Robbins Ramblings: Isafjordur.

The village of Isafjordur lies at the end of the Skutulsfjorour on a narrow sand spit with tall mountains at the rear.

Sailing up the fjord in the morning light with the huge cliffs either side of the ship was very reminiscent of last year’s Norwegian adventure. The snow has not yet completely disappeared from the peaks but no waterfalls of melting ice were visible.

Once again today a tender was necessary to reach land and as the boats manoeuvred below us we had a leisurely breakfast.

It was probably more leisurely than we had planned as it seem to take an age to move the passengers ashore but after today’s selfie we were finally on our way.

The population of the village is around 3000 (about the same as the number of passengers on the ship) and as it was a Sunday there was very little going on. We wandered up and down the narrow streets with quaint little houses that date back some time, this one dated 1898. At least I think it was the date and not the house number.

This part of Iceland is primarily a fishing area with many fishing villages scattered along the sides of the fjord. To celebrate the role of the fisherman the village houses what is supposedly the best Maritime Museum in Iceland. Housed in several former warehouse buildings the museum tells the tale of the history of fishing in the area and the various methods by which the fish were preserved. Examples of which are these dried fish.

Other exhibits highlighted “The Cod War” with the United Kingdom and the whaling industry that used to be important to

the region. Overall I was a little disappointed with the exhibition, however what was impressive was a display of piano accordions. This was a collection of a Mr Sigurdsson who had been collecting them since he was aged 15, some of which date from 1830. So maybe not the best maritime museum but certainly the best accordion museum.