Lost in Iceland…

…is the official motto of Iceland. And a very suiting motto as the landscapes of Iceland can make you lose your way but also because the beauty and wildness and the tenderness of the green moss reflecting in the sunbeams can hypnotize you and make one completely lost in Iceland.

We did not visit Iceland underneath a clear blue sky. Which was actually quite lucky as cloudy weather, mixed with occasional showers and sunlight gives you one of best experiences Iceland can give you. The changing colors of the vegetation in the mountains go from dark to green to silvery dark and then once in a while bright sunbeams sweep over the lava fields. That is simply magnificent.

Having arrived in Reykjavik most of us went on various excursions around the complex and fascinating areas of the southwestern region of Iceland. One cannot mention Reykjavik or Iceland without thinking of the Golden Circle, a tour which takes you to three of the most spectacular and historic places in Iceland. One of the most beautiful waterfalls in Iceland is Gullfoss, the golden waterfall, with its two cascades at right angles. The famous geyser Stori Geysir in Haukadalaur is quiet today, but his little brother Strokkur erupts every 10 minutes starting with a huge blue bubble. The third stop was at Thingvellir the former place of the ancient parliament. Since 2004 belongs Thingvellir to the world heritage of the UNESCO.

Another group travelled along the Ring of Fire in the mountains of Hengill. In this area you find huge geothermic fields, full of steam, heat and a horrible smell of sulfur. One of the highlights was the visit of the new geothermic power plant Hellisheidarvirkjun where we learned about the production of energy and the geology of the area.

Some of us took the more adventures 4*4 big wheel drive into the mountains and across small rivers. It was amazing how steep slopes the cars would be able to climb and the drivers told us that it was not even close to what the cars really was capable of. Luckily we were also driving on ordinary and gravel roads as the physical strain was surprisingly hard when we were jumping all over our seats.

Having finished our tours the cosmopolitan and vibrant capitol of Reykjavik tempted us with its cool and trendy but laidback cafés and restaurants. It is hard to believe that Reykjavik lays just a few hundred kilometers below the Arctic Circle and is in fact the most northern capitol in the World.

Now two sea days await us before arriving to the land of icebergs, sled dogs, lush fiords, the Greenlandic people and hopefully a whale or two…

Water, water, water.

When we left the Faroese Islands yesterday the sea greeted us with its roaring white teeth and fairly high waves. During the night the wind reached 10 on the Beaufort scale, but when we woke up in the morning it was just slightly quieter.

On sea days our lectures are busy preparing and doing their lectures. This day we learned of the old Nordic gods, which religion is actually very closely related to the one of the ancient Greece and Rome with their stories of hero and villains. Or one could attend a humorous lecture about Iceland and the Icelanders. The third lecture was about Iceland today after the financial crash. Our lecture rooms are of course also equipped with projectors and dvdplayers so they function as cinemas. The first movie was an introduction to Iceland and the other one was about the Humpback whale. We have now entered the real North Atlantic waters and whales should with a bit of luck start to greet us.

In the afternoon our bartenders in the Panorama Lounge lured us with freshly made waffles. Either with the Norwegian goat’s cheese or you could choose to have the delicious and dangerously addicting waffles with cream, jam, chocolate, syrup or just sugar.

Luckily the wind did calm down during the day and in the end of the day we were all gently being lulled to sleep after having had the first glimpse of the Icelandic shores in the distance and a wonderful evening. Some crew members entertained us with a wonderful medley of Pop, Latin and Rock, performed by Alexander, Lyn, Marvin, Peter Ryan and Ralf.

A pearl hidden underneath a silver blanket of fog

The Faroese Islands had their beautiful green mountainsides, picturesque fishing villages and fluffy sheep hidden under layer of fog and clouds.

Luckily for us it cleared a little as we went ashore and started the visit on the islands by exploring the capitol Torshavn.

The size of Torshavn was surprising. It is stretched over a large area along the mountainsides of the sheltered bay. One could nearly get lost in the jumble of short streets dotted with grass covered roofs, which is one of the characteristics of the Faroese Islands.

After a short tour around the town center most of us went on our excursions to discover some of the many sights of the islands.

The trip to the island of Vagar gave a good impression of how varied the Faroese Islands are and how easily one can get around due to the extended road connexions and the many tunnels securing the contact between neighboring villages.

Some settlements are only 4 to 5 kilometers away from each other but separated by steep mountainsides that meant it could stop contact for months.

Despite of the windy weather and occasional showers the boat trip near the village of Vestmanna was carried through and some of us had the most spectacular close encounter with the steep cliffs and flying birds.

We left the beautiful islands in the late afternoon and Captain Rune Andreassen made the announcement that we will have some stormy weather. After taking the pills against sea sickness everybody was in a good mood ready for a full day at sea on our way to Iceland.

Water, wind and whisky

Wild, warm and wonderful could also be some of the many words to describe the Orkney and Shetland Islands and their very hospitable and friendly people. The towns are cozy, laidback and have a particular provincial and seaside charm to them.

In Kirkwall at the Orkney Islands we were greeted by what most of us would consider windy weather, but what the locals referred to as a calm day, practically without any wind. It was clearly that most of us come from a gentler climate on mainland Europe. None the less the sun was shining and our visit to the excavations of the Stone Age settlement of Skara Brae was most fascinating. To imagine that people had lived here more than 5000 years ago was hard until seeing the incredible shape the dwellings and other of buildings of the Stone Age people that lived here just by the side of the ocean.

A place of mystery and magic is the Ring of Brodgar, a stone circle of original 60 stones between 2 m and 4 m in height, today 27 stones have remained. It was a place for rituals to celebrate life and therefore several couples love to get married in this magic circle.

One cannot mentions Scotland without thinking of whisky. The visit to the northernmost whisky distillery in Scotland was great. Being explained the process of how to make a single malt whisky and actually seeing the peat burning to give the smoky flavor to the whisky was fascinating. From now on I cannot imagine myself drinking a class of scotch without letting my thoughts go back to the Highland Park distillery in Kirkwall.

Most of us strolled through the small capital with its round about 7000 inhabitants, and right in the centre is one of the most impressive churches of the north ─ St. Magnus Cathedral, which is nearly 1000 years old. It is more than a church, through the centuries it was a community hall, a market place and also a prison, still nowadays it functions as a perfect concert hall.

This morning we woke up in the harbor of the picturesque town of Lerwick, the capitol of the Shetland Islands. In many ways the Shetland Islands resemble the islands of the Orkneys. But each archipelago do have their own very distinct self-awareness and not to forget their own flags. Their flags show the Scandinavian connexion and heritage by the characteristic cross.

Instead of having the whisky as a trademark like the Orkneys and the rest of Scotland the Shetland Islands can boast of their very small but very quite Shetland pony, which is known and loved all over most of the World.

The beautiful weather, we were told, it is very seldom on the Shetlands, invited us for our trips to Jarlshof, a former resident of a Norse Jarl. The eldest buildings at this place dated back to the Stone Age, other are from the bronze and Iron Age. It was fascinating walking around looking at the different buildings, it was like being a time traveler.

Scotland in the sun

In the early morning we reached Aberdeen, Scotland´s third most populous city. There are several nicknames for this town, but “the Silver City with the Golden Sands” is perhaps the nicest one.

The buildings in Aberdeen are built out of a grey Granit, whose mica deposits are shining like silver in the sun. And we had sun. A strong wind blew the clouds of the morning away and for the rest of the day we had sunny weather with dark blue sky. The passengers had time to visit the town by their own or with an excursion.

Some started with a walk through a little fishing settlement, which lied directly next to our berth. The village had a little bit from paradise, little houses with small gardens, playing children in the streets, cars haven´t been allowed. Behind the village there was a nice path along the coast. As it was Sunday even Aberdeen´s inhabitants enjoyed the golden sandy beach with their children or dogs.

Some guests visited “Chrathes Castle” in the surrounding of Aberdeen. The castle is one of the most beautiful and best preserved buildings out of the 16^th century and it is famous for his old paintings on the ceilings.

 In the afternoon passengers had the possibility to enjoy “Pitmedden Garden”, which belongs to Scotland´s National Trust since 1952. 

Another excursion went along the river Dee to Balmoral Castle, summer home of the Royal Family. One highlight of this tour was perhaps, that the Queen herself has been in Balmoral at this time. Just before the passengers arrived, the Queen left the church, so that there was at least a little royal shimmer left behind.

Welcome to Scotland

 

In the morning around eight o’clock we sailed into the lock, that brought us to Leith, the harbor of Edinburgh. A big swarm of gulls greeted us during MV FRAM went alongside the pier. We had our place with MV FRAM directly next to the “Royal Britannia”, the old yard of the Queen, which is a museum now. Just before 9am the harbor authorities cleared the vessel in and we could leave the ship. Some passengers started directly with an excursion to visit the Castle Floors and several Abbeys in the surrounding of Edinburgh. 

Those passengers, which had a tour in the afternoon, used their morning to walk on their own through Edinburgh. A shuttle bus brought everyone directly to the center. From there it was easy to reach the highlights of this historical place. The panorama tour in the afternoon was not only for those guests which were not able to walk longer distances. The explanations of our tour guides gave us a better overview over the history of this old and interesting town. The weather was typical for Scotland; we had rain and sun nearly at the same time.

As we stayed in Leith until 11pm we had the possibility for dinner in one of the authentic restaurants in Edinburgh or Leith. The day, filled up with so many new impressions and information, made us tired. But nevertheless many passengers were sitting in the Panorama Lounge to discuss the day with other guests. Now we are looking forward to Aberdeen, which we will reach tomorrow morning around 8am.

A sea day – A relaxing day?

During the night we could feel already that we are at sea. The ship started to roll and to pitch; the wind was blowing with a Beaufort 7-8. But in our cabins we felt save, perhaps a little bit like a baby in a cradle. As we are heading forward to the west we had to set our clock last night one hour backward, that meant, that our first night aboard was a very long night with 13 hours. Most passengers have been happy about this fact. The travel day to the ship was exhausting and the first afternoon and evening aboard was exciting.

We thought we will have time for relaxing during the day, but we recognized very soon, that a sea day aboard FRAM is different to normal cruise liners. During the day our lecturers prepared us with different kind of lectures for our next destinations. We learned a lot about fish and fishery, about Scotland´s history and seabirds. But between we could find at least some time to relax in the sun on the open decks or in our Panorama Lounge.

The kitchen crew spoiled us during the whole day with buffets, waffles and a dinner menu. Some passengers decided already to throw the scale at home away. But good food can never ever be a sin!

In the evening our talented crew and our pianist Ralf arranged a very nice singing show for us. From now on we could relax really.

Leaving full of impressions - Coming full of expectations



We reached Hamburg our last destination early in the morning. Passengers are sitting with their hand luggage all around the ship, waiting for leaving the ship. There is still time for a last talk to new friends, remembering all the destinations of our wonderful trip. We have seen so much during this voyage, but all have been sure, that London, where Tower Bridge had to be opened only for us, was the highlight of our journey. We are looking forward to come home to share all these experiences with our family and friends. There are many passengers they have booked their next trip aboard FRAM already. It is easier to go, when you know, that you are coming back soon. 

 

 



 

New incoming guests arrived around 3pm. There was time for a coffee or a first cocktail in the bar after the check-in process. Well equipped with our new blue jackets, we arranged our cabins so that we feel home aboard MV FRAM during our trip.

 



 

After the safety drill and a welcome cocktail by our captain Rune Andreassen most passengers went to bed early.