6/15/26 We arrived in Reykjavik early in the morning. Passport control was a bit of a mess as although they had rows and rows of the automatic machines, not a single one was turned on. They were also very short staffed. We spent about 45 minutes waiting in line. Our hotel room at the Exeter would not be available until the afternoon, so we walked around the Old Harbor area and stopped by the Saga Museum that we had missed last year. It was an interesting way to explore the hi

July 27, 2025 Eldfell is on the far left of the town of Heimaey. The rocky outcrop at the left of the harbor was form by the lava from the eruption. Notice how if they had not stopped the lava flow, it could have completely blocked the harbor. In 1973, Heimaey fought a gripping battle with the Eldfell (Hill of Fire) volcano. It caught the people of Heimaey by surprise as the local volcano Helgafell had long been dormant. However, that fateful night in January, a new fissure

July 26, 2025 Today we said farewell to Reykjavik as we began our Northwest Passage cruise on Seabourn Venture. We sailed around the Reykjanes Peninsula where the volcano is erupting, but it was still light out and overcast and the peninsula was quite far away, so no lava was seen. Although Brent and I had no luck seeing the volcano, our Image Master photographer, Max Unterharnscheidt had been to the Blue Lagoon area where the volcano was erupting and got some truly amazing p

July 25, 2025 Today, we walked in the opposite direction to explore downtown Reykjavik. Here I am in front of the hotel (the Exeter) before we began our walk. Our first stop was the Settlement House. They built this unique museum atop the excavation of an early Viking settlement in Reykjavik. After learning the history of the early Vikings, we then traveled forward in time to see Reykjavik's growth throughout the years. After the Settlement House, we made our way to Iceland'