Sunday, September 13, 2015

September 13th - Isafjordur, Iceland

Crossed the Arctic Circle last night on our way to Iceland. Got the call
late in the evening about the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights -
unfortunately the fog and clouds rushed in shortly after the second picture
in today's posting - hoping for better luck tonight.

The Icelandic people believe in trolls and say that they fool the trolls
into thinking the white covered bales of hay are giant marshmallows.

Today's adventure included a drive in the mountains of Isafjordur and
through some of the local villages.

Stopped at Skrudur, the first Icelandic botanical garden, founded in 1909.
This was created at a former boarding school. Looking at the isolation of
the boarding school, one assumes that it was punishment to be sent here -
but a great place to send a wayward teenager.

Then went to Flateyri village, which was formed around the shark fishing
industry in the mid-19th century. Stopped at a local church and was
entertained by two lovely young ladies dressed in traditional costumes of
Iceland.

The giant manmade triangle formation on the hillside in Flateyri is an
avalanche protection built to protect their city. In 1995 an avalanche
occurred here that wiped out many homes and 20 lives were lost.

Learned that one often sees the sheep here are in groups of three. Icelandic
sheep usually have twins, so one sees the mother and her two lambs.

Headed back and walked around the town a bit before taking the tender back
to the ship.

Had to share the unusual silver men's shoes they had for sale here -
probably will not be seeing those on anyone I know.

The landscape here is really something, one can see why this makes such a
great backdrop for films.

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