Iceland to Oakland, Tuesday, 4 August 2026

 We awoke refreshed and headed out to Stanholt for lovely breakfast, a place Madeleine had recommended. Barney had waffles and bacon and skyr with berries, I had avocado smoked salmon toast on sourdough bread and good coffees. We walked back along a main commercial and strolling street with many shops, looking for a nice puffin t-shirt for Barney, and finally found one. We also saw a shop with two polar board models out from and a real taxidermied polar bear inside, which was at least 9 feet tall.back to the hotel, check out and load up the car, and headed to the airport. After the car return, we learned that we were too early to check out bags, so we cooled our jets for an hour at a cafe (third coffee of the day) and finally found the right place to check in. We spent about 3 hours in the very nice Icelandair Saga lounge with some traditional food for lunch and a place to relax, then off to board for the long flights home. Something I noticed, almost everywhere, was the constant anonymous pop rock with machine thumping drums. 

Greenland was a revelation: wild, beautiful, majestic, sparsely populated, focused mostly on an earlier way of life. Truly an incredible place. And yes, Greenland is not for sale. Iceland is bigger, urban at least in Reykjavik, with a fairly mature tourism industry, fun, hip, rural, with beautiful glaciers and coastline. I feel lucky that we have had the chance to experience both of these places.

Iceland, Monday, 3 August 2026

We woke up early today to go horseback riding nearby. I was so excited about this as I haven’t been riding in many years. We went to Hester og Fjoll, a family-owned and ru; riding place, that offered rides from 1-4 hours. Given our time constraints, and Barney’s very limited experience with riding, we opted for the one hour ride along the river. We arrived at the stable - I thought we’d be late but we were the first on the groups to arrive - to two small dogs and a cat who greeting us, and the owner, Veronica. She introduced us to our guide, and showed us a selection of helmets to find one that fit. We changed into our hiking books and waterproof pants, though it was bright and sunny, and opted for sweaters only, no jacket. Veronica gave us a briefing on Icelandic horses: smaller than Western horses but muscular, you can approach from either side, they don’t really kick if you walk behind them, the reins are two-handed but used more like Western reins, though the saddle is a modified English one. My horse was named Adis, which means goddess, a pretty russet (I was told she was a diva)  and Barney’s was Boden, a big chestnut. We mounted (harder than I remember) and went off for a lovely ride along a small creek and through beautiful green fields with a view of the glacier. Our guide, Anna, was a young Swedish woman who had already spent time in the US and Australia. We chatted about travel and Greenland as she led the two of us on the trail. We went up and down a few gullies which was exciting for Barney. The biggest moment was when we saw two mares nd their foals running along the fence nearby, and Adis really wanted to run over there. Anna mentioned that she is crazy about the foals, perhaps had one earlier, and she always tries to run after them, and come between the foals and their mothers. It took me a few minutes to get her back under control. A few times w stopped so Anna could open a fence and she said it was fine for the horses to graze on the lush grass. It felt really good to be back on a horse again, though Barney was not comfortable until about halfway through the ride. We returned to the stable and said farewell and took some photos of the horses in the field. 

We backtrack3 about 30 minutes to the Skogar Museum, an outdoor and folk building museum. We toured the turf houses, tiny church rebuilt with interior, altar, lights, and mor from various 16th-19th century churches, a small schoolhouse, and a three-part outage with bedrooms above where the animals were kept, to use the warmth. We also saw an early 20th century Pelton wheel-driven electric generator. Inside the folks museum was an amazing array of clothing, tools, embroidery, furniture, and other artifacts from earlier Iceland. We didn’t have time to see everything, but did note a foot-driven lathe, the glass bottles used to send messages from remote islands, a full-size fishing boat that had a crew of 12, lovely rosmaled furniture and embroidery, all sorts of metal artifacts from buckets and stirrups to hooks and weapons. There was a small cafeteria that looks like a tea room, all lace and flowers and decorated like the English countryside, where we split an order of fish and chips and a piece of blueberry pie, the cod of the fish was excellent and so fresh.

Our next stop for the day was our booking at the Secret Lagoon, a geothermal pool about 90 minutes away. All along the drive we had been noting some self-correcting features of the car.  This feature saved us when someone came across the middle line on highway 1, it automatically applied the brakes and Barney steered away. Sometimes it tried to take over the steering wheel when Barney was changing lanes without using the turn indicator, imagine if there was this feature in American cars! There was also a drowsy driver monitoring infrared camera did not work well, and we covered it with a post it note, as it kept coming on and saying Barney needed to take a break when he was not tired and even had both hands on the wheel. I looked online and the central round port that looked like a came4a was supposedly there for an analog clock that could be chosen. Nevertheless, once I covered the “eye”  he no longer got the alerts, and on another website I read that the yellow eye symbol kept coming on had to do with an infrared viewer that watched for drowsiness. So I was right, and it was a spy camera.

We drove north into the countryside and srrive$ at the Secret Lagoon, site of the oldest pool in Ic3land, built in the 19040s. The main pool was about 40° and a side pool was 35° while the cold plunge was 6°. Edged with rock and with a gravel floor, the pool was fed by the. Darby little geyser which made a small 12-18”) eruption every so often, and out out a somewhat sulfurous smell. It was filled with local families as well as tourists. We small around for a while, tried the cold plunge and then the warm pool. It was a lovely break, especially as Barney had been doing so much driving.

We decided to make our final stop the Gullfoss falls, which turned out to be a good decision. The falls are about 90 minutes from Reykjavik so there were a lot of folks there, was as it was after 4pm, there were likely fewer than midday. The falls were incredibly dramatic, a two ride cascade with an enormous amount of. water. Gullfoss had a huge waterflow over the two-tier falls, usually 250 cubic meters per second most of the time, but as much as 1,000 cubic meters per second during the spring melt, enough to fill four Olympic swimming pools in one second. There was a rainbow off to one side, which seemed like the perfect ending to this wonderful trip.

We turned back toward Reykjavík, a somewhat busier drive than the. Kind of driving we’s been doing the past four days, and a total of at least 4.5 hours of driving today for Barney, which was a lot. We found our way to the Hotel Eyja, in a residential area of Reykjavik, simple and very Scandinavian. It was interesting being back in a city filled with dense apartment buildings after being in the wide-open and sparsely-populated countryside for four days. We had dinner at the ROK, a small plates place that Reuben recommended, within sight of the main cathedral, which was delicious (cured deer and duck confit with bacon were a highlight). We had a nice 20 minute walk both ways, then went to our final repacking to prepare to leave tomorrow. The comfy four-posted bed was nice, and we both slept well.

Iceland, Sunday, 2 August 2026

 We woke up to a gorgeous day, with views from our room that spanned the three glaciers nearby. Absolutest stunning. After a lovely breakfast, we packed up, reluctantly, to depart. We headed out, stopped by a place with a great view of a Jokuldarlon glacier, and took a short walk along the ridge the to see the glacier. It was amazing to see even more of the icebergs which had cleaved off that glacier swimming gently toward the sea.

After a long drive, about an hour, to the Skftafell entry to the whole Jokusarlon national park, from which started the  Svartifoss trail. Little did we know that while it was only 2 km in distance, it had a lot of up and down, with a 130m elevation gain. To be honest, this was not what I had expected, and we had to stop more than a few times to rest and catch our breath. We kept on, and were rewarded with views of the Svartisfoss black basalt falls. The sight of the Svartifoss falls with the amazing vertical black basalt columns that framed the falls was impressive and worth the hike. It was 50 minutes up and about 25 minutes down. We grabbed a Parma ham sandwich at the cafe to split, and headed out. Next stop, the Black BeachSuite where we will stay.

The Black Bech Suites are lovely, ours has a  beautiful view of the black sand beaches below. We went off to dinner at Smiðyan Brugghus in Vik for burgers and beers, which were good, and to another black sand beach briefly.

Our last stop was the lighthouse area and overlook. We finally saw some puffins flying into their nests, very exciting! There was one small area in the path which overlooked the grassy part of the black cliffs which stuck out a ways, and this was puffin central. Once we found that spot, we stayed for almost an hour, and saw them coming and going, buzzing back and forth on their fast wings, diving into their nests hidden by the tall grass. There were two that landed about 8 feet below us, so we saw them go in and out, there was an overhang so we could not see them in the nest close up. This was much closer than the ones we saw on Vigur Island, so I was very glad we got to see them here. They look so comical in a way, their coloring so bright and distinct. I can understand why every shop we have seen has puffin something’s for sale. There must be millions of stuffed puffin toys in Iceland.

We ended the evening on the deck, watching the sort-of sunset, and realized how lucky we are to have this experience. I’m glad we had our independent days after the expedition rather than before, as we are long past jet lag and can really enjoy it.

Off to bed as we have a 9:00 am horseback riding appointment!

Iceland, Saturday, 1 August 2026

 A lovely sunny day in Iceland, and after a simple breakfast, we were out for the day. First on our list was Stjornarfoss waterfall, an unusual waterfall in a dome shape. Hardy anyone there expect one group of older German tourists, and once they left, we enjoyed this tranquil location, complete with a small group of sheep. The off to Fjalasarlon for the Glacier lagoon tour at 12:30, which we made by 10 minutes. Outfitted in heavy waterproof jackets they provided and our own waterproof pants, we hiked down to the zodiac landing. The trip was wonderful, moving among the smaller icebergs, marveling at the foot of the glacier, and seeing where a huge part of the glacier had recently calved and created a new ice field. We learned that this glacier is receding by 3 feet (1 meter) every week, and the lake we are now in has only existed since the 1950 - before that, the glacier went all the way to the sea. This is climate change writ very large and irrefutable. Our pilot, Igor (from Poland) was quite passionate about the concerns about climate change and how we as individuals could do something about it. When you are in front of a receding glacier, it is hard to imagine not being concerned about this. At one point, Igor pulled up a small iceberg and said someone would get to make a wish on it before returning tot he sea. I volunteered, and we’ll see if my wish comes true.

After the zodiac ride, we had a fairly mediocre lunch in the adjoining cafeteria, a salad for me, some curry and veggies for Barney. Then off to drive through beautiful” countryside to Höfn, where we will stay for the night. It was a lovely drive, and we kept seeing new fingers of the giant Jokulsarlon glacier at every turn. We saw many sheep and quite a few horses as well as cows. we even saw a group of horses being herded by a person on an ATV. It was quite pastoral. We came upon our place for the evening, the Fosshotel Jukusarlon, and wow, it was lovely! We got to our room and found that they had upgraded up to a suite on the corner with a view of three glaciers which was breathtaking. I can hardly remember being in a place so beautiful. We enjoyed the huge bathtub and some time to relax. Views of the three glaciers from our room were spectacular, and I even took photos in the middle of the night when I kept waking up from coughing, still gorgeous outside.

Iceland, Friday, 31 July 2026

We had a good night’s sleep (finally)  and enjoyed the breakfast n the hotel. We saw a number of folks from the ship and said our goodbyes. They had some cod liver oil there to take tiny shots, so I got some for Barney so he could try it - I remember having this as a kid but he had never had it. Then back upstairs to finalize packing and check out. We walked to the marina area, about 20 minutes, to get our rental car. All that sent smoothly, and when e drove back to the hotel to pick up ou bags, we. Magically foods a parking space right on the square by the hotel. Checked out and loaded up, we headed out for our solo adventure in Iceland. 

Our very first stop was the Geothermal Exhibition, which Barney, being an amazing mechanical engineer, loved. It explained how geothermal power works, why this was done in that location, and how this now powers 99% of the power and hot water in Reykjavik as well as much of the rest of the country. Truly amazing, and the huge turbines and condensers were a marvel. It was quite windy out, so we ate our duck confit in the car with some fruit, and then headed off for our waterfall adventures. 

First was Urridafoss, a relatively small (18 meters) waterfall that drops into a crevasses and then flows into a narrow area of channel. It was a surprise to even find it there, as the area looked so flat. Then on to Hella, which was honesty a disappointment After driving around the tony town looking for a cafe where we could et some coffee, we finally had to go to the gas station + grocery + coffee place by the side of the road, got some coffee (and Kleenex for the car), used the bathroom, and off we went. Sadly we found no “I Hella Heart Hella” t-shirt for Madeleine, not a t-shirt or souvenir store in sight. 

We arrived at Seljalandsfoss, one of the huge waterfalls, raked and joined the large group of folks walking toward this enormous aterfall. This was the one where you can walk behind it. We got on our waterproof pants and jackets an headed for the waterfall. Very glad we had suited up, because some people were n short or jeans and t-shirts and got completely soaked by the spray. It was exhilarating to feel the force of the wind and water, knowing that we would not get wet, and we somehow managed to even take a few photos. It was crowded there, though, and we were glad to move on.

Our net stop was Skogafoss, near the living history Musem we will visit o the way back. An immense waterfall, we walked along the rocky paths and actually stood on the black basalt rocks in the middle of where the waterfall dumped again getting quite wet but e were prepared. Now I have a better understanding of what these huge waterfalls mean and why they are so popular.

We had along drive ahead of us to the hotel, so off we went, and took an interesting detour around a circular road that allowed us to get some good photos of a glacier and see some interesting guesthouses in the middle of a working farm. On the way we saw many white plastic wrapped bales of hay and silage for the animals - they are wrapped in plastic to protect them form spoiling in the rain and to slightly warm them so certain nutrients would grow. We also saw bales wrapped in black, green and blue plastic, but apparently white is preferred.  We saw sheep, horses, cows, and so much green that it looked like Ireland. It was very different than the rocky coastlines of Greenland with minimal greenery.

We arrived at the Hotel Kayla, checked into our room which had a nice view of the bay, enjoyed a dinner of lamb shanks and Arctic char, and headed to the room to do some planing for the next day. The trip to Hofn tomorrow should be fun,

Greenland to Iceland, Thursday, 30 July 2026

 The day to depart the ship has arrived. Up at 5:00am, finish packing the split bags, one we will take on your road trip, one we will leave at the hotel, breakfast, and then 8:00am head to Nuuk. we have the chance for a short drive through town on the bus, and then a walk to the National Museum, where I could have spent the day but we had only about 45 minutes.  The artifacts were amazing, and we saw only a small bit of the collection. After that back to the plus to head to the airport. Meanwhile, Reuben was wearing his “Greenland Is Not For Sale” t-shirt, and his bus guide happened to be the youngest member of Parliament in Greenland and she loved his short, took a photo and asked where he was from. We hope to see this on Instagram soon.

We made it to the airport, only to wait an extra half hour for some reason, and then finally piled on the plane. Once we arrived in Reykjavik, we headed to yet another bus, and waited, and then the 45-minute drive to Reykjavik brought us back to the familiar Parliament HOtel. Instead for dinner in the restaurant, there was a box dinner (in a bag) which we took so we could have it for lunch the next day while on the road. I had made a reservation at Apotek for the five of us, which was fun, though a bit noisy. The portions were large (and expensive) and the shared duck platter for two could have fed three or four people, included duck burgers on waffles, a leg of duck confit, some duck pate, and some delicious duck breast sliced on marinated mushrooms. We took the leg of duck confit back to the hotel to save for lunch the next day. We said Farrell to John an Reuben and Jenny, who had to leave on the 7:00am bus for the airport.

We finally got to bed at a reasonable hour after some repacking, at 10:00pm, knowing we could sleep in a bit the next day.

Greenland, Nordre Isortoq Fjord, Wednesday, 29 July 2026

Feeling virtuous after attending the stretch class again this morning, I enjoyed a Croque Madame for breakfast, then off to get ready. Putting on our long underwear, waterproof pants, and muck boots for the last time, we went kayaking in the fjord, which was relaxing and so nice. A few times Barney and I stopped paddling and just talked, something it can be hard to do in our busy lives. We are both so grateful and keenly aware of how fortunate we are to have good health, a wonderful family, good friends, interesting work and volunteer communities, and especially the resources to be able to enjoy trips like this.  After the kayaking, we took a final Zodiac ride with Dan, seeing many guillemots and caribou antlers on the rocky coast, but no caribou. Caribou and Reindeer are the same species, reindeer being the domesticated version, caribou the wild version. The male caribou drop their antlers in the summer, but the females keep theirs into the winter, so Dan asked us if Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer was male or female, and it seemed clear that Rudolf was really Rudolfina!

Back for a nice lunch, and we sat with Eva and Boris and had some interesting discussions about new things we had learned on this trip, even though they have been here many times, they still learn new things. Then a briefing about the complex day tomorrow, when most of us leave but some folks stay on the ship to go to Nome via the Northwest Passage, and others continue on all the way to Japan, a journey that takes 69 days and costs a minimum of $108,000, truly an epic trip. After that, the dreaded task of packing. We are dividing our clothes into two suitcases, one for the four day road trip in Iceland, and one we will leave at the hotel while we are on the road. Barney attended a really good briefing by the captain about the planning and construction of this wonderful ship, which is unique among icebreaker extradition ships of this type. He downloaded some wonderful wildlife photos from the shared computers, did his packing, and then we went upstairs to our last cocktail hour and briefing, and dinner. It feels hard to say farewell to this trip, to the amazing places and people and wildlife we have seen, to being taken care of by a wonderful staff, to learning so much every day from the talented naturalist staff. I am so gad that we did this trip.

Greenland, Illulisat, Tuesday, 28 July 2026

 We sailed overnight and awoke once again to bright skies. After the morning stretch session and breakfast, we had some time before out group would leave for the town of Illulisat, population about 4,600 and 220 miles north of the Arctic Circle, the third largest city in Greenland after Nuuk and Sisimiut. We took the Zodiacs to a dock landing in town, near the ubiquitous port of containers and cranes and large construction company buildings. After a short bus ride, we got off at the UNESCO World Heritage site which includes miles of boardwalk over the tundra and the stunning Icefjord Center. The boardwalk went about 1.5 miles to hike out to a cliff, over terrain that in other places we have hiked on, but since this town gets a lot of tourism, they protected the terrain with a boardwalk. At the cliff, we learned that during times of no food, this is where elderly people were told to jump or might have to be pushed, to their deaths. If the elderly dying was not enough to protect the community during starvation times, sometimes the youngest babies were also sent to their deaths own the cliff. Life was hard here. 

In the distance from the cliff we saw the largest icebergs we have seen on this trip. Anne told us at breakfast that because of the Gulf Stream, iceberg would break off the gigantic the world’s most active glacier, Sermeq Kujalleq, float north, and then follow the Gulf Stream over to Canada, and this is likely how the huge iceberg which sank the Titanic reached the area off Newfoundland where the Titanic was sunk. It is not hard to believe, because the icebergs were 15-20 stories tall, so big that we could not even see the glacier behind them. As we walked back, we saw a boat, incredibly tiny next to the glacier, which gave some perspective to its size. The Icefjord Center was a large angular building swooping a bit like an iceberg, with steps that could take you to the top of the roof for an incredible view. Inside, there was a short film about how the process goes from precipitation to snowflakes to crystallization to precipitation to glacial formation to icebergs. A unique feature was how they presented some artifacts and explanatory materials. Each was encased in a clear resin shaped like a small iceberg, and instead of multi-lingual signage, there was a large multi-lingual book off to the side nearby which explained each item. There were also displayed ice core samples from the current time to 160,000 BCE. 

After a ride back to the ship, we had a very quick lunch and prepared to board the small local boats which would take us into the ice field. There were only seven guests on our boat, with a captain named Nik, who drove us through the ice fields and through a maze of enormous icebergs. Somehow I had neglected to charge my phone before we left, so I had to really look and remember, and of course Barney took photos. It reminded me of how much phones and cameras can get in the way of really seeing. It was quite cold, like being in a refrigerator, and breathtaking, coming up close to the giant icebergs we had seen from the coast a few hours before. They were every shape and size: smooth and glossy like soft meringue, sharp and pointed like new mountains, tabular as we had seen so often in Antarctica, dimpled as if it had recently rained, finely grained like powdered sugar, or with giant lines on them which looked lie ski trails. One of the largest icebergs we saw had three “waterfall” of snow coming off the side into the waters with such force that they came far out from the wall of ice. We crunched through the ice, often quite a bit of it, in the distance we saw a seal, and there were many birds flying over the boat. There was a small calving incident but not near us, though it made me think how if a large piece came off one of the huge icebergs it would definitely swamp the boat and yet  somehow the captain knew it was safe to go there. Nevertheless we all arrived back safely, hardly able to describe what we saw. It was certainly something I will never forget.

This evening featured a Filipino gourmet dinner, with many excellent dishes to try, my favorites being the chicken adobo and the flan. This was followed by a performance by the crew, which was really fun, and we managed to get a lot of folks clapping. There were several karaoke pieces, some dance and singing pieces with moves that reminded me so much of the students who practice in Lower Sproul Plaza, a lovely traditional dance featuring the Filipina staff, a funny multi-song routine by the bar staff who call themselves the Cocktail Shakers, and then a band from among the crew set up. They played a variety of pieces, and Reuben started dancing, then John, then Barney and I joined in, and pretty soon about 25 people were dancing in the Lounge. They played “YNCA” which really got people up and dancing, and then naturalist Anne sang “It’s Raining Men” and “I Will Survive” which were real hits. Finally the band played some head banging music, and the captain had come down in casual clothes, and he and Reuben and one of the other naturalists started bouncing off each other which was kind of wild. After the last song and so much dancing we were all pretty tired and sweaty, so we went out onto the ack of deck 6 and watched the amazing late evening light and sat by the fire pit. What an evening. This will be over far too soon.

Greenland, Uumannaq and Qilakitsoq, 27 July 2026

We woke up to beautiful, almost blinding sunshine, instead of fog. After breakfast, we landed on a pontoon dock, and walked right to the center of town of Uumannaq, dominated by two huge mountains and with icebergs all over the small bay. First we visited the musuem, which was fairly small, two rooms, featuring quite a collection of traditional clothing, tools both pre-and-post colonization, and lots of historic phots. Life here was still fairly traditional at least until the 1940s, based on the photos. We visited a turf house in the center of town, the “blubber house” where vast quantities of whale blubber would have been stored, now turned into an art gallery and museum of skulls, skeletons, and taxidermy. There was a small bench made of some whale vertebra and walrus tusks, as well as toys, games, and many tools. We went into the stone Lutheran church, which was cut from the grey and white marble that had been mined nearby for decades, though the mine is now closed. Here agin we saw a menorah on the altar, which seemed puzzling because Greenland has almost no Jewish population. Later I looked this up (there is only one permanent resident in all of Greenland who is Jewish), and learned that what I thought was a menorah was a traditional Scandinavian Lutheran church feature. It evokes the light of heaven, and is based on the description of the seven-branched lamp described in Exodus, in the Temple of Jerusalem.  We also stopped briefly into the main grocery store, which had quite a wide selection of food including a large section of various gummies (given the proximity to Scandinavia I guess) and all sorts of snacks and even things like cup o’soup, as well as frozen chicken hot wings and many kinds of yogurt. We then walked up several ills to the Dog Town area, again almost outside of town. There was a dog trainer who had some adult dogs and some pups that we could see a bit closer than the ones wandering through that area of town. It was nap time, so the pups and adults were mostly sleeping, and all these were of various shades of tan rather than the creamy off-site color we saw  in Sisimuit. Back to the center of town, where there were two clearly Instagram photo spots, one a giant red and white sleigh, the other a 15-foot tall Santa post box, where apparently people from all over the world write letters to Santa here, which are often answered by local children. Reuben asked us to get photos of ourselves on both to he could add his AI polar bear, so we did that, and walked leisurely back to town to catch a Zodiac back to the ship.

After lunch, we went with Dan to Qilakitsoq, an area outside of town on an inlet which is an historic and current burial ground. We needed to be very careful to follow Dan and not step on any graves, which here are formed of piles of rocks. We walked amongst the now-familiar tundra vegetation of willows and crowberries, and saw several 500-6– year-old turf houses, one with three separate units (each with its own entrance) probably for an extended family, and one larger one that came later and was communal. Dan told us that the native Greenlanders were very conflict-averse, as the health and welfare of the community depended on everyone doing their jobs. Rather than fight with weapons over a dispute, such as angry words or competing for female attentions, men would have something like a humor face-off in which the community would decide the winner by clapping or shouting, to avoid people attacking each other with weapons which might mean losing a valued hunter from the community. If a man died, his wife might marry another relative (even in the other man already had a wife) so that she and her children could still be provided for and contribute in their own way. They did not have an official marriage ceremony, but more a community confirmation of the relationship. There was sometimes gender-fluidity, where if a man had four daughters, two of them might be designated to be hunters like boys would be, and take on that role instead of the childcare, cooking, sewing of hides, and rendering of hunted animals and birds that were the women’s typical role. He explained that everyone had a role, even children, and if roles were missing it could be devastating for the community. Near this area were found in the 1970s eight mummies, six women and two children, perfectly preserved by the cold, dry air, the subject of a major National Geographic article. They were buried with a umber of articles of clothing, tools, and amulets, and Hildreth were placed on top of the women, whose bodies were also stacked. Scientists were even able to distinguish the characteristic tattooing on their faces, which significance various life events such as the onset of menses, marriage, childbirth, and widowhood.  A group doing the strenuous hike went all the way up to where the mummies had been required, but we stayed in the lower gravesite area.  It had been a quiet and introspective experience, being in a graveyard. We hiked back to the beach where we took the Zodiacs back to the ship.

Before dinner at the recap we heard about plans for the next day, and for dinner the next evening which would have a Filipino theme - almost all the waters, culinary, housekeeping, and maintenance staff are Filipino - as well as something of a talent show by the crew and staff, which we are looking forward to.  On the summary for this day, the notes said “sunrise: none, sunset: none,” meaning that the sun never went below the horizon, only dipping to the bottom of the parabola of its course, thrust the land of the midnight sun. BY the time we went to bed, around 11:00pm, it was still quite bright outside.

Greenland, Disko Island Sunday, 26 July 2026

 There was massive fog again when we woke up, and it was definitely colder, high today is expected to be about 42 degrees. We are definitely much farther north. This area is called Iceberg Alley, as there are literally hundreds of icebergs small and large which have separated from various glaciers and floated to this area were they tend to stay until the melt.

This morning we had an astonishing Zodiac ride with Lars, viewing the basalt rock formations and water falls of Disko Island, the second largest island in Greenland. While I am not always the most enthusiastic about geology, the crazy angles and appearances these rocks was amazing. First we went through a cool arch, and then along the coast to see the rocks up closer, the caves, and even went behind a waterfall. It looked like a giant jenga puzzle with pieces of rock going every which way, some spread like a fan, others as spires going toward the sky, others bent where volcanic forces intervened. I will post some photos later. As we were in the Zodiac, we saw the small town where Lars lives with his family, a collection of houses similar to others we have seen, perched all over a rocky hillside with areas of green.

My knee was a bit sore from kneeling in the morning stretch class, so I chose to go on the short walk on another part of the island. It was lovely, about a mile, and we stopped at a small promontory where we had a nice coast view. Our guide Dan said that he like to take a pause on the short walks, have folks sit or even lay down, and be quiet for 15 minutes. It was brisk but sunny, so I sat down and then laid down on the tundra vegetation. It was so beautiful, quiet (although one guy did start snoring), and I could hear things I had not heard before, and even smell the vegetation. Then we picked some blueberries and crowberries and ate them - a bit tart - and headed back to the ship. I’m very glad I did the short walk, as the moderate walk Barney did turned out to be quite a slog with some serious bushwhacking, long diversions through paths going up and down and up and down, a lot of elevation change, holds in the tundra and channels of really soft area. The particular guide for his group, Rob, did not seem to have a good sense of the best path, the other group’s experience was much better. Afterwards he and John and Reuben went to the hot tub to soak, which helped a lot.

The evening was our second dinner with our second group, which went well. I redid the place tags, this time with a whale that had fins, which everyone liked. There was a good chemistry at the table and folks enjoyed themselves. I really enjoy bringing people together like this. We hung out in the lounge for quite a while afterwards, and as we went to bed, it was still bright out at 11:30pm!

Greenland, Sisimiut, Saturday, 25 July 2026

We awoke to the largish town of Sisimiut, one of the largest in Greenland, and we were getting off at an official dock. This morning, of the three options, we chose the archaeological hike to Sallinnguit (Tele Island). It was about three hours of serious hiking, clambering up rocks and stepping up and down two or three feet on rocks. Fortunately, Barney was always there to give me a hand, as I’ve found that going down a steep rock on my “bad” knee is OK, going up on my good knee is harder as I cannot bend back as far as I used to. We covered a loot of territory, and saw a number of remains of turf houses from the 16th century and onward, as well as graves and fox traps made of stones. The graves all had a view of the waters which was considered essential in the Greenlandic culture. we saw the dog island, where owners let their dogs roam free for the summer, so they don’t become too domesticated, and establish hierarchy which helps with sledding. After a long and quite strenuous hike, we enjoyed a nice lunch and heard about the morning town tour which visited a place called Dog Town. We’ll go there later.

In the afternoon, we boarded a shuttle bus that went between the ship, the Sisimuit Museum, the large grocery store, and the edge of town where the Arctic Circle Trail starts and where Dog Town is. First we headed into town to see the Sisimuit Museum is. It was made up of eight old wooden buildings. The Old Shop, built in 1825, held the ticket office, a small gift shop, and some historic photographs.  Behind it in a open area was the most interesting part of the museum: a series of dog sleds made in different parts of Greenland, and a tent of the type used in the summer, with a below-grade entrance to the large skin tent, with an elevated platform for sleeping and a lower area for cooking, which we could go inside. Thinking about how few materials possessions these folks had, as they migrated with various game and the seasons, made us realize how little people really need to survive. The Museum also included an old Lutheran church which had been restored, a turf house replica from the 1990s, which included the two sleeping platforms, one for each family, separated by a skin curtain, the Colonial Manager’s Residence from 1865 which had a schoolroom and historical photos, and the Old House built in 1756 with an extensive exhibit in Saqqaq culture and artifacts. 

We then caught the shuttle bus to the edge of town, to go to Dog Town. As we walked down the paved and then gravel road, we wondered, where is the facility? We were expecting some sort of large kennel with Greenlandic Sled Dogs, but all we saw were dogs hanging out on various small rises, some laying in the sun, some nursing their puppies, others playing. We realized that this was Dog Town, and when I looked it up, we found that this whole area was designated for the dogs to live most of the year. They specifically do not want the dogs to be too domesticated, and we had been told not to approach or try to pet the dogs. So for a while we simply admired them from the road, and a few times a curious puppy approached us, only to be herded back by a watchful mother dog. One mother dog even followed us up the street a bit to make sure we were moving on. And then it happened: one dog started to howl, and then others joined in, until the whole little valley of dogs was howling, for well over a minute. It was magical. And then suddenly, it was over. we walked back up to the bus stop, and headed back to the ship. We went to the cocktail our and recap, then dinner, and chatted with our friends a bit about future National Geographic Expeditions - we are considering going to Svalbard - and  headed to bed.

Greenland, Eternity Fjord, Friday, 24 July 2026

 The brilliant sun rose about 4:00am, and fortunately there are blackout curtains. The sun reflecting off the water was almost blinding, and it looks like it will be a lovely, sunny day. 

We sailed up rom Nuuk where a brief stop had been made overnight to let off a crew member who was ill.   we sailed into the Eternity Fjord, and after breakfast had a wonderful lecture by Dan about human history in the Arctic, Just as he finished, some humpback whales were sighted so almost everyone left to see them. I could see the blow as they surfaced, and we once saw a fluke, which was exciting. We sat in the library area in the bow on the top deck, which gave us a wonderful view of the fjord, and I spent some time looking at the expedition catalog of future trips.

With a beautiful day - at last 55 degrees - an outdoor barbecue was planned. we got a table with a great view of the glacier at the end of the fjord, and enjoyed some wonderful food and sunshine. We even had to put on sunscreen and hats for the first time. After lunch, we had the opportunity for a Zodiac ride with Boris, where we saw a huge cliff with thousands of Terns, Kittiwakes, Gillemots, Glaucus and other gulls. We went quite close to the glacier which dropped some bits into the water. Then we went for a kayak ride, going close to the walls of the fjord and across the water, we are getting used to kayaking again and it was fun.

Another wonderful dinner, and some nice time afterwards with our friends. We are putting together another dinner for Sunday evening.

Greenland, Qoornguarsiaq Fjord, Thursday, 23 July 2026

We went to work out before breakfast in the fitness room, which was quite well equipped and made us feel very  virtuous. It was cloudy again, and rain was a possibility. After breakfast, Dan did an interesting lecture about some field work he did in an extremely remote island in the Russian Arctic, where they uncovered evidence of a group of people living there who subsisted entirely on female polar bears, the only bones found there. Hard to believe, but apparently polar bears (and other marine mammals) have a lot of Vitamin C so people in the Arctic do not get scurvy. Their conclusion was that the polar bear cubs were traded to get other items they needed, and possibly were traded on to become exotic and prestigious gifts, one had been discovered given as a gift to a leader in the Middle East.  The second lecture was on lichens and other ground lands, but I had to do some client work so was in the room doing email while listening to the lecture.

After lunch, it was time for a hike on a boggy area in Qoornguatsiaq Fjord. This is in the Sermersooq municipality, which at 205,368 square miles, is the largest municipality in the world. Vast areas of it are uninhabited of course - a municipality in Greenland is more like a state in the US, as there are only seven of them in this giant island. The hike was through a slightly melted area of permafrost so rather boggy, and several times we had to cross little creeks. It was warm so we shed a layer, and the mosquitos were vicious. I am so glad we got the mosquito nets, although they look rather ridiculous they are a lifesaver. I would have been eaten alive without the net. We saw two caribou skulls with antlers, and an Arctic Fox skull smaller than my hand. The focus of the hike was vegetation, and we saw many of the plants mentioned in the various talks over the past few days, including some bright and apparently somewhat poisonous mushrooms. This was by far the most strenuous hike we had, and I was very glad we both had our hiking sticks, we both fell only one time each.  As we were somewhat late getting back to the ship, I ran up to get Barney some cookies from the afternoon tea.  We were both quite sweaty from the hike and needed showers.  It was still quite warm outside, so we sat on the balcony, I finished my book and Barney read as well. Refreshed, we went to dinner and had a nice time, going up to the lounge afterwards for more wonderful conversation. Barney and I are discussing future trips, as this is as far as had planned anything. There are so many interesting places to go. 

Greenland, Bratthild Farm and Tunulliarflik Fjord, Wednesday, 22 July 2026

 We are up early and ready to go well before the 8:30 departure time. We find out this will be a et landing so a quick changed is needed. We hike with our group around the tiny village of about 80 people, up a steep hill to where there is a large statue of Leif Erickson. His father Erik the Red journeyed from Iceland in 982 CE and settled in this area with his family. It would have been welcoming, with large flat area under some hills, plenty of grass for grazing, and a good harbor. Although Erik the Red did not like Christianity, his mother did (Norway and Iceland were converting to Christianity) so he allowed her to build a small church in the settlement, and the remains of the church and multiple other buildings were all over the lower area of town. We also went into a replica longhouse, where 20-30 people would ahve lived; it had a central cooking and heating area, the walls would have been lined with elevated areas for sleeping, a weaving loom was set up at one end, and a small private room was perhaps for the newly married. A small room above was for maidens, who would pull up the ladder after the last one entered, and bring it town in the morning, as girls were married in their teens. Leif inherited the land from his father and was a chieftain for the area. he also famously journeyed to the New World, to an area he called Vinland, returned to Greenland, and died about 1025. Norse settlers remained in the area and left after about 400 years. The reasons why are not fully known, but probably have to do with the cooling of the climate in that period and the inability to feed themselves and their animals. We also went into a small house that had belonged to a man named Fredrickson who married an Inuit woman and had 7 children. The house was filled with family photos, some furniture, two parlor organs, some cooking equipment, and a display about the family. The sun came out during our hike and we stripped off our outer windproof jackets, it was probably at least 45 degrees but felt warmer due to the hiking. When we came in, the culinary team had made some adorable polar bear cookies.. 

After a nice lunch, we had an interesting lecture about how Viking ships were made of wood, which complemented the lecture we had on Monday about how Inuit kayaks are made of small amounts of wood and sealskin (kayak is an Inuit word). A lovely charcuterie afternoon tea was nice, and we came back to the room for a short rest. The evening included some wonderful scenery as we sailed out of Qassiaresuq Fjord. Before the evening recap, we spent some time in the Lounge with John and Reuben, and Reuben amazed us with his ability to do all sorts of interesting AI images with Olaf bears: a polar bar DJ, an Uber Eats driver, one in a hula skirt, one dressed like Elvis, and one next to a pyramid in Egypt. He is incredibly creative. After dinner, we watched a film made in about 1930 called the Wedding of Palo, about a young Greenlandic woman named Naravana, who is being courted by two men in East Greenland, one of whom is named Palo. She and her family and the others in their settlement live in the traditional way, in sealskin tents, hunting in kayaks, eating seals and whales and fish. The scene of the men bringing back some dead seals and her slicing it open and expertly trimming the blubber and eat from the skin was amazing. The man who made the film was half Inuit, half Danish, so he had insight into the culture. Quite something to realize how people were living here only 100 years ago.

Going to sleep to some gentle rocking, which was nice.

Greenland, Halsey Church and Qaqortoq town, Tuesday, 21 July 2026

This morning we went to Halsey Church, the oldest and best-preserved church in Greenland, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The church is made of local stone, with three doors and about six windows, plus a keystone arch over the main window over what would have been the altar. The rood was long gone, it was probably made of wood. It had a special feel to it, and I decided to sing “Nobilis, Humilis” there as it is a 12th century polyphonic piece about St. Magnus, a Norwegian saint. As we waited for the next group to leave the church, we spent some time looking out over the beautiful vista, seeing why this area was settled with farms and enough wealth to build a stone church, as it had plenty of green for herds to graze. Right before I sang, a mosquito flew into my mouth and I was choking on it, and somehow we had forgotten to bring our water bottle. I coughed a bit and tried to rehydrate, so the first time I sang was only so-so, and then I was able to get myself together for a better version the second time around, when no one was inside. I learned later that folks could hear me outside, softly. There were other ruins there, a longhouse and animal enclosures, all made of stone. I keep thinking about the people who sailed here, looking for a good spot to land with water and grazing and areas flat enough to build a house and farm. How brave they were.

Back to the ship, a nice lunch, and we had a briefing about cultural interactions with Greenlanders. In Greenland it is illegal to take a photo of a child without their parent’s permission, even in public places, and people in general don’t like being photographed. If someone squints, it means no, if they raise their eyebrows, it means yes, and because elders are highly respected, even if someone does not want their photo taken they might hesitate and appear to agree in order not to upset an elder.  In the afternoon we went to Qaqortoq, a town of about 2,000 people, the 6th largest in Greenland. We get off the Zodiacs near a large container port, and we see cranes and construction equipment all over. This is the arrest settlement we’ve seen since Iceland. There are brightly-colored homes and apartment buildings, and we visit a ceramics workshop, a wood-carving workshop, and another shop selling artwork and carvings. Barney selected a tiny polar bear carving made of animal horn which is legal, while anything made of seal, walrus, whale, Arctic Fox, and other animals are illegal to export and definitely illegal to import to the US. We walked around the town on our own, saw the red Lutheran church and a rock club, as well as some beautiful carvings in the granite that runs throughout the town along the roads. There are enormous staircases that run 8-10 slights up the hill, which I gather must be preferable to driving or walking up a longer winding road. We had some samples of dried cod and lamb and Greenland beer which were all good, and saw many wildflowers everywhere, as it seemed warmed than where we were earlier.

In the evening we had our invited dinner. I had made little place tags for everyone with a drawing of a whale on each, and Reuben and I collaborated on the seating so people would be next to interesting people to talk to. It was a lovely event and very successful, and folks liked the little name tags, I saw a couple of them on room doors as we went to our rooms later.

Tomorrow we’ll be up hiking early so we went to bed fairly early (for us) and slept to the gentle rocking of the ship.

Greenland, Annikitsoq Fjord and Prins Christian Sund, Monday, 20 July 2026

 We woke up to heavy fog again this morning, but it lifted as we sailed into Annikitsoq Fjord. The morning plan was to land on a rocky beach and walk for a bit, then come back and kayak. The rocky beach rose steeply up the hill (we decided to skip the 5 mile very strenuous hike), with fresh water pouring down in a nearby small waterfall plus the somewhat flat land a bit above the beach, it was not hard to imagine that this might have been a good location for some of those first settlers. In fact, a collection of rocks we saw is an archaeological site, about which we’ll learn more tomorrow. For now, there is so much to learn about this place, the people, and the history. Eva will be doing a cultural lecture this afternoon, which should be interesting.

The hike featured our first encounter with a major “vampiric” level of mosquitos. When Lisle said “vampiric” he was not kidding. I have never seen so many mosquitos in my life. Luckily we had purchased head nets, which I first thought were a frill, and then I realized they were an absolute necessity. Without this on the walk I would have had at least a thousand mosquito bites, they were so thick. The net saved me. After the hike, we went back to the ship via Zodiac and turned right around to kayak for about an hour. I always enjoy kayaking, and each time I do it, it reminds me that  want to do more, and we can start by kayaking on Lake Merritt and in the estuary.

Also found out that the huge glacier we saw yesterday was called the Thrym Glacier. 

Reuben and I put together a list of the people we want to invite to a dinner at the big table for 14 and started talking to folks to invite them. It will be tomorrow evening, and should be fun.

Greenland, Timmiarmiit Fjord, Sunday, 19 July 2026

We awoke to a view with no horizon, the fog was so heavy and low we could not see the difference between sea and sky. Slowly it lifted, and there were plans for various hikes on land. However, the scouting party deemed it not possible - the heavy fog meant visibility was low for the Zodiac drivers and most importantly, for being able to spot approaching polar bears. So the morning was spent with a wonderful lecture with the staff archaeologist (retired from University of Alaska and former Chief Scientist of the National Park Service), who worked with a group that discovered the foot prints of people from 21,000-23,000 years ago in the White Sands National Park in New Mexico - almost 10,000 years earlier than what was originally thought to be the earliest date for human in the Western Hemisphere. The way they were able to date the various footprints of people, giant sloths, and mammoths, to figure out who came by first and who came later, was fascinating. While were at lunch, the expedition leader let us know that there were three polar bears, a mother and two cubs, up ahead of the ship.He warned everyone to be extremely quiet, no talking on deck, no loud sounds, no slamming doors. We saw the polar bears swimming across the fjord past a large iceberg, and then they went up on land and they were frolicking in the greenery, the cubs even rolling around on their backs. It was breathtaking - the first time I have ever seen polar bears!  We may see more later, but at least we saw some.  What a thrill.

After we resumed lunch, we realized that there would not be any off-ship excursions today, so we were marveling at the giant mountains and glaciers and icebergs all around us. The fog had lifted so the viewing was amazing. We went all the way to the end of the fjord, where we encountered a gigantic front end of a glacier, 1.5 miles wide, 45 meters above the water and 300 meters below the water, truly immense. By this time we had been oohing and aahing all afternoon at the scenery, and we sat in the observation area on the 8th deck for quite a while, reading and watching the incredible scenery. Then we had a lecture on polar bears which was so interesting … the live solitarily, not in groups, the females have 1-3 cubs every 4 years or so, the cubs are about one pound when they are born, and they can nurse for two years. Adult males can be over one ton, and the females about 2/3 of that. They are apex predators who mostly eat seals, but also will eat greens and berries and fish … pretty much anything during the fall, winter and spring when they bulk up, as the summer means almost no food due to the lack of sea ice, and they can go up to 8 months without eating.

The evening recap featured talks on the undersea exploration, phytoplankton and water sampling, and a preview of tomorrow in another fjord where we hope and expect to be able to hike and/or kayak. After a nice dinner with some new folks, we chatted with Boris the naturalist, who gave us some very helpful information on visiting Svalbard, and also about Baja for whale watching. During the conversation, Reuben spotted a polar bear off the stern so we all ran out of course; the bear was only just visible next to a large iceberg, as seen through a photo taken with a telephoto lens. With my eyes only, I could not see it. Polar bears will likely be elusive here, as we have to keep quite a distance from them. 

Greenland, Skjoldungen Fjord, Saturday, 18 July 2026

In the early hours (the sun rises at 3am and sets at midnight) we were still in heavy fog, where no horizon could be distinguished. Later we awoke to a fairly smooth sail into this enormous fjord with towering, fog-shrouded mountains on either side. After a quick workout and a nice light breakfast, I did a lot of laundry, socks and underwear, as we are now 7 days into our trip. Thankfully we have an excellent travel clothesline of braided nylon with tiny little clothespins.

Lars did a wonderful introduction to Greenlandic culture, taking us through the history of the Independent, Dorset, Viking, and Thule immigrations over the past 5,000 years. There were periods we]hen no expel lived here for a few hundred years, as when the weather cooled people moved away, when it warmed, they came over from Canada and Alaska. Almost 90% of the people in Greenland are Inuit, descended from the Thule people (including Lars), the rest are mostly Danish and some other Europeans.For a few thousand years, the early inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, living in sod and ice houses, with everything made from the animals they hunted. Metal tools came to them much later, as did the somewhat forced Christian conversion during Danish rule. Lars himself is part Inuit, part European, and he noted that he endured some teasing because of this. He also highlighted to delicate tattoos that women had, which symbolized various milestones such as starting to menstruate, being married, and having a child, and how these were coming back.

The scenery outside had become quite stunning, glaciers, waterfalls, enormous icebergs, and mountains. The scale is enormous, and as we went up the fjord, the mountains got taller and the icebergs even bigger. An afternoon Zodiac ride took us closer to several waterfalls, an area with Iceland gulls and Eider ducks, some caves, a small rocky beach, and gave us views of an enormous, 100-foot-tall face of the glacier. It was brisk out, about 42º, and during the ride we were met by another Zodiac with some of the culinary staff in it who had hot chocolate and various liqueurs. Yesterday and the day before we returned from Zodiacs to cute little sugar cookies decorated as terns or seals, very creative and appropriate.

Boris did a wonderful lecture on cetaceans, whales of all types, including his imitations of whale sounds. Next was the polar plunge, jumping into the freezing water here, just above the Arctic Circle. Barney convinced me to do this, as he had done it in Antarctica while I took photos. I told him I would do it but only if he held my hand so I would not chicken out. We saw the crew setting up the Zodiacs with the underwater platform between them, which we would climb onto after jumping into the water. It looked a bit intimidating to me, but I was committed. We got our bathing suits on, wrapped up in the white fuzzy robes, and went down to BaseCamp. There were already a number of folks shivering in the cold, standing in line ready to go, while the ship’s doctor stood by, defibrillator in hand. I realized there was no way out, so we got in line, I watched the people in front of us, and when it came time for our turn, I grabbed Barney’s hand and we jumped together. I screamed, it was astonishingly cold and I felt so disoriented I did not know which was was up, but somehow found my way up to the platform where helping hands got me up out of the water, sat me down to catch my breath, and then I saw Barney and knew we were OK. We dried off with towels and the ship staff had brandy and other shots available for revival. We decided to go up to the hot tub up on deck 8, where the warm water brought us back to normal temperature. After that, the dry Nordic sauna completed our temperature reset, and we took showers to rinse off the salt water and got into dry clothes. 

At dinner a major topic of conversation was the polar plunge - only 27 of the 110 people on board did it. The captain himself dove into the water and swam around a bit, because he is that kind of man. We had a delicious dinner, and went out in the still-bright sunshine to sit around the fire pit and take photos of the stunning scenery. Tomorrow we go to a new fjord where we expect to do more hiking and perhaps see some wildlife. 

Greenland, Similiiaq Fjord, Friday, 17 July 2026

Overnight we sailed to Greenland, and we awoke to brilliant sunshine, mountains, and truly immense icebergs. The captain promised it would be as spectacular as Antarctica, and he was right. The bizarre and unearthly shapes of the huge icebergs captivated us, I can’t even remember how many photos I took as these icebergs looks different from different angles due to how they weather and shift in the water.

We headed up Simiilaq fjord, again surrounded by mountains and glaciers and very little greenery. One breathtaking columnar iceberg looked like an immense penis (which was noticed by everyone), and the captain made sure everyone had a chance to photograph it. We landed in the Zodiacs on a deserted rocky beach, where we could walk fairly freely. We had to stay inside a perimeter defined by the staff, who carry firearms as there is a very small but real risk of polar bears. We walked from one end to the other, observing some interesting animal poops (which we later learned were from geese) and where a large pool of water perfectly reflected a large peak. After we returned to the ship, we kept our gear on, as we went out soon on a zodiac cruise. Since we were the last in line and only 10 people can go in a zodiac, we were all by ourselves with Boris the wonderful naturalist we met in Antarctica. This was a real thrill. We went to a rocky cliff where Iceland Gulls were nesting, and the Glaucus Gulls were flying around, ready to steal eggs; they are predators, somewhat larger than the Iceland Gulls. We went by a large iceberg which had a loud popping noice going on, as the air bubbles came to the surface. We also saw a rather unique iceberg which had rolled over, so part of it was the blue that is usually beneath the water and part was the typical white. Another iceberg had two huge holes in it, water had poured through the first hole and then created a second hole. It was such fun to have a truly knowledgeable person guiding us, and he told us about some of his (and Eva’s) other expeditions they’ve done in Arctic and Antarctic area, Alaska, and also Baja, and he said they might also do some wildlife trips in Africa; they are based in Colorado.

In the evening, we attended the Cook’s Nook Zero Waste dinner, a 7 course special dinner that everyone is invited to once on the trip. It was designed to showcase parts of food that are sometimes thrown away, as a model of zero-waste cooking. We started with tiny canapées featuring such unusual ingredients as potato glass (frozen then dried water that potatoes have been cooked in), leftover bits of mushroom made into confit, and kale and potato croquette. Then we had the trim ends of Albacore tuna, with artichoke three ways, crispy, confit, and mousse with Leon ponzu foam.  Then a tomato asparagus broth with tomato caviar, which the soups-chef explained they make by combining chopped tomato with agar-agar and cold oil, then pressed and shaped into tiny pearls that look like caviar and burst when you put them in your mouth. Something the chef was very proud of was the cauliflower 8 ways: caviar, grilled steak, tempura, pickled, puréed, foam, remoulade and a “scallop” made from the base of the leaves, all of which were quite good. A berry sorbet was the palate refresher. Then we had a black cod filet with a quinoa chip, carrots with hazelnut dukkha, then my favorite, duck breast with a Demi glaze on beetroot carpaccio, confit duck ravioli (delicious) with a burnt apple purée. Dessert was an apple “rock” a shell made of hardened apple Joyce filled with apple cremeux, with apple caviar, apple chips, an apple biscuit, and Pink Lady sorbet. 

We ended the evening in the lounge as usual, meeting up with our friends and joined by some new folks who were delightful. Tonight we sail a but farther Dow the east coast of Greenland. 

Dynjandi Waterfall, Iceland, 16 July 2026

Because the weather in our location in Iceland has been so wet and overcast, the Captain changed the plans, and we headed back south a bit to the Dynjandi Waterfall.  We spent some time on the bridge, where the captain told us that no other ships had gone into some of the fjords we will go to, they were not even mapped until they did this a few years ago. He likened the coast of Greenland to Antarctica, with huge glaciers and immense icebergs everywhere, and said it would be so much more stunning than overcast rainy Iceland. He and the expedition leader, Lisle Gwynn, decided that the early departure made sense. The change of plans meant that we would sail for Greenland this evening instead of on Saturday, and have an extra day and a half in Greenland.

Meanwhile, we headed up yet another magnificent fjord, surrounded by mountains and green hills, and took the Zodiacs to the rocky beach. The huge waterfall was visible from a long ways away, it is immense and quite wide at the top, very different than the Yosemite waterfalls. It is also a major tourist attraction, and when we arrived there were tour buses pulling up every few minutes; by the time we left I counted 30 in the parking lot. People of all ages including young children were making the hike. It felt a bit like the Mist Trail in Yosemite on a busy day in summer, with some people in muck boots or hiking boots and others in thin sneakers. The rocks and gravel were wet so the footing was sometimes a bit tricky, and one steep section had very tall granite steps to navigate. The overall rise was about 300 feet. There were multiple viewing spots for photos and still some people would stop in the middle of the trail to take their photos. With a huge, loud waterfall like this one, it is tempting to only look up, but looking down to see how the immense amount of water is flowing toward the sea was equally impressive. On the way down, we had a chance to see some interesting plants and multicolored lichen on the granite rocks.

Back to the ship and we enjoyed the towering walls of the fjord on the way back to the sea..  This was the Captain’s welcome reception so he introduced all of his crew leadership, and the naturalists were all dressed up a bit, the women in nice troops and the men in sport coats, not something we’ve seen before. Most of our dinners have been with John, Reuben, and Jenny, as well as other folks who join us, this evening it was Anne (underwater diver from Sweden) and Carla (biologist from Colombia), who shared some wonderful stories. John and Reuben are incredibly fun people who attract other fun people, and after dinner we all go back up to the lounge to chat, sometimes joined by the naturalists who are always interesting. This is rocking  and rolling a bit, but it should be nice to fall asleep to.

The Western Fjords, Wednesday, 15 July 2026

 The ship was rocking and rolling all night, so neither of us slept well, but we were not seasick, only unsettled. After learning how to navigate being in the bathroom together at the same time (it is small), we headed to the 8th deck for a light breakfast. We saw Jenny there, Barney had berry pancakes, and I had granola with fruit. I was not feeling great and definitely had something digestive going on, though the only thing I ate that Barney did not yesterday was a tiny cheese and vegetable sandwich during the welcome session. Definitely had to do something about that, and then went to the morning briefing, which included introductions to all the naturalists, and more about visiting Vigur Island where we will see Arctic Terns and possibly Puffins. Tried on my boots which were too small, and exchanged them downstairs; Barney’s were fine, as were both of our waterproof pants, so we are ready to go.

By lunch, I was definitely not well, so I had a bit of soup, some bread, and a banana, and hope this would clear things up. Then Barney did not feel well … shades of the Antarctica trip! We both took a nap as our Vigur Island trip was expected later in the day. The National Geographic expedition team always has a plan B and a plan C. So, plan B was a dry landing on Vigur Island to see the birds. But the storm moved and the water was very choppy, so it turned into a wet landing, meaning muck boots and waterproof pants, so plan C. The expedition team went to the site and apparently the dock etc., were underwater with the storm waves so it would have been a scuba landing, so plan D is now to go farther out the fjord and see if there is some better weather. I appreciate that they are so careful about safety, and flexible with options. 

Meanwhile, the expedition team went back to Vigur Island to bring the owners to the ship to talk to us. The couple met doing scientific work in Antarctica, came to Iceland for some additional research, fell in love, and decided to stay. They had a little boy, now 8 years old, and at some point, Vigur Island came up for sale. The island had been inhabited for centuries, mostly because the huge numbers of birds - tens of thousands of various species - deposit enough guano that the island is covered with lush green grass for grazing, very different than the surrounding rocky coast. The harvesting of down from Eider Ducks had also become a big project on the island, as well as some modest amount of tourism. Apparently, the island is incredibly well-known in Iceland, an iconic symbol of the rugged west. The previous owners, whose family had it for five generations, had offered it for $2.5M, but after having several offers, accepted  a lower offer from the couple because they wanted the scientific work and the agricultural work to continue, rather than have it be developed as a tourist location. The woman gave an incredible talk about their adventures and their life on the island, how the Eider ducks shed their down so they can warm the eggs, and then the down can later be gathered, cleaned, and sold as the finest kind of down available. After the talk, we went in for dinner, and expedition leader Lisle told us that the seas had calmed and we might in fact go ashore for a wet landing. After a quick dinner, we all suited up and headed out in the Zodiacs at about 9:30 p.m., still light because the sun goes down around midnight.

The island was lovely, green and slightly hilly, with some houses and other buildings clustered at the south end. We walked along the shoreline and saw our first Puffins, perched on the rocks, with fish grasped in their beaks just like in almost all the photos of puffins. We also saw hundreds of ducks in the water, somehow swimming in concert toward one area or another, probably alerted to the presence of food. There was a small windmill on the property, used for grinding grain, considered the oldest still in Iceland. Windmills get torn apart here by the wind, and next to the windmill, there was a children’s slide.  Farther on, we walked into the land of the Arctic Terns, who were nesting and thus very aggressive toward anyone walking nearby. We were told to take a three-foot-long stick with us and hold it above our heads to deter the birds from swooping down on us, but not to wave it around, only hold it. The hundreds of birds were indeed unhappy that we were there and did regularly dive bomb us, as well as each other. One did hit my head and Barney’s too, though not hard, still it was a bit of a shock and felt like being in Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds”. Afterwards, we went into a barn where the down was cleaned and stored, and the finished down was indeed incredibly soft. Eva, one of the naturalists, said that the Terns are by nature aggressive, even when she had been 50-60 feet away from a nest they would still dive bomb her. Another building has been set up for tourists to eat, and they had a lovely tart that folks could have a piece of, as well as water, and there was a tiny gift shop where I bought some Iceland flaked sea salt.

Back to the ship, still light out at 11 p.m., and so glad that we got to see this interesting and unusual place as our first landing. Tomorrow we backtrack a bit to near where we were going the first day, but this time to Dynjandi Falls, an immense waterfall about 300’ high which we will be able to hike to. 

Iceland, Reykjavik to the Sea, 14 July 2026

 Somehow we slept through the noise from the club below. We headed to Kaffi-O-Le for breakfast, it was in a hotel nearby, but it had only coffee and pastries, though the coffee was good. Back to the hotel to pack up and check out, and then we brought our bags to the Parliament Hotel where NatGeo had a hospitality desk. We learned that we did not need to be there at noon as we had thought, but by 3:30, which gave us a lot more time in Reykjavik. It was lightly raining on and off.

First we headed to the Cathedral, up a hill which started with the iconic rainbow-painted. It was lined with souvenir shops, sweaters everywhere, puffins, sheep, vaguely Scandinavian trolls, and more. The Cathedral plaza was occupied by a number of tour groups, and dominated a huge statue of Leif Eriksson. We went into the Cathedral, which like all Lutheran churches, was quite austere, no stained glass, no statues, no decoration, no side chapels, rather different than the Catholic cathedrals that dominate most of Europe. We walked around a bit, in awe at the huge organ (more than 5,000 pipes), and then took an elevator up 8 floors to the tower. Up four more lights of stairs, and we had a 360° view of the city underneath the 31 bells. Of course we waited for the 11:00am bells to ring which was wonderful, we felt the vibration in our bodies. It was windy and chilly in the tower, so after lots of photos, we wound our way back down.

We headed to Harpa, the big concert hall in the waterfront which is sheathed in glass that appears to be iridescent like fish scales, echoing Iceland’s longtime dominant industry. It was huge inside, and we found that there was a noontime concert we could get tickets to. The main concert hall is dark and had red lighting, to give the impression of being inside a volcano, and we sat in regular chairs on the stage instead of in the seats of the hall. What a delight! It was a father-daughter duo, he on soprano and alto so, she on piano and voice. They did a short program of some jazz, traditional Icelandic pieces, and some pieces that each of them wrote. Afterwards, we walked along the waterfront to a small restaurant called Slippbarinn (one of the places that the NatGeo folks gave us a lunch voucher for), and we had a burger. Then we walked to the City Hall and saw the giant topographical map of Iceland, which was very cool. We could spot Vik and Höfn where we’ll go at the end of the trip, and it really gave a sense of the immensity of the island, how mountainous it was, and how little flat arable land there was. It made it clear how rugged and difficult life must have been here for the first 1,100 years and even into the early 20th century.

It was time to get back to the Parliament Hotel, so we walked there and it was quite full with folks waiting. We asked if we could go on board n9w, and the hosts said we were welcome to walk there, but we could not board until 4:00. Since it had stopped raining, we connected with John, Reuben, and Jenny, and decided to walk to the ship, which was across from where their hotel was. En route, we did stop to see  lovely green sweater with puffins that Reuben liked, and we bought some puffin boot socks for Barney and some regular puffin socks for both of us.

We arrived where the ship was docked, and stood outside the gate chatting and enjoying the fresh air and final views of the waterfront. A staff member came out a bit before 4:00pm and said we could board, so we did. We knew that Eva and Ani, naturalists from the Antarctica trip, would be on board, and we saw them, they gave all of us big hugs. We also saw Boris, who we had not seen on the list, and so more hugs.  We went to our room and unpacked, it was so nice to put things into drawers and out the suitcases away.

Time to gather in the Ice Lounge for a briefing and welcome. Staff and crew were introduced, and we sat with Reuben, John, and Jenny, and happened to meet Jules, who had been on the Antarctica trip with us … we were the loud, troublemakers table in the far back. The expedition leader, Lisle, told us that the rough seas were going to make Flatey Island impossible to land on, so we would go up to the western fjords first, and then spend an extra day in Greenland, which sounds good to us. We went up to dinner and since I was feeling a bit unsettled (though the boat had not moved yet) I only had some cheese and bread and a bit of a gratin. Since it was a still Day, we sang a verse of La Marseillaise, and another guests came by to chat about France, he was from Pleasanton. Reuben is keeping a list of interesting folks to invite to another dinner at the big long table. Afterward, we went down to the bar and hung out with the group and met some new folks. Everyone is long forward to an exciting trip. We got ready for bed, closed the blackout curtains (sunset is around midnight this far north), and settled in.

Monday, 13 July 2026, Reykjavik

 We arrived in Iceland only about 15 minutes late, but the wait for passport control was quite long. Fortunately our taxi waited, and we arrived at the Hotel Borg after a nice drive. It is raining here, which we expected. We were able to check in early, and then went to The Laundromat Cafe (suggested by Madeleine) for a nice breakfast/lunch. Our hotel is across from the historic Parliament building from 1881, facing a lovely park that has become an historic gathering place for people here. 

Then, off to the. National Museum, where we enjoyed the exhibits spanning the history of Iceland from the earliest arrivals in 793 - Vikings from Norway, as the island was uninhabited until then, the collection of artifacts was really interesting, from Iron Age tools and silver hoards, to wooden carvings and vestments from the many churches once the island converted to Christianity around 1,000 CE,, through the introduction of the Lutheran faith. There was a 22’ long fishing boat with oars and sail from the 19th century which showed how exposed they were at sea, a tiny wooden house that was lived in until 1950, steel and ceramics artifacts and the first printed books here. The island was ruled by Norway for centuries, harassed by England and Germany for the rich fishing grounds, and then Denmark until independence in 1944. 

Barney’s boots were not comfortable, so we stopped at the hotel to get some moleskin. Then off to meet John and Reuben and meet John’s sister Alice, who will be on this trip. It was so nice to see them again. We had drinks at the rooftop bar of their hotel overlooking the harbor, then a nice dinner at a small restaurant also on the water. A large ship left as we watched, and an enormous coast Buard ship took up much of the harbor along with fishing boats. 

We had managed to stay up until 9;00pm, and so despite what sounded like a noisy yet fairly lame comedy show going on in the bar next door, we got to sleep and had a good night’s rest.

Leaving for Iceland and Greenland, 12 July 2026

Barney and I are headed to Iceland and Greenland! 

I have been working like crazy to finish a number of major work deadlines the last week weeks, capped by a 5-hour board retreat for a client yesterday. Whew. I finally started packing in the afternoon and doing the many things that were on my list. I finally finished shortly before midnight - a new record for me, as I am usually up until 3:00am the night before we go on vacation. When Madeleine was young, we used to joke that our family motto was, “you can always sleep on the plane,” and sure enough, we did.

We took BART to SFO which went smoothly - we are so lucky to not have to drive to the airport. We had purchased a sandwich at Market Hall en route to BART which we shared at the gate, so things have been relatively relaxed. So far I have only remembered one thing I forgot to do (water the indoor plants, I did everything outdoors), luckily Madeleine will stop by and do that after work. We have a first-class flight to Portland (not our choice, the last available) and then business class to Reykjavik. We’ll have most of a day there before we leave on the ship to go up the coast. We are looking forward to seeing a wonderful couple we met on our Antarctica trip, John and Reuben from Sydney, Australia, who will also be on this trip, with John’s sister. We’ll see them for dinner tomorrow evening. For now, we’re waiting to board, and watching a few videos of Marley at the dog sitter’s where he enjoys his buddies there and lots of walks. I miss him already.

Paris, 11 December 2025

We got up at 6:00am, had breakfast, and got ready to leave. Catherine went down with us, and we found the taxi waiting. Then a 10-minute argument ensued between Catherine and the taxi driver, as the taxi company had not mentioned the extra charge for luggage (a few Euros). She felt it was a point of principle and after talking to three people on the phone at the taxi company, they finally agreed to the original price and off we went. Catherine is a brilliant and persistent person, and she was not going to give up with that taxi driver! 

It was seriously foggy and traffic was slow, but we had left extra early, so once we arrived we checked in and went to the gate. There we saw a cute little robot that had recycling and trash containers and moved around the seating area.

I got some chocolates for colleagues at the office, and we boarded our flight. Even though the fog delayed our departure, everything went smoothly and we arrived on time in Chicago. We went quickly through customs (thank you Global Access card!), and while waiting for our bags, some beagles came by to sniff our carryons for food and other items. They were cute but also very serious. We had a long trek to the domestic terminal and we arrived just as our flight to SFO was boarding. This was an older plane, with only first-class and economy, so we were feeling pretty squeezed after flying business class to Paris and premium economy from Paris to Chicago. Luckily we had slept on the earlier flight, and we watched a movie together.

We got our bags and headed to BART, feeling pretty tired, and got on the train. As we settled in and turned on our phones again, there was a message from Madeleine asking where we were. Slightly alarmed, we texted back, "on BART headed home." She said she was on her way to the airport to pick us up - a lovely surprise - so we got off at the next station, turned around and went back on another train, and met her in the parking lot. So nice to have a ride home with her and get to share updates. She had been staying at our home and taking care of Marley these past two weeks, and after all the travel, we were indeed glad to get home.

Paris, 10 December 2025

Our last day in Paris, sigh. A quiet morning, we started to put together our suitcases and packing gifts for the return trip tomorrow morning.

We took the 21 bus to the Tuileries and walked through the Marche de Noel again, this time getting a large raclette sandwich that we split, with some fries (why are the fries so good in France?). We got some macarons to bring home, and enjoyed the holiday spirit there. Since the weather was nice (in the 50s) we ate in the garden, and some inquisitive little birds came right up to us looking for food. I gave one bird a tiny french fry and from then on he thought he owned the bench. As we finished, some other birds approached, we put a few crumbs on the bench which he gobbled up, and when the other birds approached for theirs, he fought them off quite vociferously. We walked further in the gardens until the Place de la Concorde.

We decided to go to the Musée de l'Orangerie where Monet's huge water lilies paintings are, we had not been there since our 1997 trip with Barney’s parents. Unfortunately we had not gotten tickets ahead of time so we had about a half hour wait to get in, but it was worth it. Seeing these magnificent paintings again with no time constraint was wonderful. While most people walked by or took videos of the paintings, we sat and contemplated them, enjoying the subtle variations of the colors and brushstrokes. These painting are truly a national treasure, and nothing can replace seeing them in person. What a treat this was.

We then took the metro to another St. James store in the Marais to look for the sweater I was interested in. While I decided I did not want one after all, we did find the other one Madeleine wanted and got that for her for Christmas. It was nice walking through the narrow old streets of the Marais again, and as we strolled along, seeing many folks coming home from work, we got a few more chocolates at a small store, and we headed south to the Ile St Louis for old times’ sake. Walking along the north side of Notre Dame still mostly covered with scaffolding brought back more memories of that 1997 trip, including when Mary walked into an almost invisible glass door separating two souvenir shops, falling down and getting a black eye (luckily she was not hurt more badly). 

We decided to stop for an aperitif at the little restaurant we had gone to several times during that 1997 trip, which was just as charming as we remembered it. We walked up the main street, the rue de Ile St Louis, and found the building that we were staying in in 1997. We bought some pastries for breakfast at the little boulangerie across the street, where Madeleine went during that trip on our last day to buy a pain au chocolate all by herself, age 7! What a wonderful memory. 

It was time to head back and go to our last dinner, with Alexandra Choquet. We hurried to catch the 21 bus back to Catherine’s and who was on the bus but Martine, Catherine’s friend at whose place we have stayed a few times, and Isabel Catherine’s sister! We had a nice but brief chat, what a lucky coincidence. Back to Catherine’s to change and then a quick 15 minute hike to a restaurant called Le Verbelon to see Alexandra and her son Louis. It was great to see her again too, after five years, and Louis is now about to graduate from college with a degree in architecture. This was a very authentic bistro on rue Tolbiac, with only a chalkboard menu in French. We split a butternut squash tart to start, then Barney and I had a delicious hare stew with mashed parsnips, and split a profiterole. It was nice to catch up with Alexandra, she continues to enjoy her medical work at the senior home. Her older son Antoine is in marketing in Brussels, and the youngest, Benoit is training to become an actor. We had a fun time talking about travel and future plans. Again, another wonderful friend we made who had given us a look at another way of life. 

Walking back to the apartment we realized what a busy and socially fulfilling trip this has been. We packed our suitcases, realizing we had an amazing number of gifts and books etc. to take home, but luckily we had underpacked so we had plenty of space. After a final long chat with Catherine, during which she called to order am 8:00am taxi for us, we headed to bed to get up early for our departure.