Yesterday the forecast for today was mostly sunny and mid 70’s and we had planned to rent bikes to tour the island. However we woke up to rain and the new forecast said it would be overcast all day. Actually, it rained and was overcast early and cleared up in the afternoon. We regrouped after our bike plan was foiled and decided to rent a car. We dinghied into Edgartown and ubered to the airport where we picked up the car. We went all around the island from Gay Head to Vineyard Haven to Oak Bluffs and finally took the ferry to Chappaquiddick Island. We had lunch in Vineyard Haven at the Black Dog Tavern. We also stopped at Alison Shaw’s gallery since we have a photo of hers that we bought when we were here about 15 years ago (for those of you who know our house it’s in the dining room).
After a lovely day we returned to the boat for a dinner of sandwiches. We had a beautiful sunset. That evening there was sheet lighting in a cloud, something we’ve never seen, over Edgartown. Unfortunately we couldn’t time it to get a picture.
We were up even earlier this morning. We finished prepping the boat to leave and were off the dock by 5:50. As I mentioned yesterday, rain was headed our way and we hoped to be in Edgartown before it started. We motor sailed the whole way and pulled into Edgartown harbor by about 10. It really looked like it was going to rain. The sky was very black but it never rained.
The harbor is very picturesque with lots of old houses with cedar shakes. After a brief nap for both of us and some lunch we went into town. We walked around, checking out the shops and restaurants, and Rick bought a sweatshirt at Vineyard Vines. We spent the remainder of the afternoon on the boat. I was reading and Rick was watching the boat traffic.
We returned to town for dinner and an ice cream for dessert.
Here are a couple of pictures of Edgartown and the harbor.
We were up and off the ball by 6:20 this morning. The wind was light so we motor sailed to the little village of Menemsha, part of Chilmark, on Martha’s Vineyard. Initially, I didn’t feel too well becauce the seas were pretty choppy and it always takes a day for me to get use to the motion. I watched the horizon and evetually I was fine. There were a lot of lobster pots so I sat on the bow as the lobster pot lookout. Luckily we kept the lobster pots at bay. We has a following tide which allowed us to make good time. We came into Menemsha harbor around 11. We were on the pier and docking was easy with the help of the harbor master.
The village of Menemsha is tiny. It consists of a beach and two lobster shacks. It’s a fishing community with lots of commercial fishing boats. I think they catch a lot of swordfish here because there is a swordfish scuplture, a swordfish weathervane, and the special at one of the lobster shacks was swordfish. The town was featured in Jaws and it’s where the great white shark came into the harbor.
For lunch, Rick has seafood chowder from one of the lobster shacks and he said it was excellent. I had a turkey sandwich. In the afternoon, we took a dinghy ride up to Menemsha pond (about a 10 minute dinghy ride), walked along the beach, and watched the comings and goings in the harbor. It was very relaxing.
As you can see from the pictures below it was a nice day but not very warm (even though some people braved the cool temperatures on the beach).
Here are some pictures of Menemsha.
Our boat, Summer Dreams
That evening Rick had a little neck clams and a lobster roll; he’s in food heaven! I had a PB&J. We prepped the boat to leave since it’s supposed to rain tomorrow and if possible we want to avoid sailing in the rain. We are back on the sailing schedule. Get up early, go to bed early!
We woke up to rain. We planned to go into Newport first thing to get a few items that we had forgotten but the rain delayed our trip since we didn’t want to dinghy in the rain. The weather started to clear around 11 so we decided to head into town. After stopping at West Marine and Walmart, we returned to the boat for lunch. In the afternoon we took the boat out into Naragansett Bay. We wanted to familiarize ourselves with the boat mechanics and practice getting on and off the mooring before setting off. We motored out and watched some boats’ racing. There wasn’t much wind so we didn’t bother to put up the sails.
Captain Ron (Oh, I mean Rick) at the helm
It was still pretty cloud and there were a lot of dark clouds so we didn’t stay out for too long. I said it before but we really love the sailboat life.
After relaxing a little on the boat, we went back into Newport walked around and had a wonderful italian dinner at Mama Luisa’s. The food was very authenic and reminded us of being in Italy. By the time we got back to the boat the weather had cleared and the stars were out.
In addition to the rain, it’s been quite chilly. The forecast said overnight was going to get down to 58F. We don’t have heat on the boat but luckily we brought a down comforter.
We are off on a mini (for us) adventure. We have chartered a 42 ft sailboat out of Newport RI for two weeks. We arrived in Newport around 3:30 and were met by Brian, owner of the boat and Mike, an employee of Brian’s. Our boat, Summer Dreams, is on a mooring so we followed Mike in our dinghy out to our home for the next 2 weeks.
This is the dinghy dock where we met Brian and Mike.
Mike showed us all the specifics about the boat and then left to do it all over again with another charterer. We went back to the dock and brought two loads of our stuff (we have 50L of water plus food and clothes) back to the boat. It feels great to be back on the water, getting ready to live on a sailboat.
After getting settled on the boat, we went out to dinner in Newport. Over dinner we roughed out an itinerary which includes Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Provincetown, Onset, Marion, Plymouth, and Cuttyhunk. We will see if the winds, weather, and tides cooperate to allow all these stops. Here are some pictures of the boat.
I didn’t expect Iceland in the winter to be as pretty as it was. The snow covered fields, mountains, and cliffs were truly lovely. It is quite different from Switzerland in that there are big flat areas (i.e. lava fields and flood plains) that you never see in Switzerland. The temperature was about the same as New York. As long as you dressed in layers it wasn’t too cold. And of course you have the northern lights which we are lucky enough to see twice.
Obviously I haven’t been in the summer but the winter, while cold and maybe snowy, is really beautiful. I heard that it’s much more crowded in the summer.
Historically, Iceland has a unique, rich history which comes through loud and clear. It’s quite an easy country to navigate (although I didn’t see any plows on the road while it was snowing). Everyone speaks English so from that perspective it’s very easy. There is probably a lot more to see because I think we just scratched the surface. I highly recommend visiting Iceland.
We traveled with Collette and I would say that was just OK. The guide was excellent but the places we stayed were very basic, the food wasn’t very good, and I thought their customer service was really poor.
We didn’t have any tour activities planned for today so we slept in which was very nice. After breakfast we went to the Settlement Exhibition, just down the street from our hotel. The exhibition is based on the archaeological excavation of the ruin of one of the first Viking houses in Iceland and findings from other excavations in the city center. We looked around the exhibit and then I stayed for a tour while mom went back to the hotel. I returned to the hotel around noon and we left for the airport at 1. We had lunch at the airport. The airline switched planes about an hour before we were supposed to board which caused them to have to change everyone’s seat, delaying the boarding process but other than that it was an uneventful journey home.
It was snowing lightly this morning. At breakfast we learned that a couple of people went out last night to look for the northern light but there wasn’t much to see and it was very cold and windy so we didn’t miss much.
Seljalandsfoss waterfall was our first stop. In the warmer weather you can walk behind the falls but it was too icy this time of year. The falls are 210 ft high and the water originates from the Eyjafjallajökull glacier, which caps the volcano that erupted in 2010.
We had a 2 hour ride to the Blue Lagoon, during which Helga provided some more background information on Iceland.
Overall Iceland tends to be a good place to live and a good place to bring up kids. Many people go abroad for graduate education but they tend to return to Iceland. Not surprisingly, people tend to stay inside in December and January and be outside most of the summer.
Iceland has just one breed of horse, the Icelandic horse. They tend to be small, strong, and docile. No horse have been brought to the island since the 10th century so all of the horses today descend from the ponies originally brought to Iceland in the Settlement Age. Sometimes horses are sent to other countries for competition but they don’t come back because the returning horse could bring back disease which could infect the local horse population. Today the horses are used only for recreation but in early times they were a critical form of transportation.
Kids can start school at age 2. It’s mandatory from 6-16 and these grades are free. School fees for the nonmandatory grades are minimal, for example college tuition at a public university is about $700/year. Many people go abroad for graduate school. Kids start learning english in the 3rd grade and continue to learn it for 7 years. They are also exposed to it on TV and at movies which are mostly in english with Icelandic subtitles. They also learn Danish. The children have weekly swimming lessons in school and must pass a swimming test to graduate from high school. The school year runs from the end of August until the beginning of June. Rents are high so kids tend to live with their parents longer after they graduate.
The unemployment rate is close to 4%, the highest it’s been in several years. New employees start with 4 weeks of vacation and eventually it increases to 6 weeks. Maternity leave is 12 months and the mother typically takes off 9 months and the father typically takes off 3 months.
There are many taxes including sales tax, income tax, county tax, property tax, and inheritance tax. The tax rates are as follows 32% up to a monthly salary of $3000, 37% on monthly salaries between $3000 and $9000 and 46% for monthly salaries above $9000. Icelanders pay into a mandatory pension fund and employers match the employees’ contribution. Many people pay into optional supplemental pension funds.
Health care is socialized. There is one main hospital in Reykjavik that services the whole country with clinics in the outer regions. If you are admitted to the hospital you don’t pay anything but there are minimal charges for outpatient procedures and testing. For example an x-ray cost around $150. There is a waiting list for some non-life threating procedures. All kids have full medical and dental coverage.
They have Costo, Ikea, and H&M as well as many fast food chains but no McDonalds, Starbucks, Burger King, or Wendy’s. Gas cost about $9/gallon.
About 20% of power is generated geothermally. Geothermal power is created by drilling into the ground until they reach superheated water (400F). The geothermal plants are, by definition, built in volcanically active areas so they are vulnerable to volcanic eruptions. The pressure of the water coming out of the ground turns turbines which generates the electricity. The other 80% is hydro generated by Iceland’s two rivers and 80% of the hydro is used for heavy industry, such as aluminum smelting because it is quite cheap.
The government dictates a list of first names that people can use to name their kids. These names fit all the rules of grammar (not sure which rules those are). Last names are based on the father’s last name with son or dottir appended on the end. In addition to this last name some people use a family name from their mother’s side. Icelanders call each other by their first names. Their language does not have the terms Mr. or Mrs.
The sagas are epic stories that were probably told in settlement era and were written in the 13th and 14th centuries. All Icelanders know the sagas.
There are a couple of unique Christmas folklore stories. This summary is from Wikipedia . . . Icelandic Christmas folklore depicts mountain-dwelling characters and monsters who come to town during Christmas. The stories are directed at children and are used to scare them into good behaviour. The folklore includes both mischievous pranksters who leave gifts during the night and monsters who eat disobedient children.
The figures are depicted as living together as a family in a cave and include:
Gryla and Leppaludi – Gryla is a giantess with an appetite for the flesh of mischievous children, who she cooks in a large pot. Her husband, Leppaludi, is lazy and mostly stays at home in their cave.
The Yule Cat is a huge and vicious cat who lurks about the snowy countryside during Christmas time and eats people who have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve.
The Yule Lads are the sons of Gryla and Leppaludi. They are a group of 13 mischievous pranksters who steal from or harass the population and all have descriptive names that convey their favorite way of harassing. They come to town one by one during the last 13 nights before Christmas. They leave small gifts in shoes that children have placed on window sills, but if the child has been disobedient they instead leave a potato in the shoe.
We had lunch in Grindavik and then went to the blue lagoon. The blue lagoon is the result of geothermal water pumped into a lava field. The silica from the geothermal water plugged the holes in the lava rock and prevented the water from draining. The water’s milky blue shade is due to its high silica content. The silica forms soft white mud on the bottom of the lake which bathers rub on themselves.The water is also rich in salts and algae. The water temperature in the bathing and swimming area of the lagoon averages 99–102 °F.
Shortly after the opening of the geothermal power plant in 1976, the runoff water had made pools. In 1981, a psoriasis patient bathed in the water and noted that the water alleviated his symptoms and the lagoon subsequently became popular. Bathing facilities opened in 1987 and in 1992 the Blue Lagoon company was established. Studies made in the ’90s confirmed that the lagoon had a beneficial effect on the skin disease psoriasis.
We went into the changing rooms and showered before going into the lagoon. The lagoon was nice and warm and the water was about up to my neck. It was fun to have the snow landing on our face but our bodies were nice and warm in the lagoon. Very relaxing experience. We got a silica mask and a drink. I spent about 1/2 hour in the lagoon and then got out showered and went to find mom. I couldn’t take my camera into the lagoon so here is a picture from the deck.
We continued on to Reykjavik and got checked into the hotel. That evening we had our farewell dinner at a local restaurant.
Today we drove along the southern coast to Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive but it was worth it. Much of the landscape along the way was a large lava field and flat flood plain.
During the sunrise we drove through the largest lava field in the world. It covers 218 square miles. In 1783 fissures opened up and lava poured out. It created clouds of ash and poisonous gas which traveled around the world, killing people and livestock and causing famine and drought as far away as southern India. In fact the results of it contributed to the dissatisfaction that trigged to the French revolution in 1789. Surprisingly after almost 350 year the only plants growing on the lava are moss and lichen.
The flood plains are near Katla. Katla is a volcano which is under a glacier. It typically erupts every 50-60 years and the last time it erupted was in 1918 so it is overdue however there are no signs of current activity. It’s a big problem when it erupts because it melts the glacier above it, creating a massive flood. The floods are very powerful, bending steel and taking out roads and bridges. We crossed the flood plains which were very flat and sandy. When it is windy the wind picks up the sand and whips it around. The government has planted lupine as a ground cover to try anchor the sand. In the spring the flood plains are purple from the flowers.
We continued to drive towards Vatnajökull glacier, the biggest glacier in Europe. It covers 8% of Iceland (all the glaciers combined cover 10% of island) and it has a maximum thickness of almost a kilometer, over 1/2 mile. Vatnajokull has many outlet glaciers, a term I had never heard. It is definited as a tongue of ice that extends radially from an ice dome. This picture of an information sign shows it well.
We went to Jokulsarlon glacier, an outlet glacier, which terminates in a lagoon which runs into the sea. At 650 ft, the lagoon is the deepest lake in Iceland. Icebergs calf from the glacier and float to the sea. Ice was amazing, most of it was blue because it is so cold but some was black due to volcanic ash. I have never seen anything like it. Here are some pictures.
After exploring the lagoon we drove over to the beach where the lagoon exits into the ocean. The waves can pitch the ice onto the beach so it is littered with big chucks of ice. Sometime there are seals in this area because it is rich in sea life without any seal predators but I didn’t see any seals.
From there we drove to lunch and then continued on to Vatnajokull National Park, the largest national park in Europe, in Skaftafell. Here we walked to the base of another outlet glacier which was also very blue.
Then we drove back to the hotel. That evening we had drinks with glacier ice. The forecast didn’t look good for northern lights so I stayed in and worked on the blog.
Here is a map of our travels.
A=Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon, B=Vatnajokull National Park
Today we got to sleep in which was good because we have been up late the last two night looking for the northern lights. We left the hotel at 9:30 and our first stop was to take pictures of the sunrise and the glaciers. I like that you don’t have to get up early to see the sunrise. Magnificent!
Then we proceeded on to Skogafoss falls. The Eyjafjallajökull (don’t ask me how to say it) glacier is the water source for these falls.
From there we went to Skogar Folk Museum where we learned about how the Icelanders lived. People lived very simply until well into the 20th century. At that time they started to discard all their stuff because they felt it was old fashion. Þórður Tómasson collected the stuff because he thought it was important to keep a history of how life was. He accumulated enough stuff to create the Skogar Folk Museum. Today he is 98 years old, still collecting, and writing books.
From when people arrived on the island until the mid 19th century, the main source of wood was drift wood which floated to shore, primarily from sunken ships so many of the houses were built into the side of a hill to reduce amount of wood needed. Remember there are not many trees here.
Settlers burned cod liver oil, which is quite smelly and smoky, for fuel and light. Because of the smoke and the odor their kitchen was in separate building. Also typically in the evening they burned just one cod liver oil lamp in the house so it was quite dark. They typically didn’t heat their homes. Therefore they all lived in one room with beds along the wall. The beds became their sofas and dining room chairs during the day. They slept two to a bed and slept sitting up because they were superstitious and thought they would die if they slept lying down. The other reason they slept sitting up was it took up less room.
They used a covered wooden bowl to eat with the lid doubling as a plate. They didn’t have metal to make eating utensils, rather they fashioned a spoon from a ram’s horn. They only problem was if the spoon got too hot they would melt. They let the dog lick the bowls clean rather than wash the dishes. In the winter they fished to supplement their food and used the fish skin to make shoes which wouldn’t last very long. They would describe a distance by how many pairs of shoes it took to get there.
After our tour of the museum we went outside to see examples of their houses. Here are some pictures.
We had lunch at the museum and then had a photo stop at Dyrholaey Promontory. Here are some pictures.
Next stop, Reynisfjara, a black beach. Not surprising the sand was black since it was volcanic. Most of the beaches on Iceland are black. We had to be careful because the beach has what they call sneaker waves. Every 6 or 7 waves the wave comes into the beach on an angle. These sneaker waves can knock you down and you can have trouble getting up . The land drops off sharply just a little way out and the current is very strong. Of course the water is also very cold. Even in the summer Icelanders don’t go swimming in the ocean.
Helga, our guide, told us about beach erosion. The ocean starts eroding the rock by cutting a cave into the rock and eventually this turns into an arch. Then with more pounding from the ocean eventually the roof caves in and just a pillar of rock is left.
Icelanders say the pillars are trolls which did not get back into hiding before the sun came up. The troll turns into stone if they are out in daylight. Very superstitious people! To this day many Icelanders also believe in the hidden people who inhibit a parallel universe. The hidden people can see us but we can’t see them unless they want us to see them. For the most part they leave us along but if we disturb them they can make our lives very difficult.
This beach had basalt columns. Basalt columns form from lava that is cooled at the end of the columns. The hexagon shape is a result of the crystal structure of the rock.
We went into Vik which is a very small town to do a little shopping but before the shopping we made a photo stop. The sun was setting and it made a beautiful picture of some stone trolls and a stone ship.
At the store they had lovely sweaters and blankets but I only got two skeins of yarn to make my own souvenir.
We had a beautiful sunset this evening.
Before dinner we had fermented Greenland shark. This shark has no kidneys and essentially pees out its skin therefore the meat is very poisonous. However if you press and ferment the meat, the urine is extracted and it can be eaten. Our guide told us it is quite smelly and will stink up the refrigerator unless stored in a tightly closed container. People eat it because it is very high in protein. I tried it (it was cut up into very small pieces) and it wasn’t too bad. Then we chased it with aquavit. Actually, I thought the shark was better than the aquavit.
That night we went out again to look for the northern lights. This time we just went behind the hotel. They were out and dancing around. It was really lovely. I still haven’t figured out how to take a picture of them but here are some pictures from other tour buddies.
Here’s a map of our travels.
A=Hotel, B=Skogafoss falls, C=Skogar Museum, D= Dyrholaey Promontory, E=Reynisfjara
