Not Seydisfjordur, Iceland

Hello from not Seydisfjordur, Iceland. 

Near the entrance to the fjord

We've had pretty rough seas these last few days and I'm sure more than a few passengers onboard (and some crew who were seasick) would have loved to be able to step foot on solid ground today. As I was hanging in bed this morning looking out at land I thought we might make it. As I saw mountain after mountain I soon realized I was starting to see the mountains repeat themselves.

It didn't take me long to realize we were going in circles and the marinetraffic.com tracking proved it.

Thanks to the strong winds outside and inside the fjord our port day became a sea day. I think we all would have been fine just circling all day instead of heading away from land and encountering rough seas all over again.

All day long

The waves even tore my bathroom door off its whatchamacallit. 

Since I was in Seydisfjordur last month and did everything I could think of doing I didn't cry over spilt milk or missed ports and took today to give myself a birthday present. Basic manicure and pedicure (no polish, please), men's style haircut (love my spiky hair), and a quick massage. 

And that pretty much was the day. So surprise, no other stories to tell! 

Just kidding.

Let's go back to yesterday...

I made sure to get myself a special breakfast combo. 

Notice how I was still able to keep the glasses even?

First time I've had pancakes in years. Oh. My. Goodness.

I saved this for my dinner dessert

Lunch was the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon. The cutoff was a little lower this cruise with 400 and some days required to make the lunch. The menu was a nice one as usual.

I tried hard to get something to eat with some kind of flavor, but nope

Crunchy shrimp and tender fish were the perfect texture combination

Desserts are always so pretty

Unfortunately for me, the gal who would rather fly under the radar, the entire room sang Happy Birthday to me. I think my face turned as red as the raspberry in the dessert. I was presented with the typical Princess birthday/anniversary/retirement chocolate cake and thankfully they divided it up for the table to share.

Okay, now I have no stories left to tell!

Tomorrow we're in Akureyi, Iceland where I have no plans but better figure something out soon.

Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland

Hello from the Shetland Islands! Today we anchored outside the town of Lerwick and it took two pictures to get the entire place in.

Our face to face immigration went smoothly this morning and I was even able to stop in right after breakfast instead of having to wait until my assigned 10:40 time. I learned from when we had UK immigration earlier this summer to go when the line is short since they don't check the assigned times anyway. Clearing immigration sooner meant I could get my tender ticker sooner which meant I could get to shore sooner. 

Being it was Sunday and most places were closed I had no plans for the day other than looking around - and taking pictures while I was doing it. 

If I saw an incline I turned around. I'm done with hills for a while.

If I saw steps I turned around.

If I saw a very narrow walkway only as wide as a manhole cover I turned around. This one was named.

I scootered over several different surfaces.

Took the obligatory sign picture. Finally, one in English I can read!

Thankfully I went ashore early enough and was able to avoid the crowds. By the time I was ready to head back to the tender the streets were getting full, and when I was on the tender back to the ship I could spy the Azamara ship coming in to drop her passengers here, too. 

Azamara Pursuit

Island Princess, my home away from home

I spent the rest of the afternoon on my balcony watching the sheep graze (and hearing them bawl ever so often) on the green Scottish hills. The limits of phones-turned-into-cameras make the little white dots hard to see, but they are there.

I wasn’t alone out there. Go away bud, I’m not eating!

Tomorrow is a sea day (I love those) 

and the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon (I love the good food they serve) 

and my birthday (I love those - NOT). 

But I'm on a ship having an amazing adventure so I won't be complaining a bit. 

Tuesday we'll be back in Seydisfjorder, Iceland for our second visit of the summer. See you then!