Welcome to Akureyri!
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This morning’s approach as seen on the Akureyri webcam |
Before I talk about today, I have to talk about last night. I was already in bed with my sleep mask on (thanks to the land of the midnight sun) when I felt the ship make some turns and list a couple of times. Not thinking too much of it, I moved more into the middle of the bed. My mask dislodged and I saw something white go by outside. And more white and more white. I can’t see a thing without my glasses but once I got them on I said three words out loud.
Oh. My. Gosh.
Remember how I mentioned yesterday we’d be going above the Arctic Circle? Well not only did we cross it but we ran into Arctic ice while we were there!
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Yes, we sailed through this |
I've sailed through ice from glaciers in Alaska a couple dozen times. But this ice was something special. Bigger. More imposing. And there was a lot of it. Note: All the pictures were taken after midnight so you can see how light it was at that time.
![sailing through Arctic ice on a cruise ship](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDf80q6hN30rSH-dlcaaa98UpY4EZWnBRlsfdnej5JELFaZoXXiCeIVVXhXGG4GV2yZ3oePHEga2bR4wE5ZKBkdsmzlhfO3dJEkxk3KDQzQMhmSDKHwESTBn7t1XytmnXaYAFRkx6z9nLNSz0XJm5pJLEQ2MKps29UyyR6qnM2mPyF_4jiXoEzFbAm/w400-h301/IMG_2324.jpeg)
![sailing through Arctic ice on a cruise ship](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPuiYI_QxXZaOcN0b_IZpymeEieKvfBU_pKnXOsXGFo3l5Xl8jsJFSUSf6caxuj6bQMLV6zkxx69GitAbEMhQEmjDhqhyQPO1tD7ccUtiC-EYsAA6YtODDRlW13A-z3DyVIp__x1-0wNje5a9n5GrkJod5KAgG__pOVvR6ybqTS_hcQf-tyPINNdNa/w300-h400/IMG_2326.jpeg)
Even after the ship quietly and gently sailed through it all, I could still see what looked to be even heavier ice off the port side for quite some time.
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Wonder if an ice breaker would be needed to head north into this? |
![sailing through Arctic ice on a cruise ship](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34v2pT1FEQMgYgzzOeOCire_La0YMz9xSGurAzameR03U2DDWJdz6CepZICA3sau-mXaXH2wG5F5T1NlzAk0_jFpOdcHn-vlojg-4dYvSBJdMbT0YMpVTw4R3p3kHHkvcknpC5CoKfPXjWZJe1yuW3-2oIp7G1INtex6UPXH-KBR6mv6_V34sW7Gq/w300-h400/IMG_2325.jpeg)
![Akureyri, Iceland](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7FLR3G9mi9UfvC8IT362GVH91SfmbozCvyeLQop5oY0Ih5fClaPDg_uy8SuZgXH4J6_tfmIihbr8_WU9GzaHRdzXoBVpQ8s2dfRndEqSabG3PhMod1rvsFn8NV8U2GUBOx95AskJGLTHTQihfJVJvjHn69iUuupcHJctIyuW9_vA2E2bJ-O2l3Z15/w400-h244/IMG_2341.jpeg)
My plan for the day was the Hop On Hop Off bus. From what I had researched the pick up would be very close to the pier. Boy, it certainly was. Right out of the gate.
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Their HOHO is white, not red |
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The bus couldn't get any closer to the ship if it tried |
A few notes about the bus:
*It didn’t do a typical narration with headphones but had some monitors with audio and video instead.
*There were only about half a dozen of us riding. Great for me who is still trying to stay away from crowds! I went earlier in the morning so I don’t know if it got busier later.
*There was a place for Scooter with a seat for me nearby.
*It cost 5000 Icelandic Krona which is about 35 US dollars. I paid with my card but don’t know if he would take ISK cash or not.
*The full loop took 45 minutes.
I was going to ride the bus the entire loop to get my bearings and decide where I wanted to hop off on a second trip around.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhwPRI7blYt5MAd-i_2vwbnae3XqUVQO5gU-KIZby2SYRgiHeZQ4LSM7_hAlEDSjnEzOBGGuod4XXvRd9xkge_2RY9hHUkVLQpNzr7oXb3_ahsxonlc6VhnB3yi6KiChda3B59uTig8VTn17SXe64b4UPMc6U5Z-67hzgUx3sZ76ikDaUJ8f9vkno/w400-h275/IMG_2360.jpeg)
There were some places I had in mind. The botanical garden at stop #7 was a possibility, but being there were several ship tour busses when we passed by I decided to avoid those crowds. The pool at #9 was an option but not one I wanted to take up today.
![Akureyri, Iceland swimming pool](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5aPOIocMgUVb8UeB4SGPRV3PsPNQ2LhZHpuh5Cbn8NjhJWWfGRES1jOIRivZXg007uLJiiVcHE_7VPpiv-U3VLXClAzt6IdV6k9Xwrn83Jwt6JW_e3IrDkbjFSKi81X5Iv6wEa4E2dBvm_4m-uoKhjWhc6ri2X5oylQN8Rls2nqztlolEcQZITlYk/w400-h241/IMG_2347.jpeg)
Sightseeing through old town, checking out museums, or taking photos of the churches were options. Some of the town is hilly and since Scooter is not a fan of hills, I didn't feel up to the extra work of dragging him around. So I stayed put and took all my photos from inside the bus.
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All of their red stoplights are hearts |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzl-k03f2KifQdBkG9ogVZGE_KW9TlNCl1Inemegvlkv2wlRBX42Pcgt90RXpZoV0TWXGv-gQP1-GXN4lPZZ6NLtfITN5HDzFpLvTcf7qa4uRJXkiYvp2qP1lEXdpkqJUqMWWv_HJNfytUPAhG9Gfn6iLlmFU4z8fwA2YScX2LSKOcgzL8Vhx9pYI/w400-h300/IMG_2349.jpeg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jvKKoPZ6fehCWlNjHDGYfiYWNbwYLKw1v73mqtJGsQ8au93Vi66JlxahjlX6JAHSxPENZwRME_0ChEEXEt0xTVGATY4dzqvc6XX-VJRb4aT8Ybgwijuj7gcyXbc4MJ0z6anSa89aKC7hszht7ekJieGSYzKJpzrPPgnHmFlykk3OH5IrxmtVE7ym/w400-h291/IMG_2357.jpeg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfdmawSmOdfj-wDpRtGipS2vrzvOo25l6v0LSQL37AxBhDvJi_G0JWqsBBA-Z9Rcp_stNUClWNhk3PEAuwXMta4sYULfcYGdhhP88ATjVFSBtd258ZisCBYsZ0Kfx648bZI-hlkubsMS6JHZDgGST7eCKUQ0dbGja4fMXpIel2igKovnGwkyCl_ZP/w176-h400/IMG_2354.jpeg)
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Hockey rink for you, Ed. |
Since it was such a nice day I headed back to the ship earlier than planned and sat outside with my sweatshirt on and soaked up some rays by the pool, trying oh-so-hard to heal myself.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_oViU2YYYoo5iub2PgTCuiXHLIqIgTSSNdcQUMSRAEvj9TzN5Ai8Goa_unXY8fZjyMSX4AYtBMR_LQ8h2o-GcJc2qnbKGJVUl13c1adX8eYtAuQyBDfED7fn1iSCtWQgx5Sc6wEHCNtp8UoRI45xv_FDV6fKmsCh8P2iShq9qHKwbj-AqLYDrHHvk/w400-h300/IMG_2338.jpeg)
![Akureyri, Iceland airport runway seen from cruise ship](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvmMO5cdp0nBGhDnDTwQHRz0Lh5gleYORFrb0LbThvnacKjUl_pIKuPHL7aTtPQ_m8JyWFVotfrBc8PyELn97hdoXGH8C0rau4PYkv19unwVG8CndyyMaPg57MzK2fx3yzc4ygo6p6K231p6eDowyi6V6qJkkgCnS0qFLwQXgv6qpkacrlnNPyn51/w400-h300/IMG_2339.jpeg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftkdTodLwFrjElUa4wr4wEhSIhx3iFCDSuhmLp6n5jEGfG5qbpHW6KCbu466ssZxD3i8BgTpuwNgpxo79UrDIiGjOpwQRnYLkquI-tmW6f_y-9mSoKWDrKjiyo6B0GPxhI8XM5yNQkh6YTsYzxi1Ipub_6C0ImTag_0fMIzx7LRpw_ept6KJcgJ1r/w400-h300/IMG_2342.jpeg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokR54xMi8LY3kalZ67GxUtHXMbqnP5ZXxyXmpNxFjjfoB0p7MZYWC1TCH1MHxQ48VBlUzbkU3m4eAVIryfbfS8dCa2ZId-mv8tTjA82smZSnYR6Pozg3Tl8BO6jdXJFchVnBj_Tz6pqPxf7HYiYA7SWFMSCoo8hv_um6QErGLRaK7v-X9N57rXLeJ/w400-h300/IMG_2362.jpeg)
We'll be back here twice more this summer and since I now have my bearings I'll be able to hit the ground running next time. If I’m feeling brave I might even try out the free city bus.