Thursday, August 22nd, 2024
Ísafjörður, Iceland, located in the Skutulsfjordur fjord, was our stop for today.
The excursion we had booked was to Vigor Island for bird watching of puffins, Arctic terns and black guillémots and other wildlife. Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate. It was very windy and cold. The temperature was in the 30’s! Since this excursion was cancelled due to the winds and waves we did the included city tour of Ísafjördur and Bolungarvik Village.
Ísafjörður, who’s name meant ice fjord, had about 2,800 inhabitants. The town sat at the foot of dramatic mountain slopes. The oldest home in Iceland was here and it was built in 1734.
Our ship anchored in the harbor and we tendered in for our tour and it was windy on our boat ride.
From the town we went to Bolungarvik and stopped at their community center. We were entertained with a fifteen minute concert of local music.
The next stop was the Ósvör Maritime museum. It was an outdoor experience located down by the sea.
The museum was a replica of an old Icelandic fishing station from the 19th century and was built on the ruins of old fishing huts. There was a reconstructed fisherman’s hut, a salting house, a hut to dry fish, a rowboat, a tug capstan and in the hut were tools of every day use.
We were welcomed by a curator who was dressed in the traditional fisherman outfit that was made of sheepskin.
Near the museum was the Óshóla lighthouse. It was built in 1937, about 21 feet tall and made of concrete.
On our drive to get to the museum we went through a mountain tunnel that was about three miles long.
We stopped at the Bunárfoss Waterfall. It was 262 feet.
Legend stated that if you drink water from the falls it would add a year to your life!
On our drive back to Ísafjörður we passed the Hnifsdalur cemetery and closest to the sea was a memorial for drowned fishermen.
Below were views of Ísafjörður as we headed back to the harbor.
This evening we attended “Dancing Keys” with Adam Johnson. He was quite the piano entertainer.
The sunset was brilliant when we walked out of the theater around 10:00 PM.
We left Iceland and we’re headed to Greenland in the North Atlantic ocean!