The city tour was really not all that. It was more like a city and outskirts tour, and at such a frenetic pace, we really didn't get to enjoy anything in particular... that and the fact that our tour guide was the polar opposite of Husky (i.e., so unengaging that we were falling asleep). So I won't get into this tour at all... we did a better exploration of the city ourselves - more on that for Day 3.
The highlight of Day 2 was our evening Whale Watch, with a short detour to see the puffins on Puffin Island. There are many types of whales that inhabit the Icelandic waters at this time of year, but the most common is the Minke Whale (aka, Day 1's lunch). On our way out we stopped to look at the puffins.
Puffins are also known as the "Clown Bird" because of their cute/funny looks and the awkwardness of their persona. Let me explain. See, puffins are pretty darned good flyers, once they get IN the air, that is. The problem is the take-off... especially the water take-off. They are NOT good at lifting themselves out of the water. There's a lot of paddling going on with their feet underwater and a whole lot of frantic flapping with their wings. In person, it is really, really HILARIOUS.
Look at the concentration on this little guy's face... it's as if he's saying, "FLAP! FLAP! FLAP!!!!" (photo courtesy of Turg)
Turg got some great shots of the puffins and other birds with his snazzy new telephoto lens... check out the Flickr page for all his shots.
The whale watching portion of the ride was really quite exciting. Whale breaches on the water surface are only somewhat predictable. So, there's lots of staring at the water, looking for a characteristic swirl and just plain guessing. A typical breach sounds kind of like this: "Okay... there are the swirls... it should be com... THERE THERE THERE!!! 1 o'clock! COMING UP AT 1 o'clock!!" It was like that for an hour - extremely exhilarating. Our guide, Ragnar (seriously, these names kill me), was really cool and fun.
This is really as much of the whale as Turg could get a shot of by the time he had his camera aimed at the right spot.
The boat captain, and Ragnar and me doing our best "Blue Steel"
We loved the whale watching so much, we're probably going to do it again. And hopefully we'll spot more whales.
After the whale watch we stopped and got some lobster soup (again) to warm ourselves up, followed by a quick bite at a Tapas place (Tapas with an Icelandic twist), where we has some escargot, lobster and *ahem* smoked puffin...
I know, we're terrible people. But everything is sooooo tasty.
Next up... Solstice Day in the City.
2 comments:
You're eating the tourist attractions! Could you see that happening here? Munchmunchmunch -- there goes the top of the Washington Monument...
Eeek. I'm not sure I could eat something as cute as a puffin. I mean, they are just so funny looking.
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