Port of Call - Heimaey, Iceland

Off the coast of Iceland is what's known as the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, a group of islands formed from volcanic action. The largest and only inhabited one is Heimaey. This was our next stop and, wonder of wonders, the weather was sunny and clear again. The Crystal Serenity anchored just outside the hook of land that reached around and protected the harbor of the town.

While the town is small, there was no lack of tourist transportation. At least a half dozen buses awaited our arrival and we boarded the one for our tour.  The morning was fresh, as our captain always liked to say. Our first sight as we exited the dock area was one of the local teens swinging from a rope secured into the top of a cliff area. He would swing across the face of the cliff from side to side. Our guide said it was one of the new sports their teens had invented.

Fantastic vistas passed by the windows of our bus. Like mainland Iceland, there were few trees outside of the small ones planted near homes as a part of the landscaping. This island especially showed off its volcanic origins--but more of that in another post. What everyone really wanted to see were those ever elusive puffins. As our ship's information said, "The Icelandic Puffin calls Heimaey home. That would be six to eight million of them." Since there had been no puffin sightings in our Reykjavik stop, it wasn't long before the question was out, "Will we see puffins today?"

In her most apologetic tone, our tour guide told us that it was highly unlikely. You see to have this wonderful weather meant we would have to abandon the hope of a puffin sighting. The puffins were known to go out into deep waters to feed when the weather was nice making the seas calm. You could feel the air of disappointment in the bus after that.

Still it was hard to be disappointed in the views we were about to see from Stórhöfði, said to be the windiest place in Iceland--except for the day we visited; which is why there were no puffins around. this was the spot where there should have been the largest colony. Instead we contented ourselves with the sheep and lambs and a few Icelandic horses we saw. The Icelandic horses are said to be unusual in that they have a special gait not found in any other breed. The gait allows for one hoof to always be on the ground giving the rider a smooth ride. The breed is fiercely protected.

Looking out toward a small island in the distance, we could see a single dwelling on the top of the cliffs that surrounded it. Our guide explained that there were several islands like that where a small house is built for the comfort of scientists studying the puffins. Or, as she suggested with a chuckle, for husbands who need to get away from home for a while.

In another direction, we could see Eyjafjallajokull, the volcano on Iceland's main island that erupted in 2010 and shut down air travel for weeks in Europe. The problem it seems was the ash. It wasn't like ash from a fire you might burn in your backyard. This ash was made up of cinders that could cause havoc with the planes as well as cut down on vision. Life goes on as normally as possible in Iceland even though they sit on several volcanoes. The most likely to erupt next is Katla which is overdue according to every Icelander who spoke with us. I believe it is also the largest and is said to be most dangerous. But then there is also Hekla which erupts about every 10 years. Snow capped Eyjafjallajokull and Katla could be seen in the distance from our vantage point high on the hill at Stórhöfði.

On our way back into town, our guide pointed to the mouse shaped island we could from the highway. It is Iceland's newest island and was formed in the 1960's by underwater volcanic action that eventually built up on the floor of the ocean to create the island. Geography is constantly changing in Iceland witnessed by our guide who as a child remembered visiting her grandmother on Heimaey before the eruption of Eldfell which added a square mile of land to the island. As we drove on the new section she said, "This land was not here when I was a child." Amazing to consider it.

The eruption on the island of Heimaey was also significant in many other ways. But more on that in my next post.

Through My Lens - Reykjavik, Iceland

Port of Call - Exploring Iceland

Our afternoon in the port of Reykjavik promised to be every bit as beautiful as the morning. Originally we thought we would go to the famous Blue Lagoon but the tour was expensive and only got us to the Lagoon and back and the rest of the time would be spent soaking in the steaming waters. We wanted to see more of the countryside so when the opportunity arose to join Vacation Vignettes for an afternoon tour, we snatched it up quickly.

On several other cruises, we have participated in a special tour sponsored by Vacation Vignettes, a part of Vacation.com, a network of over 6,000 travel agents. If your travel agent is a part of the organization and there is a host on board your ship, there will be an organized tour available at one of your ports and you will be invited to join. Our tour began shortly after lunch and once aboard our small bus, we headed out into the countryside.

Our drive took us through a small fishing village and up to the peaceful Kleifarvtn Lake. The view of the volcanic landscape was spectacular. Below our lookout point, we could see a smooth black sand beach much like the beaches in Hawaii. But I doubt there is a lot of swimming from this beach. My guess is the water, not being from a steam vent, was very cold.

In 2001, geologists found a crevice created by an earthquake in the summer of that year. It literally became a drain and about 1/3 of an inch of water drained each day from the lake. Eventually the crevice filled in again and the lake returned to its pre-earthquake levels. It was only one of many changes in the landscape that Icelanders have learned to live with. The volcanoes on this island nation are constantly creating changes in the landscape.

The next stop was the famed Krysuvik geothermal area with its amazing solfataras (volcanic vents emitting sulfur fumes), boiling mud pits, blowing steam vents and amazing colored mineral deposits. Once you got past the rotten egg smell, it was a fascinating area to explore. We followed the board walk and wound our way past the mud pits that spit every so often and past the steam pits that belched the rotten egg smell. Higher up was a much larger steam vent that we opted not to climb up to see.

The terrain was covered in Icelandic moss where it had the opportunity to grow undisturbed. There are few trees in Iceland. Most of them are in the populated areas and planted as landscaping. The moss reminded me of the tundra area of Alaska. It was that same carpeting but not as thick.

Our lungs full of whatever healing qualities the sulfur springs may have given, we left for our last stop in the fishing village of Eyrarbakki. We arrived at a large restaurant, Rauda Husid, that was obviously a favorite stop of tour buses. Our afternoon snack consisted of a wonderful lobster soup--almost like a bisque but not creamy white. To our delight, those around us didn't want to sample it. Their loss. It was delicious and had lots of chunks of lobster in the bottom. Great home baked bread and some olive and hummus spreads completed our snack. It would tide us over until we could get back to the ship.

The room that we ate in had a ledge built around it up by the ceiling and was full of stuffed birds found in the area. The puffin stood out among all of the others. We were anxious to see one but were no where near their nests on this tour.


 During our drive to Eyrarbakki, we had seen glimpses of Eyjafjallajokull (try saying that--just once). It was snow capped and beautiful and not looking at all like the problem child of the European airways as it was in 2010 when it erupted. I really wanted a good shot of it and asked the guide if there was a chance we could stop along the way back. No deal. He had a schedule to keep and besides, he told me, we would be on the archipelago the next day and have good views from there. Yes, but would the weather be as clear and sunny and perfect? I hoped so.

Reykjavik, Iceland - Hallgrimskirkja

Hallgrimskirkja towered above us. The closer we got the more impressive it became. A little winded from our climb through the streets of Reykjavik and somewhat breathless from the view before us, we stopped and admired the sleek modern architecture of the Lutheran church that was built in honor of Iceland’s poet, Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614-74). His most famous work is called Hymns of the Passion. He was one of the most influential pastors during the Age of Orthodoxy and wrote many important Lutheran hymns.

The church, designed by state architect Guðjón Samúelsson, took 38 years to build and was finished in 1986. The tower was the first part to be finished and rises 244 feet making it Iceland's tallest building. Inside the church itself, a simply designed interior and arched ceiling makes for a light and airy feeling. 

As we entered, we could hear organ music and were delighted to find an organist practicing, or perhaps performing for the tourists. The huge organ was built in Germany in 1992 and has 5275 pipes. 

Off the foyer was a small book store and a lady selling lift tickets for a trip to the tower's top. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take in the views on such a beautiful day. Once the elevator reached the top of the tower, there was still a short climb to get to the very top which had openings covered with iron bars through which you could see in all directions. It was one of the most spectacular views I've seen in a long while. Well, worth the few kronurs for the trip to the top.

On the street level again, we passed by the statue of Leif Erikson in the plaza just in front of the church and began to make our way to where the Celebrity Serenity's shuttle bus was picking people up to return to the ship. Along the way, we couldn't pass up the free WiFi sign on a small coffee shop and stopped to have a cup of coffee and check in with the news back home. The coffee shop gal was very friendly and we enjoyed talking with her as well--it's always fun to share our homeland with others too.

A few minutes after leaving the coffee shop, we discovered that the map must have been a little dated since the intersection marked did not have any shuttle bus. We could see however a bus parked near the new opera house, another impressive building with amazing glass that seems to change color as the light hits it. We sprinted for the next bus back. We were scheduled for an afternoon tour and certainly didn't want to miss lunch before our tour. Cruisers never miss a meal.

Wordless Wednesday

Port of Call - Reykjavik, Iceland

Mountains, some snowcapped, some resembling a cake glazed with white icing dripping in the crevices contrasted with blue skies and air so clear that images miles away were sharply defined. Iceland had greeted us with a picture-perfect welcome—travel brochure quality. We feasted on the view from the Lido restaurant on the upper deck of the Crystal Serenity as we ate breakfast, eager to hear the announcement that we were cleared to go ashore. Below us were mounds of fish nets perfectly illustrating the major industry for this beautiful country.

Our day in Reykjavik was well-thought out thanks to our on board lecturer Jon Sigurdsson. A walk into town would be followed by a tour to outer areas surrounding the city. We donned our layers of clothing expecting the sunny day to be crisp or fresh as many on board ship called a cool breezy day. Solid ground beneath our feet was a pleasant change from a moving ship and we breathed in the wonderful scents of the North Atlantic seacoast.

The path into town was easy to find from the pier and we were soon setting our sights on the city of Reykjavik before us. We easily recognized the landmark church with its rocket-ship shape. Birds frolicked in the water along the shoreline. In the cliffs of Iceland, we hoped to see puffins. They would not be here in the harbor area.

Before long, we were unzipping the outer layer of clothes. The morning sun warmed us as we walked. On our left, just outside the city, we passed the large white house that was the site of the 1986 summit meeting between President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev. It is said the host had only ten days notice of the event.

We were told that on a clear day you could see for 75 miles even though the city’s name, Reykjavik, means “Bay of Smoke.” The name comes from the geothermal steam vents that provide running hot water and central heating for the whole city and make outdoor swimming a year-round possibility. Of course all that geothermal steam comes from the volcanic action below the terrain of Iceland. Such a peaceful place. Hard to imagine that at any given time one of its many volcanoes could begin to spew ash and lava as happened in 2010 to shut down air traffic through Europe.

At the edge of the city, we turned inward and began a short climb to Hallgrimskirkja, the iconic church of Reykjavik. It is said to be the tallest and most striking in Iceland. I only hoped they had an elevator.

Through My Lens - Iceland

Actually, the clouds were above Signal Hill in St. John's but the rest are from Iceland. More to follow. . .

Cruising Transatlantic - Sea Days

While there are all sorts of interesting activities on board a ship crossing the Atlantic to reposition for a different season of sailing in another part of the world, one of the most popular is the lecture series. Several speakers were booked on the Crystal Serenity to speak on a variety of topics including the places we were to visit, politics, and gem stones.

One speaker, Jon Sigurdsson, was actually from Reykjavik, Iceland. Look at his last name. One of the first things he told us was that Icelanders name their children by signifying who their father was. His son’s last name is Jonsson.  He went on to show us magnificent pictures of Iceland and talk about the volcanoes and the part they play in the lives of Icelanders. Homes and buildings are kept warm with geo thermal heat that is piped in from the numerous hot springs. It is also a source for their electricity. I guess if you live on top of volcanic activity you make the best of it.

We were surprised and pleased to discover that this was also an NFL Legends theme cruise. On board with us were Coach Don Shula, Coach Dan Vermeil, and Dr. Jim Tunney who is known as the “Dean of NFL Referees.” Each gave a talk—Shula about football and Vermeil and Tunney more motivational talks. All together on stage one day they kibitzed about bad calls and bantered about football past and present.

 

The highlight of the last day at sea before reaching Reykjavik however was the spectacular sunset which occurred at about 11 p.m. It was still a little too early in the season for the “midnight sun” in the North Atlantic, but it was getting close to that. Sunrise the next morning was a little after 4 a.m.

 

 As we watched the sky redden, we couldn’t help but hope that the old saying, “red sky at night, sailor’s delight” would hold out for us and bring us a beautiful weather day for Iceland. So far, the North Atlantic had been more than kind to us. It was not without its bumps a couple of times but nothing like the video from Deadliest Catch.

Transatlantic Cruising - Days at Sea

Transatlantic cruises are generally less expensive than other cruises because there are fewer ports included on the itinerary. Fewer ports mean fewer port fees added to your cruise cost. In addition cruise lines offer all sorts of great ideas for spending those days at sea. A straight crossing usually takes six days. Our Crystal Serenity cruise, the New World to Norway spent three days at sea crossing between St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, and Reykjavik, Iceland. Those three days were filled with all sorts of things to do.

The sea days are a great time to explore the ship and find all the wonderful nooks and crannies with special views, décor, entertainment, etc. The atrium of the ship is always a showpiece on most any ship and the Crystal Serenity is no exception. A string quartet and a wonderful pianist provided music that wafted through the open area to several decks in the evenings. On occasion, it was also a showcase for activities that included a fashion show and a wonderful elegant buffet.

 

Central to any cruise experience is the dining room. Ours was tastefully done and provided the venue for fine dining—a specialty of Crystal cruises. Several specialty restaurants were available as well and we enjoyed dinners in Prego's, The Silk Road, and Tastes several times. Tastes was a great casual place for dining especially on the nights where we were cruising out of a port with great views. We dined there as we sailed out of New York City and I was able to run outside and grab great pictures of the Statue of Liberty as we passed by. 

Some of the other opportunities afforded us on this crossing and this ship in particular were language lessons (this cruise it was Spanish), a variety of computer courses taught in a lab with the largest monitors I think I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship, and an opportunity to learn to play the keyboard. Yamaha has a room full of keyboards and we were privileged to have the teacher, John Waltrip, and his wife Flo as our tablemates at dinner for the cruise. They had so many interested in keyboarding that they organized extra classes for beginners and advanced students.

Crystal is one of the lines that provides dance hosts for the single ladies who are unescorted and wish to enjoy the dance floor and of course lessons are available for anyone wanting to brush up on their two or three or four step.

Painting with watercolors, bridge lessons, and recent movies are just a few more of the activities to choose from as the ship crosses the big puddle.

As a side note, we were fascinated with the cans of sand that were situated at each elevator entrance. They are not seen as often in public places anymore because of the restrictions on smoking in so many venues now. While there were some smokers on board, we did not see one cigarette butt in any of the cans of sand. There was however one lovely young attendant whose job it was to go around and restamp the double seahorse image, the signature of Crystal Cruise Line, into the sand several times a day. You see, as the ship vibrated slightly or wiggled in the waves, the sand settled and the stamped logo would disappear. I’m sure there’s a lesson to be sifted from the disappearing logo in the sand but my mind is in cruise mode. I’ll think about it when I get home.

Wordless Wednesday

Port of Call - St. John's, Newfoundland

Arriving at a port on a Sunday is always an iffy proposition when it comes to what you might see. St. John’s, Newfoundland, in Canada was very quiet. While there were quite a few shops and restaurants open, the residents in this small city were not out in droves and the streets were pretty much taken over by the passengers of our cruise ship the Crystal Serenity.

While waiting for clearance from immigration so we could go ashore, we scoped out the town as much as possible from the top deck of our ship. Up on a hill we could see a large basilica. We set our goal to climb up to that spot, check it out and then see what the shops might have to offer on the main street in town.  After all, we figured, if nothing else was open, at least the church would be. Not so.

We made it all the way up the hill stopping to take a few pictures of nothing in particular along the way. If you stop for pictures as you climb, people are less apt to notice how out of shape you are. You can claim the breathlessness is from taking in a beautiful view. When we reached the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, a cathedral founded in 1841, we found several other hardy (and breathless) souls who informed us that it was closed. The good news was that the walk back to the ship would be all downhill.

St. John’s, the city not the cathedral, is a fishing town. There were dozens of fishing boats in the harbor. It’s wealth at one time was built on salted fish. The weather there so far north is often cold and harsh. To compensate for so many gray days, the homes and buildings are brightly colored. The city is said to be one of the oldest in North America dating back to the time of the Vikings. It is also said to be the most easterly city of North America.

 

There is much history to be garnered here but unfortunately a lot of historical places were lost to a large fire in the late 1800s. Still, there is Signal Hill, the site of Marconi’s first transatlantic signal, a 17th/18th century French fortress called Castle Hill and Cape Spear Lighthouse in nearby Avalon, and several other points of interest that will have us coming back to visit when we can spend more time.

 

 

Our gray day turned sunny just in time for the sail away. We were amazed when our ship was able to turn in the very small harbor and head out through one of the narrowest channels we have ever encountered. This was almost as narrow as the one in Bermuda when we docked in the old town. Once out of the channel, we could see what we had missed in the fog of the morning—a breathtaking view of the coast and even a couple of lost icebergs that had gotten hung up along the shore and were quietly melting away in the warming seasonal weather.

 

 The captain set course for Iceland and the ship picked up speed. Would the North Atlantic be kind to us?

 

Newfoundland and Labrador on Dwellable

Saint John's on Dwellable

Port of Call - Boston, Mass.

Before me was a huge X etched into a piece of granite and under it a sign that read “Welcome to our safe house.” I had just entered the Greater Boston Food Bank facility. Not your usual cruise ship excursion. Six of us, including one of the ship’s photographers from the Crystal Serenity, had boarded a large van at the dock and been transported about twenty minutes away to the huge warehouse that is this organization’s central distribution center. The center serves more than 394,000 people of Eastern Massachusetts.

But why was it called a “safe house”? I read the explanation beneath the X. As a young child, Kip Tiernan, the founder of the food bank had watched her grandmother during the Great Depression feed many homeless, helpless, and hungry men who came to her back door in New Haven, Connecticut. When seven-year-old Kip asked her grandmother how the men knew to come to the door, she told her to watch them as they left. Kip noticed the next man leave and pause a moment out on the sidewalk. He picked up a piece of charcoal and marked a large X, the hobo symbol for a safe house. It was her first experience of community organizing.

“It is no secret if you are scarred by struggle you can be transformed by hope,” Tiernan said, “And my grandmother gave them that.”

So we entered the “safe house” and were introduced to the volunteer organizer who gave us a general introduction to all of the organizations that the food bank serves. A large group of young people from a local business joined us as well as regular volunteers and we walked past huge shelves filled with non-perishable foods and entered a room full of boxes of potato chips.

The group organizer for that project set us up to take empty boxes, put four bags of chips in each, replace the top and stack the boxes to be set on shelves for distribution later. In about an hour, we had repacked all the chips and sent them on their way.

Next, after proving ourselves with the chips project, our leader had volunteers bring in frozen meats and poultry for us to sort and redistribute in boxes for distribution. That job took about an hour as well.

A little tired but feeling satisfied that we had contributed some help to their wonderful organization we returned to the orientation room and received a report that our total group of about 30 people had successfully sorted and repacked over 4,000 pounds of food making meals possible for more than 107 people.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a cruise line organize the opportunity for its guests to contribute in this sort of way to a charitable organization. We are often asked to give money but never our time. It was quite enjoyable and satisfying and I hope to see more of those opportunities in the future.