Saturday continued

Just waiting for our breakfast to arrive.

As I said we are sailing into the fjord that leads to the city of Akureyri

(Akureyri rhymes with Tipperary)

From our window we can see patches of snow on the hillsides, so it is not very warm out there.

We have arranged to spend the day with another couple, actually 3 couples. We are renting two cars and we are adventuring out to see some of the countryside. Theo, our driver has researched this thoroughly so we are putting faith in him.

Akureyri  is called the capital of Northern Iceland sine it is the only city of any size in this area. There are fewer than 20,000 people living here however,

We are told that people are generally surprised when they visit Akureyri  for the first time. It is modern and friendly and spotlessly clean and very compact. Ocean currents keep the climate warmer than you would expect. Flowers are so plentiful that it is hard to remember that you are such a short distance from the Arctic Circle.

Though the Arctic Circle is only 37 miles north of Akureyri, the coastal climate is relatively mild, a result of the Gulf Stream and its warm ocean currents. Summer temperatures rise up to 24 degrees C  and winter temperatures average around 0  degrees C. For 2 of the 3 months in summer there is continuous daylight and early spring and late autumn enjoy long twilight. Last evening it was very noticeable, it seemed as if was never going to get DARK..

Since tourism is the major service industry there are many cultural attractions that you would only expect in larger towns.

Icelanders are famous for their literary traditions. Everyone knows the Norse and Viking sagas from the 13^th century . These stories of feuding, murder and revenge represent Europe’s first significant literature since the decline of Latin.

This little city has all of the comforts of home and yet it is so near to untouched natural beauty

One third of the world’s volcanoes are in Iceland, but fortunately most of them are of the friendly sort and we hope they stay that way during the next three days.

Iceland is in the time zone of GMT, The government is a republic, in fact their parliament is over 1000 years old. The language is Icelandic, the population is just over 300,000, it is the size of Virginia, the capital of Iceland is Reykjavik and the currency is the Icelandic Krona.

I will continue this evening when I can tell you what we saw and what our impressions were.