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| Fall comes early in Iceland! |
We flew from Sarasota to Reykjavik by way of Chicago, and arrived around 8:00 AM on Wednesday, September 25. We had a full day to enjoy in and around Reykjavik before getting on the Prima the next day. We have enjoyed Reykjavik on several occasions, the most recent one being just a few months earlier. This time our plans were to explore the Golden Circle, which is approximately 190 miles in length and takes in many of Southern Iceland's most scenic sites.
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| The Golden Circle |
We rented a car through Blue Car Rental, which is a popular Icelandic car rental company. The rental process, pick up and the car were fine. It's a company I would definitely consider using again if I ever find myself in Reykjavik and needing a rental car. Driving around Iceland and even in the city is quite easy. There isn't a lot of traffic, and the drivers are laid back and courteous.
Blue Car Rental
Below are a few pictures from our day on the Golden Circle:
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| Our first stop on the Golden Circle was actually at a convenience store/gas station where we took about a 30-minute nap in the car (sleeping on a plane is something neither of us do very well). After the nap, a breakfast treat, and coffee it was on to Thingviller National Park, which is about 25 miles from the capital city of Reykjavik. It's filled with great hiking trails along the fault line between the North American and Eurasian Tectonic Plates. |
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| Chapel in Thingvellir National Park is known accurately and appropriately as........."The Chapel in Thingvellir National Park" |
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| Haukadalur Geothermal Field |
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| Gullfoss Falls |
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| We finished the day with a great soak in the Secret Lagoon, which as you can tell wasn't really a secret! |
We intentionally booked our hotel for the night outside the city in hopes of having a better chance of seeing the Northen Lights. When it comes to seeing the Northern Lights, we have mostly swung and missed on numerous previous occasions around the globe. Sure, we have had a couple of glimpses, but nothing substantial. This time the God's of the Northern Lights smiled on us, and we were treated to a really nice show. To make it even better, they didn't wait until the middle of the night to put on the show. Shortly after sunset we walked out back, and the sky magically lit up. We shivered and enjoyed them for around an hour before heading back inside to warm up while visions of green, blue and purple images danced in our tired little brains.
We picked the rental car up at the airport and were able to return it to the downtown rental office. From the rental car office, it was a short (10-15 minute) walk to the beautiful new Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center. There is a complimentary bus that runs from the concert hall to the cruise terminal on days that cruise ships are in port. It's a nice easy walk of around an hour between the concert hall and the cruise terminal, which we have enjoyed before. That time we were in port for a day and not embarking and we didn't have our luggage with us. Even though we're light packers (one carry-on and one backpack each), and the thought of dragging the luggage for an hour just wasn't very appealing.
Norwegian Prima
The Prima is one of Norwegian Cruise Lines newest ships. It can accommodate around 3,500 passengers and a crew of around 1,600. It's a bit larger than the ships that we typically prefer, but with a good itinerary and a decent price we figured what the heck, let's give it a try. The ship itself was absolutely beautiful, and the stateroom was huge and well designed. There were a few quirks that have been well documented in reviews of the ship, but being kind of quirky ourselves, we enjoyed it and would sail on the Prima (or one of its sister ships) again if the price and itinerary were right.
This cruise had two ports of call in Iceland (Isafjordur and Akureyri). There were then three stops in Norway (Alesund, Geiranger and Bergen) followed by a visit to Amsterdam and Brugge before ending in Southampton, UK).
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| Ten Days......Seven ports with a couple of much needed "sea days" mixed in. |
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A little hot tubbing while waiting for the Prima to set sail. We were the last ship of the season to depart from Reykjavik, and several other ports along the journey. We were trend setters, and the hot tubs were quite busy the rest of the cruise.
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Isafjordur, Iceland-is a remote town of around 2,600 in Northwest Iceland. Until recently the main driver of the economy of Isafjordur was built around fishing, however in recent years tourism has increased significantly. Most tourist arrive by cruise ship, sailing in and out through a very scenic fjord.
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| Celebrating Isafjordur's fishing heritage |
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| A well placed bench along the shore walk. |
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When we were in Isafjordur last year, the dock was under construction. It's now completed which will allow for continued growth of tourism.
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Akureyri, Iceland-Nicknamed the "Capital of Northern Iceland, Akureyri is the home to around 20,000 Icelanders, and is the largest town outside the capital region of Reykjavik. It is uniquely located in such a manner that the port remains ice free year-round, which isn't an easy task in such a cold climate. We really enjoyed visiting Akureyri previously and were looking forward to an encore. Thanks to a tip from our friend Mary Kay we were looking forward to spending part of the day like a local. Mary Kay and her daughter Amanda had been to Akureyri recently and enjoyed visiting the local swimming pool. Blessed with an infinite amount of geothermally heated water, soaking and swimming is a way of life for Icelanders. After walking through the downtown area, we enjoyed visiting the botanical garden, which was filled with a combination of late season colorful flowers and fall leaves. Then we headed for the city pool complex. It was busy with locals (and a few of us tourists) enjoying the variety of pools with temperatures ranging from hot to downright freezing. Thanks Mary Kay and Amanda, your tip made for a wonderful day in Akureyri!
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| Geiranger Fjord just after sunrise |
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Base of the waterfall feeding cold mountain water into the fjord.
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| There are steps along the side of the waterfall that lead to the cultural center. It can be seen at the top of the picture. |
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| From the cultural center the trail continues up to a viewpoint that overlooks the village and fjord. |
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| View from the top! We appreciated the tip about the viewpoint from Beth's cousin Richard and his wife MeiLing who had visited Geiranger just a few weeks earlier. |
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| Just like in Alesund, we made a new friend in Geiranger! |
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| It was dark for most of the sail in to Geiranger. We had a great veiw of the numerous waterfalls as we made our way out at the end of the day. |
Bergen, Norway-With a population of close to 300,000, Bergen is Norway's second largest city (Oslo is the largest). It is surrounded by seven towering mountains and Norway's longest and deepest fjord. Bergen is often referred to as the Capital of Fjord Norway. Although fairly large in size it was an easy city to navigate by foot. We enjoyed our day roaming around the colorful Old Wharf area before taking the funicular to the top of Mount Floyen. From there we had great views of the city and the surrounding mountains. We also got a kick out of sharing the views with some furry residents of the mountain before making our way back to the ship.
Just a short 30-minute train ride from Amsterdam is the village of Zaanse Schans. The village is historic and has many residents living and working there. Many of them reside above their shops. Once upon a time there were over 600 windmills in the area. While most of them are gone, there are still several working windmills that are open for visiting (there is an entrance fee to go inside and up in the windmill). We enjoyed several hours roaming around Zaanse Schans before heading back to the city center by train. Trains run to and from Zaanse Schans approximately every 30 minutes and a round-trip ticket was around $10.
Below are a few pictures from our walk around the village.
Brugge, Belgium-The port for Brugge is actually located in Zeebrugge. The historic city center of Brugge is about a 30-minute bus ride away. There were two different shuttle companies that offered round trip transportation for a small fee (around $25). It seemed like the easiest and most reliable way, so that's what we chose.
We had been to Brugge many years ago when the kids were young. It was impressive back then and remains impressive now. Although from what we remember it has lost quite a bit of its "quaintness". We remembered roaming quiet streets while eating wonderful waffles and magnificent French fries. While the streets were much busier, the waffles and fries remain amazing!
