Saturday, August 12- The Maritime Museum and Dinner with a Friend

Ron and I had wanted to visit the Maritime Museum on our last trip and never found it.  His stamina had decreased even then to the point that wandering around endlessly was out of the question.  I found it this time and he would have loved it., especially the reconstruction of the radio operator's cabin.  Ron still remembered Morse code at age 78.

A separate room had a very good exhibit on the Cod Wars, a long, sometimes violent, ongoing struggle between Britain (they loved their fish and chips) and Iceland over territorial rights along Iceland's coast. 

A vintage calculator from the national bank, source of funding to strengthen Iceland's commercial fishing industry.

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Name plate from a very early (c. 1946) Loran navigation device.

Part of the exhibit on cod fishing.

Cod liver in its own oil- Icelandic product labeled for export.  I doubt it would be very popular in the USA.

Today was the Gay Pride March in the center of Reykjavik.  Have I mentioned lately that I love this city?  I wasn’t there for the actual parade (I was swimming) but arrived as it was breaking up.  There were rainbow flags and ribbons in shop windows and entire families decked out in rainbow colors as well as many same-sex couples.

My friend Chris was coming in from Amsterdam today with his 18-year old nephew.  Chris is one of a handful of wonderful people I know from a travel discussion board on the internet that I joined 15+ years ago (definitely pre-9/11) and we always get together when we’re in the same area.  He posted on FaceBook when he couldn’t reach the host of his Airbnb rental and when I responded he asked if I could call the host- Chris’ phone didn’t work in Iceland and, although he could access public Wi-Fi, his phone was down to 6% power.  I called the owner, who was in the highlands on vacation, was told where the key to the unit was hidden, relayed the info to Chris, and all was well.  Later that evening Chris and I had a long, enjoyable dinner of pizza and beer.  He arrived bearing a bottle of French wine which he’d bought in France as thanks.