I cant pronounce any Icelandic word! Even the relatively easy ones, like today’s stop, but we will have a special lecture later in the week about how to do it, so maybe it will get better!
It was prettily overcast when we got up, and
By morning, things had calmed down and the clouds started to part over the Kirkjufell mountain and the Snaefellsjokull glacier! By the time we reached port, we had beautiful sunshine! (Still cold, but that’s fine, we brought layers!).
Joe and I chose separate adventures today: I chose the “Lava and Viking Adventure”, while Joe went on to explore the west side of the Peninsula. 
I started with a short climb up “mount" Helgalfell- not really a mount.. But a steep hill with great views of the entire Peninsula.. Legend has it that if you make a “pure wish” (whatever that is) while facing east from the top, it will be granted…. As always when given a chance, I wished for peace on earth.
We then went to the “capital” of the peninsula, Stykkisholm (nope, can't pronounce that one either). Capital is in quotes because it seems too grand a name for the lovely and tiny town - population 1300.
Climbed another rock, admired the city from above,
Our guide noted the unusually Catholic art in this Lutheran church…
This little town is very pretty, particularly on a sunny day like today. And it is hard to beat the beauty and grandeur of the landscape. But it is so isolated!!!! And it’s far from the most isolated place we saw today: This farm, which has its own little church is about 10 miles from it, with nothing else around.
It’s hard to imagine life there in the winter - but it certainly looks like a great place to be a child, a dog, or a sheep…..
These children were jumping from the bridge into the 38 degrees water! Wearing wet suits - but still…. Looking very happy. These Icelandic children are tough!!!!
We continued on to the “shark museum” - it's not really a shark museum. It’s a “fermented Greenland shark museum”.
That’s a very cool story. Greenland sharks (which can live to at least 400 years, making it the longest living vertebrate on earth) are no longer legal to fish. But, they sometimes get caught in the nets of fishermen, particularly in the winter when the water surface is cold. In the summer, they’ll dive down thousands of feet to seek cold water. When they get caught and die, it’s OK to process the meat for food. However, the Greenland shark, unprocessed, will kill you (Urea and other toxins make it inedible). So, to make it safe, you first have to ferment it (basically, put it in a pile and wait 8 weeks for lactic fermentation to do its thing) .
It is then safe to eat, but they smoke it for 8 weeks, so that it can keep for years. It has kept generations of Icelanders and Greenlanders alive through the winters….. now, it is a “delicacy”…. In quotes, because fermented shark - even smoked- tastes like ammonia and has the consistency of tough rubber bands. So the trick is to eat it with a shot of straight vodka. I think my face says it all…..
Before going back to the boat, we stopped by the 
While I was doing this, Joe was exploring the west side of the Peninsula which, unfortunately for him, was on the wrong side of the cloud bank. Still, he followed the cliffs and saw many pretty sites too.
And, as always, there were many pretty wild flowers. I plan on taking some pictures of the ship itself tomorrow morning, because it is very nice. But after the evening’s gala diner, I may just sleep late…..
I started with a short climb up “mount" Helgalfell- not really a mount.. But a steep hill with great views of the entire Peninsula.. Legend has it that if you make a “pure wish” (whatever that is) while facing east from the top, it will be granted…. As always when given a chance, I wished for peace on earth.
We then went to the “capital” of the peninsula, Stykkisholm (nope, can't pronounce that one either). Capital is in quotes because it seems too grand a name for the lovely and tiny town - population 1300.
Climbed another rock, admired the city from above,
and visited the oddly large (and beautiful in a very modern kind of way) Lutheran church.
This little town is very pretty, particularly on a sunny day like today. And it is hard to beat the beauty and grandeur of the landscape. But it is so isolated!!!! And it’s far from the most isolated place we saw today: This farm, which has its own little church is about 10 miles from it, with nothing else around.
It’s hard to imagine life there in the winter - but it certainly looks like a great place to be a child, a dog, or a sheep…..
We continued on to the “shark museum” - it's not really a shark museum. It’s a “fermented Greenland shark museum”.
That’s a very cool story. Greenland sharks (which can live to at least 400 years, making it the longest living vertebrate on earth) are no longer legal to fish. But, they sometimes get caught in the nets of fishermen, particularly in the winter when the water surface is cold. In the summer, they’ll dive down thousands of feet to seek cold water. When they get caught and die, it’s OK to process the meat for food. However, the Greenland shark, unprocessed, will kill you (Urea and other toxins make it inedible). So, to make it safe, you first have to ferment it (basically, put it in a pile and wait 8 weeks for lactic fermentation to do its thing) .
It is then safe to eat, but they smoke it for 8 weeks, so that it can keep for years. It has kept generations of Icelanders and Greenlanders alive through the winters….. now, it is a “delicacy”…. In quotes, because fermented shark - even smoked- tastes like ammonia and has the consistency of tough rubber bands. So the trick is to eat it with a shot of straight vodka. I think my face says it all…..
Before going back to the boat, we stopped by the
Kirkjufellsfoss water fall (I’m getting a hang on how to build Icelandic language: this means “ the falls at the Church mountain”. 
New words are built by adding them at the end of other words, which is why they have such long words. If you recognize that mountain (the one on top of the blog) it’s probably because it has been in many movies, most notably “Lord of the Rings”, where it was called Arrowhead Mountain. It was quite crowded at the falls because one of the large cruise ship had dropped anchor too: compare it
New words are built by adding them at the end of other words, which is why they have such long words. If you recognize that mountain (the one on top of the blog) it’s probably because it has been in many movies, most notably “Lord of the Rings”, where it was called Arrowhead Mountain. It was quite crowded at the falls because one of the large cruise ship had dropped anchor too: compare it
to the size of the small town next to it……..
