Isafjordur

Saturday 27^th August 2016

Having swelled the 18,000 population of Akureyri yesterday, you can imagine the impact our visit today to Isafjordur had, with the ships population being  just greater than that of the town.

Isafjordur is located just under the Iceland sign on this map and is marked by a red line pointing to it.

It is a bit bleak this morning, very windy, but not raining and about 5 C.

Located in the Western fjords of Iceland, Isafjordur, is a small town that pretty much survives on fishing, and some tourism. It is a tender port for a ship of our size, and a small welcome committee was ready on shore to supply us with maps and a visitor information hut was established on the dock to answer visitors questions, and provide limited wifi.

We are pointed in the direction of town ( not that it was difficult to find), and headed off, rugged up as much as we could be. On the way we passed a little port area that housed both fishing and pleasure boats.

Entering the main street, we came to the first of the major attractions, The Old Bakery, famous not only for its pastries and coffee, but also its delivery vehicles.

The main street is not particularly busy for 10am on a Saturday morning.

So after a quick perusal of the 3 or so shops open, and the other bakery, we move on to see the rest of the highlights.

Next is the new Church, which has been architecturally designed to represent the waves of the ocean.

Then we come across a monument to lost Fishermen.

It was then the Isafjordur Culture House / Library which used to be a hospital.

There were a few colourful houses/buildings.

This one dating back to 1816

And that was about it for the tourist attractions.

We took a photo of the ship at anchor in the fjord, and went off to have a cup of coffee, and maybe get an internet connection.

Getting a seat at one of the bakeries (both of which had wifi) was a challenge, but we eventually got one, had our coffee and caught up with the World.

The day is now a lot sunnier, but still bitterly cold. Visibility of the escarpment bordering the fjord is much better.

It is now just before 1pm, and we (and many others) are ready to return to the warmth of the ship.

Our tender has arrived to take us back to the ship

There is a reasonable swell, and spray is hitting the windshield of the tender, so it is a slow trip back.

We had an unexpected change of ships captain yesterday, with no real explanation as to why, but the old one and family left the ship at Akureyri.