Green Akureyri

Day 9  Akureyri, Iceland  Tuesday, Sept 19, 2017

A beautiful day in northern Iceland, located at the end of the country's longest fjord. Our arrival time of 10 am allowed us to sight-see during its 40-mile length, and it was green and mountainous, with snow-capped peaks, and a few waterfalls.

Here we were drinking our morning coffee in the 13th floor lounge, enjoying the fjord and its serene beauty. Yes, I take my flavored coffee creamer with me on trips!

Our route to get here had been north along the west coast of Iceland, then east over the top, touching the Arctic Circle, and south into this fjord.

Here's another view as we were approaching Akureyri. Because the fjord is so long and narrow, the water was completely calm. Passengers spotted whale dorsal fins a few times, but there wasn't much of the whale to see (thus, no photos). Akureyri is Iceland's 2nd-largest town with just 17,000 population.

On the east side of the fjord, just before docking, was this steamy waterfall. It was dramatic to see the steam emanating from hot springs all along the river flowing to the fall, and then again as it poured into the cold ocean water. Later in the day, for some reason, there was no steam as the water poured into the ocean; I doubted that the temperatures of either the river or the ocean would have been different later in the day, but perhaps. Akureyri's geothermal electric generating plant was just above this on the side of the mountain.

It was chilly as we were docking, with Janet wearing her Basque lauburu cap.

From the ship I took this telephoto shot showing the downtown, and the modern Lutheran Church we visited later in the day.

Our excursion was titled "Akureyri and Santa's House." We started with the Santa House, which was basically a charming little gift shop a little ways south out of town. On the drive there, the guide told us about how the town was settled by Norse Vikings in the 9th century, but was not a permanent settlement until 1778.

Here's another view of Santa's House, but with Janet holding the bag of souvenirs we bought. We couldn't help but purchase some items after learning about the Icelandic Christmas traditions. Christmas lasts 13 days, with numerous family gatherings, sometimes two or three per day. Each of those 13 days, a different Yule Lad shows up to place either candy or a potato in a child's shoe, depending on how good the child has been. So, our first souvenirs were potato ornaments, for the naughty boys back home!

The names of the 13 Yule Lads, in order of their day to arrive at the home, are: Sheep-Clot Clod, Gully Gawk, Shorty, Ladle Licker, Pot Scraper, Bowl Licker, Door Slammer, Skyr Gobbler, Sausage Swiper, Window Peeper, Door Sniffer, Meat Hook, and Candle Beggar. We could only imagine the kind of fun that families would have each day depending on the name of that day's Yule Lad.

The "icing on the cake," so to speak, was the story of the Yule Lads' ugly, evil, and gigantic parents, Grýla and Leppalúði. Grýla, shown above, is the more evil because she puts bad children into her bag and takes them into the mountains where she devours them. "Her favorite dish is a stew of naughty kids for which she has an insatiable appetite. According to legend, there is never a shortage of food for Grýla." Her husband, on the other hand, is a hen-pecked weakling.

Here are Janet and I posing with Grýla and Leppalúði at a tourist spot in town later in the day. Anyway, you can guess that another souvenir we HAD TO BUY at Santa's House was these two characters.

These two photos were inside Santa's House, just a few of the hundreds of items on sale. Of course, I had to take the shelf with bicycles.

Next to the shop was The World's Largest Advent Calendar, inside this tower up the stairs.

On the walls of the tower were pictures representing nursery rhymes or famous fairy tales, with the 31 Advent boxes scattered about.

More of the story paintings. Can you identify the various tales? Goldilocks, Hansel and Gretel, Emperor's New Clothes, Cinderella, and ?

I noticed the Wicked Witch of the East in the flower bed, but the house did not look like Dorothy Gale's.

And finally, the ultimate touristy thing they had there, and we "had" to do it.

On the return bus ride to town, we crossed the river and drove across the countryside for some nice views back to the bay. If you look carefully (and enlarge the photo), you can see our ship.

Back in Akureyri, we stopped to see Nonni's House, built in 1850 and one of the oldest houses in town. He was a Jesuit priest who lived here only for a few years as a child, but became a beloved author of children's books. Thus, they turned this old home into a Nonni Museum.

A few yards away was this tiny church from 1846, moved here from across the bay to be part of the Akureyri Museum.

It was newly furnished in its interior.

Our next stop was supposedly a highlight, at their botanical garden ("the world's most northern botanical garden"). This area has a warm microclimate, so they are proud of what they can grow there. However, we did not find this visit too interesting. While Janet was using the restroom, I watched as Asian group after Asian group (from our ship) posed with this wheel barrow of flowers. Now THAT was interesting!

Our final tour stop was at the Lutheran Church, finished in 1940.

That organ had 3200 pipes, and we listened to them practicing on it. See that ship hanging from the ceiling?

It's a church highlight, this ship, which reflects an old Nordic tradition of giving offerings for the protection of loved ones at sea.

 I thought my photo of their alter stained-glass windows came out nicely.

We had a nice view of the town and bay from the church. You can see how sunny it was at times.

Akureyri modern art? As we walked from the church to get back on the bus, we looked down to some apartments and saw this artsy painted wall. We decided to memorialize it in this blog!

Our tour dropped us off at the ship in time for us to have lunch, and on our way across the pool deck to the buffet, we saw this sight for the only time on the entire two-week cruise - people relaxing in the sun! Most were asleep. Usually, you imagine cruises as being in warm climates and the passengers are forever crowding the pool deck. Not on this cruise to the Arctic! Speaking of, we touched the Arctic Circle while sailing both to and from Akureyri.

And, it was the only time Janet and I ate outside during this cruise (on other cruises, we oftentimes ate on the aft deck). This pretty view is looking north up the fjord, back toward the Arctic Circle (60 miles away).

 After lunch, we departed the ship to stroll around the charming downtown main street. Our tour guide earlier had said this street, only 100 meters long, was one of the shortest main shopping streets in the world. The next four pictures were taken along this street.

During our stroll, we stopped in a few shops to explore. Also on this street was the photo from before, of us with Grýla and Leppalúði.

 The red stop lights in Akureyri are heart-shaped! The city converted to these after the economic downturn in 2008, "when people's spirits needed some lifting up."

We had a nice day, even though we stayed close to town. Other excursions were more adventurous: into the nearby mountains, the Godafoss waterfall, volcanic craters, whale watching, lava formations, natural arches, and craggy grottos. There were excursions to Hrisey Island, with only 200 inhabitants, which we passed coming and going through the fjord. It's a virtual bird sanctuary because there are no foxes, minks, or cats. One favorite bird there is the ptarmigan, where avian scientists have studied its life and habitats.