Saturday, Sept 2: Arrival and Embarcation

After a short night of little sleep on the plane, we also did not get any real breakfast in the morning: just a cup of coffee and the offer of a “cookie”, which we declined. So when we landed at about 6:30, we were already starting to feel a little hungry. Once inside the terminal we stopped to get some cash from an ATM, but that was a mistake. We were behind a couple of young women who knew even less of what they were doing than we did and it took a long time. When we had some cash, we realized that we were now well back in the line for immigration and customs. The line moved very slow for a while, then the officials must have opened up a new area, and the line moved reasonably quickly, so we got through Immigration/Passport Control in a total of about 30 minutes. Our luggage was waiting for us, so we grabbed it and quickly found the driver for our transfer to the ship. There must not have been any other Windstar customers on the early flights as we were the only people getting a transfer, so we had the car and driver to ourselves for the 45 minute drive to the dock.

We arrived at the dock about 8:30, much earlier than I expected to be able to go onboard. But, I thought this would be somewhat standard in Iceland, as most of the flights land early, as ours did, and I assumed Windstar would have facilities to take care of us, but I was wrong. We pulled up to the small building at the dock and the security people said that we could not go inside, that we had to stay outside until about 1:00. (Weather: about 45F, wind 15 – 20 mph, occasional light rain.) I knew that there was the main cruise ship terminal a short distance away and our driver said that we should be able to wait there. When we drove there, it was closed and dark: apparently no large cruise ships were scheduled this day, so it would not be of any use. Our driver made a phone call, got a name to use at the Windstar dock, and we headed back there. This time a Windstar officer that I recognized from a previous cruise was in the area and realized we and another couple were somewhat stranded. He arranged for us to have chairs in a small (but heated) back room until we could be allowed to board. It was somewhat interesting watching the process of getting the ship ready to sail again. By now it was about 9:00 and we ended up waiting until about 11:00.

The Star Pride at the working dock where we waited in Reykjavik

Now we could go onboard and relax in the more comfortable main lounge. Several other couples trickled in as we waited. The crew was setting up the “check-in” equipment, so as soon as they got that ready, we helped them test their equipment by doing our check-in and getting our ID-cards. At 12:30 we were turned loose to find our cabins and then get come lunch. Of course, we did not have our luggage yet, but we dropped off our carry bags and such in the room and headed to the Veranda to see about lunch. It was only 12:45 and the Veranda was not scheduled to open until 1:00, but the head chef was standing close to the entrance and apparently realized that we looked rather hungry, so he told us to go ahead and enjoy lunch.

Seafood Paella: a good start to lunch on the Pride

After a tasty and very welcome lunch, we started exploring the Star Pride so that we knew where all the significant facilities were, especially the restaurants and lounges. We also checked out the views of the harbor area from the ship, but there was not really much to see… well, except for a large mural on a near-by building.

Artwork on a building next to the dock

We rested in our cabin for a while and then went to the captain’s meeting where we found out about our new planned itinerary. After the meeting we sat down and tried to reorganize the excursions we had signed up for, including selecting an excursion for the next day, Sunday, doing what is referred to as the “Golden Circle”. We had planned on doing this tour after the cruise, during our several days in Reykjavik, but changed it to this Windstar organized tour so we had an activity the next day.

This evening we had an excellent dinner, especially the appetizers, in the Amphora restaurant. We sat at a table with a friendly Swiss couple and during our discussion of “rough weather cruises”, a couple at an adjoining table overheard us and invited us to join them the next evening for dinner in in Cudro 44 to expand on the subject a bit. A glass (or two) of cognac in the Compass Rose lounge, listening to the band, and we were ready for an early bed-time.

Sunday, Sept 3: Reykjavik and the “Golden Circle”

We had a fairly early departure time for our “Golden Circle” tour, so we got a quick breakfast in the Veranda and then met the other touring people in the lounge. Kuba, the Destination/Excursions manager, would be joining us because he had not been on a Golden Circle tour yet. The Star Pride does not usually spend a normal day in the Reykjavik port and he wanted to understand what the tour covered. There were about 35 of us on the tour so we loaded on the bus and headed out. Our first stop was about an hour away, at the Thingvellir National Park. The unique thing about this area is that this is where two tectonic plates (the North American plate and the Euro-Asian plate) come together. Actually, this is where they come apart as the plates are moving away from each other. As the plates separate, the new space is filled in by magma/lava from below and top-soil from the surface. The plates move apart less than an inch each year so it is a very gradual process, but minor earthquakes are almost a daily affair in the area.

The walkway along the fissure between two tectonic plates

We first checked out a viewing platform from which we could look out over a large flat plain area, which was very different from what we were standing next to. From the viewing area, we walked down a sloping walkway which went between two vertical cliffs of volcanic looking rock. This walkway effectively takes the same path as the riff between the tectonic plates and the distance between the two cliff walls represents the distance apart that the two plates have moved over the past several hundred years.

There were cliffs along both sides of the fissure.

This short video might give you a better idea of the height and rockiness of the cliffs, as well as the weather we were enjoying. We walked along the walkway, taking in the strange shapes of the rocks in the cliffs. At the other end of the walkway there was a small waterfall and some observation platforms, including one where some annual national ceremonies take place celebrating Iceland’s founding and first “Parliament” in 930 AD.. While we were taking our walk, our bus had relocated to a parking area at the end of the trail, so we loaded back in and headed to our next stop.

It took almost another hour to get to the Gullfoss waterfall. (“Foss” means “waterfall” in Icelandic, so the name of almost all waterfalls will end in “foss”.) There was a souvenir shop and café but we initially went past them to the waterfall, and it was quite a sight. Gullfoss is a very large “two-step” waterfall and there was a lot of water going over these falls. There were several viewing platforms and we ventured quite a ways, but we were not as brave (foolish?) as some people.

Gullfoss Waterfall: note the people on rock outcropping on the left.

The combination of the falls and the wind were loud and it was throwing up a lot of mist, keeping everything wet. Check this video of Gullfoss and you will get a much better idea of the sound and the huge volume of water going over the falls. This waterfall was certainly impressive, but we were to see several more major falls on our trip this week.

Another view of Gullfoss showing the tremendous volume of water.

After taking in Gullfoss for a while, we retreated to the warm and dry gift shop and café to wait until time to climb back onto the bus for a short trip to our lunch stop

Our lunch would be at the Geysir hot springs area. Although Geysir is pronounced practically the same as our Geyser (as in “Old Faithful”), Geysir is actually the name of a specific hot spring which did erupt like a classical geyser in the past, but not in the most recent 15 years. More about that in a minute, but lunch comes first. We had a lunch included with the tour which was interesting for some of the local foods, but not exactly “fancy”.

Lunch at the Geysers Restaurant: Kuba is keeping an eye on things.

After lunch, we walked across the road to the hot springs area. Although Geysir no longer erupts, another hot spring there, Strokkur, does erupt about every 5 – 7 minutes… or so they said. We stood watching for about 15 minutes and all I ever saw was more like a “burp” rather than an “eruption”. This hot springs area did remind me of a small Yellowstone in several ways, including the steam coming off the hot pools and the color in some of the areas. You would probably get a better idea of the steam from this video of the hot pools.

Some of the hot pools at the geyser field

We headed back across the road to another gift shop where we checked out the somewhat unusual items for sale and took advantage of their restrooms, since it would be a fairly long ride back to the ship.

It took about 90 minutes to get back to Reykjavik and we then went on a bit of a “city tour” of the city, with our guide pointing out some of the major high points. About the time we were all getting a little “bus-weary”, we headed back to the dock area and returned to the Star Pride.

We rested a little while before getting ready for a “Captains’ Reception” in the lounge where we saw Anthony, an Indian Sommelier who we had met on our last Windstar cruise and who is now the Bar Manager. Dinner tonight was in the Spanish themed Cudro 44 restaurant with two other couples. The dinner was very good and the conversation very interesting. The primary/initial topic of conversation was “Storms we have been through at sea”, or something like that. After dinner we headed to the Compass Rose for some cognac and listening to the band do a very nice Beatles special.

Monday, Sept. 4: Reykjavik, just Reykjavik

On rising, we were, of course, still in Reykjavik and would be for the day. We had no tour or excursion planned for this day because of the major changes to the ship’s schedule, so we ate a leisurely breakfast and looked around a bit. Not finding anything exciting/interesting on the ship or in the immediate dock area, we decided to just start walking and see where we ended up.

We happened upon a very nice walkway, first along and heading away from the dock/harbor area, then going along the waterfront toward the “downtown”
and the old city part of Reykjavik. This was a relatively nice day with quite a bit of sunshine, no rain, and comfortable temperatures, so we started along this walkway, heading toward the city. (I later found that this walkway is sometimes known as the “Sculpture and Shore Walk”.)

Looking along the waterfront toward downtown Reykjavik

There were several things to investigate, such as several pieces of artwork and buildings that had various historical significance. One building that had been pointed out to us on our “city tour” the previous day (and would be at least once more later) was the house where Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in 1986 when a handshake effectively ended the cold war.

Much of the area of the walkway has been reclaimed from the sea in relatively recent years. We passed one large area that must have been about 5 acres that was perfectly flat and perfectly empty. In another area, there was a lighthouse that looked to be more decorative than functional, but it is an actual functioning lighthouse.

New lighthouse on a section of “reclaimed” land

The lighthouse had steps/ramps up to it so I assumed it was decorative, but it was commissioned in 2019 and serves as an actual aid to navigation, although I suspect that its decorative value is more significant than its navigational value. A little further on, closer to downtown, we came to what is probably the best known of the sculptures along the walkway, or possibly in all of Iceland, the Sun Voyager. Constructed of stainless steel in 1990, it gleams in the sun as a striking sculpture. Although it definitely appears to represent a stylized Viking longboat, that apparently was not the intent: “It is a dream boat and an ode to the sun. It represents the promise of undiscovered territory and a dream of hope, progress and freedom.” Whatever the actual intent, it is a striking work of art.

Sculpture seemingly (?) representing a Viking Longboat

At this point we had been walking for about an hour, so we decided it was time to head back to the ship. There were actually some dark clouds forming not far away and it seemed that some rain was rather likely. We didn’t stop to look at the artwork on the return walk and were about 5 minutes from the ship when a light rain started. We both had jackets on and it was only a light rain, so we didn’t get very wet, but it was a bit of a reminder of where we were.

We took it easy the rest of the day, reading in the observation lounge and taking a walk around the ship. There was a couple on board who are experienced wildlife photographers and who gave several interesting presentations about both the wildlife and photography techniques. A presentation this afternoon was about the bird life around Iceland: this is where we found out that the Puffins had already left Heimaey Island so we would not have seen them, even if we had been there yesterday, as originally scheduled. The presentations were well done and interesting and they gave some excellent suggestions for less experienced photographers.

After this presentation we attended the “Port Talk” about our intended destination tomorrow, Grundarfjordur. Notice that I said “our intended destination”. Dinner was another excellent meal in the Amphora restaurant where, as usual, we joined people we had not previously met, and left with new friends. In the Compass Rose, the band did a tribute to ABBA, followed by good dancing/listening music. Of course, a glass or two of Cognac makes it sound all the better.

About 9:00 PM the ship left the dock and left Reykjavik behind. We also left the calm water behind as there were significant waves and the ship started moving around quite a bit when it hit the open ocean about 11:00.

End of Chapter 1: Reykjavik (the first time)

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