Day 9 - Isafjordur, Iceland

 I got up at 5:20 and got dressed. We had the fog horn sounding last night, but the sky is now cloudy but the visibility is good. I went to breakfast at 6:30 since my tour meets at 7:55. As we neared the port, the sun came out and it looks like another nice day. I took some  pictures from the verandah and I went to the World Stage to wait for my tour at 7:30. My tour was called at 8:20 and I boarded the bus at 8:35. We first stopped at a site of a large snow avalanche that crushed houses and killed 18 including 4 children. It has been turned into a park and the houses were never rebuilt on this site, We then rode to a Lutheran church that had been moved from an abandoned whaling village to this site in 1962 and was known as the stolen church.We had a small concert by a couple who played the clarinet and an original pump organ. We next went to a large valley at the end of the fjord where people like to come to hike and picnic. Our last stop was at the Arctic Fox museum where we saw a Blue Morph Arctic Fox which only turns a lighter shade of brown in the winter as opposed to the White Morph Arctic Fox which turns white in the winter. They had several stuffed foxes of both morphs and served us a rhubarb wedding cake with coffee. We returned to the port at 11:55 and I took the tender back to the ship getting to my cabin at 12:30. I uploaded my photos and updated the blog and got cleaned up for dinner. I went to dinner at 5:30 and I ended up with a table for 4 by myself upstairs. I have another early tour tomorrow.  I also have a dinner in the Canaletto courtesy of Tom Mullins.  After dinner, I went to the Billboard Onboard and had a drink while the 2 pianos played before going to my cabin at 7. I went to bed and read until 9.

 

Pictures from the verandah during sail in

 

Site of the snow avalanche and Fishermen's Memorial

The stolen Lutheran Church

Our guide's fish cleaning hut remodeled into an art studio by her husband

Our stop at the end of the fjord

The Arctic Fox museum

Blue Morph Arctic Fox

Stuffed Arctic Foxes

Our coffee and wedding cake 

Scenic shots

Day 8 - Akureyri, Iceland

 I got up at 6:15 as we were slowly sailing toward the port.  I got dressed and took some pictures from the verandah. We reached the dock area at 7:15 and I went to breakfast. The MSC Preziosa was already docked near us with a passenger capacity of 4,345 max or 3,959 double where the New Statendam that I am on has a passenger capacity of 4,173  max or 2,666 double. It was a sunny day with highs forecast to be in the low to middle 50's. The ship was ready for passengers to go ashore at 8 but my tour was at 10:30 with a meeting time of 10:00. I went to the library at 8:30 to get the Sunday crossword and returned to the cabin to work on it but was not able to break the code.  I went to the World Stage to check in for my tour at 9:45. I was on bus 2 of 6 for the same tour and bus 2 was called at 10:15 and we drove for 45 minutes to the Godafoss Waterfalls. I took several pictures from the bus on the way and several of the waterfalls and area.  We had 1 hour to visit the waterfalls and then we traveled 35 minutes to the Laufas Folk Museum where we saw a renowned church site and chieftain's residence which still had a vicarage where many remarkable clerics have served. We had 45 minutes there before driving back to Akureyri  to visit the Botanical Gardens. We were there for 45 minutes before going back to the dock where I boarded the ship at 2:45. It was a great day with some sun and temps between 52 and 59 degrees. I uploaded my  pictures and updated the blog. Then I got cleaned up for dinner and went to the dining room at 6. I was seated with a couple from Houston and 2 ladies from Minnesota. It was a nice meal with pleasant conversation. After dinner, I went to the Broadway Onboard for a drink and then returned to the cabin to finish the blog and read until I went to sleep at 9:30. I have an early tour tomorrow.