Day 6 in Djúpivogur - Hills, eggs, birds, wine, and documentation

 Day 6 - Djúpivogur

Today finds us in Djúpivogur, a small fishing village of about 500 residents, along the east shore of Iceland.  We were blessed with yet another stunning day with a high of about 60-degrees, plus sunny skies.

Above me, you can see the netting for the local fish farm where they raise fish commercially.

Today is a tender day, meaning that there is no dock that can support our ship.  They anchor off the coast and use the lifeboats to shuttle (tender) passengers back and forth from the ship to the city.

Once onshore, we joined a walking tour of the city. There is not a lot to see in Djúpivogur.  The views were quite pretty, but with only 500 residents, and most of them fishermen, there isn't much else.

We passed by the house of a local artist who works in natural materials - wood, whale bones from whales that have washed ashore, and so on.

Another homeowner had an inert WWII  marine mine in their yard.

Yet another homeowner was drying fish on a pallet.

We stopped by a local business where old storage tanks were still in place.  These were once used to hold fish oil but now are empty.  We all entered the larger one and took a seat inside.  Once seated, our guide closed the door and an Icelandic vocalist serenaded us.  It was quite haunting, as her voice sustained somewhere between seven and eight seconds.  This meant she could harmonize with herself.  It was captivating.

Arlona took this short video of her performance.  Because it was nearly completely dark in there, you'll just have to listen.

By the waterfront, there was a series of concrete pillars that were no longer used.  An artist thought they were ugly, so he crafted a series of 34 granite eggs representing the eggs of the 34 local bird species.  Interestingly, there is no granite here so it was brought in from China.

We continued our tour and wound up back at the harbor.

Arlona and I walked around the harbor.

Arlona, testing the water.

We also stopped to admire some local birds.

Finally, one last look at some natural beauty.  Oh, and some lupin.

We headed back to the ship for lunch.  

This afternoon, we had a spa appointment to use the sauna, snow grotto, therapy pool, and hot tub. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon. We went from sauna to the snow grotto to cool off, then back to the sauna, back to the snow grotto, then to the therapy pool, hot tub, sauna, snow grotto, and therapy pool.  It was hot, cold, wet, warm, and wonderful.

For dinner tonight, we had reservations at Chef's Table.  Chef's Table is an alternate restaurant on Viking and offers a five-course meal with wine pairings.  We dined on sweet potato chips with sour cream and bleu cheese, crab cakes, a Moscow Mule shaved ice, halibut, and a mandarin parfait, with wine pairings for each course.

When we stopped by our room, we found that we had received documentation that we sailed through the arctic circle.  So for all you doubters out there - booyah!

We finished the night with drinks in the Explorer's Lounge and then headed to our room. The sea was the most active we've experienced so far on this cruise and we can actually feel the ship moving.  It's not bad, but it is noticeable.  We'll sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow, Heimaey, Westman Islands.