May 14, 2018

   The Eclipse was docked in Reykjavík, Iceland overnight, so the excursions started early this morning at 7:30 am in order to be back by 2:30 pm in preparation for the 3 pm departure.  The morning temperature was 6 C.  It was windy and the gray clouds in the sky suggested some rain again today.

   This morning I counted the number of stairs that we climb from our stateroom on Deck 3 to the Oceanview Café on Deck 14 (really 13) for the buffet breakfast -168 steps.  In contrast, we just have to cross the Grand Foyer on deck 3 to go for dinner to the far side of the dining room, about 177 strides, much less strenuous.

      Our five hour excursion today, the Ring of Fire Tour departed on time at 8:30 am. The gangway was hung from Deck 5 which is a steep five storey descent and people were being cautious.  Our driver’s name was Arni and the guide’s name was Thor.  Larry was reading a mystery novel by Icelandic author, Ragnar Jónasson, in which the main character’s name is Arni Thór Arason.  The mountains were shrouded in mist as the bus (of 38 passengers) started the journey. Beside the highways are horse paths that have been used for centuries when horses were the only transportation. There are about 80,000 Icelandic horses in the country. In the pastures that we passed we saw horses and sheep. 

    We took a secondary road to our first viewpoint.  The large metal pipeline, almost a meter in diameter, snaked along beside the road carrying hot water to homes in Reykjavik and only losing a few degrees of heat in the 30 to 50 kilometer journey. The first stop was at a volcano caldera to see the steam vents and the distant geothermal plant that harnesses the hot steam to generating electricity and heat water for use in the homes and the hot water is also used for home heating.  Iceland has the lowest heating and electricity costs in Europe. The sub-Arctic terrain has tiny splashes of colour in the blossoming spring flowers.

   We continued along the lake Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland, but had only a 25 minute stop at Thingvellir (Þingvellir in Icelandic) National Park, the bus parked on the North American tectonic plate. There was not enough time for most passengers to take the 600 meter trail through the rift cliffs down to the Icelandic Parliament plain, Alþingi, beside the Law Rock or to see the waterfalls, further along the path.  We felt lucky that we had time there yesterday.  Our guide explained that today’s trip was a sort of express version of the Golden Circle tour.  We did have a good view of the President’s summer home, from the main viewing platform. Nearby is a detailed 3D relief map of the national park.  We resumed the scenic circuit around lake Þingvallavatn crossing the lava field that covers the junction of the tectonic plates and arrived on other side travelling on the road on the European tectonic plate parallel to the lake.  We passed the first hydro generating plant, a small white building, built in the 1940s as we drove through a patch of heavy rain.

   When the Vikings settled in Iceland, they brought with them Irish slaves from the Viking raids on Irish settlements.  Their descendants are many of today’s Icelanders.

   The resort town of Hveragerði was the next stop, it is a town on one of the fault lines. The bus load of passengers paused at Kjöt & kúnstEarth Cooking Restaurant for a light buffet lunch.  Both busses converged into the buffet room that held 60 people. There was an assortment of geothermal cooked breads – date bread, rye bread & banana bread - as well as ham slices; sliced cucumber; sliced tomatoes; thiny sliced white cheese plus a cinnamon torte and vinarterta.  The server said that it is a special Christmas dessert.  Coffee and tea were available, too.

   We then were guided around to the back of the restaurant for a 100 meter walk to the Hot Springs area for a walk around the hot springs for a look at the ground vents spewing steam and the small hot water pits. One shallow pit had a wading section that had a couple of posts with hooks to hang your towel.

   We drove through some fog to the final stop at the Hengill Geothermal Plant which collects the steam and generates electricity and heats water for heating the Reykjavik homes. Hengill has been in operation since 2006. It is hoped that Iceland will become the “greenest” country with 95% of the electricity and heating supported by geothermal technology.  The 83 degree C hot water is sent through pipes in to Reykjavik. The plant produces 303 megawatts of electricity from its seven turbines. We toured the visitor center and watched a five minute video about geothermal heating. The rift spreads further apart by about two centimeters annually. The Icelandic rift and resulting hot spring and volcanoes are part of the immense Mid Atlantic Oceanic Ridge which stretches into the southern hemisphere almost to Anrarctica.  Iceland is one of the “Hot Spots” where there is volcanic activity below the earth’s surface.  Scientists are expecting another volcanic eruption within the next few years.

   When we returned to the ship we climbed up two decks to the Café al Bacio for cappuccinos and dessert and joined Peter and Karen and later were joined by Brian and Brendene.  We walked some more circuits of decks 4 and 5 before dinner since there was not much opportunity to walk far on the tour today.

   The whole group of nine gathered in the Moonlight Sonata dining room.  Our choices were appetizers of crab cakes, cream of broccoli soup and French onion soup; then roasted chicken breast with mixed vegetables and Cajun spiced drumfish with vegetable rice.  The dessert choices were New York cheesecake and vanilla & praline ice cream.

   After dinner we climbed to Deck 14 where there was recorded ballroom dance music until 9 pm.  We were joined by Peter and Karen, then went to the theater to watch the production “Amade” by the singers, dancers and acrobats. It was billed as “a visual concert celebrating the profession of musical genres, inspired by one of the greatest musical minds in history, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Reversed. Remixed. Reimagined.” It was not at all to our taste. There was not even a recognizable Mozart musical phrase.  The dancers and singers performed technically very well for the music and choreography that they were given.  Now that the ship is so far north the satellite Wi-Fi is getting slower.

   After midnight there is still a very pale light to the sky.

          Distance walked today was 9.73 km