Iceland to Greenland 2026 on RSSC
Monday July 20, 2026
Today is departure day! FLL - JFK - KEF on Delta of course!
July 21, 2026 Reykjavik, Iceland
We landed at KEF and took a taxi to our hotel. I booked the Midtown Reykjavik Hotel and we were surprised to find it a touchless hotel meaning no staff. The directions they give did not allow us to enter the building. Other guests rescued us and let us in. Picture below is from our balcony.
We booked the Reykjavik Food Tour again. We did it in 2018 and loved it so much we decided to do again. We started from the Harpa Concert Hall. It is a very unique building and Jim took these from under the eaves. Not sure the meaning of the artwork.
We walked down the rainbow street. Ina was disappointed to see another Ferris wheel erected in the cities. The train is the only train in Iceland used prior to the building of the roads.
Our first restaurant was Fjallkonan. We had Islandic char and lamb tasting. They both were delicious. The lamb was probably the best that Ina has ever had because it did not taste like lamb. LOL
The second restaurant was the Messinn which we ate at in 2018. Love their char! We had 2 new dishes of char in honey and a potato dish.
Stop number 2 was the hotdog stand made internationally famous when Bill Clinton had one here. It has been operating in the same spot since 1936.
Restaurant number 4 was Islenski Barinn. We ate here multiple times in 2018 and love the food. We had lamb stew and a local beer and orange soda. However, the fermented shark was really not bad. The trick is you chew 5 times then swallow it with the beer or orange soda.
Our final stop was the Cafe Loki for traditional Icelandic ice-cream made from Rye Bed.
The Hallgrimskirkja (Church of Hallgrimur) is a Lutheran (Church of Iceland) parish built in 1986. Our Food Group Tour picture coming soon. We walked 2.1 miles today.
July 22, 2026 Reykjavik, Iceland
We boarded our ship, Regent of the Seven Seas Grandeur at noon. We had a nice lunch and settled into our room. Is that a Fabergé Egg? Yes, yes it is: "In a world first, Regent Seven Seas Cruises® and the House of Fabergé ushered in a new era for the art of luxury when they introduced the only Fabergé egg to set sail as a permanent exhibit at sea. When the all-new Seven Seas Grandeur™ embarked on its first voyage in the fall of 2023, its multimillion-dollar, prized art collection shone with Journey in Jewels as its crown. This one-of-a-kind objet d’art was designed to reflect the stunning beauty of the world’s oceans in their dance with Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ heritage of luxury and perfection. A pedestal of ocean greens, turquoise, and pearl was the foundation upon which the elegant egg resided. Journey in Jewels was wrapped in seven waves — deep blues lightening into an ocean spray of white pearls — representing the Seven Seas, hiding and harboring the treasure within." I also enjoy sitting down to find my Versace plates waiting for me!
June 23, 2026 Grundarfjordur, Iceland
Grundarfjordur is a cute little fishing town on the northern coast in West Iceland.
The French established a church and hospital in the 19th century. The Icelanders believe in elves. They will not move large rocks as they believe that the elves live in them and to do so would be to bring bad luck.
There are 112 ways to describe wind in Islandic. This art shows all the different ways in color.
The Kirkjufell Mountain is its most famous landmark.
Along our walk we saw beautiful scenery with the sea, falls, mountains, wildflowers, and Islandic horses.
We hiked to the Kirkjufell Falls. This was about a 3-mile hike one way! We walked 6.1 miles today.
July 24, 2026 Day at Sea
We did a salsa dance class that was very strenuous. Enjoyed a French Tea. Did terrible at trivia again and won name that tune!
Sunset at 11:39pm!
July 25, 2026 Qaqortoq, Greenland
This morning started out with trivia due to a late arrival into Qaqortoq. Slight improvement in trivia but still no points.
This small village is known for the 30 different motifs that are chiseled into rocks by local and Scandinavian artists from the mid 1990s.
We hiked through the town and around the lake. We did 5.1 miles today! Lots of wildflowers and their yards are just flowers.
The only fountain in Greenland until recently! It is whales with water coming from the blow holes. Jim added a rock to the stele rockery.
We participated in a "Taste of Greenland". 3 hors d'oeuvres from top to bottom were radish, lamb then dried halibut. Had a Greenland lager!
July 26, 2026 Paamiut, Greenland
Paamiut is home to the largest population of white-tailed eagles in Greenland. Whales can be seen from the shore including Minke, fin, orcas and humpback. The population online says it is anywhere from 1100 to 1500 but unfortunately, the population is dwindling and is down to around 900 today. The decrease is related to the fact that there is no more cod to be caught. Their 3 main fishing is for cod, halibut and snow crab. Interestingly, they do have homeless residents and there is a building where they can sleep.
Our guide, Louisa, was born and raised here and only left last year to go to university in another town. The boat was her Great Grandfathers and named after her GG, Tina. The house was a typical house in the early days of Greenland. 10 to 15 people would live in the house.
The church was built in 1909 and they are Lutheran. The white crosses in the churchyard are representative to those who were lost at sea and never found. The flags are flown at half-mass when anyone dies in the village and then buried in the community graveyard.
Beautiful wildflowers were everywhere.
July 27, 2026 Narsaq, Greenland Cancelled!
The icebergs became to dense for the boat to continue up the fjord to Narsaq. We had to turn around and make it another day at sea. As you can see from the picture, Greenland is a country made up of >100 islands.
Nice to have your laundry returned to you in such a nice pretty package!
July 28, 2026 Nanortalik, Greenland
This is the southernmost town of Greenland and home to about 1000 people.
Our guide was a native Inuit who is a college student in Archeology. She is proud of her heritage and has the traditional tattoos on her chin showing she has arrived to womanhood. She took us all around the village with spectacular views.
There were lots of "older" folks sitting around with their walkers watching the tourists!
We were happy to see the children were performing or selling cakes and tea instead of just wanting money. We stopped by the local fish market and saw wolffish, cod, seal blubber and dried seal meat.
July 29, 2026 Cruising Prince Christian Sound
We sailed the Labrador Sea then cruised the Prince Christian Sound. We stopped to marvel at the glacier in the Kangerluk Fjord.
July 30, 2026 Day at Sea Atlantic Ocean
Jim got an audition that is due today! Looking for the old Asian man...he might actually get it sporting his white facial hair! It took a little bit of work to get the lighting correct!
We had a beautiful sunset at 11:10pm! Then a beautiful moon after midnight.
July 31, 2026 Isafjordur, Iceland
Isafjordur means "ice fjord" and is the largest town (population ~2700) in the Westfjords. Kerecis is a company that developed a medical wound care dressing for wounds, burns and surgical injuries. It is made from intact Atlantic cod skin that is harvested from here. The company is growing!
The village people continue to grow vegetables such as the rhubarb and potatoes. They dry sheep fat in open storerooms. This storeroom building is over 100 years old. They also have "honesty" shops where you are on the honor system to pay for the goods.
The Dutch who settled this area brought their own pre-built houses in the 18th century as wood was scarce in Iceland. The oldest house is the Krambúðin "the Shop" was built in 1757. It is now being renovated.
The Westfjords Heritage Museum was interesting. Jim took a selfie with a polar bear. Unfortunately, for the bear, he did not leave the area after the winter and had to be exterminated due to the threat to the residents. We tried some dried cod, mildly fermented shark, and some very strong spirit.
The airport is difficult to see, but it takes some skill to get the plane between the mountains with the wind.
August 1, 2026 Reykjavik, Iceland to Ft. Lauderdale, FL
We had a pretty uneventful return to Reykjavik and flight to FLL.