Aug 11 Isafjordur Iceland

Another northern Iceland port.  I could just reuse yesterday's pictures, but I won't.

This is a leftover from yesterday, but it wouldn't upload.  In Akureyri they suffered horribly in the worldwide  financial crisis.  The heart in the traffic light is a reminder of the shared values and hope that they have.  And they seem to have regained financial stability, or as much as one can have where making a living is hard work.

 Now to Isafjordur (don't try to pronounce any of these works, you'll probably sprain your tongue).  We had to tender since Viking Sky got the one and only dock.  As a bonus, however, we were anchored alongside the Pacific Princess, which is a sister to our ship, the Oceania Regatta.

 We took an excursion similar to yesterday's, but without a waterfall.  Here's the Isafjordur airport, which is famous in Flight Simulator circles as being one of the hardest in the world to land.  The airport is located in a fjord so you need to make a sharp 180 to come into land, with high mountain walls on both sides.

 This area of Iceland gets less rainfall than the more central area of yesterday, and seems bleaker.

 The first stop was the botanical garden, the first in Iceland.  Since there had been no rain since April, until the day before we arrived, the guide said the flowers were "tired."  Like Barrow Alaska, they have a whalebone arch to greet you.

 Our other stop was in the thriving metropolis of Flateyri, population about 100.  This city was founded by shark fishermen, and it's still the business of the area.  We visited the local church where a 16-year old musician (guitar and keyboard) serenaded us with Icelandic songs.  He was remarkably good considering the available talent pool of 100 people.

 The tiny church seats about 50.

 We then walked along main street to the oldest original store in Iceland, founded 1914.  Next was a coffee stop at the adjoining diner.  The local baked goods, a kringla, were good.

 Viking Sky taking the only berth.

 So we tendered back to the ship.  It was very cold (5C), windy and bumpy going over the water.  I was glad that I was wearing all the clothing I brought with me. We spent the afternoon getting warm.  The sun didn't help because there was none.  2 days at sea followed by 2 ports in Greenland.