August 19, 2024 – Akureyri, Iceland – Cloudy, Rainy, and Cold – 40F

We are in dreary Akureyri, Iceland this morning.

A very bumpy night – slept through a lot of it but was up pretty early (around 5 AM). The Sun was up and I got a nice shot of the town from our cabin.  Yes, another cloudy cold day in the Arctic Circle adjacent.  

When we were here a few years, we spent a very very cold day walking around the town (I was looking for a coffee shop but never found one).  We stopped at a sculpture of a whale's tail so that the freezing wind off the fjord would catch us head on and we would get the full effect of wind chill.  I zoomed in on that spot in the second picture below.

At 6:00 AM (yikes) I was off to the Oceanview Café.  And there already a lot of people up there.  This is a "non-sleeping" or a "breakfast at dawn" cruise, apparently.

The big news this morning was the reappearance of sour cream near the lox table.  I hope that this is a "rest of cruise" thing and not a one day deal.  The breakfast was extra special now that the whole gang was here (except that marmalade is still MIA).

We are leaving early today – 3:30 PM – so going out in the cold does not seem like the smart thing to do. 

There are two other ships, both small, here today:  The Atlas World Navigator (on the right) and a ship called Deutschland. The Navigator looks more like a large yacht than a cruise ship.  

A quiet day – Ellen is still dealing with a cold or sinus infection – so again staying away from another cold day is a good idea.

At dinner in the Oceanview Cafe, I had Ana make me another small dish of Pasta Aglio e Oilo, which again was very good.  A Caesar Salad completed the meal. 

After dinner we went to the theater to take in a new group, Vox Fortura.  

Three black fellas who were semifinalists some years back on Britain’s Got Talent (the ships hire a lot of BGT contestants apparently).  They do a combination of opera and soul music.  Not sure tonight’s set was representative of that but they did a great job on “The Prayer”, the first time I have that song performed by male vocalists.  They were very talented and entertaining and they were all from Alabama.

We took in a few minutes of Next Stage from the Deck 5 overlook.  

We went back to the room after the set.

Clocks go back one hour tonight.

So far, the seas are smooth.