Husavik

Another amazing day in Iceland. Husavik has transformed from a whaling capital, to a whale watching capital. Lovely, small little town in the north of Iceland.

Bus stop from  Netflix "Eurovision."

The head and 

tail of a blue whale.

Beautiful Akureyri

Misty morning.

MS Spitsbergen.

Art Museum, and knitted trash canister.

More knitting.

More knitting.

Main shopping street.

Oldest house.

First woman voter.

view from the Forest Lagoon. Pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness.

A perfect day.

Jan Mayen

We are so close to the Beerenberg volcano on Jan Mayen. It's unclear whether we will get to land.

Disappointment. The waters are too rough for a Zodiac landing. We will be on the boat until Iceland.

Finally, A Polar Bear!

This little guy was in my cabin when I returned last night. Chocolate.

We are now in the open sea. As the captain warned, the sea is very rough. In the night my wine bottle flew right off the desk. I have now stored it in one of my huge waterproof boots.

The little white mark shows where are on the map. A new meaning to "in the middle of nowhere."

Burgerbukta

Today's landing is at Burgerbukta. It is a bay with two active glaciers. There were huge chunks of ice floating on the bay and strewn around the beach. I was pleased to be able to hike up a steep rocky hill to enjoy the gorgeous views.

Zodiac tendering small groups from the ship.

MS Spitsbergen.

MS Spitsbergen from the glacier.

One of the two glaciers.

Ice.

Climbing back down.

With Arne & Carlos at the end of the hike.

Waiting for the Zodiac. Notice the shotgun.

Zodiacs being loaded back onto the ship.  These excursions are a lot of planning, coordination, and hard work.

The day kept getting better. We got Aurora Borealis!!!

Bamsebu and Recherchebreen

Today we had two Zodiac landings. The crew is very well trained in teaching us out to get in and out of the rubber boats.

The first landing was at Bamsebu Cabin. It is a whaler's cabin built in the 1930s on the edge of a fjord. It is now privately owned. Piles of beluga whale bones, and old wooden boats all around. While we explored, several guides were on the lookout, with their shot guns, for polar bears.

The second landing was at Recherchbreen. It is a glacier on another fjord. The huge chunks of ice on the edge of the lake are so beautiful. We saw an artic fox.

Gudrun and me with our twin Trondheim hats.

Some brave souls took a polar plunge!!!