July 4, 2022 – Heimaey Island

Happy 4th of July!
I woke up at 5am to post yesterday’s blog. The early breakfast in the library started at 6am but I went in early for my first latte of the day.
Yesterday they told us we’d be sailing in the mornings and there should be lots of wildlife. So breakfast was moved from 8am to 7am. We were in Port by 7am so I’m not sure what we will see. We don’t tour Heimaey Island until 1pm.
We were supposed to have a lecture on whales but at 930am, they changed the schedule. The lecture was cancelled and we were told we could go ashore.
In 1973, Heimaey had a volcano eruption that lasted six months, burned and buried several hundred houses, and caused the evacuation of over the whole island – 5,000 people in 5 hours. I found a hiking path that took me through part of the lava field.
They decorated the ship with American flags for the Fourth of July. For lunch dessert, they made cupcakes with red, white, and blue icing arranged to look like a flag.
At 130 pm we boarded a bus for our tour of the island. There are 4000+ residents and the main industry is fishing. The island hosts Iceland’s largest music event each year. It sounds like a combination of Burning Man and a multi-day music festival.
We sailed away at 6pm. Tomorrow is a sea day as we head for the Faroe Islands.