A Second Cancelled Port

Our visit to Heimaey in the Westman Islands was cancelled today — the second port of this cruise we’ve lost to the weather. Nana and I had been looking forward to hiking out to see the puffins. I had a feeling something was amiss when I woke in the night to the sound of the ship’s fog horn, and sure enough, we came up to dense fog and a heavy swell rolling in off the ocean. The captain came on the intercom to explain that tenders had actually been lowered, but with the swell running as it was, bringing passengers ashore was simply too dangerous. Another sea day it would be.

A Slow Day at Sea

The internet has been painfully slow in this part of the world, so instead of catching up online, Nana and I made our own fun — long walks around the deck, a few games of cribbage, and an episode or two of Stargate that I’d downloaded before we lost signal. After yesterday’s solar eclipse, everyone on board took the change in stride. It’s hard to be too disappointed about a lost port when you’ve just watched the sun disappear behind the moon.

Arrival in Reykjavik

Today, Friday, August 14, we sailed into Reykjavik for our excursion, “Discover Reykjavík” — a complimentary tour arranged through our travel agent. We began with a panoramic drive past the city’s landmarks, including Höfði House, the striking white building on the waterfront where Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev held their 1986 summit. The talks didn’t produce a formal agreement, but historians still point to that meeting as one of the turning points that helped bring the Cold War to a close.

The Pufa and the Concert Hall

From there we stopped at the Pufa, a grassy knoll once used by locals to dry fish in the open air — a small, unassuming spot with a lot of everyday history behind it. We also passed the Harpa Concert Hall, home to the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Opera, and caught sight of the Leif Eriksson statue standing watch over the city.

Hallgrímskirkja

We stopped at Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik’s soaring Lutheran church named for the 17th-century Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson. Nana loves churches, and this one didn’t disappoint — its concrete spire, shaped to echo Iceland’s basalt columns, is visible from almost anywhere in the city.

The Pearl

Next came Perlan — “The Pearl” — a striking glass dome perched atop the city’s old hot-water storage tanks. Inside, we found puffins, walked through a man-made ice tunnel, and even took a ride simulating a journey through a volcano. Perlan’s 360-degree observation deck gave us sweeping views of Reykjavik and the surrounding coastline, and its exhibits dug into the forces that shape Iceland — volcanoes, earthquakes, and geothermal energy — alongside a remarkably lifelike bird cliff filled with the sounds and sights of Iceland’s coastal wildlife.

Chasing the Northern Lights, Indoors

We also caught Perlan’s Aurora show, which blends science and storytelling to explain the Northern Lights — part physics lesson, part light show. It was a fitting stop after a trip that’s already given us one once-in-a-lifetime sky show.

Árbær Open Air Museum

Our last stop was the Árbær Open Air Museum, a living history museum on the outskirts of Reykjavik. Historic turf houses, old farm buildings, and relocated pieces of the city’s early architecture are scattered across the grounds, with guided tours bringing traditional Icelandic crafts and seasonal customs to life.

Next port of call: Runavik, Faroe Islands.