An introduction to Iceland

Ted. Leaving Greenland, we sailed east for two days, even crossing the Arctic Circle for a moment, to reach Iceland, a place of legends. 

From the 1,200 year old Icelandic Sagas to the stories we’ve heard from folks who visit Iceland, again and again, people just can’t stop talking about the place. It was finally time for us to get our own sense of the Land of Fire and Ice. 

Our ship’s first port of call was Akureyri, “the Capital of North Iceland.” The weather was in the mid 50’s and sunny so we set out on foot. The Akureyri Museum was interesting as was the lovely botanical garden. Lunch was at a backpackers cafe where we met our buddies Mike and Nancy for relatively inexpensive fish sandwiches and beer. 

The next morning we arrived at Isafjordur in a region called the the Westfiords. While the fjord was majestic, the weather was bleak. I was recovering from a Greenlandic cold so I didn’t even get off the ship. Judy opted to explore a wee bit as her back was continuing to heal. 

On day 13 of our cruise, we arrived at our final destination - the capital city of Reykjavík. Coincidentally, Mike and Nancy had booked the same hotel as us so, after dropping off our bags, the four of us explored the town. 

A former student of Judy's, named Terrence, has an Icelandic friend who arranged for us to attend a popular entertainment call “The Lava Show.” We learned a lot about volcanos (there are 130 in Iceland!) and got to watch a fascinating live lava flow. 

This was all very nice but, so far, we had only seen the coastline and three towns in Iceland. While they were each interesting, it is the countryside that most people talk about. But that rates a post of its own…

A glimpse of Greenland

Ted. Two days after leaving St John’s, Newfoundland we sailed into the harbor of Qaqortoq, Greenland. With a population of just over 3,000, this fishing village is one of the largest towns in the country (total population 56,000). 

We only had nine hours in port but, since we had chosen not to take any excursions, we had plenty of time to explore on foot. Since it was around 50 degrees Fahrenheit and drizzly, that would require ducking inside someplace to warm up every hour. 

As our tender pulled up to the city pier, we heard church bells ringing which reminded us that this was a Sunday so we walked uphill to attend the morning service at the new Lutheran church (the old one being closed). 

The lady pastor was just wrapping up communion so we figured that we had missed the service. Alas, they had communion first at this church with the Bible readings and sermon afterwards. I don’t know if that was a Greenlandic tradition or they inherited the liturgy from the Danish church. Either was possible as Greenland has been a semi autonomous possession of Denmark since the 19th century. The country has a fascinating history so check it out on Wikipedia one day. 

After church we explored the Qaqortoq Museum and the Norse Museum. At the latter, I asked a staff member (an English speaking Greenlander) if there was much interaction in the 11th century between the Norse (led by Erik the Red) and the indigenous peoples. He told us “We stayed away from those people and they eventually went away.” That was probably wise because the Norse, in those days, did not always make good neighbors. 

After wandering a bit more we enjoyed some hot chocolate at the pier served by shivering crew members, we returned to our ship. Once everyone was back on board, our ship cruised around the local waters for a while, giving everyone great up close views of the dozens of icebergs floating past. 

We ended the day with dinner at a specialty restaurant located at the stern of the ship. Seated along the huge windows, we enjoyed spectacular views of more icebergs floating past while savoring our wonderful food and wine. Like clouds, the shapes were fantastical and we had fun giving them names such as “the plane” or “the whale.” 

With a storm fast approaching, our captain made a wise decision to skip a planned visit to Prince Christian Sound the next day and we made a beeline east towards Iceland. That night we encountered 65 mph winds and 17 foot seas that night but it would have been much worse had we stuck around Greenland. 

It doesn’t happen much anymore but during this brief visit to a vast land, we were able to experience something for the first time. Judy and I now know, firsthand, that icebergs are cool (pun intended).

Cruising the Maritimes

Ted. On August 4th we set sail from Cape Liberty, New Jersey.  After checking out the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan we passed (barely) under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and headed out to sea. As you can see, the storms were finally blowing out of New Jersey and into New York. On board, we heard lots of stories about folks who missed flights and barely made it to the ship before departure. 

It took two days to reach our first port of call, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Having spent a month there back in 2018 we knew the city well and chose to return to several favorite destinations; the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and St Paul’s Church. Even though Judy was doing well, we were glad that we used her transport chair to get around.  The highlight was a stop at McKelvie’s Restaurant for a tasty lobster roll. 

Two days later we arrived at St John’s, Newfoundland where a rental car awaited. Mike and Nancy, who hail from Santa Barbara, CA, joined us for a day exploring local sites. 

From Signal Hill, we looked down on "The Narrows," which is the skinny entrance to St John's Harbor. Our ship had scooted through with just 100 feet from the rocks on either side.

Next we drove south to Cape Spear, the easternmost point of North America.

Another short drive took us to the fishing village of Petty Harbor. We ate lunch at Chafe’s Landing where we munched on fresh cod and chips, lobster sliders and moose burgers. The fries came with dressing (like at Thanksgiving) and gravy; a riff on poutine which I much preferred. By the way, Judy used her hiking poles all day (no transport chair) and walked over three miles. She is amazing! 

At dinner that night, we chatted with Bob and Pamela from Longboat Key, Florida who told us the story of Bob's first visit to Newfoundland which was right out of the Broadway musical Come From Away! Yes, Bob was on a flight from Paris to Miami when the attacks on Sept 11 occurred and his flight, along with many others, was diverted to Gander. Yes, he spent the six days there enjoying the hospitality of the locals (causing an acute rum shortage) and yes, they have returned on occasion to maintain those friendships. Apparently the authors of the play got it exactly right. How cool is that!

After dinner, we enjoyed a final glimpse of the coastline of Newfoundland, sailing northeast into the Labrador Sea, on our way to Greenland where more adventures await.

Driving Miss Daisy

Ted. After Judy published her most recent post, we heard a few questions from folks inquiring as to whether or not we were still planning to take our three month trip to Europe. Well, that would be a big YES! 

We considered the pros and cons and concluded, what the heck. Sure, there will be a few adjustments to make but it will be worth it. Her back pain is not gone but it is definitely reduced so, with the addition of her transport chair, Ruby, we hopped on a shuttle from Athens to the Atlanta yesterday morning at 8:30 am bound for Newark, New Jersey. From there, we would board a ship on Sunday for a cruise across the North Atlantic. 

Our first clue that this would not be a normal day occurred when our United Airlines flight from Atlanta to Newark was cancelled about an hour before boarding. Using the app we were able to find a couple of seats on another flight leaving an hour later. This allowed us to have a relaxing lunch near the gate. 

Once in the air, we learned that the Newark airport was closed due to severe thunderstorms. We circle Rochester, New York (right?) for a couple of hours and then finally landed…in Cleveland, Ohio! Yeah, it’s nowhere near Newark but apparently that was the best place to explore options to travel on to Newark. 

It did work out because United gassed up our plane and found a new crew and we took off again towards Newark (which was still closed). Yes, we did eventually end up there last night and after finding our luggage (another miracle) straggled into our hotel around 11:00 at night. It had been a long day but Judy held up great! Me? I was a bit frazzled. 

We are now enjoying a relaxing morning at our hotel and listening to horror stories from other travelers. Hundreds of people are still stuck and the hotels are packed. We often read about 1,000’s of flights being cancelled because of weather, strikes, global outages, etc but have never actually experienced it. That’s amazing considering how much flying we do. 

In a couple of hours we will Uber down to the Cape Liberty Cruise Port to board the Celebrity Eclipse for a 12 night cruise to Reykjavik, Iceland. 

Our route

After our cruise ends, we plan to remain in Iceland for a couple days and then travel to Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and France before returning to Athens, Georgia on November 1. 

Will we have more hiccups along the way? Possibly. Will Judy have uncomfortable days? Maybe. Will we see incredible sights, meet long time friends and family and make wonderful new acquaintances? Keep reading and find out. Meanwhile, I’ll just keep driving Miss Daisy!

Summer

Judy. Every time we return to the States, we talk about the stress of trying to see everyone we want to see, visit all our doctors, get back involved at church, etc. But nothing prepared us for the summer that awaited us in Georgia.

As Ted has told you, his dad's illness and rapid decline hung over us when we got back. Ted went out for a short visit, and, as things looked good, came home for us to pack up and take Caed on his promised trip to Washington, DC. He had carefully set out an agenda, which we mostly met, and we had a great trip. Number one on his list was a visit to the Lincoln Memorial, which we were able to do on the last day. It was a good time for all of us. We also got to celebrate Parker's 22nd birthday and Caed's "moving on" ceremony to middle school in the fall.

Caed contemplating President Lincoln

The boys are growing up

A couple of days back from that trip, we drove to Orlando to see the Rolling Stones, something we haven't done in years. We met some cool people, and had a rollicking good time. However, on our way to the show, Ted's sister, Kathy called to say that their Dad had been hospitalized and was having surgery. The next day, we learned that a second surgery was being planned so we took off for the Atlanta airport to get Ted to Denver as soon as possible. Thank goodness Ted was able to sit with his dad and sisters and to be with him as Andy left this life on June 6. It was not easy, but, in Ted's words, it was a good death. Ted helped his sisters with some immediate needs and they began planning a a memorial reception for July 16 to which we would drive, rather than fly.

After Ted's return to Athens, we had a few good days--he got involved once again with the men's group at church and I signed up for a book study and for a yoga class. Life settled in.

Then, one Saturday when Stefan and his boys were here, and we had three of the four grandsons, my back seized up with a pinched nerve, and just like that, I was bedridden. We got to the spine specialist for some oral meds, and made an appointment for an injection when we returned from his dad's memorial gathering. We made a bed in the back seat of Raymond, our truck and headed west.

That did NOT go well, and by the time we got to my friend Terry's home in Kansas, I was moved into his guest room while Ted continued on to Denver. I couldn't have asked for a better nurse, though it was not the fun-filled visit Terry and I always had. As soon the service in Denver was wrapped up, Ted picked me up in Kansas and we drove back to Athens, where I have spent the remainder of our time here in Georgia either in bed or taking 1/2 block walks.

It was humbling. It IS humbling. I've always been fine, and there to help others. Now, Team Judy sprang into action to help me, with proper medication doses, with a transport chair, with visits, food, calls, and offers of help. I became weak from inability to exercise and lost weight. I cried as much from frustration as from pain.

Ruby, my new transport chair

When things go wrong, Ted says, "What does this make possible?" Well, I couldn't really see good in this, but as days went by, I learned a lot. I finally am able to talk about what happens when we can't do this traveling any more. I'm willing to slow down and use the transport chair. I'm forced--and, dare I say, happy?--to accept help from the people around me. I have come to terms with the fact that I am not invincible. Our daughter, Leslie checks in on me regularly and son, Stefan calls. Friends near and far keep tabs on me, and I am more than grateful.

When I told my friend Donna that mornings are difficult, she made me this "mug rug" to cheer me

Among those who have held me emotionally are folks from Emmanuel, where we're finally settling in and becoming involved. Having a home church is comforting and strengthening, and Emmanuel has provided that. I couldn't capture photos of everyone there, but these four staff members have been touchstones for me. 

Emmanuel staff Anna, Rev. Katie, Martha, and Fr. Samuel

I don't love this life lesson, but it's been a good one. Y'all, keep reminding me, ok?