Djupivogur, Iceland

Djupivogur (djoo-pea-vo-gore) The Dj sort of runs together, like dew with a j snuck in! Accents are difficult also as the language is lilting, so the middle syllable goes up. It is, after all, based on Norwegian and so has the same emphasis. The Norsemen, Vikings, were the first explorers and settlers. The town is perched on a tip jutland between sea and bay. The population is 400 hardy souls. Fishing is, of course, primary to the incomes of the people but mineral mining is the main industry and accounts for the most of the exportation income. The mining operations are longstanding as is evidenced by the pyramid look to the mountains. Carved in perfect squares from the top down, it is definitely strange to see on the open landscape. The main attraction is a lineup of ‘eggs’. Signs guide you up and down hill to the “Big Egg”. Before following the signs we first walked around near the dock. Many got off the tender and headed straight to a café housed in a large, red painted, wooden building. The line outside was long. The wind was whipping off the broad opening from the large, round bay to the North Atlantic causing everyone to make sure their hats were snug and their shoulders hunched against it. We followed the sidewalk which made us laugh. All along, about every 20 feet, two alternating signs directing people back in the direction we were coming from, were painted on the pavement. One a light blue circle with a large white WC. The other a yellow snail with white WC. Very funny as they were on each of the walkways up from the dock and well into the ‘town’. I can’t imagine that they have enough visitors to need to be so informative! Surely in this tiny dot on the map that the citizens would be closer to home and surely not need direction to the town bathroom! We wandered up hill as far as the school with a similar big bouncy platform as in Seydisfjordur. Chatted with a lady who is on our ship from Scottsdale, and went into the grocery store where luckily Carol bought chocolate candy for her friends. It was hard to find something made in Iceland, but she did. Deb had said there was no yarn in this town. She did not go to the grocery store which did indeed have a rack of special yarns. Several people were sort of planted in front of it deciding what to select from the limited supply. We then followed the sign that said “Eggin I Gledivik” or “The Eggs of Merry Bay”. It was about a mile walk along the shore on a gravel and river rock type stone to the mining warehouse. On pillars at the edge of the bank were highly polished egg-shaped stones of varying colors. The first stone was indeed a big egg. It represented, in both color and proportionate size, the egg of the Red-Throated Diver, the official bird of Djupivogur. The other 33 eggs were approximately the same in size but a variety of colors. All together they represented the 34 native birds of the area. Walking back past the Ice-Fishing plant we peeked in the café as Carol was hoping to find a gift shop that might have a magnet for her fridge. No luck. We tendered back just as the rain began to fall. Dinner in the dining room with Deb and a couple whom none of us will want to join again. We have not had a lot of good luck at larger tables this trip. They were definitely annoying. She had them bring the menu from the Asian restaurant because she wanted ‘flavor’ but didn’t want to pay the upcharge. That added a good 20 or more minutes to the wait for food. He spent the whole time telling us how they travel so cheap and never pay anything extra. Well, that then was the proof. Also they each traveled only with one carry on bag! 24 nights! And yes we have not seen them in any other clothes since then. He also spent a good part of dinner trying to get us to buy his tour tickets because he booked conflicting tours in two ports! After we escaped the three of us went to the show of the new entertainer. He was a wonderful guitarist by the name of Greg Rodman. His Les Paul guitar was his hearts desire. When, at age 11, he won a national contest his parents bought it for him! We eagerly await the big day tomorrow in Reykjavik.