On Wednesday, August 12, we arrived in Grundarfjordur, our last stop in Iceland. After leaving Husavik yesterday, we sailed around the northern most part of Iceland. And, how cool is this…we crossed the Arctic Circle on the way! Consequently, we each received a somewhat corny certificate of recognition signed by the captain of the Zuiderdam. Of course, we crossed sometime before just before midnight, so very few of the passengers (average age 70) were still awake, but I’ll never tell.
On the west side of Iceland, Grundarfjordur is located on the north shore of the Snaefellsness Peninsula. It’s a small village, with a population of less than 1000, but in my opinion, it was one of the prettiest villages we’ve seen. With more level terrain and a lovely inland pond in the center, it was very walkable. One of my favorite photos from the trip is of the white Norwegian style church. The photo was taken from a graveyard across the pond, so that you can also see the church’s reflection in the water. The church is at the end of a street painted in rainbow colors. It made me wonder whether it was inspired by the rainbow street in Reykjavik, or whether Reykjavik’s street was inspired by Grundarfjordur.
Grundarfjordur is probably most well known because of its proximity to Mount Kirkjufell and its waterfall, Kirkufellisfoss. I noticed, after the fact, that I didn’t take photos of either the mountain or the waterfall. There are so many beautiful views, so many mountains, and so many waterfalls it’s hard to capture it all.
One thing we saw in Grundarfjordur that we really enjoyed was a couple of Icelandic kids who set up a “lemonade” stand. I’m not sure what beverage they were selling, but they were incredibly cute. We did not typically see a lot of the villagers out and about. I’m guessing that they choose to stay inside when the cruise ships dump boatloads of tourists on them. While I’m sure they appreciate the boost in their economy, it must be stressful to absorb a group of tourists that is larger than the entire population of the village. Holland America consistently reminds passengers to be respectful of the native population, and it seems that most of us are. However, there are always a few who are disrespectful and intrusive. Usually, they are from the east coast, and it drives me nuts.
That concludes our stops in Iceland. We will be at sea for the next couple of days, with our next stop in Greenland. Somewhere along the way, we will be viewing the total eclipse.
I can’t believe we only have a little more than a week left of this 35-day cruise. It’s going fast!