the dark dreariness of winter. Our excursion was to be a cultural walk in this little town of Djupivogur which was said to have a population of about 500.

The Serenity anchored in the fjord and the tender trip to the shore was a bit longer than all the previous ones but was quite pleasant. We hoped the weather would not turn on us again as it had the day before. 

The tender put us off near some historic buildings that had been turned into a welcome station of sorts. Our group assembled just outside its doors and were handed individual listening devices so we would be able to hear the guide. Those are always so welcome especially when you have a large group of 15 to 20 people. There isn't so much jockeying for position to be able to hear. 

Our guide's name was Helga and she grew up in a nearby town. Her husband was from Djupivogur and had "fetched" her to live here. She was so very pleasant and had a nice sense of humor. She pointed out the historic buildings and recommended a pastry and coffee at the cafe inside. The red building and the one next to it had been renovated and the one was still being finished off. 

Next she explained the significance of the sculpture we stood by. It was a symbol of freedom. She told a story of a slave who ran away not once but twice from his master and finally ended up in Iceland in this little place. He married an Icelandic girl and they raised a family and built a thriving business. He was the first African in Iceland and his descendants number over 900 now. This was the place where his "chains were broken" and he was truly free. 

We walked on enjoying the pleasant warming of the sun and arrived at a house that was the museum for a mineral collection of one resident. He was quite a character telling us of all the wonderful finds he made of rocks that he could bring home, cut in half and polish to reveal exquisite designs of agate and sparkling paths of crystal inside. He talked of sticking them in his backpack to bring home. He must have sturdier legs than us. Some of those rocks were pretty large. As he spoke, I wondered if he ever sold any of the several thousand he had on display. He seemed to cherish each one as if it were a beloved pet. Later our guide mentioned that on occasion he did sell one or two.

Our next stop was quite a walking distance from the mineral collection. As we went along, Helga described some of the homes and how each one had a name specific to those who lived there or how they had decorated it. One house had little gnomes all around it. It was known as the elf or gnome house. 

A particular lawn decoration at the elf house however had nothing to do with gnomes or elves. A large mine from WWII was painted blue and sat at one end of the walkway to the house. Helga explained that there were mines still being found to this day. When one was spotted, they would call in the experts to deactivate it and then it became a part of the landscape. With a little chuckle she prodded us to move on just in case this one was still live. I'm sure it wasn't?

We finally arrived at the next stop which was in a slightly industrial area and where they were building what she called a sidewalk but we figured with the size of the construction it was going to be a boardwalk that led into town from the dock where a small cruise ship was now. 

As we followed her up a slight incline, she told us we were going inside a large storage tank that at one time held fish oil--lots of fish oil by the size of it. She assured us it had all been cleaned out long ago. Once inside, we sat in some chairs arranged around a small podium that was lit by candles. The door was closed and it was pitch dark but for a couple of shafts of light from some holes in the sides. A lady took the podium and began to sing. With the acoustics in the tank, there was no need for a mic or speakers and amplifiers. The beautiful Icelandic ballad resonated all around us and we soaked in the lovely strains of her melodic voice.

Returning to the daylight, we descended to the pathway that led to the one cruise ship dock. It was lined with sculptured eggs that depicted the different types of eggs from the birds in the area. Obviously they were bigger than life. They sat on pillars that were left from the herring processing plant that was once there. A large tube transported the herring from the ship to the plant. and the pillars sat empty until the artist who designed the eggs got the idea to use them in that way. The eggs were made of granite which is not found in Iceland. They were made in China. 

The strenuous part of our walk was to come. While it was a gentle slope to the top of a lookout, it was still a workout as we had been walking already for the better part of an hour. The lookout had some history of troll and folklore tales and we listened as we caught our breath. The way down was not such a gentle slope and I prayed I wouldn't twist another ankle on this trip. We still had four weeks of cruising left when this one was done. 

At the corner near the mineral collection house, we paused and she pointed out the grocery store that Bob had asked about. We turned in our listening devices since there was no other stop than the return to the tender dock and went up to the store. Bob needed some bandaids. The ones in our med kit were old and not sticking and he was in danger of losing a fingernail that he'd bruised badly in an altercation with a rock back home. Bob settled on Marvel bandaids, his other choice had been Frozen, and we headed back to the tender. 

Afternoon tea was special this day. It's called the Mozart tea time. The waiters dress in period costume, there are extra fancy treats and the musicians play classical music. It's kind of fun.

Since it was Bob's birthday, we had reserved a table at the Osteria d'Ovidio, the Italian specialty restaurant. He even sported a jacket and tie for the occasion. We sampled specialties from both north and south menus and of course the staff presented him a cake. It was way too big for the two of us but they sent the rest to our room. Still way too much. I wish we had thought to share it while in the restaurant with other diners.

The evening entertainment was listening to the violinist, Nadia Matiunina, checking on the finished and almost finished jigsaws (so far there were three finished and another almost), then on to the Stardust Lounge where the singers and dancers were doing a lively presentation followed by a vocalist and then a DJ who invited people to dance the night away. We just went away.

Donning our warm gear, we went back out on the top deck to see if the Northern Lights would be out again. We hung out until 11:30 and called it a night.  Our time was to change and we would lose an hour. I wasn't looking forward to another time adjustment. There were a few too many in the immediate future.

Seydisfjordur, Iceland

 From a metropolis of 18,000 in Akureyri to a bustling town of almost 700. Well, maybe bustling is not quite the right term. It was a Sunday morning and except for visitors from our ship and one other ship, there was no one moving about. Shops were closed and there was only one bar/restaurant open serving mostly local beers. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We woke to a gorgeous sunny morning. Our excursion for the day was not until after lunch so we spent a little time walking around the promenade deck and checking out what we could see. Our ship was anchored out in the fjord as there was another small ship like ours at the only dock in town. Gathering our things together, we decided we'd go into town and walk around a bit before lunch.

The tender ride from ship to shore was a little longer than our previous ports but not bad. We walked around the two main streets and stopped in to see the Blue Church. It is an evangelical Lutheran church built in 1921-22. The church was painted blue back in the 1970s and again, in a lighter blue, in 1994. It was dubbed The Blue Church by tourists and the name has stuck. They have services every other Sunday except during holiday times when services are a little more frequent. My guess is that they share a pastor.

We passed several houses that were decoratively painted with patterns. The all black and white patterned one was rather interesting.

On our way back to the tender dock, we detoured and walked up a path to see the waterfall that was at the end of the town. The climb up the hill certainly warmed us up with the sun getting higher in the sky and the temperature climbing probably to 55 F. We unzipped our jackets. 

Back on the ship, we decided that for our afternoon excursion, we would wear our lighter jackets. The sun was still shining brightly and with the fact that there are not many trees in Iceland, we figured we'd be in the sun for the most part on our trek through the Skalanes Nature Preserve.

We didn't realize the wind had kicked up so much while we ate lunch. I didn't know why the excursion leaders were warning that we needed to hold onto our hats at the tender boarding because of the wind. What wind, I wondered? And then I stepped out onto the loading platforms and had to hold on to my sunglasses for fear they would fly off my face. The tender was bobbing up and down in white capped waves. Our arms were gripped by crew to make sure we didn't fall stepping into the tender.

The ride into town was a whole lot different than the morning had been but we made if just fine. There were two busses sitting at the dock. One was the usual bus for touring. The other was higher off the ground with large tires--something you would drive through low water. We'd seen this before in Australia. We agreed. This was going to be interesting.

Remains of an old Viking church

The road to the nature preserve was a graveled lane and a half. From where I sat next to the window, you could hardly tell there was any room between the bus and the drop off on the side of the road that went straight down to the ocean. Yes, I did close my eyes several times. We passed a few cars, or I should say a few cars pulled off the road to let the bus squeeze past them.

A little ways from town, we stopped at an archeological dig that was non-working. They had gleamed all they could from it. Our tour guide's wife is an archeologist so he was well informed about what was found. It started with a farm boy finding the remains of a body. As the experts dug down, they found several generations that dated all the way back to the Viking days. Their DNA revealed that the Vikings were a group of hearty people that came from many areas of Europe and Scandinavia. He likened it to a group of bikers from different backgrounds and communities who get together for adventure.

A road through the water.

Back on the bus and more adventure on the road. The preserve was a good hour drive from town, hilly curvy and yes, we forded several streams that become rivers when it rains. The area is not terribly forested and most of the trees have been planted by people in the area. When the Vikings arrived in Iceland, a lot of deforestation was done for building materials. As some have put it, what was that guy thinking when he cut down the last tree?

Our guide, Olaf, (in no way resembling the Disney character) was very knowledgeable and while I didn't hear exactly what he did at the research center where we arrived, I'm sure he was probably a professor and a PhD.  he did talk of working with students from many different countries who came to the area to learn about the ecology. As we walked along a path to the cliffs and an observation point full of nesting birds, he stopped several times to talk about the erosion problem. 

At one time, the government was stressing the planting of lupine which grows quickly and roots are deep enough to hold soil. Unfortunately, the lupine is very invasive and overgrows the natural ground cover. I gathered that there was some controversy over whether it was a good thing or not but the lupine covered huge areas of ground and blooms in July with deep purple flowers. It must be gorgeous.

We arrived at the cliffs and tried to stay in the sun as the wind was now blowing quite briskly. We watched the birds for a bit, took the obligatory pictures and started back to the bus when Olaf said we needed to leave a little sooner as the tender operation had already been interrupted. What we would find out on our return was that the tender operation was canceled shortly after we left. There was quite a wind blowing through the fjord. 

Where the ship was anchored there was a large ring floating in the water between us and shore. We thought it was an aqua farm raising salmon but Olaf explained the occupation of Iceland first by the Brits and then the Americans during WWII. A fuel ship would deliver fuel and once the Germans discovered it, they bombed it from the air. To this day it is still leaking globs of oil and the ring is in the fjord to keep the oil from spreading elsewhere before it is cleaned up.

The ride back to the ship wasn't too bad with the wind behind us and our tender captain did a wonderful job pulling up to the landing. I marvel at their skill. 

We had just enough time to get a shower and dress for dinner before making it down to the interdenominational service led by the Catholic priest onboard. It was a small group but then there are only about 500 guests on the ship. 

Our dinner was exceptional as always with a special lobster and caviar appetizer and veal cooked to tender perfection. It was on to listen to piano music in the Avenue, violin music in the Cove, a little jigsaw work (someone had finished the first puzzle and now we were working a second) and then to the comedy of Steve Stevens again in the Stardust. 

It was White Night and many were dressed in all white including us. The central atrium of the ship, the Cove, was decorated in white streamers and lights. There was a bit of entertainment and then the dance floor was open. We skipped the dancing and went up to our room to chill for a bit, change clothes and don our jackets for a better show outside.

The captain had announced he would turn off the lights on the uppermost deck so that we could hopefully see the Northern Lights. It was a perfectly clear night but the moon was shining brightly and there was still a lot of ambient light from the decks below. What appeared to be wisps of clouds in the sky however when looked at through the iPhone, was actually the light show we wanted to see. We caught a few good pictures and went back to the room, shivering from the cold wind but happy to have seen the spectacle that we'd caught twice before on our previous visit. 

Akureyri, Iceland

 

Akureyri is the easiest to pronounce of the ports we've visited so far in Iceland although I'm not sure if I've got the right accent on the right syllable. We didn't stop in town on our 2016 visit but we did see it from across the fjord as we drove to our accommodations in the area back then. This morning we were docked as opposed to having to take a tender. While we still got up early and went to the buffet for breakfast, we did get a second cup of coffee thinking it would not take as long to find our meeting point for our whale watching tour.

We were wrong. The operation and the boat were a little farther from our ship than we counted on and had been told through email. As I recall, the email had said, "we're right there by the cruise dock." Well, sort of. We had to walk out from our dock and around an inlet to get to the boat. And it was all against a ferocious wind out of the south which was creating white caps on the water. What was probably a ten minute walk took us a little more than twenty fighting the wind but we made it in time to board, winded and anxious about what the ride would be like out in the middle of the fjord.

A couple of seats were still available near the snack bar and Bob got us a bottle of water that I desperately needed by then. We had a small window to look out but really didn't think we were going to have much to look at with the weather and our past experience outside of Hawaii for whale watching. Hawaii in January and February is pretty much guaranteed. 

When Bob said something to the girl at the snack bar about whale watching she responded with, "Well, it's actually more like looking and hoping."

We were about a half hour into a surprisingly easy ride through the fjord when the guide who had been talking about all the possibilities suddenly got really excited. They had spotted Orcas, something that was unusual this deep into the fjord and a whale much of the crew had not seen this season so far. 

I hustled up to the second deck with camera in hand and squeezed in with all the excited crowd trying to spot them again. We never got really close but we could see their dorsal fins cut through the water each time they surfaced.

Once we were done chasing the Orcas, we continued along the fjord and spotted a spout of water which sent everyone scrambling again. This time it was a small humpback who showed himself several times and even gave us a tail salute before deep diving. We watched him surface a couple of times and then it was time to turn and go back. The captain was uncertain of how long it might take us heading into the wind.

I found my seat inside again and braced for what I thought would be a bumpy ride. Again we were surprised at how well the boat took the waves and the wind. They expertly docked again at the floating pier which looked like it might be a challenge to transit from boat to shore but wasn't as bad as I thought. We made it safely and the walk back to the ship was even quicker with the wind at our back so strong when it gusted, it pushed us into a run. Then the tide had come in and the gangplank was almost a 45 degree angle. So we had a morning of walking, running and mountain climbing.

There would be no exploring the town in the afternoon. We were done with the wind. Besides, Bob was dying to try to remotely contact his ham radio rig back home and see if he could make contacts through it. So for a while I put up with a squealing radio noise as I worked on the blog.

The Crystal Serenity offers all sorts of entertainment throughout the day and especially late afternoon and evening. We sat in the Palm Court for a time and listened to a musician then worked the jigsaw puzzle a bit more before going into dinner. Special night for me at dinner. Escargot! It was followed by the most tender and flavorful short ribs that I think I have ever had. The food is never lacking.

After dinner it was back to the Palm Court which has the best view for sailing away. We were watching the skies to see if they would get clearer and maybe yield a view of the Northern Lights later in the night. The website that predicts the possibility of viewing showed that it was high. We planned to have a look after the evening show.

Our show was one we'd seen before on our cruise in 2022 that ended abruptly with the bankruptcy of the company. It didn't matter. It was just as lively and full of entertainment as before with a salute to past icons of popular music.

Back in our room, we donned our jackets and gloves, pulled up our hoods and went outside into the windy cold. The sky was clear for the most part but between the lights of the ship and a hazy look to the sky that obscured most of the stars, we weren't hopeful. When our teeth started chattering, we gave up. As we readied for bed, we watched some of the cameras on the ship from our TV. Nothing looked like the lights were going to appear so we called it a night and went to sleep.

Isafjordur, Iceland

Another quick start to our day found us in the Marketplace buffet for breakfast again. We really prefer the dining room but we'd have to get up earlier and then worry that we had enough time to make it to our meeting point for our morning tour at nine. Dining room breakfast days will come in a bit. 

We left the ship, phone map in hand to find the meeting point for our BusTravel Iceland tour to the Dynjandi Waterfalls that we had booked through Viator (on Tripadvisor). While I'm studying the little blue dot on the map, Bob says, "That's our bus there." Sure enough it wasn't but several hundred feet from our ship along with all the other buses that were contracted for the ship's excursions.

The rather tall fellow in shorts and sandals standing at the bus door (mind you, it was a brisk fifty degrees with a cold wind blowing) welcomed us onboard and checked our names off his list. We were some of the last ones on and ended up in the very back row but it was still a good seat with a window for viewing. 

The drive to the falls was about an hour long and we passed through two tunnels, one that was about 5km long and so narrow in the middle that there was a spot where you pulled over to let the other traffic pass. It was a trip down memory lane as we recalled our drive through the same tunnel in 2016 as we drove the Ring Road. For that matter, most of this tour would be to places we had seen before but we would enjoy the revisit.

The hour long drive was made very entertaining and informative. Our driver/tour guide was extremely knowledgeable with history and geology and all sorts of other interesting tidbits. What made it really fun was his sense of humor in delivering it. Reminded me of my high school German teacher from whom I learned so much simply because she made it fun with her humor.

It was still cloudy and threatening rain as we arrived at the falls but it was that way on our first visit as well. At least that's what Bob remembers. We have found that we have differing memories of that trip. Some of mine are backed up by my blog but others aren't so we agree that we each have our own and will keep it that way.

The largest waterfall of the area resembles a bridal veil. There are several other waterfalls that stairstep down from there. All were running at full flow I assume since the weather had been rainy.  

Neither of us remembers the bricked trail leading about a fourth of the way up to make it wheelchair assessable at least for a little way. After the brick walk ends the trail returns to the gravel and stone and boulders we remembered. Some were a little wet and muddy and we saw several people with muddy bottoms who had slipped. 

We carefully climbed about a third of the way up until the path ahead looked more like a steep cliff climb. No way were we going to attempt it. We didn't the last time either. We didn't think the view would be any better up close and was probably a lot wetter.

Coming down, we took some time to take a few pictures of the lesser falls and just enjoy the view which was still spectacular despite the weather. There are several wooden structures that appeared to be large outhouses. With another hour and a half left on our tour, I decided I would visit anyway. To everyone's relief, they were flush toilets, heated and with running water to wash hands. Score!!

On our way to the farm which was a part of our tour, we enjoyed more humor and history and anticipated the hot tea, coffee and cake that were promised. The farm turned out to be like a bed and breakfast with cabins you could rent. The little cafe served us all hot beverages and the little cakes that were almost like a cookie. It was just enough to warm up with and satisfy us until lunch. 

Much to everyone's surprise and delight, Thomas sat on the patio with us and played guitar and sang. What a guy! We had learned along the way that he'd had quite a varied employment history, including blacksmithing whale harpoons and whaling. The musician in him hadn't been mentioned.

We finished our drinks and cakes and meandered down to the barn where there were sheep out in the corral and a hen house with turkeys as well which got Bob to thinking about Thanksgiving.

Our tour ended where we'd begun and we walked back to the ship for lunch and afternoon activities which included writing for me and exercising for Bob (after a nap of course) and then we both went to afternoon tea. Afternoon tea is always a danger. They bring a three tiered tray of pastries, little sandwiches and scones with clotted cream and jam. It's a dinner spoiler. We tried to be good because we were going to Umi Uma which is the excellent Japanese restaurant onboard the Crystal ships.

Umi Uma was every bit as good as ever with a sushi/sashimi sampler, miso soup and Nobu's black cod special for me and his lobster dish for Bob. Tea and coffee and dessert and then we were off to listen to the piano player, Joel Spire, in the Avenue Saloon who plays one song after another seamlessly. It's quite enjoyable music.

With a little time left before the evening show, we sat and worked on the jigsaw puzzle again and met the couple who had finished putting the border together. Jigsaw puzzles on a ship are always a group project.

Our evening show was a wonderful presentation of Frank Sinatra's music by Bruce Hammond who was one of the singers in "The Rat Pack Is Back" in Vegas. He's very good at presenting the songs in the manner of Sinatra. 

Still a little lagged, we ended our night right after the show. It would be another early morning routine for another excursion. Who was the dummy that scheduled all these morning excursions? Ooops. That would be me.

Grundarfjordur, Iceland

Our first afternoon on the ship on the day of our arrival was a blur of sleepy images mixed with a couple of hours of napping after lunch and unpacking. Dinner was a wonderful meal and served by Marcin between sharing all the stories of what had happened since 2022. He had driven truck in order to bring in a paycheck and said he never thought twice about returning and thought his wife was happy to have him come back too.

The evening show was a lively mix of music, song and dancing. The best cruise show we’d seen since, well, 2022.

The morning of our first port day found us in Grundarfjordur. We dragged ourselves out of bed at 7:30 in order to be ready for our first excursion. We should have planned better and booked a later tour but who knew we would be so jet lagged. It felt like I walked in a fog through breakfast and onto the tender that took us to shore. After experiencing some of the brisk cold wind that blew however it didn’t take long to wake up. Thank goodness the day was sunny. At least it didn’t appear that we would have rain.

Our tour guide, Olga, took us on a two hour walk through her town where she grew up, married and raised her own children. The town population is approximately 900. She was full of stories of all the people in the town and the different jobs everyone did. It seems that to survive life there you have to be flexible in your employment choices.

The highlight of our tour was viewing the small town and harbor from a point part way up a hillside. Beautiful tranquil views of ocean and cozy homes and some trees and bushes that Olga was very proud of since it was not easy to grow them in the thin soil there. It was difficult to catch some of what she was saying as she would turn her head when she pointed and still keep talking. With the wind whistling in our ears and her voice projecting in the wrong direction, hearing was difficult. 

There was a small waterfall she pointed out and it was next to what she termed Arrowhead Mountain, a mountain that sat on an outcropping and was quite angular. Later we would learn that the real name was translated to Church Mountain, I guess because it resembled a church roof. The Arrowhead reference we would also learn at a lecture later in the day was what it was called in Game of Thrones, I believe the 6th in the series. That explained her mentioning Game of Thrones. The rest was caught in the wind.

A school, a church (locked but looked to be interesting), a post office, a small general store, a large fish processing building, and some talk of aluminum manufacture (again lost in the wind). We ended the tour at an art gallery of a local sculpture who looked the part of a reclusive artist but was very personable. He sculpted his rocks with an air hammer he said. It had to be a different kind of air hammer than what came to my mind. Some of the work was way too delicate. He based his ideas on the folklore of the pagan Norse gods. No souvenirs for us. The rocks would have put us over the luggage weight limit to fly home.

By the time we returned to the ship the day had turned a bit warmer though still a little breezy. We lunched at the Trident Grill and I was excited that they still had my favorite salmon sandwich and sweet potato fries. 

It was off to a nap after lunch followed by time for Bob in the gym and me in the upper deck Palm Court to enjoy the view and work on this blog. As they began to set up for the afternoon tea, I left. I knew if I stayed I would eat too many of those delicious tiny sandwiches and pastries with a cup of tea. Instead, we enjoyed a cup of coffee in the Bistro later. The Bistro is probably the only place they renovated that I don't care for so much. It used to be a bit more cozy and with a sidewalk cafe look. It has been modernized and to me, resembles a school cafeteria. But that's only me and the coffees and teas are still delicious.

Our evening entertainment consisted of visiting the old casino that has been made into a lounge. We sat for a time and worked on a jigsaw puzzle before going into the theater to enjoy a hilarious and entertaining show with Steve Stevens, a humorist and talented musician. I look forward to hearing him again one evening. 

We dropped into bed and hoped that we would have a good night of rest. It would be another early call in the morning for our tour in the next port.

Return To Crystal Cruise Serenity

Those of you who follow along with our travels will remember the ill-fated Grand Voyage of 2022. It started out as a world cruise but became a “grand voyage” because some ports were closed or still in the process of opening because of COVID. At that point in time, we didn’t care where we went we just wanted to get back out in the world, The cruise line and ship we chose was a favorite. What we didn’t anticipate was that the company that owned the cruise line would go bankrupt and our cruise would end abruptly.

Fast forward a little more than a year and a half. The cruise line was purchased by Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio who had owned Silverseas and sold it. He wanted to get back into the cruise industry again and compliment it with the travel company A&K Travel Group that he owns. Crystal Cruises was reborn. Our favorite ship, the Serenity, given a makeover returned to the sea at the end of July. Now, how could we resist revisiting our old friend. 

While the ship is like home after we have spent several cruises on it including a world cruise in 2015, it is the staff and crew that make it warm and inviting. The good news we heard was that 80% of the former crew jumped at the chance to return to Serenity and her sister ship, the Symphony. So with great anticipation, we booked a nine day cruise around Iceland (also a favorite place) and our time to travel arrived.

Bob had found that the most convenient and economical flight to Reykjavik was from Detroit so on Tuesday, the 29^th, we drove west to the airport, about a four hour drive from us. The fun part of the drive was that we had to pass Toledo where our oldest grandson started his senior year just the day before. Thankfully he was available to have lunch and catch up with all that he’d done in his summer internship at NASA. We met at a place he suggested, Ye Olde Durty Bird. It turned out to be a great little place with a good corned beef reuben.

When we finally made it to Detroit, we easily found the parking lot for our car and were pleasantly surprised to find a nice clean airport that wasn’t so busy with crowds. The last time we flew to Iceland, we drove to Toronto. That was okay but a much busier place and a little longer drive. We found an Outback in the airport and had a leisurely dinner while we waited for our flight time.

Icelandair is a nice airline and provided a very clean and somewhat roomy plane for us. I appreciated the leg room as we would be flying almost six hours and overnight. Neither of us got much sleep however on the flight. So working on maybe two hours of sleep, we arrived at 6:30 in the morning in Reykjavik (Iceland time, about 2:30 our time back home) to a busy bustling and small airport. The terminal in Reykjavik is not very large although it appears they are expanding with many people choosing to use that as a convenient and less expensive way to fly to Europe. Several people we met were connecting to London through Reykjavik.

Bob had made plans for a driver (think Uber but it booked like a tour) to pick us up and take us to the cruise terminal. The drive is about an hour from the airport. There were several other options, something called a FlyBus and others, but they dropped you off at a central station downtown and then you had to get another bus to go out to the cruise port. With three bags of luggage (this cruise was a little dressier than cruises on other lines plus cold weather gear) we didn’t want to have to shlep luggage from one bus to another.

Our driver was kind enough to load our luggage and our drive to the cruise terminal was smooth except for a little morning traffic that he apologized for. Did I mention the Icelanders are really nice people? At least the ones we’ve met. Our only problem was that Icelandair had provided no breakfast snack or even the option to buy anything—not even a cup of coffee. The lights in the cabin had come on about a half hour before landing and that was it. We were beginning to get hungry.

Our ride dropped us at the door to the terminal and we saw where baggage drop was but no one came out to help us. We soon discovered that they would not begin accepting passengers, baggage or guests, for another couple of hours. The man we asked pointed out the main room in the terminal where we could sit and wait.

A couple of hours later, we asked again about the time we could leave baggage and were told that nothing would be done until noon when security would have their operation set up. I finally found a security guard who was there for departing and transit guests (those staying on for the next cruise) and asked if there were any place we could leave our bags. I explained that we’d just flown in and really needed to find some breakfast somewhere. There was nothing in the terminal but an information desk. Not even a pot of coffee. He agreed to unlock the baggage drop and let us put our bags there and he would lock the door again but said at least three times that he would not take responsibility. We felt safe enough with that and left the bags, hopped on the cruise/city shuttle and went into town to find something to eat.

On the ride in with several couples, we caught up on the news of how things were going with the ship and their transatlantic cruise that brought them to Reykjavik. One couple had actually been with us on the fateful 2022 cruise and we reminisced about those last days.

A little way from the drop off place for the shuttle, we could smell bakery and found its source in a little corner place that was so very welcoming to two hungry travelers. Bob had a grilled ham and cheese that was available all day and I settled on French toast. His was good but mine was absolutely delicious. A thick cut of brioche I think, dipped and fried and topped with maple syrup and blueberries and something they called crispy ham. It turned out to be very thin sliced bacon. The coffees were good and juice fresh squeezed but by the time we converted the krona to US dollars our breakfast was almost $50!

We walked up to the Hallgrimskirka, the iconic church building in the city. Uphill and with a heavy backpack that held my computer, my kindle and several other things that I wouldn’t leave anywhere unattended, I could feel my legs and back screaming at me by the time we were done. We revisited the inside of the church but opted out of going up into the tower. There is a lift but we were jet lagged and sleep deprived and it was getting to us.

On the opposite corner we peeked into a sculpture garden but as we started to wander around, a gentle misty rain began to fall. When it started to get a little heavier, we headed out and toward the shuttle stop.

Thankfully getting back to the shuttle stop was all downhill. We walked through the main shopping area to get there and marveled at some of the storefront offerings. One had the craziest looking assortment of hose with cat patterns and other designs including one with a zipper up the back of the leg. The rain eased up before we got too wet and found the shuttle again.

It was another half hour wait until finally the embarkation process could begin. It went quite smoothly and soon we were back on the ship that made us feel like we had returned “home.” As we were waiting in line in the lobby area to finish our boarding process, a wonderful familiar face beamed at us. I couldn’t help it. I called out. “Marcin, you’re here!” His welcome back and a hug almost brought tears. We had worried about him, our favorite waiter, and so many others as the bankruptcy had left them with no guarantees of a paycheck and a way home back in 2022. We would spend time later catching up.