Author Archives: bettesbatson

Our ship is docked in Akureyri, but our tour took us way out of the immediate area. Akureyri is known as the northern capital of Iceland. On our way here, the evening before, we crossed the Arctic Circle. The city is at the end of the Eyjafjördur and is surrounded by mountains. The city was founded by the Viking Helgi Magritte Hrólfsson in the 9th century. In the 17th century it developed as a Danish trading post. Akureyri is the second largest city in all of Iceland and has a mild climate and an ice free harbor.

Some of the many museums in town have documents of the written history dating back to 1582. The area is a haven for wildlife. All the red lights in the city are heart-shaped ❤️. The roads were lined with the Alaskan lupine which is used for medical treatment as well as keeping the soil in place.

In the early times most of the houses were turf houses because wood was scarce. The people farmed. The workers were paid once yearly with a cow. Once you had 3 cows you could leave the farm and create your own farm. Most people grew all the food they needed and raised sheep. The Icelandic sheep have two different coats: the top one is coarse and is used to make blankets and the inner one is very fine and used to make softer goods. The Icelandic horse is unique to Iceland and has 5 gaits as to the usual 4 of all other horses. They are pure here and if one is sold and leaves Iceland it can never be returned.

To leave Akureyri we drove through a 7 kilometer long tunnel. Because of the geothermal activity in the area the tunnel is very warm and in the winter people come here to melt the ice from their cars, to run and bike.

Our first stop was in Hüsavik, a fishing village and whale watching center of activity. We used it as a rest stop and to stretch our legs. We then went to a restaurant that was totally isolated for an early lunch. We had pumpkin soup and Arctic char for our lunch. It was surprisingly good for this remote location. I must mention that although we had been driving for just over an hour, the scenery was amazing to see. We saw volcanic fields of lava, farms with already harvested hay wrapped in plastic for the winter, areas of lush green grass, areas of wild brown grass, lakes and rivers beyond belief.

After driving we came to a river that had been part of the ice age erosion of this area. The waters and shores were filled with many rocky formations. Its name is Landavatnshöði. We had to walk on gravel paths to get to it.

On our way to the next stop we passed another area where we could see the rift.

Our next stop was the highlight of the trip – Dettifoss, a huge waterfall. It is 100 meters wide and 45 meters high. The water flows at almost 6200 cubic feet per second. We walked to 2 different viewing points. The trails were gravel and in some areas very rocky. In the area where the picture of us was taken we were being hit by spray from the falls.

We passed sulfur mountains where sulphur was mined and some hills that were red from iron.

Our last stop was at the “Grand Canyon” of Iceland. It was formed by 2 huge floods of lava, water and soil. The first happened 10,000 years ago and the second 3,000 years ago. It was interesting to see but not as grand as our Grand Canyon in Arizona.

We have not had any sunsets on this cruise, because most nights it is setting around midnight. We are in the time of year of the “white nights” or “land of the midnight sun.” Last evening I did get a photo, not a sunset but nice light on the water. We have been lucky with the weather and although it has been cold for us, we have mostly had only cloudy skies and just drizzle but not real rain.

Nestled at the foot of dramatic mountain slopes on a spit of land at the end of a fjord, Ísafjördur was founded in the 9th century by the Viking Helgi Magritte Hrólfsson. Foreign merchants arrived in the 16th century and set up trading posts here. Today, Ísafjördur is home to one of the largest fisheries in Iceland and, despite its remote location and small size, boasts a cultural scene rich in music and drama. The oldest house in Iceland is here, built in 1734, as is the country’s largest concentration of old timber frame houses.

Our excursion took us from the port, down the coast to the fishing town of Bolungarvik, one of Iceland’s oldest fishing villages. Ísafjördur is the capital of the Westfjords and about 4,000 people live in this town. In all of the Westfjords the population is 7,500. Ísafjördur has one of the best harbors in Iceland.

The fjord is about 100 kilometers in length and 140 meters deep. They get a great many whales and dolphins in the area. They have recently started to do fish farming in the fjord, with very strict rules about the number of fish being raised. Currently the fish being raised are salmon and trout.

Across the fjord from the town are mountains and behind the mountains is the largest glacier in the Westfjords. This area has very extreme light and dark times of the year because of the mountains. From mid October to mid February they do not see the sun and from mid May to mid August there is no darkness. Also across the fjord is a large nature preserve where there is a large population of arctic fox, which is the only native animal in Iceland.

We learned that in this very remote and not highly inhabited area a new company has developed using fish skin for medical purposes. The name of the company is Kerecis and it is used for burn victims and others that need skin grafts.

We drove to the village of Bolungarvik going through a tunnel going through the mountain. It was about 3 miles long and took them 1 year to go through the mountain and then an additional year to complete the fitting out of the tunnel. Our first stop was at the town hall where we had a concert. Our entertainer was a local college student who sang and played the guitar. She had a lovely voice and sang traditional Icelandic songs. They have a large music festival in this area each year which features 1 special song which all the attendees learn and sing together. It has been going on for 113 years.

We then learned about the fishing industry in this area of Iceland. The original fishermen used oared boats, went out for 4 days and could catch a ton of fish. Now they use bigger boats that have electric equipment and in the 4 days they are out they can catch almost 100 tons of fish. The fish caught in these waters are cod, halibut and wolffish. When they return to port the fish are salted and then shipped out to the rest of the world.

Our final stop was at a waterfall in the town of Ísafjördur. Our guide dipped water from the river and we got to drink the clear cold water.

There are no volcanoes in this part of Iceland. The mountains are all flat topped because of the glaciers and various ice ages.

Our day turned out perfect with a mild sunny morning for all of our activities. It clouded up somewhat in the afternoon but we were prepared for all kinds of weather.

Although we have been to Reykjavik several times before, today we were taken to someplace new for us but very old.

Our first stop was in the old harbor for a view back to Reykjavik. We were directly across from the Harpa Concert Hall and then a view of the mountains that surrounds the city. It was a very cloudy morning and there were lots of low clouds. There were also patches of sun. As our guide told us, this is very typical of a summer day here in Iceland.

We then traveled about 20 minutes to Arbaer Open Air Museum. A little history of the museum: in the late 1950’s due to an influx of money to Iceland as part of the attempt to help the country become more modern people in the town began to tear down old structures to build more modern ones. The leaders realized that they were losing much of the original heritage of the area and approached a farmer who was no longer farming, about purchasing their property. It had several old buildings to include the original farm house from the 1700s and subsequent buildings the family had built over the ages. Once the family agreed to sell to the city, many of the old houses and buildings were brought to the site. We were able to see these original farm houses as well as a church, general store and many other buildings. Our guide was very informative about how life was in the times gone by and very proud of the heritage it displayed.

Some facts about Reykjavik and Iceland: the city and metro area has a population of 260,000, while the entire country has a population of 396,000. The climate is subpolar, but because of the Gulf Stream passing nearby the temperature is no higher than 56 degrees or lower than 32 degrees on average. However, the winds make it seem much colder. Reykjavik is the most northern capital city in the world, and the most western one in Europe. Fishing used to be the main source of income for the country, but in the past 5 years tourism has taken the top spot. Almost 96% of the homes in Reykjavik are heated by hot water and most of the electricity for this area of Iceland comes from their geothermal plants. The main road through town as well as the sidewalks have hot water heating under them, keeping them clear of snow and ice in the winter.

During our time on the tour we had several series of drizzling rain, followed by sun, and then cloudy skies. As the ship’s tour manager told us, if you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes and it will probably change.

We left Fort Myers on the afternoon of July 1, heading to Iceland, Greenland and Canada. Our flights were uneventful and we arrived at 6:30 AM at Keflavik the airport for Reykjavik.

The lines at immigration were quite long since many flights from the US and Europe arrive early in the morning. We are on a Viking cruise and after collecting our luggage were met by their transfer service people. Our luggage was taken from us to be delivered directly to the ship.

Because of the early hour we were taken to a private room at their Harpa complex. The Harpa is their music and conference venue which also has an upscale restaurant. By the time we had our breakfast,we were ready to be transported to the ship.

Check in at the ship was easy and after the security briefing, how to put on your life jacket, we were able to go to our cabin. I do have to report that we were so exhausted from not sleeping on our flight over, that we both fell asleep and only woke up when our cabin attendant brought our luggage.

Since this is our 3rd Viking ocean trip we did not need to “get acquainted with the ship,” since all Viking ocean ships are alike. We had a very good dinner in the main dining room and then saw a fabulous show featuring Greta Salome, both a violinist and singer. She represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and 2016.

We did get an early to bed end of the evening.

Tomorrow we start touring.

We left the ship around 8 AM and began our drive to Madrid. We did have a stop in the town of Salamanca. Upon arrival we had a light lunch before we began our tour.

The country of Spain has a population of around 48 million. It is approximately the size of Texas. It is broken in 17 provinces, like our states. While driving the landscape changed to more plains like and the primary agriculture looked to be cattle raising. There were still vineyards and olive groves, but lots of cattle. We saw many stork nests, since this is their breeding season.

Salamanca is most famous for its Cathedral and its University. The Cathedral was begun in 1525 and took 200 years to finish. It is Gothic in style with 18 chapels surrounding the main part. They were putting out chairs because they were going to have a mass during the Pope’s funeral and they expected a great many people would attend. The cupola is 226 feet high.

After the Cathedral we walked to the University. It was founded in 1218 by one of the kings. The original languages used to study were Latin, Spanish and Hebrew. The original classrooms did not have desks or chairs or much light. The rich men who were attending the university usually had many servants with them and they would sit on the cold stone floor to warm it for their master. We saw a classroom that was over 600 years old. Currently the university has 55,000 students. In the Great Hall of the University were paintings by Goya. The first professors were monks and priests.

One of the symbols of the University is the frog. Incoming freshman have to locate it on the intricately carved entrance to one of the buildings.

We saw the seashell building which is now the public library. It was built in the 16th century honoring the wife whose coat of arms had seashells.

We then had free time to wander around the town and also saw the Plaza Major, center of town.

We then finished our ride to Madrid. When we arrived we had about 30 minutes before we left on a Tapas Tour. Our first stop had us drinking Spanish vermouth, a delicious drink like a sweet red wine, nothing like the vermouth used in the US for martinis and croquettes. Our second stop had us eating amazing shrimp cooked in olive oil and garlic and peppers cooked in a similar manner.

It was a long day and we were glad to get back to the hotel for some rest.

Today was one of the best on this trip. As I explained we were supposed to be here for 2 days getting to do 2 different tours, one each day. We had done enough wine and port tastings and opted to go to the Cóa Museum.

We had to drive up into the mountains to get to the museum. It was a pretty drive and got to see some different landscapes. There were still vineyards but there were also areas planted with olive trees, almond trees and cork oak trees.

Around 1991, the EU was helping the Portuguese and Spanish people build a dam that would provide water for both countries. As the digging and infrastructure was beginning a small discovery was made, Paleolithic rock art. There were many protests once this discovery was made public, because if the dam was built this area of the Cóa Valley would be flooded and these antiquities would be lost. Fortunately enough noise was made, the dam was stopped and this wonderful museum was built to show the rock art and tell the story of how it was discovered. By 1996 the area became a National Park and in 1998 it was a UNESCO site. It happened so quickly because of the uniqueness of the discovery.

The building was very unique built into a mountainside with an interesting entrance, sort of like walking into a deep cave. We had an excellent guide. The art that was found is not like the art in the caves in France, which were paintings on the walls of the caves. These are etchings, into the shale. They appear white when viewed from a distance. They have dated them back to 25,000 years. The people who made them were hunters and gatherers. So far 4,000 drawings have been found on 600 rocks and the area is still being explored for more.

During Paleolithic times there were about 30 – 50,000 people in the European area. They believe these people were nomadic and several theories about the rock carvings exist. Some archaeologists think these drawings were spiritual symbols, some think they may have been maps or the 4 main animals – oryx, horse, ibex and deer – represented clans. These however were not the animals that these people used for food.

When we returned to the boat we set sail for Vega de Terran, on the border of Portugal and Spain. We had an afternoon tour of Castelo Rodrigo, a medieval town where the country of Spain began. There was a fortress and castle on the top of the hill. There were many well preserved homes as well. Many years ago, the EU agreed to fund 90% of any restoration work in this town. They brought in water and electricity, but it is all buried in the ground so it looks very much like it did in the 9th century when it was established. About 50 people currently live in the town. There were some small tourist shops selling wine, olive oil and cork products. There was a large Jewish community here until 1497, when the Jews were expelled from Spain.

We had our farewell dinner on the ship and a flamenco show. Tomorrow we are on our way to Madrid.

This morning we were supposed to sail for a few hours crossing through the Lock of Valeria and the Gorge of the Douro River. We learned the night before that we would not be able to leave as planned in the early morning because the river was too high and we could not use the lock.

The cruise director also decided to cancel the tours, even though they could transport us by bus to them because the bus ride was 2.5 hours there and they were not certain that the ship would move and then there would be a long bus ride back.

We were able to walk around the town and did start to sail around noon because we were given notice that the lock was now operational.

It was a lovely day, so we sat on the deck and had lunch there. We went slowly down the very scenic river and when we went through the gorge one of the tour directors narrated. It was mostly huge granite rocks and tall cliffs.

The original plan for the afternoon was for half the group to do a tour to Quinta da Ervamoira with a wine tasting and the other half to Cõa Museum. Then the next morning we would switch and everyone would do both excursions. Since we did not get to our port of Pocinho until evening we only were going to be able to do one tour the next morning.

We had a special Chef’s dinner. It was the only time we did not have choices other than the main course. We had 5 courses! The food was very good. I forgot to take photos.

Once again our sail in the morning was only about an hour to our next location of Pinhão. This is the first time we were actually docked in a small town. We had a walking tour of the town stopping at the train station to see the decorations of the tile murals. Then we were on our own to wander. Tauck had a clever option for us. We had a map of the town, we had 3 colored poker chips and the map had 3 colored stars. If we went to the colored stars we got treats. One was chocolate cake and choice of drinks. A second was hotdogs and beer. The third was port wine and chocolates.

Since the town was right on the convergence of the Pinhão River and the Douro we had some nice riverside areas to walk along.

After lunch we got to go to an Oil Museum. It was an old place where they used to make olive oil. They had all the old equipment and told us how it used to be made. They now produce the olive oil and wines at another facility. It takes 5 to 8 liters of olives to make 1 liter of oil. It was high up in the hills above the town and the views were amazing. The road was very narrow and twisty and turny. We had to go in vans because the big coaches could not do this road.

Then in the evening we had a “roaring ‘20s” party to celebrate Tauck’s 100th birthday and my 79th. Not planned for me but nice to have a big celebration on my birthday. After dinner they turned the lounge into a disco and we danced and even the crew came to join the party. It was fun.

And on to more adventure in the morning. Thanks to all who contacted me with birthday wishes and greetings.

We had a very short sail from where we docked overnight in Lamego to Peso da Régua. There was a small village here but we were on our way to a winery, Quinta da Pacheca, and a port cocktail making class.

The winery was established in 1738 with a small acreage. Now it covers 170 acres. Of their production 30% is port wine and the remainder red and white wines. We learned that the quality of the wine is dependent on the altitude, soil and direction of the land. There are 115 different types of grapes grown in the Douro Valley. It is called “the region of the blends” because almost none of the wines produced here come from only 1 grape. The port wine is made up of 4 to 12 grapes using the best from the harvest.

The grapes are harvested by hand in August to September. In the entire area there are 100,000 acres of grapes. Even the large companies harvest by hand. Once harvested the grapes are put into a lagar, which is a large square concrete structure. Then 10 people get inside and stomp the grapes with their feet. There is a certain pattern they follow and each group does this for 3 hours.

The fermentation for port is only 3 days. Then aguardente (firewater) which is 77% alcohol is added to the wine to stop the fermentation and made the final product about 20% alcohol. There are actually 4 kinds of port wine, white, pink, tawny and ruby. By law the winery must keep a third of its production in reserve. This is in case there is a bad year, they will still be able to produce the wines. Here is a link to their website with photos and information about their history.

https://quintadapacheca.com/pages/our-history

We then went into the storage area and on to a room to make our cocktails.

We then sailed on. The countryside was beautiful, hilly with terraced vineyards. We had a cooking demonstration of a famous Portuguese sandwich, francesinha, a heart attack on a plate – 2 slices of bread, bacon, ham, steak, sausage, several layers of cheese, a sunny side up egg and a spicy sauce. It is surrounded by a huge amount of fries.

The chef gave a galley tour. We could go into the galley because our dinner that evening was off the ship in a Michelin starred restaurant, DOC.

Finally had blue skies in the afternoon and a promise of nice weather, although some questions about being able to move further along the river due to high waters from all the rain.

We left the boat this morning by bus to go to the town of Guimarães. While we were gone the boat moved from where we were docked to another area farther up the river.

Every time we get a new guide we find out new facts. The Romans named Portugal from the words Porto (port) and Calle (trade). The Romans were here for about 500 years – 200 BC and 300 AD. They traded wine with all areas of the Mediterranean. The Iberian peninsula was conquered over the centuries by Visigoths and Moors. Many of the names in Portugal begin within”Al” which are names from Moorish times. The French helped expel the Moors with crusades. The new king of Portugal came to live in Guimarães. This was the first capital of Portugal.

We again had a rainy morning. Guimarães is a UNESCO world heritage site since 2001, because it is a well preserved and authentic example of a medieval settlement. We saw some of the original walls that had surrounded the city. Some of it had been taken down over the years to build houses, churches and other buildings.

We walked to the top of a hill to see the outside of the castle/fort. We also saw the church where the first king of Portugal was baptized. Unfortunately they were closed because it was Easter.

We walked through the town which was very quiet. It was mid morning so we were surprised. Our guide said that because it was Easter the people did not go to church, but the priests came to their homes to bless them there. To show that they wanted the priest to stop at their home they lined the walk in front of their house with flowers. There were lots of church bells ringing to let the people know that the priests were on their way and then there were small processions with a priest in front with a cross, followed by young men with red capes and at the end a young man ringing bells. Quite a sight to see.

Here are some other photos from around the town.

We then had lunch in a restaurant. And when we came out the streets were filled with lots of people and the sidewalk cafes were bustling.

We then were returned to the ship and we sailed for about 1 hour before coming to our first lock, Lock of Carrapetelo. It is the biggest we will pass through over 100 feet. It was finally not pouring rain, just spitting, but too cold to be out on deck for very long.

Hopeful for better weather as we move on.