Reykjavik - At sea - 7th August

The weather has changed and the glorious sunshine of yesterday has given way to cloud and some wind.

We had our breakfast, this time without boiled eggs, and then walked down into the town to go to the tax refund office to get the tax back on Wendy’s sweatshirt. On the way, we saw our first Silversea jackets! I spoke to one of the passengers who said the ship had docked last night. We learned later from Anna, the restaurant manager, that it had in fact docked at 5am.

We found the tax office and managed to get our 500 Kroner refund. We went round the corner to see the Silver Explorer at her berth in the harbour.
 

We walked back to the apartment to meet Joy and Craig. We loaded the car with all the bags and Craig and I drove down to the harbour to deliver the bags to the ship. We returned to meet Joy and Wendy, before Wendy and I went for a drive to see the Pearl.

 

From the Pearl, we drove to the Laugardalsholl Sports Centre where Wendy sang in 1994.

From the sports centre it was a short drive to take a look at the Heigars church. The church had four spires, a white façade and a modern interior.

 

As we left the church, we noticed the magnificent brass, or bronze, door handles. Here is a close-up of one.

We then drove back to Budget to deliver the car and were taken by their shuttle bus to the boat.

It was great to be welcomed back on board by so many people we knew. We went through onboard registration and then sat with Joy, Craig, Laura and Brion drinking Champagne. It was then down to the dining room for a buffet lunch. Robin West, our expedition leader, announced the cabins were ready, so we went down to 322 and unpacked.

Our last view of Reykjavik, as the last passenger bags were being loaded on to the boat.

At 4pm we had the Emergency Drill instruction, which was followed by the ship leaving port at 5pm. As we pulled away from the quay, I managed to get a photo of Captain Alexander (second from the left), who had been our captain on the Svalbard cruise. He was standing on the quay watching the ship depart and was about to begin his leave. He will be returning to the Explorer later in the year.

Passengers on the aft deck waving goodbye to Iceland, as we departed for our cruise to Greenland and Canada.

It was sad to see Reykjavik fade into the distance. Our three night stay has been most enjoyable.

At 6.45pm we went up to the theatre for a short briefing and the crew introductions. I said hello to our chef, Christian, from Germany. At the end of the briefing, we were all reminded to put our watches back one hour and we were also told to do the same tomorrow evening.

At 7.30pm we went for dinner, which was very good indeed. I was very pleased with the French onion soup. I am hoping it’s a good sign of things to come!

We headed for our cabin and an early night. I was whacked!!