Happy Birthday to grandson, Spenser. A cloudy morning with intermittent showers, a temperature of 2 C. We are off this morning on a coach trip to tour Rekavjik. Leaving at 9:30, we drive into town from the harbor, stopping first at the residence where Reagan and Gorbachov met for the first disarmament talks; the start of the ending of the Cold War. A relatively unpretentious house that was owned by the French Consulate.
Next to the large church in the center of town. This is a cathedral (Lutheran) and a very impressive structure. It is fronted by a large statue of Lief Ericisson, donated by the USA in 1930 to recognize the 1,000 year anniversary of the founding of Icelandic democracy. Lief Erricisson discovered Greenland and the North American continent, well before Christopher Columbus stopped by to inaugurate the European theft of Native American lands.
Next a drive around downtown, passing the Harpa concert hall ( glassed to resemble the northern lights.) Onward next to the "pearl." Over 75% of heat in Iceland is provided by central geothermal hot water piped around the city. This building is on a high point in the city; it consists of 5 large water tanks, 3 of which are held at 80 C and two of which are at 30 C. The purpose is to provide emergency water to the city for heating and for hot water use. On 4th and 5th stories of the building are an observation platform and restaurant, where we stopped for a view and a cup of coffee. Actually only a draining of prior coffee, although one of our intrepid duo was disappointed that we didn't get a cuppa.
Onward to the President's home. This is out on peninsula, and is next door to a very tidy Lutheran church. There was no apparent security around the home, and we were cautioned to stay only around the church and cemetery in order to respect the President's privacy. Very civil.
As the rain started, we loaded back onto the coach for a drive around pointing out various buildings, and eventually back to the ship around 12:30 PM. We dropped our things and ventured to the Raffles Bistro on the upper deck for lunch. Pizza and pasta, with a very nice buffet. We will stop up here again. Down to our cabin to decide what to do with the balance of our day. It appears, napping and reading in our cabin was a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon - so we did.
For dinner we chose fish, and dined alone, as one of our table mates was not feeling well and was in the infirmary. We then attended a short concert on the main stage by the violin/pianist duo that we had been listening to in our favorite lounge. Very impressive, although evidently neither speaks much English; an emcee announced each piece. We were in bed at 11:00 and slept the balance of the day away.
