Bucket List Cruise – Iceland, Scotland, and Norway. – August & September 2023

When we lived in England, we would fly over Iceland many times and I would often think, I’d like to actually stop there someday. Yes it is out in the middle of nowhere, 25 miles from the Arctic Circle but something kept pulling at me, so, when the opportunity presented itself we jumped on board. Pun intended!

Our cruise began in Copenhagen, Denmark and we sailed to Edinburgh, Scotland, the Shetland Islands, Iceland and Norway. What a trip! We took close to a thousand photos but I’ll pare it down to the most fabulous and interesting.

Grab a beverage and enjoy!

Edinburgh, Scotland (Port is South Queensferry, Scotland)

The world’s first major steel structure, the Firth of Forth Bridge represents a key milestone in the history of modern railway civil engineering and still holds the record as the world’s longest cantilever bridge. A full-scale restoration project to return the bridge to its original construction condition was completed in 2012. There is no port in Edinburgh so we had to anchor out and tender in. The train crosses the bridge to take you into Edinburgh.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. It has a medieval old town, gardens and a castle. It is home to “The Fringe” which is the world’s largest performance arts festival. Victoria Street is said to be the inspiration for J.K. Rowling’s Diagon Alley. It is a very charming place where I would like to spend more time.

Victoria Street had lots of shopping, cafes, and beautiful flowers.

We walked to the end of the Royal Mile and had hopes of seeing the inside of the castle. This is what we saw…..

Our legs were beginning to protest, so we thought a visit to a pub was in order. Right outside of the castle one was begging us to come in. The bartenders were so sweet and we had a fabulous drink.

On our walk back to the shuttle bus that took us to the ship we managed to take some nice photos of the National Gallery and the Gothic church. It was a little rainy that day, but isn’t it always a little rainy on any given day in Scotland?…….still it didn’t take away from the beauty of Edinburgh.

Lerwick, the Shetland Islands

We decided to explore Lerwick on our own and by foot. We took a look around the town and then decided to take the Coastal Walk. Absolutely beautiful, but some areas were steep so we didn’t make the full loop. But we did a significant chunk of it.

There is a Television series in the UK called “Shetland” and it takes place in Lerwick on the Island. It follows Jimmy Perez the detective. There is also a line of mystery books on the same subject.

The next group of pictures are from the Coastal Walk which is breathtaking.

At this point my legs felt like toothpicks and we really wanted to go further because we wanted to see Clickimin Broch. On the shore of Clickimin Loch is an outstanding example of a broch, a sophisticated type of stone-built round house found only in Scotland. Well, next trip. I do hope we get to come back here because I had the “best of my life” Haddock Fish and Chips at a restaurant called “The Dowry”. We also sampled their beer.

Just for fun, here are a couple of flora shots for you. A Bumble Bee and Lupin.

Rudi’s sel de Mer (one of Holland America’s premier restaurants)

Named for Master Chef Rudi Sodamin, Rudi’s Sel de Mer is an intimate on-board brasserie featuring classic French dishes reimagined with contemporary flair. Menu selections include whole Dover sole meunière with shaved pink Himalayan sea salt, oysters on the half shell, fruits de mer, and salt-crust baked branzino, as well as favorites such as steak frites, duck cassoulet and coq au vin. Conclude your dinner with a classic dessert and fine French cheeses.  

Iceland – First stop – Akureyri

Minke Whale

The Minke Whale is a species complex of Baleen Whale. It is named after a Norwegian whaler, Meincke, who mistook it for a blue whale.

Godafoss Falls …….Waterfall of the Gods

Legend – Iceland Trolls

They live in rocks and cliffs and mountains, mostly up in the hinterlands of Iceland. They only dare to leave their abode in total darkness. Sunshine is fatal to them and turns them into rocks. If they escape that menace, however, they will live forever. Iceland trolls are known to be greedy and many like to eat human flesh, especially the flesh of disobedient children. They often capture people or lure them into their caves. They are capable of magical tricks and casting spells, but their problem is lack of intelligence. In most cases, captured humans easily manage to outsmart them and escape. However, in some legends, Trolls can also be kind and reasonable. People are often generously rewarded if lending a hand to a Troll in trouble. The most notable Icelandic Troll is the Giantess Gryla. Her favorite food is naughty human children. Her husband is Leppaludi. He is quite useless except for in the sack, as they have birthed 13 sons, the famous Yule Lads.

Most folk and fairy tales in Iceland have one thing in common: their message. The moral of their story is always to remind humans that they must respect and protect nature. When you drive through Iceland, you will quickly notice how many weird shaped rocks there are. You also see outlines of faces everywhere in the hills and mountains. Do you know how these rocks got their peculiar shapes? Rumor has it that all of these rocks were once trolls. As folklore goes, trolls are immediately petrified when they are touched by rays of sunlight. So, a lot of uniquely shaped rocks you see in Icelandic landscapes were once trolls who were just too late finding a spot to hide from the sun.

Námafjall Hverir

The Námafjall Geothermal Area is located in Northeast Iceland, on the east side of Lake Mývatn.

At this area, also known as Hverir, you will see many smoking fumaroles and boiling mud pots, surrounded by sulphur crystals of many different colors. This sulphur gives the area an overwhelming smell of rotten egg.

Lake Myvatn, Dimmuborgir Lava Formations, Skutustadagigar and Midgies !!

Midges

Midges are annoying flies that buzz in hordes and love to be in your face……like your nose and mouth. We had to walk the area of the lava formations with a branch of Eucalyptus waving in front of us. This is what I found on the internet:

They won't start buzzing around until the summer, and even then, usually only in the countryside near a lake. They might not be as majestic as the reindeer or as amusing as the puffin, but the midge nonetheless deserves a place in the pantheon of animals in Iceland.

The Traffic Lights of Akureryi

The former mayor of Akureyri, Eiríkur Björn Björgvinsson, decided to implement glowing hearts inside all of the town’s traffic lights instead of circles.

He said in a 2013 interview with the Huffington Post that despite the financial meltdown and uncertainty people were facing, the lights served to “remind the citizens what really mattered”.

It brings a smile to your face and warms the heart.

Iceland 2nd stop Isafjordur

Isafjordur just recently finished the docking area, so we didn’t have to tender in …..yay! We were scheduled to take a tour of Dynjandi Falls area. It turned out to be a mostly sunny day with only a few clouds.

So, back on the bus to the town of Isafjordur to roam around see the sights and have lunch. We knew that in Reykjavik, we were going to eat an Icelandic Hot Dog on the Foodie Tour but we couldn’t wait. I will give you the recipe if you are interested……or even if you aren’t.

https://huckberry.com/journal/posts/how-to-make-iceland-s-famous-pylsur-hot-dog#_=_

Iceland 3rd Stop Grundarfjörður

Grundarfjörður is a town in the north of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in the west of Iceland. It is situated between a mountain range and the sea. The nearby mountain, Kirkjufell, forms a small peninsula. This was a location for the series “Game of Thrones”. The town of Grundarfjörður has a population of only 956 and a couple of restaurants. They were closed the day we were there. They did have a Coffee House that was a little unusual for Iceland. The owner is Colombian, his family ships him coffee beans from there, and he grinds them in the cafe. We went and enjoyed the Colombian coffee in Iceland.

We took a little yellow bus over to Mt. Kirkjufell and then walked over to Kifkjufellsfoss (Kirkjufell Falls). We got some amazing pictures but it did take some doing because of all the people that came there to do the same thing.

Deal or No Deal

On board the ship we love to play games. Team Trivia, Music Trivia, you name it we play it. Well, they were advertising a Deal or No Deal Event and you had to buy tickets. Jose, the Entertainment Director, aka the Banker, read my name and I happily joined him. As it turned out two people were chosen to go up on the world stage. Betty and ME!

I picked case number 3 for my birthday and after negotiating with the Banker a few times I settled on $163.00. My case contained $5 so I did OK. It was a lot of fun too.

Iceland 4th stop Reykjavik

Reykjavik, on the coast of Iceland, is the country’s capital and largest city. It’s home to the National and Saga museums, tracing Iceland’s Viking history. The striking concrete Hallgrimskirkja church and rotating Perlan glass dome offer sweeping views of the sea and nearby hills. Exemplifying the island’s volcanic activity is the geothermal Blue Lagoon spa, near the village of Grindavik.

Harpa is a concert hall and conference center in Reykjavík, Iceland. The opening concert was held on May 4, 2011. The building features a distinctive colored glass facade inspired by the basalt landscape of Iceland. 

Our day started off with a walk through town over to “Fly Over Iceland”. It is like Soaring Over California at Disney’s California Adventure (DCA) in Anaheim, California. We waited a bit and then were taken in a group to watch an immersive multi-media experience involving the History of Iceland. We then boarded the ride and indeed flew over Iceland. What a trip it was!

https://www.flyovericeland.com/experience/

Our next portion of the day was the Reykjavik Foodie Tour. Our guide was an adorable Icelandic girl who had an extremely long and hard to pronounce name…….so she said just call me Disa….like Lisa but with a D. As it turned out, this was her last day to run these tours. She said she had a background in theatre and as luck would have it, 3 of us in the group had the same background. She had been cast in a touring company playing the Troll Gryla. Then she said she was also cast in a Christmas play…….what role are you playing?…..Gryla. !! We teased her about being typecast.

Anyway, we went to four restaurants and ate Icelandic dishes. The Arctic Char was amazing and so was the Fish Stew, called Plokkfiskur.

Here's a recipe for Plokkfiskur: https://foreignfork.com/plokkfiskur/

We went to the most famous of the Icelandic Hot Dog stands in the town center.

After the hot dog we went to another restaurant and tried the fermented shark. They tell you to wash it down with their liquor called Brennivín. In our humble opinion……both were nasty.

Our last stop was a cafe where we had their signature icecream. Rye Bread Ice Cream at Cafe Loki. It was really pretty good. It was right across the street from the church.

We walked around for awhile then went back to the ship for dinner. At 7:30 we had reservations for Sky Lagoon. It is similar to the Blue Lagoon but closer and a little less expensive. It is really beautiful. We did the “7 Rituals”, which involved taking in the geothermal water, looking at the ocean, doing a polar plunge, then sauna, sugar scrub, steam room, and shower. It was phenomenal. We didn’t take photos there because we didn’t want to ruin the camera or drop the phone. Here is a link to Sky Lagoon:

https://www.skylagoon.com/

We throughly enjoyed Reykavik and hope to return some day.

                                   þegar við hittumst aftur......When we meet again......

Two Sea Days
We were supposed to have one more stop in Iceland - Djúpivogur, then on to the Faroe Islands but there was a horrific storm headed to Iceland.  Our captain, in all his wisdom, said we were going to leave Reykjavik and head to Norway, bypassing Djupivogur and the Faroe Islands and the storm.  We will be back one day.  So now we added two more stops to our itinerary in Norway: Stavanger and Leirvik. We were already slated to stop in Kristiansand.

Stavanger, Norway

Stavanger is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway. It is home to a Petroleum Museum and the Norwegian Canning Museum. Everything you have ever wanted to know about Sardines and more.

By the way, I had and still do, have a hard time pronouncing this city. To remember how to say it, I think of “hanger” and put the emphasis on STA…..Sta -v-anger. I don’t know if you needed to know this, but now you do! We walked along a beautiful lake on our way to find the bus depot.

One of the sights we saw on the bus was this little guy:

One of the sights to see in Stavanger is Swords in Rock. It is a commemorative monument located in the outskirts of the city. The historic Battle of Hafrsfjord took place there in the year 872 when King Harald Fairhair gathered all of Norway under one crown. The largest sword represents the victorious Harald, and the two smaller swords represent the defeated petty kings. The monument also represent peace, since the swords are planted into solid rock, so they may never be removed.

One of the other sights to see is Pulpit Rock. It is a very steep climb to get to the top and it helps it you are part goat. We did not do this event, however, Tom Cruise filmed Mission Impossible: Fallout there. You go Tom!

The Trolls in Norway are a little happier that the ones in Iceland. What do you think?

We did not see the Petroleum museum but we did go to the Canning Museum and it was very interesting. They had all the old equipment they used to can sardines and a tasting section for eating smoked sardines. They told us they used to have little girls cut the heads off the sardines that were hanging to dry because their little hands could get inside and be more nimble than the adults. (quaint). They also had a nice gift shop where I bought a really cute “Stay Calm and Eat Sardines” shirt, and some sardines for my granddaughter who loves sardines when we take her camping.

It is often the small area just west of the harbor called Old Stavanger that is pointed out as representative for the entire wooden city of Stavanger. This area comprises 173 wooden buildings from the turn of the 18th century. Most of them are small, white cottages.

Leirvik, Norway

Leirvik is a lovely town but it had never had a cruise ship dock there before. I don’t think they were ready for 2,000 passengers to be roaming about their town. We couldn’t find a restaurant that was open except for a couple that were in a mall. We walked into a building that looked like a restaurant and a young man asked if he could help us. We asked if they were a restaurant and he said “No, we are a school.” I said “well that explains the shoes on the floor”. Shoes, haphazardly strewn about, about 30 pairs on the floor, was a dead giveaway that this was not a restaurant. Anyway, we roamed about and took pictures of a giant monument with fans that stood at the entrance to the harbor.

Signs

About that Giant Monument: Furthest out on the breakwater jetty on the approach to Leirvik stands the sculpture “Storddøra” (gateway to Stord) by the artist Sissel Tolaas.

The sculpture was erected with the assistance of the local business community. The sculpture is a 16-meter-high structure in stainless steel with 20 built-in propellers which rotate in the wind and sparkle in the sun.

A park area (Onarheimsparken) has been created around the sculpture. It is a pleasant walk out to Storddøra from the centre of Leirvik.

Back on the ship we decide to put our feet up and watch the sail away from the Lido Deck. Yes, this is the Life!

Nami Sushi

Nami Sushi is another upscale restaurant on the Nieuw Statendam that is up on the observation deck. It is in association with Tamarind. It was our first time there and it won’t be the last. You can see where you are sailing while you are dining.

Orange Night

On every Holland American ship there is one night on your cruise that is Orange Night. You are requested to wear orange because it is the Netherlands’ national color…….and you drink orange cocktails, well, because it is fun. You close out the evening dancing. What a great night!

Kristiansand, Norway

Our last port was Kristiansand, Norway. It was a beautiful, sunny day and it felt good to be out and about. We walked around the port and harbor area, then the park with the fortress and Ferris wheel and eventually made it back to the center of town.

We walked over to the Old Town area and did a little shopping. Then headed back to the main town square where the church and restaurant row are.

I think it is only fitting that I end this blog with some Trolls. These are cute, sweet Norwegian Trolls.

So Goodbye for now to the Northern part of the world. We even crossed the Arctic Circle and have a document to prove it. What an amazing trip and we are surely blessed.