Tuesday, August 20th, 2024
Our ship arrived to Seydisfjórdour, Iceland located at the end of a beautiful fjord, early this morning. It was located in East Iceland and surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. The main occupation was fishing and now included tourism! Many cruise ships stopped here.
We were on the first walking tour of the town. The ship was docked so we didn’t need to get on a tender. Seydisfjórdur was a town of about 650 people with one road leading in and out of town. In the winter and early spring the road could be closed due to wintry conditions.
Seydisfjórdur was prone to avalanches due to its steep-sided mountain slopes. In December, 2020 the town had a huge mud slide that demolished more than ten homes and damaged others. The town has added avalanche protection walls all around.
The District Commissioner’s building had multiple agencies. They included police management, customs management, state tax collector, Social Security agency, licensing, family and child affairs and proxy voting. All of these were handled in this one building!
As we walked around the village we saw some beautiful flower gardens.
The Blue Church was a well-known landmark in town. It was known for its blue color and architectural style. It was moved to its present location in 1920.
The street that lead from the church was Seydisfjórdur’s Rainbow street. The town was very welcoming to the LGBTQ community and its rainbow path was painted as a symbol to respect and tolerance. We noticed the inclusivity and acceptance of all throughout Iceland.
Along the rainbow path there were shops and galleries with colorful artwork that decorated the buildings.
We visited the only grocery store in Seydisfjórdur. The grocery store also sold socks, underwear, and souvenirs!
After the walking tour we enjoyed a “Viking Festival”. It was held in the Herǒubreiǒ Community Center. We enjoyed food and drink that was provided by the Hótel Aldan. Rhubarb proseco was served along with -double smoked lamb on homemade flat bread, -Arctic char mousse, barley cracker from Vallanes, dresh dill, -regional goat cheese, gluten free biscuit, rhubarb jam, -Happy Marriage cake. I was given a plate with all gluten free food. The food and drink was delicious. Music was provided by Bjort Sigfinnsdóttir, singer and Jón Hilmar Kárason, guitarist. They were very entertaining.
Near the Blue church was a monument to honor Ingi T. Lárusson (1892-1946) who was born in Seydisfjórdur and an Icelandic composer.
The memorial to Otto Andreas Wathne (1843-1898) was on our walk around the town. He was a merchant and shipowner born in Norway. He founded Seydisfjórdur.
We also hiked up to Búðarárfoss waterfall. You could see the town from the falls. It was a little over 196 feet high.
On our way back to the ship we stopped at the outdoor exhibit of Women who had influenced the town over the years!
The scenery was stunning as our ship left the pier and sailed out of the fjord.
This evening we attended two lectures on the ship. The first one was by Clive Steeper who talked about his story as a race driver. He included videos of racing on the track and those experiences.
The other lecture was by Dr. Ronald Orenstein on “The Natural History of Fjords”. His talk was informative.
Tomorrow we will be in Akureyri, Iceland.
