Day 12 - 08/14/22 -Seydisfjödur, Iceland

Today found us tendering in the little town of Seydisfjödur (population 700).  The Viking Mars cruise ship got the docking space.  We took a nice private shore excursion out to the Studlagil Canyon with basalt rocks not unlike Giant's Causeway in Ireland. There were 214 stairs down to the viewing platform and 214 back up.  It was quite the work out.  It was an hour plus drive out there up and over a mountain pass.  And of course, we visited another waterfall and visited a vintage sheep barn (sheep are kept inside during the Icelandic winters). 

 

Speaking of sheep, small groups of 3 or 4 are found everywhere as they are turned loose to wander for the summer. In September or October, they are sheared and put in sheep barns.  Since there are no predators on this volcanic island, the sheep have a pretty easy life.  

 

Our final stop was to visit a Viking church constructed of sod. This is sort of a quandary, as the Vikings didn't have Christianity.   

 

When we returned to the port area, we had the driver drop us off in the center of town so we could meander our way back to the ship where we had a 7:30pm all aboard time.  Our first stop was at a local hotel where we had a hot chocolate and Angela sampled a rhubarb jelly pastry while I sampled a local light beer.  We then did a little shopping and visited the local light blue church the town is famous for. It was rather plain inside but very pretty.  It also had a very nice pipe organ on the second floor.  We walked around the 'lake' that is in the center of town and caught a tender back to the ship which was anchored not far off shore.  We enjoyed a light Lido dinner before attending the World Stage performance by Jamila, a pretty good Motown singer.  Since we had to get up by 5:30am the next day for an early shore excursion, we tried to go to bed earlier.

 

Since all of the Iceland trees tend to be short, the joke for today was:  If you get lost in an Icelandic Forest, how do you find your way out?  Stand up!

 

A glacier tour is scheduled for tomorrow.  

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