Choppy Seas on Way Back--Saturday August 8th

August 8th, Saturday-At Sea
Today was a sea day from Iceland south-east in the north Atlantic, heading toward the coast of Scotland. We awoke to stormy seas and rain as we headed back toward the UK. There are no more post days so we are glad that the choppy weather waited until our return trip. We were so lucky to get great weather in all of the ports.
Since it is a sea day, we know it to be a work day for us. We were surprised to learn that we only were only scheduled to present a show today as our Sunday show is cancelled due to a scheduling conflict in the show lounge. We rehearsed in our stateroom in the morning where we were definitely feeling the rolling of the ship in this choppy North Sea conditions.
We attended the Captain's Corner presentation and listened to the senior officers explain the workings of this lovely ship and answer questions from the audience. We always learn something new at these shows and we were not disappointed. 
By the time of our show at 2pm, we were actually surprised to see the large crowd in the audience as

many of the guests were hunkered down in their staterooms due to sea sickness. It was very rocky with 80mph winds across the decks. All of the outside decks were closed.
We had some computer problems during the start of the lecture which added to our stress from the weather conditions but we worked our way through them. We were both stressed but did not show it as we know that regardless, the show must go on. We announced that the Scandinavian trolls that we saw so often in each port must have taken over our computer since the audio did not work at the start of the show and then started working as the show continued. By the ending of the show, we were happy that our Sunday show had been cancelled as we weren't sure what the trolls might do if we had to present another show.
After our show, we retreated to the stateroom for a few hours to relax after the computer stress during our show. Tonight was a formal night but neither of us had the desire to get all dressed up and go to the dining room so we picked up a snack at the snack bar in the Solarium. We attended an excellent production show of tango dancing. We were surprised at how well the dancers did with the rocking of the ship. It was beautifully executed with the dancers tossing each other around and never missing a step or dropping one of the dancers!
We went to bed early as it was easier to do than to try and walk around the ship with the rock and roll conditions. Tomorrow is the final day at sea so we will be relaxing and packing our suitcases in preparation for disembarkation early on Monday morning. We are scheduled to leave the ship by 7 am in Harwich, England and then board a bus for a couple of hour trip to London's Heathrow airport. We are staying overnight near the airport as we

80 mph headwinds across the deck.

have a very long non-stop flight to Los Angeles and then a shorter flight to Seattle. We are both ready to return home after this wonderful month away.

Farewell to Iceland

August 7, 2015
Our time in Iceland was short.  Although the days were long, we only had a limited time to see the many wonders the island. 

We heard some wonderful tales about Iceland's past, many of which were told with a sparklingly dry Scandinavian wit.  By the end of the hour, the musician-storyteller had most of the audience singing along.

fishing nets at dockside

Our ship was in port all night Thursday night,  we decided to enjoy the Icelandic entertainers who were scheduled to perform on our ship at 10:00 PM.  We certainly made the right decision.  The entertainers, most of whom were from the same family, had a wide range of materials, including songs and stories about Iceland.  Some of the songs that the packed theater enjoyed were in English.  Others were sung in Icelandic. 
We awoke at 6:30 on Friday morning, had our breakfast at the Windjammer Cafe and prepared to go ashore, knowing that we must return to the ship by 12:30.  As we stolled out onto an open deck, we were met my a blast of frigid air from the. North.  This caused us to reasess our plans.  We were told that most of the shops in Reykjavik would not be open at an early and there was really not much to do there.  We decided to visit a small dockside souvenir shop and pick up a few items.  The rest of the morning was to be spent refining our next show and relaxing on the solarium deck.

something about strangled bananas?

We may have made a wise decision staying onboard.  Ten minutes before thè gangway was scheduled to be pulled, seven names were called on the ship's intercom.  Apparently these were passengers who had not checked in.  The time for All Aboard passed and, at the last minutè, we spotted three individuals making a dash for the ship from one of the buses.  We never did find out what happened to the other four.
About two hours after our departure, as we were putting our two miles in on the ship's decks, we heard an announcement on the intercom that the ship would be stopping for a helicopter lift for a medical emergency.  The copter hovered over the landing zone for a while and then the patient was hauled aboard. We have witnessed this a few times previously, but it is still quite unusual.
The evening show was hilarious. It was called Graffiti Classics and it was four string players who were not only very talented classical players but they combined their playing with a very funny comedy bit. It reminded us of the old Victor Borge shows that we saw years ago onstage in Portland Oregon.
Two more days with no more ports means two more shows for us to present to the guests. We are looking forward to presenting our shows and also to be preparing to return to our home on Tuesday.

Sunshine in Iceland...A Nice Surprise!

Aug 5-6 Cruising north to Iceland 64 degrees north
Wednesday Aug 5 was a sea day and therefore a work day for us. We rehearsed our afternoon show in the morning and presented it in the main theater at 2 pm. We had a nice sized crowd and they seemed to enjoy our show about the great Danish author that we all remember from our childhood, Hans Christian Andersen.
In the evening, we attended the show featuring a hypnotist. We usually don't care for that kind of show but this one was ok. Just ok not great. He hynotized 16 people from the audience and then had them perform various silly tasks.
On Thursday, our ship docked in the harbor of sunny Reykjavik Iceland.We had never anticipated sunshine in Iceland but the day was perfect. This is our final port of call and we will overnight here. This industrial port is about 2 miles from the city center so the only way to go into town is by excursion or taxi as it is not an easy walk to town.

lava desert

Kari surprised John with a great birthday gift. She emailed to us that she had purchased admission and transportation for both of us to the famous Blue Lagoon. The bus picked us up at 10am and the drive took about 45 minutes to arrive at its destination. This well know tourist attraction seems to be the drawing point for every tourist as it was very busy. The lagoon itself is quite large so it didn't seem crowded to us. They have it so well organized with digital wristbands that lock and open the locker where you leave your clothes and store the bands as you exit. The water was very nice at a temperature around 100 degrees. Even with a breeze the lagoon felt very relaxing. Thanks for a great gift, Kari.
We came back to ship on the bus. It was a large tour bus and the driver asked each person where they wanted to be dropped off and he accomodated everyone. Some wanted to go to the city and others to hotels and some of us wanted to come back to the ship. He made a list of everyoone's destination and drove each of us there.
We had a late lunch and then relaxed in the solarium. It was actually warm enough to change into shorts for the first time since embarking on the cruise.
On Friday, we will still be in port until noon so after breakfast, we will take a shuttle bus into the city and see what is happening in this very modern looking capital city. This is the farthest north capital in the world  and the most northerly point that we have ever been so that is somewhat

Donna at Blue Lagoon

exciting.