VOPNAFJORDUR & HAFNARHOLMI, ICELAND DAY 13

Today's Daily Activities

Yesterday afternoon at 2:30 PM we arrived to Husavik, Iceland for our second stop of the day.  We were docked and Keith walked from the ship over to town.  The town was charming.  There were a couple of buses on a land tour of tourists and many people eating lunch outside at various restaurants.  

Keith visited The Husavikurkirka Church which was builtin 1907.  It is a wooden church with a Swiss chalet style.  He also walked over to the Whaling Museum.

On his walk back to the port the high was close to 65 degrees Fahrenheit with the sun shining bright.

This town is an example of how much we appreciate travel and also the diversity of the world.  Several mountains had snow caps.  

These are the dinner menus from last evening at Waterside.

We dined at Prego for the first time of this cruise.  The menu is similar to the one offered on the Ocean Vessels with fewer choices reflecting a smaller guest count.  One other difference was the entrees didn't include Veal but they had a Chicken Scaloppine Parmigiana instead of Veal.  There were still plenty of choices to satisfy our pallet. The dessert menu was extensive. Isn't this what counts?

At the same time there were some touches unique on Mozart and one of them was the preparation of Caesar Salad near our table.  As our waiter prepared the salad he could ask if we wanted each traditional ingredient as well as adjust the amount accordingly to our preferences.


Everything was great.  

Breaking news for the first time ever after a lot of cruises Keith had the Carpaccio of Back Angus Beef and loved it.  While he eats lots of Sashimi the idea of this one was hard to swallow figuratively but literally it was easy.

Dining at Prego was similar to coming home.  Tilmar Prego Restaurant Head Waiter from Serenity, and the lead Waiter for our table we knew from Mozart as he took care of us at Waterside many times and the other Waiter is from Serenity who we knew from lunch at Marketplace and seeing and speaking with at the Waterside Restaurant from time-to-time and of course Slavko who would stop in periodically who we know well from Symphony and Serenity.

​We both had appetizers; Caesar Salad, Scaloppine Parmigiana for Anne Marie and the Lamb for Keith and a sweet dessert for Anne Marie and Cheese for Keith and of course wine.  You have to like the Texas size Pepper Mill. 

Once again, we slept well between both of us being up later and Keith being tired from his earlymorning workout, walk and run of the Arctic Circle and his walk to/from Husavik.  Anne Marie enjoyed two walks on-board Endeavor including a long walk in the morning.

After enjoying breakfast, we go ready for our next expiration which today was Vopnafjordur.  Originally, we had signed up for one of the walks but somehow ended up with 7:00 versus 8:00 or 9:00 AM.  In lieu of this we booked another Zodiac Cruise.  

Some views from the ship.

This time we were in the larger of the two models of Zodiac.  This one can accommodate 18 guests.  We had 11 guests on board which allowed for proper social distancing and good spacing.

Our driver was Mark who drove us the first time.  Mark is in charge of the maintenance of all the Zodiacs  Born in Wales he has lived in Australia, Canada and a couple of other countries before moving to the USA six years ago where he lives in Michigan.

The town of Vopnafjordur has maintained a pretty steady population since 2000 and has 662 residents.  Fishing continues to be a driver of the local economy.

We enjoyed the Fjord and cruised on both sides of it.  When making our way from Endeavor over to the first side we went very fast and had various bumps along the way.  Likewise, we went diagonally across to the other side and towards Endeavor and went fast for 10 minutes to reach the other side.

We saw lots of birds  As we got close to the shoreline on each you could see fish and the depth seemed like one foot.  The formations of the Fjords are amazing with color and all sorts of things to see.

At one point as we neared one formation Keith pointed out to Mark what he could see and that included an Elephant, a Lion, a Lamb, a rather large Bunny, a Gorilla and a Monster.  

We saw a nice waterfall and Mark explained why if you saw Whale it would likely be from that side than the other as the waterfall adds unsalted water and this promoted vegetation promoting fish and then large fish and guess who eats the fish?  You are correct, the Whale.  LOL.  

The weather was lovely with lots of sun with highs in the mid50's.  We have truly enjoyed another day in Paradise.  Photos follow.

Back on board we enjoyed lunch in our suite.  Endeavor left at 12:30 PM and the rest of the afternoon and evening we will be at sea. There is lots going on including two lectures by the Expedition Team, a look at the new Telescopes in Palm Court and a champagne toast with the Captain to celebrate our crossing of the Arctic Circle. We have some scenic cruising until this evening when we will be "out to sea".  

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith