We had a great day in Isafjordur Iceland on Fri. Mom and I were up early in the Lido for juice and to watch the scenic cruising of isafjardaandjup and Jokulfirdir. It was a bit cloudy but very pretty. We then headed to mass, breakfast in the Dining Room, and a port talk on Isafjordur and Reykjavik. It was then time to grab a quick lunch in the Lido before heading down for our Fjords and Flowers tour. We drove quickly thru town (not hard since it was a small town) and then headed towards a tunnel. I know you’re thinking how could a tunnel be so interesting but it actually was. This tunnel is about 6 miles long and links the fjord to two other fjord towns. It’s a one way tunnel so on the ... read more

Wed was our last sea day before 3 port days in Iceland. It was to start with scenic cruising of Jan Mayen island which is 400 miles northeast of Iceland and 300 miles east of central Greenland but belongs to Norway. There are 18 people there during the winter and 35 in the summer. They work for the Norwegian Armed Forces or Meteorological Institute. During WWII when Norway was occupied by the Germans the men stationed there defied Germany and sent the weather reports to Great Britain instead. Well as I said our day was to start with a scenic sail by of the island so we headed up to the Lido about 7 for juice (ok and a chocolate croissant) and briefly saw a mountain sticking out of the clouds. I should have taken a ... read more

We have links to the outside world again! Well at least internet. Satellite TV is still down. So I’ve posted the past few days and will now add yesterday’s port and then hopefully some photos. Monday we were in the port of Longyearbyen which is on the island of Spitsbergen. We weren’t supposed to dock until 11 as we were sharing the dock with another ship (will have to zoom in on the photo and get the name when I get home). They docked first and then went to anchorage so we could dock and their passengers returned to their ship by tender. Since we had to wait the captain sailed around the area for scenic viewing for most of the morning. Longyearbyen is named for an American (from Boston as my mother reminds me since ... read more

So now we’re up to Sat and another sea day which started with mass and then breakfast in the Dining Room and then a lecture on “Was it murder? The last Traditional Inuit Trial” by Norma Hallendy. He has spent a lot of time with the Inuit people and has some interesting stories to tell. We were then passing by Bear Island so went out and got some pictures but it was pretty cold and windy and the upper part of the island was covered in clouds/fog (or sea smoke as someone called it later). It was time to eat again so we headed to the Dining room with Erin and Dennis. After lunch we went to the demonstration on fruit carving so should all now be able to carve a watermelon into a flower. They ... read more

Actually still have connection so will download a few more photos and add captions to the last ones ... read more