Anniversary Cruise--Iceland

After great stops in Bergen, Geiranger, the Shetlands, and the Faroe Islands, it was time for the final stop on our cruise, Iceland! We were docked overnight in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, leaving lots of time to explore!

We had decided to book a Golden Circle tour through IG Tours, which took you on a 300 km loop into central Iceland and back, stopping at some beautiful sites along the way!

Riley was ready for our mini-bus tour!

Riley took this picture for us. Pretty good!

The scenery was very interesting...not like anything we had seen before.

Our first stop was a small waterfall.

It was very, very windy but Lyla loved it!

Then we got to our first major stop at Gullfoss, Iceland's most famous waterfall, which translated literally means "Golden Falls."

It was cold and windy by the falls and our camera got wet from the mist!

Simply gorgeous

Another photo courtesy of Riley

So pretty

Our other photos were from down where those people are on the left

After we reboarded the bus and warmed up a bit, it was off to the Haukadalur valley to Geysir, the oldest known geyser and the origin of the term geyser (the Engish translation). If it's been awhile since you took earth science and you've forgotten exactly how geysers work, you can read about them here. Geysir used to frequently erupt to heights of 230 feet but no longer erupts regularly. It is predicted that it may become active again soon based on earthquake activity in the region. About 50 meters south of Geysir, is Strokkur, a smaller geyser that erupts regularly (every 5-15 minutes) at heights of 80-110 feet. We were lucky enough to watch Strokkur erupt while we visited. I somehow missed the photo opportunity but Riley captured it!

The original geysir

Riley prepared for the big eruption

Lyla and Daddy huddled for warmth

I did not manage to get a good pic of Strokkur erupting but luckily Riley got this one!

Little Geysir...the girls liked looking in at the bubbling water

Then it was time for a lunch break to warm up and refuel!

Finally it was off to Thingvellir National Park to see Þingvellir, or Parliament Plains, where Icelandic Parliament was established in 930 and remained until 1798. In addition to being culturally significant, the National Park is geologically amazing. It is the site of Mid Atlantic Ridge, which separates the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate. This website explains things better than I ever could: http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2010/08/mid-atlantic-ridge-in-iceland.html. While most of the ridge is underwater, Thingvellir National Park is one of the few sites where the ridge rises above the Earth's surface creating beautiful scenery that is definitely worth a visit! Riley (and Wayne) are very excited to say that we've walked from Europe to North America!

You guessed it...still windy!

Beautiful scenery

Quick family photo opp. On the left is where North America starts.

The path between the continents. That bridge leads over the valley and to Europe.

This is the valley between North American and Europe

Oh no! They're falling in between the continents! ( :

Finally, it was time to load two tired girls and two tired parents back onto the minivan for one last stop in Reykjavik, which Lyla slept through!

Riley and I headed up to the top of a building for some great views of Reykjavik!

Statue of Leif Erikson, the first European to land in North America!

Hallgrímskirkja, an amazing Lutheran church 

And then it was time to reboard the ship!  The girls were excited to go the Kids Club for the evening, while Wayne and I decided to take advantage of our overnight docking and took a taxi downtown for some exploring! We wandered around the shops and stopped in a few bars to sample Icelandic beer before stopping at Bæjarins beztu, a famous hot dog stand which was voted Best Hot Dog Stand in Europe and has been visited by Bill Clinton and Metallica. 

Needed to take a pic for the girls

The best hot dog in Europe!

Wayne loved the hot dog with the "works": ketchup, sweet mustard, friend onion, raw onion and remoulade, a mayonnaise-based sauce with sweet relish

Then it was back to the ship for a late-night Ice Party onboard. Riley had fun dancing with friends, while poor Lyla fell asleep in Wayne's arms. We didn't make it to the Blue Lagoon this trip....I guess we'll just have to come back! Want to join us?

Anniversary Cruise--Faroe Islands

The biggest surprise of our trip was our stop at Klaksvik in the Faroe Islands! Voted the most "authentic, unspoiled, and likely to remain so" island by National Geographic Traveler magazine, this group of eighteen mountainous islands surpassed all of our expectations! The Faroe Islands are a self-governing country within the Danish realm whose inhabitants are of Scandinavian origin, descendants of Vikings who came from Norway.

We had wanted to make the most of our day in the Faroes so we booked a "Scenic Faroes and Pancakes" tour through Royal Caribbean. We had some time before our tour left so we took the free shuttle into the town of Klaksvik, where we checked out a craft fair that was going on and Wayne visited the Føroya Bjór brewery, which brews the most popular beer in the Faroe Islands. He was even able to bring some home to England! I would recommend booking a tour through Royal Caribbean or the tour company 62N (which we heard was good) while making sure to leave some time to explore Klaksvik before your tour...we wish we had disembarked sooner!

The girls posing with a Viking Ship in Klaksvik

Then it was time to board the bus for our panoramic tour of the Faroes! Some people were tired right off the bat...

Snoozing through the beautiful scenery!

But they woke up when the bus went through a very cool subsea tunnel between Klaksvik in Bordoy and Leirvik in Esturoy. The tunnel is 6.2 kilometers long and is 150 meters beneath sea level. The Nordoya Subsea Tunnel is a single tube dual-lane tunnel which opened in 2006 and is the longest in the Faroe Islands. This tunnel made it possible to quickly visit multiple islands without relying on ferries....awesome! The girls were very impressed driving through it and decided it might be worth staying awake for a bit!

We then drove along some very windy roads through the mountains before stopping by Funningur, a beautiful village located next to Slættaratindur, the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands. It was really the definition of unspoiled beauty!

So unexpectedly beautiful!

The roads leading to this spot overlooking Funningur were very very windy and we were told they were nearly impossible to navigate in the winter. I can't imagine living here but the views sure are fantastic!

A quick pic!

She woke up happy and approved of the views

The bus then continued on torwards Gjógv, a tiny village (population 53!) located on the northeast tip of the island of Esturoy. Once there, we stopped for a yummy pancake snack and some more beautiful pictures. We had plenty of time to explore there, although I could have stayed all day. Despite these gorgeous sunshine-filled photos, it started raining the minute we reboarded the bus!

Gjógv, Faroe Islands

Many of the homes has grass growing on the roofs, which help insulate the house and are traditional, dating back to the Viking Age (Read more about Faroese homes)

One home had a beautiful charming garden filled with these little guys

The girls were in heaven!

I love this family photo!

Amazing views!

We couldn't resist another family photo

The girls

King of the World

More grass roofs

Taking a little walk around the village

Proof that time outs happen everywhere. ( : Lyla taking a break while Daddy and Riley check out the monument to the men lost at sea

We visited a church in town

Prettiest cemetery I've ever seen

Then it was time to say good-bye to one of the prettiest places we had ever seen and do a bit more exploring before returning to the ship. We stopped to see Risin og Kellingin (The Giant and the Witch), two sea stacks just off the northern coast of Eysturoy. Legend tells that, once upon a time, the giants in Iceland decided that they wanted the Faroes and sent the giant and the witch to bring them back. They tried pulling the islands with a rope but were unsuccessful, causing the mountain to split. They lost track of time passing and the sun came up, causing them to turn to stone.  Now they stare longingly towards Iceland for all eternity. 

Our budding photographer

The girls with the Giant and the Witch

Soon we were back onboard the ship for a beautiful, but chilly, sail away. We had most of the deck to ourselves!

Lyla enjoying the views

Lyla ran laps around the track to keep warm!

The deck was nearly empty!

Sail away pics

Riley found a warmer spot to check things out!

 Then it was time for another fun night and a day at sea to play Bingo, go swimming and relax! Iceland here we come!

Daddy time at dinner

Anniversary Cruise--Shetlands

Our third port of call was in Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands. The Shetlands are part of Scotland but are located northeast of mainland Britain. It was cold and windy while we were here and we were glad we had booked a bus tour through Royal Caribbean. There was not very much to see around the pier but our bus took us to the Eshaness Cliffs, which were pretty but didn't require very much time to visit. The Shetlands was definitely our least exciting stop, aside from the Shetland ponies, which Lyla was DYING to see. Luckily, we stopped to see some on our ride back and Lyla was convinced we had seen Socks, the moonwalking pony from the Three (a cell phone service company) commercial. Check out the commercial below...it is pretty cute! While the commercial is filmed on the Eshaness Cliffs and Socks does live on the island, we didn't find him during our visit. Shhh...don't tell Lyla!

Posing with the Eshaness Cliffs

Riley was a good sport even though she was freezing!

Wayne and Lyla waving from afar

You could see a few puffins over the edge of the cliff. Cool but nothing like out trip to Skomer Island

Riley playing photographer

Family photo with the Shetland Ponies

What are you staring at?

These guys are cute!

Lerwick was a tender port which means we did take small boats ashore, which we heard took a very long time for some passengers. We generally try to avoid doing Royal Caribbean tours as they are expensive and can be impersonal but at a tender port I highly recommend it. Those on RC excursions tender first, which means you avoid waiting in line for tender numbers and avoid any delays that may arise. Our tour was not the best but it maximized our short time in Lerwick, which turned out to be plenty. I don't think it's a very popular cruise destination so there were not tons of tour options...I recommend seeing the ponies and some of the countryside and then heading back to the ship. We were back in time for the girls to go for a swim in the pool...it was cold outside but the pool was heated and the girls didn't seem to mind! That night was a fun disco party onboard the ship and the girls loved showing off their dance moves late into the night! Then it was time for some rest before our next stop, the Faroe Islands!

Lyla was as big as the ponies!