8/27. Big Excitement

 Someone had a heart attack during the night.  We turned around and sailed back toward Iceland where a helicopter could fly out and meet the ship.

This happened during breakfast  so we  all watch from the deck. We never found out what happened.

When we get to a place where they think we will go ashore and “explore “ the team goes first and looks for polar bears.  If they feel it is safe then they set up a perimeter with guns and start ferrying groups out.We are in the Penguin group which means that today we will be last.  This afternoon there were 6 (we all counted) bears.

The leaders were really excited.  Sometimes they don’t see any bears.

In this picture there are at least two bears.  LOOK CLOSER! One of them started walking along and looked like it was just strolling along - really was doing about 5 miles an hour.

Needless to say we just did a zodiac expedition where we stayed in the boats and went around checking out the glacier and a seal.

8/26 Education day at sea

 First and foremost we were told that this was NOT a cruise!  It was an “EXPEDITION! Basically what happened was that they had a general plan, then they modified that plan as conditions changed and weather reports came in.  This meant that we really went to where the good weather was. 

We had lessons in how to enter and exit the zodiacs (very carefully holding on to the strong person’s arm at all times) we tried on our parkas (which we will keep) and our boots (which we won’t)

Every stateroom has binoculars. The red things are smaller life vests. (As we were putting these on, crew members stood by to zip and put things over your head and dress you like a toddler.). The red life jackets blow up and a light turns on if they hit the water. Some stupid woman didn’t follow directions when getting back in the zodiac on a “wet landing” and fell in the water so now we all know how they work.

The sea was very rough at night.  Many people were wearing patches behind their ears.  (I still belong to the “cast iron tummy” people and never had a problem.

8/25 Last day in Reykjavik

 We started the day with a visit to Perlman.  This is a natural history museum and I highly recommend it. 

Maggi in an ice cave. Much safer than the ones in the cave that collapsed.  (I think we may have seen them walking up to the glacier.)

                                                                                                                                                                Northern lights show (we saw some our first night on the ship for a brief  moment.  They actually made a loud speaker announcement at 2 am and I rushed to my veranda to see.  After that we were too far north.)

Puffin cliff.  We were after the nesting season, so this the best that we could do.

We took a cab back to the hotel and then to the dock which is where everything went wrong.  The tour company had sent several notifications with corrections about where our ship was docked.  None of them was correct.  Our cab driver threw us out at the address but it was a Princess cruise ship and our little ship was nowhere to be found.

Larry was still hobbling so Maggi and I scoured the area to find the ship.   Maggi found it and they said that they would send help immediately.  Immediately took a long time.  It was cold and very windy.  Finally Nuno came with a tiny car that would take one suitcase and two people. Larry had to ride. Nuno came to where I was with the other people and started a loooong explanation about how it wasn’t their fault.  I cut him off and said “I don’t care whose problem it was, I want it solved NOW.  The rest of our little group walked to the ship with Nuno dragging my large bag.  I was upgraded from the cheapest cabin to a suite!  He was really nice to me the rest of the trip.

8/24/2024 South Coast Tour

 This going to be a quickie because today was a National Cultural Day and there were fireworks that started at 11, with the best viewing spot being the bar at our hotel.  I had made a reservation for the 5 of us.  Without this we would not have gotten in.

The South coast tour started with the usual 1 1/2 hour drive out of Reykjavik.  We saw 4 different waterfalls and a glacier.  

The best waterfall had a bride getting her picture taken with it in the background.  The photographer was crouching in the stream to get the good shot.

We lucked  out because the sun came out and there was a rainbow in the mist.

The Black Sand beach was really finer volcanic rock. There was a cave and warnings because it has “sneaker waves” that come out of nowhere and can drag you in.

We just bought sandwiches from the supermarket and ate in our rooms since we were going to watch the fireworks.

Maggi and Larry went to the emergency room since he was hobbling badly and Maggi was really worried.  It was just a torn muscle, so they gave him a compression sock and told him to ice and rest. They got back just at the end of the fireworks.

Tomorrow we board the ship, so I don’t know how  the blogging will work.  Be patient.

8/23 Valley of Tears all day tour

 Waterfall Day!!! A minivan picked us up at 8:30.  Our guide OTTO was wonderful.  Full of information and very chattty, but also kind. (He had to boost me into the van several times, and always held my hand when I got out, so I didn’t do a faceplant out of the backseat.). The waterfalls were quite far out of the city.  We drove for about 1 1/2 hours before stopping for a pee break.  Then another while on “good gravel” roads to our first waterfall.  (“Good gravel” is New Mexican for scraped once after the snow melts and then left to have pot holes and rocks all over. In other words, very rough ride!)

Hjalparfoss was our first stop.  It was a long hike down (which meant a long hike up) so Maggi and I decided to just take pictures from the top. The rest of our intrepid band surged on.

These rocks crossing the stream were their downfall.  Larry, who prides himself on being part mountain goat, tried to jump from one rock to another, slipped and ended up with one wet foot and a pulled muscle in his leg.  He managed to hobble to the top and had trouble walking the rest of the day.  Adrienne said she cried for 10 minutes before managing to make her way back across.  Val fell on his face and at first we thought he broke his nose. (After the trip they went to Urgent Care and they just glued the skin on his nose and put a bandage on it.)  Otto was really worried about Val, and really happy that Maggi and I had stayed behind.  He did pick wild blueberries so we could all taste.

Stopped at Hrauneyjar for lunch. I had  a BLT and the rest had the special burger.  (Otto also cleaned up Val and put a temp bandage on his nose.

Our next stop did not involve climbing, Otto took my picture with the Gjain falls in the background.

The water was so lovely and blue. 

On we went to the Valley of the Tears. We stopped to see some sheep - Otto baaaed and they looked up and baaaed back.

Iceland is a very hard and bleak looking country with amazing beauty.  Tucked into volcanic rocks are tiny  plants and moss.

The trail to the overlook was not as steep, so I took a chance and hiked down to take some pictures.  Val and Adrienne made it, Larry and Maggi didn’t.  The red dot is me.

The falls were glorious, but my legs were tired when I got to the top and poor Otto was pushing and Maggie was pulling to get me back in the van.

We just went to the bar and had another fabulous New York Sour and the Nachos.  Then to bed.  Hope that Larry and Val are up to our tour tomorrow.

8/22 Dinner

 One note. The reason that I am posting in short bits is  because the blog is not letting me see the page past a certain point.

Val and I both have CPAP machines that need distilled water.  It is not carried in the supermarket, because I had tried 2 of them.  The second one said that the pharmacy just around the corner was our best bet.  We found the pharmacy on our way back.  We had to ask the pharmacist to get it from the back.  It comes in 500 mL bottles, so we bought 4.  My machine took 300 mL.  I think we need to get more for the time on the boat.

We went to the bar for Happy Hour to decide where we wanted to go for dinner.  I had a New York sour.  Really tasty.

We wanted a light dinner so picked Icelandic Street Food.  The choices were limited to soups and stews, either in a bread bowl or with bread on  side.  (The bread on the side was the rounds cut from the bowls. 4 of us had the Fisherman’s seafood soup and. Maggi had cod and mashed potatoes mixed together. (In French this is Brandade de Morue.) We all really enjoyed our meal and loved that it was served IMMEDIATELY.  Really, Larry and I ordered at the counter downstairs and followed the first 3 bowls up the stairs.

Walked back to the hotel and separated to rest our weary bones.  I walked 12,293 steps.

8/22 Val and Adrienne have arrived

 Our little band is complete. 

We had lunch at the Penis Museum.  We all had Croque Madames for lunch on a penis shaped waffle. It wasn’t the best I have ever had, but was the most different.

We didn’t feel the need to go through the whole place, the entrance hallway and the gift shop  were enough.

Our afternoon continued with exploring the sights

Is this a blockheaded business man?

This was an art piece about the changing of magnetic north???  The people were not part of it.  I thought they were just bat-shit crazy because they were laying around in strange frozen positions, but it turned out that they were a dance group practicing for a performance of positional space.

This was the gallery taken from across a pond with ducks and swans.  It was a pretty area and both Maggi and Adrienne said they could live there.  I reminded them that it was SUMMER and they had LONG JOHNS on!!!

8/22 Start the day

 Can’t believe it. Went to be at 10:30 expecting to be wide awake at 3:30 and instead I basically slept through the night (With the same normal interruptions.)

Maggi, Larry and I met upstairs for a lovely buffet breakfast. Took picture of the Harpa across the street.  It is a concert hall, but supposedly has a lovely gift shop.

I wanted to visit the Icelandic Handknitting shop, so we found it on the map and off  we went. Larry took a picture of Maggi and me and I took a picture of the two of them.

We are really bundled up.  They have on long underwear, but I’m comfortable in a wool sweater and my coat.

8/21 Dinner

 After our nap, we went to the rooftop bar for some dinner.  We were still tired and wanted something simple. The best thing about the bar is a wonderful view.  We had a few drinks (it was Happy Hour) and a huge bowl of chicken nachos.

Larry likes to take pictures of people with views in the background.

Then ship went by.  This is either our ship or another on in their fleet.

And now  back to bed.

8/21 my room

 We are staying at the hotel Arnarhvoll.  

The room is small, checkout the shower! But I have a view of the harbor and the bed is comfy.

8/21 Iceland day one

 Arriving at 6:30 in the morning is never great.  It was raining and grey.  Luckily all of the luggage made the same trip we did.  The taxi into Reykjavik was supposed to take about 40 minutes, but of course we hit the rush hour going to work traffic jam. Our driver was chatty and pointed out items of interest like Costco, which he said is very popular with the natives.  We also saw the steam rising from the Blue Lagoon in the distance.

The hotel recommended a place for breakfast because our rooms would not be ready for several hours.it was about a 15 minute walk mostly up hill.  The rain had stopped, but it is VERY COLD AND WINDY.  

The food looked great, but the line was long and we just were not up for that. We found another place and enjoyed a not as nice but quicker breakfast.  I had bagels and loc.  then we browsed some shops (Larry bought a hat because his head was so cold.) we returned to the hotel and our rooms were ready early.  NAP TIME.

August 20th. The Adventure Begins

 Alec picked me up before the crack of dawn for my version of “The longest day”.  Met Maggi and Larry in the bag drop off line at the airport.  Delta had BIG crowds everywhere. The gate area had 3 flights going out at about the same time. The agents started every instruction with “This is for the flight going to wherever”.  We were going to Detroit, but the Seattle plane had the announcement that there was a major seat change.  Everyone was being clumped in the back of the plane BECAUSE THE FRONT WAS TOO HEAVY!

Maggi described ur flight to Detroit as like a long bus ride.  

Since we had 5 hours to kill we found a nice restaurant for lunch. I had steak, Larry -pork chops and Maggi chicken tenders.  We took our time ordering, eating and just chatting, so used up quite a bit of time. 

The flight to Reykjavik was completely full, the aisle was narrow and the seats were small.  We all had aisle seats so were not as squished.  The movie playlist was limited and I ended up watching “Cool Runnng” a very old movie, but fun.

The dinner was weird but surprisingly good.  I had the fruit and cheese platter.  Apples, grapes, apricots, almonds, crackers and a small chocolate bar.  All the fruit was very fresh.  One of the better airplane meals I’ve had.

None of us slept, but I did manage to finish a book.

11.9.2023 The final final

 I have one lovely (or as lovely as I will have) of me in my dress.  

My covid is exceedingly mild.  Monday, I felt a little achy, but since I had been slinging suitcases around the day before, I would have just chalked it up to that and continued with my normal life.  As it is I am still quarantining because i'm stilled. 

This is the last of this trip.  À bientôt

11/5/2023 The curtain closes

 With an extra hour, I had lots of time to pack.  Our checkout time was 11- the conference ended at 12 at the other side of this very  large hotel.  Being the pre planner that I am, I had requested an extension.  I had also arranged to share a ride to the airport with Judy from Arizona.  She asked if she could park her suitcase in my room, so she would be out in time.

The morning meeting was also a brunch.  Quite a tasty selection of savory and sweet.  Part of the final morning is honoring all of the workers who spent the last 3 years of their lives getting ready for this.  Then the final speaker was the author, Stephanie Barron.  She writes murder mysteries with Jane as the detective.  She was making the point at in this era young women did not have much opportunity to find out about a possible spouse except for the very superficial.  Thus Wickham makes a much better impression than Darcy.  A woman had to be a detective to be able to make good choices.  

The end of the meeting had presentations from the hosts of 2024 (Cleveland) and 2025 (Baltimore.)

Judy and I trudged back to pick up our luggage and get our Lyft.  We separated at the airport and I found a quiet spot to read.  

THEN,BAD NEWS.  Liz had tested positive for Covid.  Unfortunately, I did too when I got home.  I’m taking Paxlovid and quarantining, but aside from a runny nose feel fine.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way.

More pictures of people in costume:

I am waiting to see if there is a really nice picture of me - if there is,I will post it later.

11/4/2023 The Banquet, Promanade & Ball

 Another really full day.  A breakfast, then a really important speaker who really put the study of woman authors in motion.  Then more breakout sessions.  One on Gossip, another on early performances of P & P (known as B C or before Colin Firth) and the last on the idiolect or individualized speech patterns of JA’s characters.

My roommate has been feel really sick made worse by the altitude and dryness, so she went home tonight.

I went on to the cocktail party where we all mingled and took pictures.

This was a mother daughter duo who were helping run the conference.  They had different lovely dresses everyday.

The lady in pink (an homage to Barbi) is the president of our chapter

The gentleman was wearing a banyan, which is essentially a bathrobe.

I asked the Scot if he had his knife (sgian dubh skian doo).  He proudly showed it to me stuck in his sock on the inside of his leg. I told him he needed to put it in the sock but on the outside of his leg.  He then mentioned that that made more sense when you wanted to pull it out to stab someone.  The way he had it, there was a good chance he would do himself some serious damage.

After dinner (salad, beef tenderloin, chocolate ganache cake) all the people in costume paraded around the room.  At least half the people were promenading.

Then we went to the ball.  I had taken the dance class so was pretty prepared.  I danced 4 sets, which took about 1 1/2 hours and then bailed.  My toes were cramping when I got back to the room.  But  I had a really good time.  

I am glad that the clock turns back tonight.  I think I will need it.