Iceland: Maritimes and Meetup

Our second day in Reykjavik, July 2019, would be largely free time for us because our meetup with the rest of our Natural Habitat Adventures group wasn't until late afternoon.

After a restless sleep Joan and I arose at 7:30. The morning began with clouds flowing over the ridges across the bay.

The Icelandair hotel "Reykjavik Marina" is across from a drydock.

Our first destination was the Reykjavik Maritime Museum,

Viewed from our hotel, the Museum entrance is the brown structure.

where we viewed a fascinating exhibit about the wreck of the Dutch merchant ship Melckmeyt, which sank in 1659 while seeking shelter at the Icelandic islet of Flatey. Local divers discovered the wreck in 1992, which was then studied as an archaeological site. At one point in the 17th Century Dutch shipping was half of the European total.

Then it was time for one of the guided tours of the Óðinn, a retired (2006) coast guard ship. It's visible in the above photo; click on the image to enlarge and look for the gray ship one-third of the way in from the right. Joan and I were the only ones signed up for this first tour of the day. The Óðinn saw service during the "cod wars" with Britain, when Iceland was systematically expanding its exclusive fishing area around the island to the now globally-recognized 200 nautical mile economic zone. Our guide gave us a thorough tour, and we saw one of the ingenious net cutters that the Icelandic vessels used to sever the nets of the British fishing trawlers. The Óðinn had at least one bumping match with the frigate HMS Scylla during the fourth cod war.

After the ship tour Joan and I returned to the museum with its exhibits, both static and dynamic, including audio recollections from the old days. Our attention was captured more than we expected!

We left the museum and re-visited the Þufa, an art installation of the structures used for drying, what else, fish. At the base of the hill we met a great-grandfather and his great-grandaughter (can you say "cute?") on an outing.

At left is the Harpa, across the harbor.

A closeup.

A panoramic view of the outer and inner harbors from the mound.

The Queen Mary 2 was far away at the "big ship" docks.

 We explored the path in the other direction, passing various businesses,

and briefly stopped at a shop featuring the clothing and miscellaneous goods of the company "Farmer's Market." Joan and I weren't interested in what they had to offer, commenting that these days we usually only bought stuff that we could eat or that was very small. They recommended a chocolate manufacturer around the corner. It wasn't immediately around the corner, but we found it, Omnom, and had several tastings with Kyle at the factory outlet. We walked away with six bars. Back at the hotel there was a packet from NatHab waiting for us including an Omnom bar (66% cocoa solids from Madagascar). That made seven.

At the group orientation we met our NatHab leader, Katherine, and our Icelandic guide and driver Solveig. Our impression was that it could be a congenial group, a good thing as we would be ten guests and two leaders in the same van!

Before retiring Joan and I repacked for land travel in variable weather (there is no other kind in Iceland).

Iceland: Start at Reykjavik, Of Course

Last July (2019) Joan and I embarked on a small-group tour of Iceland with Natural Habitat Adventures. Our setting off was worrying, with weather warnings and emails from Delta offering to reschedule us. But Joan and I have adopted a philosophy of getting "as far downstream as possible," and it wasn't even raining when we parked our car at the airport. We waited for our first flight as mist and a low ceiling arrived, but we made it to JFK and a loong layover, including a meal at Uptown Brasserie. We indulged in plane watching, and saw an Airbus A380-800 (Emirates) arrive and disgorge passengers for what seemed like an hour. We also spotted liveries that were novel for us, including El Al, Etihad, and Norwegian.

Heavy rain began as we boarded the flight to Reykjavik, and we left the gate accompanied by lightning. The plane taxied, halted, and waited. A flight attendant told us that although the plane had been sold out it was one-third empty, due to cancelled connecting flights. Arriving at JFK with seven hours to spare saved us!

In the end we were only one hour late arriving at Keflavik, the international airport, in the Icelandic morning. Our transport pickup waited a while for two no-shows, almost certainly missing because of the weather we'd seen. After a forty-five minute drive we arrived at the Icelandair Hotel Marina, deposited our luggage, and embarked on a walk.

Joan and I first visited the Saga Museum and the Aurora Reykjavik, both close to the hotel and to each other. They were intriguing, but the Saga Museum was an especially valuable introduction to the Icelandic sagas, employing personal audio devices of the proper language and life-size dioramas of the  main characters and scenes. It prepared us, as it were, for the evening show Icelandic Sagas -- The Greatest Hits at the Harpa, the modern concert hall and performance center in Reykjavik.

Joan and I wandered towards the Harpa. In this photo it sits behind an Icelandic coast guard vessel and a ship belonging to the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue (Slysavarnarfélagið Landsbjörg).

Hotel and other construction made reaching the Harpa an exercise in route-finding. Fortunately there were signs, and the walk was easy.

Here is the front entrance to the Harpa. More detailed photos of this glass palace, from a brief 2017 stay in Reykjavik, are in this blog entry.

Inside we purchased our tickets for the "Icelandic Sagas in 75 Minutes," as the show is also known, and did some strolling until it was time to meet up with a guide from Reykjavik Food Walk. This was the same company with which we'd taken a food tour in 2017, and it didn't disappoint us or our fellow foodies.

Our guide this time was Agnes.

Most of our stops were the same as in 2017; one was different. All were welcome, interesting, and walking about town was a great way to stay awake and defeat jet lag. One visit was to a meat and cheese shop.

We passed some imaginatively painted houses,

and enjoyed Europe's best hotdogs, which may be in large part lamb.

There's always a line here.

After a brief cleanup and meditation back at the hotel, Joan and I moseyed over to the Harpa for the Icelandic Sagas in 75 Minutes show. We arrived with time to spare and poked around. This was the view of the "back," or harbor-side, of the Harpa.

Towards the bay there was a large field of volcanic stones which were available for those who wished to construct cairns or sculptures.

 

The small white spec in the above panoramic view resolved, with camera zoom, into an adventurous sailboat. Adventurous by my standards, anyway, perhaps not to Icelanders.

Then it was time to go inside for the show.

 

It used only two actors (plenty of costume changes), included audience participation, and was sprinkled with surprises and humor. It was much fun and kept us awake.

Afterwards Joan and I returned to the hotel, and after a sleepless night on the flight over, immediately plunged into bed.