Scrumptious food and a lazy day

The view in Mjóifjörður

We leave Eskifjordur all briefed up. We know what we’re doing and when we’re doing it, or so we thought.

Being simple souls we delight in poshing up for the evening. We have best bib and tucker on. We swank into La Dolce Vita bar and are met with raised eyebrows from Gloria. Wow! Is all she exclaims. That’s good enough for me. We enjoy our fizz and everyone gets very excited when I refuse a second glass. I think I know what’s coming and recognise I need to pace myself.

BB&T

Just as we are about to move from the bar to the restaurant, Werner’s dulcet tones tell us that the forecast has changed, yet again, and that the wind is going to be so bad at Seyðisfjörður, that we will now have to take Zodiacs to land because we won’t be able to dock. Hey ho. Whatever. We feel we’re taking the Icelandic mentality of not caring about a lot. Meanwhile, the Americans sitting next to us are just about exploding out of themselves with the fact that plans have changed…yet again. They don’t seem to recognise that these decisions are being made by erm, experts.

Having left Eskifjordur in perfect sunlight, out of nowhere, we emerge into thick fog. And that’s how it stays throughout our time in La Dame restaurant, which is probably good, as it means we had to concentrate purely on the food as the view was nonexistent.

In La Dame, we were welcomed to a world of near perfection. German crockery, German cutlery and German glass wear. Riedel, naturally. But we experienced French wine and French food. So ultimately we had the best of the best.

We were presented with the menu, or rather menus and were frankly baffled until our waiter explained the three options for dining. The first was a set menu with wine flight accompaniment. When I say that the wines, PER GLASS, ranged from $19 to $56, we decided not to take that route. Then there was the set menu which included two main dishes and then there was the al la carte which included five courses plus the sorbet courses and petit fours.

We opted for four courses. Nick choosing the 1-oz. portion of Signature Farm-raised Caviar, Buckwheat Blinis, Jersey Potatoes and Traditional Condiments, me the thinly Sliced Escalopes of 'Maine' Lobster, Mango Salsa and Lobster Mayonnaise. Then Nick choosing the lobster bisque and me choosing the mushroom soup. Then on to the Grilled Rack of Lamb, Gratin Potatoes, Thyme-infused Lamb Jus and French Beans for Nick and the Chilean Seabass, Lemon Butter Sauce, Asparagus and Braised Fennel for me and then rounding off with Pistachio Soufflé served with a Dark Chocolate Sauce for both of us.

La Dame proved to be excellent. We were a bit sceptical but were super surprised at the dedicated professionalism in this restaurant. Often at these types of restaurants, the food is very rich and you feel bloated at the end, or the portions are so minuscule, you need a slice of toast after it. We didn’t experience either of those. You could have had lobster many ways, foie gras in as equally many way and caviar as a starter and sprinkled throughout a number of dishes. There were just two other couples in the restaurant, so not at all busy. This is the only restaurant on the ship where you pay a surcharge and we felt it’d be good to do once. We were not disappointed.

We moved slowly into Mjóifjörður and before we know it, we were back in brilliant sunshine at 10pm. Perfect timing.

The environment had changed from foggy, hostile to daylight dramatic. The mountains looked like they had been aggressively gouged out by a massive giant’s hand.

I wake at 6am. My body clock feels so used to waking early, but manage to get back to sleep until 7am when I feel the change in the ship and recognise we’re moving into dock and the noise isn’t the anchor going down, I have a little chuckle to myself at the group of Americans last night. I can only imagine that they’ll be chuntering about the Captain and Werner changing their minds. And sure enough, the announcement goes out that the weather has changed again and more importantly looks calm for this afternoon when we’ll be setting sail, so we’re back to a dry landing.

A rainy Seyðisfjörður

Meanwhile, I have slept like an actual human being and feel utterly refreshed. However, we both feel very lazy and having chosen not to join any of the excursions, but to do our own thing, decide to skip breakfast, not venture out because it’s tipping it down and visibility is poor and so stay in bed. Breakfast, instead consists of coffee and chocolate, two of the main food groups then.

This morning is the first time we’ve seen another cruise liner. Viking Sky drifts in, towering over us with its 930 guest capacity. As it gets itself berthed, we start the process of departing from Seyðisfjörður. We feel a little guilty that we’ve not ventured off the ship, but have enjoyed our lazy morning followed by an early buffet lunch, as by now, we’re both super hungry. Apparently one can not live on coffee and chocolate alone. Who knew?

So now we have the rest of today at sea, all of tomorrow and Monday morning. I might finally get my book finished off.

The Captain and Expedition Leader at the briefing

We attend the afternoon briefing and get to understand that although we’ve avoided some horrific weather, we still have expectation of some interesting conditions ahead. At its worst point we will be experiencing 35 knot winds and 12 foot swell around midnight tonight and into tomorrow morning. I think I’m getting a gauge as to how bad it’s going to be when the Captain said our balcony furniture will be secured by the team to stop it flying around. We’re currently travelling at 16 knots to try to get ahead of the worst of the weather. We have been reminded that we need to put our clocks forward one hour. I feel I’m perhaps looking too forward to our arrival into Iona on the afternoon of the 30th.