31 August 2019:
Stornoway, Isle of Lewis and Harris:
A Tweedy Place

By Corey Sandler

Stornoway is on an island off of an island.

Just to make things even more complicated, it has two names: Lewis and Harris. It’s just one island, but it helps confuse outsiders, which may be the point.

Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides is the largest island of Scotland and the third-largest island in the British Isles, after Britain and Ireland.

Tobermory: So Near, Yet So Far

We had expected to make a port call on 30 August at Tobermory on the Ile of Mull in the Inner Hebrides, but we ran afoul of some foul weather. We arrived at Tobermory in the early morning to find wind gusts as high as 50 knots.

Our captain attempted to find safe shelter in a cove and wait to see if the winds would subside, but even in the cove we were dragging our anchor and not safely stopped. And so we sailed away from Tobermory and headed for Stornoway where we arrived at dinnertime and overnighted at the pier.

Stornoway: The Port After the Storm

The town of Stornoway was founded by Vikings in the early 9th century, with the Old Norse name Stjórnavágr. The town grew up around a sheltered natural harbor well placed at a central point on the island.

Trade developed across the island, and onward to the mainland of Scotland and to Norse settlements elsewhere.

The two-name single island is a lovely place. I went with guests on a drive through the northern part, Lewis. Here are some scenes from today of the rolling moors, the prehistoric Standing Stones of Callanish, and an ancient broch:

All photos by Corey Sandler, 2019. All rights reserved.

Local gourmands will point you to a few specialties of the region, including Stornoway Black Pudding.

It’s not a pudding, at least in the dessert sense. It is traditionally made from beef suet, Scottish oatmeal, and pork blood. It has a firm texture and when cooked is said to be moist, not greasy and savoury, not spicy.

You might like it.

I’ll stick to butterscotch pudding.

For centuries, islanders in the Outer Hebrides have hand-weaved a distinctive woolen cloth: Harris Tweed. By tradition, Harris Tweed is hand woven on a manually-powered treadle loom at each weaver’s home.

The weaver arranges hundreds of heddles to a specified pattern before the beam of warp yarn is tied into the loom by hand. The weaver then sets up the weft threads, pulling bobbins of yarn through a series of guides to be woven into the warp threads by a flashing “rapier.”

I have no idea what that means. But I do have a nice Harris Tweed sport coat back home.

Today we visited a traditional weaver:

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

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29 August 2019:
Londonderry / Derry, Northern, Ireland:
Knife’s Edge

By Corey Sandler

The story of Londonderry helps explain the complex background to the long history of conflict between Protestants and Catholics, English and Irish. Its commercial roots are based on investments by guilds and merchants in London, and they added the prefix of their home town to the original name of Derry.

You can read more about Londonderry / Derry and see more photos by clicking on the tag at the bottom of this blog.

But in summary: my view includes a belief that nothing in history is written in black and white; it is all shades of gray.

Today in Northern Ireland we had an appropriately gray day, and so I began my tour thinking in monochrome. Here are some photos I took in the predominantly Catholic district of Bogside, showing a few of the murals that memorialize The Troubles as seen from that side:

Bogside

Three monochrome images of murals in Bogside
Bogside from across the river

Splashes of Color at the Londonderry Guildhall

And then I returned to one of my favorite places in this part of the world, the Londonderry Guildhall, for some splashes of color. They were preparing for a recital on the massive organ in the main hall, and the pipes were glowing in anticipation.

The pipe organ
Some of the wondrous stained glass windows that tell one side of the story of Londonderry/Derry, that of the guilds of London who came here to develop…and change…the region.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

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28 August 2019:
Belfast, Northern Ireland:
The Titanic Rises Again

By Corey Sandler

Belfast, with a population of about 600,000 in the metropolitan area, was a center of the Irish linen, tobacco processing, ropemaking, and shipbuilding industries, a major player in the Industrial Revolution.

After a painful decline in the second half of the 20th century, it has seen a bit of recovery in aerospace and military industry.

Today, Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, which—like it or not for some residents—is part of the United Kingdom.

The main yard, Harland and Wolff, built a ship you may have heard of: the RMS Titanic. The Wolff shipyard is now the location of the world’s largest dry dock, where the giant cranes Samson and Goliath stand out against Belfast’s skyline. Most of its work now involves support for offshore wind and oil platforms.

But in the early 20th century, this was the biggest and most productive shipyard in the world, and Belfast was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Harland and Wolff became one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, employing as many as 35,000 workers.

Almost forgotten—except amongst locals—is the fact Belfast was heavily bombed by Germany during World War II. In one raid, on the night of Easter Tuesday, April 15, 1941, two hundred Luftwafe bombers attacked and about one thousand people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless.

Apart from London, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz. It had been thought that Belfast was out of reach of German planes, but once France fell, the Luftwaffe was able to fly from there.

The primary targets were the textile works which manufactured uniforms and other equipment, munitions factories, and the shipyards.

Today the shipyard no longer builds titanic ships and the linen factories are almost all gone. The flashiest modern attraction is Titanic Belfast, which opened in 2012 to coincide with the centenary of the incomplete maiden voyage of the luxury liner Titanic.

The angular design was intended to evoke the image of ship. It stands 126 feet (38 meters) high, the same height as Titanic’s hull.

Locals have already applied their own nickname: The Iceberg.

The museum tells the stories of the ill-fated RMS Titanic and her sister ships RMS Olympic and HMS Britannic.

And all around the handsome city of Belfast you can see some of the wealth that the shipyard and factories brought to the city.

The Crown Liquor Saloon is the only drinking establishment in the U.K. owned by the National Trust. It was decorated by Italian artisans brought to Belfast to build churches, and with some of the paneling and artwork of the great ships made here.
The Grans Opera House
The Titanic Museum at the shipyard in Belfast
SS Nomadic, the surviving First Class tender for the Titanic

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

27 August 2019:
Dublin, Ireland:
Once More to the Fair City

By Corey Sandler

Dublin’s Fair City, memorialized in song, is a lovely place to stroll. It includes several of my essentials: a river, handsome buildings, and a university. Oh, and a brewery.

Today was a glorious day in a beautiful city and we went to explore grand sights outdoors and indoors: Grafton Street and the National Gallery amongst them. Amongst the things I explored were ghost signs from times past. Here is some of what I saw through my lenses today:

Stephens Green on Grafton Street
Pure Chemicals and Laboratory Apparatus just might lead to Insomnia
And the cure might involve a barista and a donut
Or a glass of stout. Guinness is the very big boy in town and in all of Ireland, but they are not alone
And for some, the cure lies in retail therapy

You can read more about Dublin on various visits by clicking on the tag at the bottom of this blog or on this link: http://blog.sandlerbooks.com/2019/08/20/20-august-2019-dublin-irelandnot-fade-away/(opens in a new tab)

Trinity College in Dublin

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

26 August 2019:
St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly:
The Far West of Great Britain

By Corey Sandler

We have sailed along the bottom of Cornwall to its southwestern tip and then to the Isles of Scilly, about 28 miles or 45 kilometers out to sea.

There are about 145 islands in total, only 5 inhabited.

We came to port in Hugh Town on the island of Saint Mary’s. There’s also Tresco, Saint Martin’s, Bryher, and Saint Agnes, which is the southernmost point in England.

Hugh Town is like traveling back in time forty, fifty, a hundred years ago. We moved in and out of the clouds, and I began to think–and eventually photograph–in black-and-white. Here are photos from today:

Silver Wind at anchor between St. Mary’s and Tresco islands
All photos by Corey Sandler 2019, all rights reserved

The Isles of Scilly have one of the most moderate climates in the U.K., tempered by North Atlantic Current—a finger of the Gulf Stream. Frost or snow is rare.

The current extends northeastward from Newfoundland Rise, a submarine ridge off the Grand Banks of Canada. The stream transports more warm tropical water to northern latitudes than any other boundary current.

That is why winter in London is relatively moderate, even though London is at about the same latitude as Winnipeg, Manitoba or Red Bay, Labrador in Canada. Trust me, Labrador and Manitoba are very cold places.

And what do they do with that extra bit of warmth in the Isles of Scilly?

The chief agricultural product is cut flowers, mostly daffodils, harvested months ahead of the mainland.

Other than daffodils, the islands are mostly low heather and bare rock, lashed by Atlantic storms from time to time.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

23-24 August 2019:
London to Iceland:
Crossing the Atlantic, Part 1

By Corey Sandler

We came into London Friday morning, passing through Tower Bridge with perfect time to (briefly) disrupt the morning rush hour.

This time the weather was glorious. We passed the London Flood Barrier at about 6:45am and through Tower Bridge an hour later:

We leave Saturday in the early evening, which should provide entertainment for Londoners and all aboard ship.

To guests leaving us here, we wish safe travels. And welcome aboard to new friends.

The London Flood Barrier
Tower Bridge from the navigational bridge of Silver Wind

Once we were through the bridge and tied up to HMS Belfast in the river, we went ashore to visit the Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch in the City of London. Here are some of the spectacular views from the 35th floor:

Views of the Thames and London from the 35th floor

From here we head along the south coast of the United Kingdom to make a visit at St. Mary’s on the Isle of Scilly, one of the westernmost parts of England. From there we will continue to Ireland for visits to the great city of Dublin, then back to the UK for Belfast and Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

More island lay ahead: Tobermory on the Isle of Mull and Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, both offshore of Scotland.

We make a left turn and cross over to Seyðisfjörður on the mainland of the island nation of Iceland, and then to Heimaey, the home island of the
Vestmannaeyjar archipelago in the south part of Iceland, and from there on to the capital city of Reykjavik.

Here’s our plan:

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

21 August 2019:
Holyhead, Wales:
Easy for You to Say

By Corey Sandler

We’ve arrived in the northwest corner of Wales, a lesser-known piece of the United Kingdom. It’s a place of legends and mountains and kings and princes. The Prince of Wales, right?

There are two versions of the name of the place: Holyhead in English, and Caergybi in Welsh. And the English name is pronounced “holly” although it means “holy”; you can stick to Welsh if that is easier for you.

Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Isle of Anglesey on the Irish Sea. Except that it is not actually on the island of Anglesey, which lies to its east.

And it’s not that large, either: about 11,400 people.

Here are some pictures from today:

Holyhead is located on Holy Island, connected by a bridge to Anglesey, which in turn is connected by bridge to the mainland of Wales.

And speaking of difficult names, in the outskirts of Holyhead is the location of the little hamlet with the long monicker, by some accounts the longest in the world. Say it with me:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

There will be a test later.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is said to mean “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool of Llandysilio of the red cave.”

Knowing that makes it so much easier to pronounce.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

20 August 2019:
Dublin, Ireland:
Not Fade Away?

By Corey Sandler

Dublin’s Fair City (where the girls are so pretty)* is just that, a vibrant university town with some high-tech industries and an historic brewery that makes a drink that is pretty much in a class of its own. I went today with guests for a pilgrimage to the Guinness Storehouse, a brewing “experience” that tells the story of this company and culminates with a “jar” of stout beer.

*The opening lines of the iconic song, “Molly Malone.”

Here is some of what we saw:

Coming into the city past the Samuel Beckett Bridge, fashioned in the shape of an Irish harp
The Guinness brewery, which lies outside of the tourist attraction that is the Guinness Storehouse
It starts with water, barley, and yeast
Some of the old brewery equipment, recast as exhibits
Surprise: There’s a gift shop, too, if you’d like to carry or wear free advertising. All photos by Corey Sandler, 2019. All rights reserved

Trinity College

Queen Elizabeth I of England established Trinity College in 1592 as a solely Protestant university. She also ordered that the Catholic Saint Patrick’s and Christ Church cathedrals be converted to Protestant.

These are among the many seeds of The Troubles.

Trinity is a handsome place, a bustling city of students. And it is surrounded with cafes and shops, most of them filled with young people. The college and its parent University of Dublin has about 15,000 students.

Today Roman Catholics and indeed all other religious denominations are allowed to enroll.

The chapel bears the tattered standards from many battles; the flags are not restored and the intention is to leave them in place until they disintegrate.

It would seem appropriate to hope that the Troubles of Ireland will similarly fade away.

Tankers of Guiness at the pier.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

19 August 2019:
Belfast, Northern, Ireland:
Birthplace of a Legend

By Corey Sandler

Belfast, with a population of about 600,000 in the metropolitan area, was a center of the Irish linen, tobacco processing, ropemaking, and shipbuilding industries, a major player in the Industrial Revolution.

In the early 20th century, Harland and Wolff was the biggest and most productive shipyard in the world, employing as many as 35,000 workers, and Belfast was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution.

Harland and Wolff, built a vessel you may have heard of: the RMS Titanic.

The shipyard is now the location of the world’s largest dry dock, where the giant cranes Samson and Goliath stand out against Belfast’s skyline.

Just recently, the current owners called it quits. Workers are protesting, but the yard’s future is uncertain. Samson and Goliath are probably safe as landmarks.

Here are some photos from today:

The flashiest modern attraction is Titanic Belfast, which opened in 2012 to coincide with the centenary of the incomplete maiden voyage of the luxury liner Titanic.

The angular design was intended to evoke the image of ship, or perhaps the iceberg that did her in.

I went with guests to Mount Stewart, the family home of Edith, Lady of Londonderry

It’s a not-at-all modest place, somewhat similar to the grand cottages of Newport, Rhode Island in the United States.

Mount Stewart
The family chapel, with several Order of the Garter banners

You can read more about Belfast by clicking on the tab at the bottom of this blog.

Belfast’s impressive City Hall
SS Nomadic, the last of the White Star Fleet, built as a tender for the Titanic. In the background is the Titanic museum, depending on your point of view resembling either a ship’s prow or an iceberg.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

17-18 August 2019:
Londonderry / Derry, Northern Ireland:
Stroke City

By Corey Sandler

Princes govern all things–save the wind, wrote Victor Hugo.

And so we arrived Saturday near Londonderry/Derry in Northern Ireland, which was not our original plan.

We had expected to spend yesterday, 16 August, at anchor offshore of Galway, Ireland but when we arrived in the bay the winds and the seas were ungovernable, and instead we turned about and headed out to sea. Our captain managed to secure a temporary parking space for us at an oil and chemical loading pier outside of Londonderry/Derry. It is not the most handsome pier in the world, but we are safely and securely tied up for the day and will move Sunday morning to our planned dock closer to town.

Silver Wind at her temporary safe pier near Londonderry/Derry

I went into Londonderry/Derry today to revisit the handsome Guildhall, which is emblematic of the story of this city of divided histories.

Here are some photos I took today:

Londonderry’s Guildhall, built by the guilds and associations that brought money and power from London here to the north of Ireland in the late 19th century
All photos by Corey Sandler, 2019. All rights reserved

Londonderry is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland, home to about 93,000; well behind the 483,000 in the Northern Ireland capital city of Belfast.

The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Daire or Doire meaning “oak grove”. In 1613, the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I and as a reflection of the funding it received from the London guilds, it added London to Derry in its name.

Its official name remains Londonderry.

But like many, many things in this part of the world it depends on who you talk to.

In general, Nationalists—those who would prefer a unified Ireland bringing together Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and who are predominantly Roman Catholic—drop the “London” and call the city “Derry.”

Many Unionists—those who want to maintain Northern Ireland as a part of the United Kingdom and who are predominantly but not exclusively Protestant—subtly, or not-so-subtly, keep the link to the UK out front by calling the place “Londonderry.”

A local broadcaster tried to popularize the unfortunate nickname of Stroke City as in Derry-Stroke-Londonderry. It’s not a pretty name.

Things are greatly—though not perfectly—calmer today than they were at the heart of the “Troubles” that obsessed most of the 20th century. A flare-up early in 2019 reminded people on both sides of the stroke of the bad old times.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

15 August 2019:
Bantry, Ireland:
Deeply Entangled

By Corey Sandler

Bantry is a lovely port with a fine harbor. That’s true of many places in Ireland.

And many places in Ireland and Northern Ireland have complex histories involving independence movements, revolution against the British, and the Struggles between and amongst their own people.

But not many places have quite such a tangle as Bantry.

Silver Wind at anchor off Bantry
Bantry House. All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved 2019.

It is near the birthplace of a 6th century Saint who some believe may have visited North America, or Iceland, or the Faeroe Islands in a leather bathtub.

It was three times invaded by French forces,

And the man who invited the French was previously involved in a plan to set up a free Irish military colony in the Sandwich Islands, what we today call Hawaii.

Irish to the core.

Today I went with guests for a short jaunt across the bay to Whiddy Island, about 3 miles by 2 miles in size, and home to all of 20 people. More importantly, it is also home to a local mussel farm and a pub.

We enjoyed homemade bread, Irish butter, steamed mussels, and beer at the pub and had a taste of old-time Bantry. Here’s the view of Bantry and our ship, looking back from Whiddy Island.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

14 August 2019:
Cork, Ireland: Signs of the Times

By Corey Sandler

Our first port of call in Ireland is at Cork, close to the bottom of the island.

In actual fact, as they would put it, we docked in the industrial port of Ringaskiddy, across the wide harbor from Cobh.

We journeyed overland about 10 miles to Cork, the big city hereabouts. It was once a grand place, and it holds onto something missing almost everywhere else: a real downtown with locally owned shops.

I spent the morning documenting street signs, shop signs, and the urban landscape. Here is some of what I saw in Cork today:

Reflections of Cork, along the River Lee
A monument to Irish heroes, including nationalist Theobald Wolfe Tone
Saints Peter and Paul Church up a side alley
…and reflected in a store window across the street
Signs of the time
The former Singer Sewing Machine store in Cork, now adorned with a mural reminiscent of the decorations on old machines

Cobh: A Place of Beginnings and Endings

Across its history, Cobh has had an outsized importance as the place of arrival for invaders from Nordic kingdoms, early Britain, and from England, and as the last call in Europe before the long, long voyage to Canada, the United States, and Australia.

One of the closest European ports to Canada and America, Cobh—or Queenstown as it was known then—was the place from which millions of Irish departed to seek a new start in the new world, the land of milk and honey, the place where the streets were paved with gold.

The population of Ireland was estimated at 8.2 million in 1841; half a century later, in 1891, the population was said to be 4.7 million.

As many as 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930 from Queenstown, as well as a few other Irish ports, and British ports like Liverpool. Today, more than 10 percent of Americans trace their roots to Ireland.

There was another wave of generally unwilling emigrants who passed through Cobh and other Irish ports. During the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to Australian penal colonies by the British government, many through Spike Island in the harbor of Cobh.

One reason for the penal colony in Australia was to alleviate pressure on overburdened prisons at home. Across about 80 years more than 165,000 convicts were transported to the Australian mainland and Van Diemen’s island, now known as Tasmania.

The transport began about 1778, partly because it was no longer feasible to send convicts to the upstart British colonies in North America. About 60,000 convicts had already been sent to the American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Most of the transported prisoners were convicted of relatively minor crimes: despite colorful depictions to the contrary, in general murderers and prostitutes were not shipped to the colonies.

Queenstown was also the last piece of land touched by passengers on the doomed ship Titanic in 1912. And Queenstown was just out of reach of the Lusitania, which came the other direction from New York before it was torpedoed and sunk off the Old Head of Kinsale in 1915.

Today it is a pretty port, a welcoming place, and partly populated–for those who know its history–by ghosts. Memento mori: A reminder of mortality.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

13 August 2019:
Fowey, Cornwall:
Out to Lunch

By Corey Sandler

We sailed out of sprawling, cosmopolitan, ultra-hip, skyscraping and monumental London and made our first port of call at little, stubbornly uncool, and decidedly old-style Fowey, Cornwall.

This is not a bad thing.

Silver Wind at anchor in Fowey

Agatha Christie was born not far from here in Torquay, and with her success lived in a fine Queen Anne estate on the River Dart in Devon. If you are a fan—like my wife—when you visit Fowey you keep expecting to find Miss Marple sitting in a window seat with her knitting and watching every passerby.

Cornwall forms the southwestern tip of the mainland of Great Britain. A bit further west, off Penzance, are the Isles of Scilly which catch just enough of a warm ocean current to be one of the most temperate climates in the U.K.

This part of Britain was inhabited as long ago as the Palaeolithic era of hundreds of thousands years ago.

I went today with guests for a ride on the Bodmin and Wenford Railroad, the oldest steam-powered standard gauge line in the UK. After checking out the coal-fired firebox, we chugged through the countryside with a proper Cornish Cream Tea on the table of the first class compartment.

All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved

The name Cornwall comes from combining two different terms from separate languages. The Romans called the Celtic tribe in the region the Cornovii.

It could come from a Celtic or Latin words meaning horn, a reference to the shape of the peninsula in one theory, or to their worship of a “horned god” in another.

In the 6th and 7th centuries, the name Cornubia was given a suffix by the Anglo-Saxons: Wealas, meaning “Romanized foreigners.”

Corn-wealas, or Cornwall.

And it is from the same word, Waelas, that we get the name for the region of England now known as Wales.

It was the place of the foreigners.

Today it is the place of the Cornish, although sometimes overwhelmed by the visitors who come by ship, car, and other conveyances.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

10-11 August 2019:
London to London:
Circling Great Britain and Ireland

By Corey Sandler

Silver Wind arrived at London Tilbury port on the River Thames after a day at sea in a howling storm, in gale force winds and high seas.

Tilbury was not our original plan, but when the winds blow things change.

Our captain wrestled with the issue of getting our ship through the London Flood Barrier and through the Tower Bridge at London. Ultimately, it was the river pilots who made the call: Tilbury.

Silver Wind at the pier in Tilbury today
In case you were wondering its location, here is World’s End just downriver from the Tilbury dock. This pub has been in operation, in one form or another for about 300 years and was mentioned in the diaries of Samuel Pepys in the 17th century. All photos by Corey Sandler

Sorry, but safe, we thus completed a lovely cruise that began in Reykjavik, Iceland and visited several ports of that island nation and then continued to the Faroe, Shetland, and Orkney islands and on to the big island of the United Kingdom at Scotland.

Here are some photos from this cruise:

Edinburgh Castle. with the stands set up for the Military Tattoo extravaganza
A shop sing in the Shetland Islands
Godafoss Falls in Iceland

From here, we’re off on a circle route, stopping first in Fowey, Cornwall. From there we visit the independent nation of Ireland with calls in Cobh, Bantry, and Galway. We’ll continue to Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, to visit Londonderry, Belfast, and Dublin.

Continuing our circle we’ll call at Holyhead in Wales before making a morning passage through the Tower Bridge back here in London. I hope you’ll join me in these pages. Here’s our plan:

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

8 August 2019:
Edinburgh (Leith), Scotland:
Castle on the Hill

By Corey Sandler

Edinburgh has been recognized as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, and is the location of the Scottish government within the United Kingdom.

The city’s Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the Monarchy in Scotland. The palace is at the bottom of the Royal Mile, at the opposite end from Edinburgh Castle, which occupies the high ground above town.

Holyrood Palace is a setting for state occasions and official entertaining. Mary, Queen of Scots spent most of her turbulent life in the Palace. Mary’s 16th century Historic Apartments and the State Apartments which are used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public throughout the year, except when members of the Royal Family are in residence.

Queen Elizabeth II spends one week in residence at Holyrood Palace—usually from the end of June to the beginning of July, carrying out official engagements and ceremonies.

Holyrood week begin on the forecourt of Holyroodhouse with the traditional ‘Ceremony of the Keys’, with the Queen officially welcomed to the city of Edinburgh.

Why she needs keys, and why she needs them again and again, I don’t know.

Today I went to the National Museum of Scotland. The building combines a truly grand old design, dating from 1861, with a great collection and modern presentation.

The view from the rooftop is also grand, Edinburgh on display.

Here’s some of what I saw today:

All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved 2019. Please contact me if you would like to obtain a copy

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

7 August 2019:
Kirkwall, Orkney:
A Distant Echo

By Corey Sandler

Kirkwall is the capital and largest settlement of Orkney, between the Shetland Islands above and the top of Scotland below.

Like the Shetland and Faroe islands, Iceland, and much of the far north, its recorded history begins with Norse settlers.

There are about 70 islands, 20 inhabited. The largest island is called Mainland or, confusingly, “The Mainland”, while the country that lies about 16 kilometers or 10 miles below is referred to as “Scotland.”

Some elements of Scotland, like tartan, clans, and bagpipes have made their way to the islands but they are not indigenous to the local culture.

The islands have been inhabited for at least 8500 years, originally by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes and then by the Picts, believed to be a Celtic tribe that inhabited northern and eastern Scotland. A charred hazelnut shell recovered in 2007 in Tankerness on the Mainland has been dated to 6820–6660 BC.

The village of Skara Brae, Europe’s best-preserved Neolithic settlement, is believed to have been inhabited from around 3100 BCE. The Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge or earthworks, a stone circle about six miles northeast of Stromness on the Mainland island in Orkney.

In the heart of Kirkwall is Saint Magnus Cathedral, dating back more than a thousand years and including elements of Catholic and Protestant elements with Viking and Nordic overtones.

Saint Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall

The southern group of islands surrounds Scapa Flow, a place used for centuries as a safe naval roadstead or road, a sheltered stretch of water where ships could ride at anchor.

Scapa Flow was a Royal Navy base that played a major role in both World Wars. It was the staging point for the major sea battle of World War I, the Battle of Jutland at the end of May 1916.

After the Armistice in 1918, what remained of the German High Seas Fleet was brought to Scapa Flow while the Allies tried to decide how to parcel them out to the victors. On November 28, German sailors opened the sea-cocks and scuttled all the ships. Most of the ships were later salvaged, but the remaining wrecks are now regularly visited by divers.

With the outbreak of World War II, the Royal Navy once again used Scapa Flow as a gathering place for many of its ships. One month into World War II, a German U-boat entered Scapa Flow and sank the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak.

The ship’s bell of HMS Royal Oak, recovered from the bottom of Scapa Flow and on display at Saint Magnus Cathedral

As a result, it was decided to erect barriers across the gaps between some of the islands, limiting access to Scapa Flow to allow for better defense. They became known as Churchill Barriers. Four were built, with a total length of 1.5 miles or 2.4 kilometers, and they are still in use.

The barriers were partly constructed by 1,200 Italian prisoners of war who were brought from North Africa to Orkney during the war. One poignant side story of the POW camp was the construction of what is known as the Italian Chapel by the prisoners; it was built from scavenged military huts and bits and pieces of equipment and supplies.

The Italian Chapel in the Orkney Islands today.

Lerwick

The Highland Park distillery in Lerwick, more than two centuries old
Ring of Brodgar
Scapa Flow in peacetime

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

6 August 2019:
Lerwick, Shetland:
Ponies and Sweaters

By Corey Sandler

Lerwick is the main port of the Shetland Islands. It is not quite the mainland of Europe, or to be more precise, not the mainland of the United Kingdom.

Lerwick is a piece of Scotland roughly 200 kilometers or 123 miles off the north coast of the United Kingdom, roughly equidistant between the Faroe Islands (228 miles or 367 kilometers) to the west, and about 222 miles or 357 kilometers east of Bergen, Norway.

In Shetland, we are as close to the North Pole as parts of Greenland or Alaska. 

The Shetland Islands—about 100 in total—cover about 566 square miles or 1,466 square kilometers, and the total population of the 16 inhabited islands is about 23,000.

We went today for a walkabout in town. Lerwick in many ways is frozen in time, with Georgian and Victorian stone buildings and old fishing piers and equipment. Here is some of what we saw today:

All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved 2019

The main island is helpfully known as Mainland. Other inhabited islands include Yell, Unst, and Fetlar, which lie to the north, and Bressay and Whalsay, to the east. The uninhabited islands include Mousa, known for the Broch of Mousa, considered the finest preserved example in Scotland of an Iron Age broch.

The northernmost point of the British Isles is the desolate uninhabited island of Out Stack.

Why did the Nordic people and the Vikings come to these islands? Anthropologists believe that the rapidly growing population of Scandinavia outstripped available resources there, and the Norse shifted from plundering to invasion and colonization.

Shetland was colonized during the late 8th and 9th centuries, with little left of the indigenous population before them.

One of the major events of the year nearly everywhere in Shetland is Up Helly Aa, which brings a hot time to the old town during the cold and dark nights of winter. It is a fiery salute to mark the end of the yule season.

The name comes from Old Norse. Up is used in the sense of something being at an end. Helly refers to a holy day or festival. And aa probably means “all.”

Up Holy Day All.

The largest festival takes place in Lerwick, with as many as one thousand guizers. What’s a guizer? They are the modern descendants of the Mummers, troupes of amateurs, usually all male, who gather to act out old fables and stories.

A bit of drinking is involved, I believe.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

5 August 2019:
Torshavn, Faroe:
Retracing the Route of the Vikings

By Corey Sandler

From Iceland, we sailed east to a place of great reputation not often visited: The Faroe Islands, a trip of 311 nautical miles, equivalent to 358 statute miles or 576 kilometers.

The Faroe archipelago consists of 18 islands and islets of varying size that are about midway between Iceland and Norway. Over the past 14 centuries or so, they have come under the influence of Irish and Scots, Nordic people including the Vikings, Denmark and Norway, and the Brits.

Not much grows here on these isolated rocks. There are not many people, and even fewer trees. Oh, and fog and rain visit for extended periods of time.

Today I went with a group of guests up to the north end of the main island to Vestmanna, a set of dramatic nearly vertical cliffs populated with sheep hanging on for dear life. The captain of our boat navigated into narrow sea caves and between sea stacks as if he were driving a rental car. Here is some of what we saw:

All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved 2019

Torshavn

The greater metropolitan area of Torshavn, a rather grandiose description, is home to about 21,000 people. The town itself, about 13,000.

That makes Torshavn one of the smallest capital cities in the world.

The Norse established their parliament on the Tinganes peninsula in AD 850. The Vikings established parliaments, called tings, in different parts of the islands; the tings were supposed to be located in uninhabited places to maintain neutrality.

Near Torshavn, the Vikings would thus meet on the flat rocks of Tinganes every summer. That old part of town is still made up of small wooden houses covered with turf roofs.

The Viking age ended in 1035, but Tórshavn has remained the capital of the Faroe Islands ever since.

Denmark is a member of the European Union but does not use the Euro. The Faroe Islands is a self-governing nation within the Kingdom of Denmark, but it is explicitly not part of the EU. Is that foggy enough for you?

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

3 August 2019:
Seyðisfjörður, Iceland:
Trapped in a Pearl Shell

By Corey Sandler

We have rounded the top of Iceland and reached Seyðisfjörður on the east coast, one of Iceland’s most picturesque towns with a collection of 19th century wooden homes, surrounded by beautiful nature.

Poet Matthías Johannessen called Seyðisfjörður a “pearl enclosed in a shell.”

It exists because of its protected harbor established by foreign merchants, mostly from Denmark. It’s a small town of about 665 people, spread across 82 square miles or 213 square kilometers.

The town sits at the end of the fjord. A road over a mountain connects to the rest of Iceland, about 17 miles to the Ring Road.

Here’s what we saw today, on a beautiful (and scarily warm day) in town and up and over in the central valley.

Seyðisfjörður was one of many places used by British and American forces during World War II and some of the elements of the bases can be seen around the fjord,including a disused landing strip.

And this was one of the few places that saw actual combat, or at least an attack, during World War 2. On February 10, 1944, the British oil tanker El Grillo, at anchor in the harbor was attacked, by three German FW-200 Condor bombers flying from occupied Norway.

The captain chose to scuttle the ship, still laden with bunker oil and defensive weapons. El Grillo, Spanish for The Cricket, is still on the bottom. It was not until 2002 that most of the remaining oil and its weapons were removed. Today it is one of the most popular dive sites in Iceland.

A popular restaurant in Seyðisfjörður—one of only a few in town, but nevertheless said to be one of the best outside of Reykjavik—is called Kaffi Lara, and within it is the El Grillo bar. And they offer a craft beer named after the sunken tanker.

Every week the car ferry MS Norröna of the Smyril Line comes to Seyðisfjörður from Hirtshals in Denmark and Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands.

Which brings us to murder and mayhem. In 2015 the Icelandic television series “Trapped” was set in the town, and partially filmed there.

A very engaging, low-key murder mystery, the show begins when a partial corpse is found in the harbor as the ferry arrives. Across ten episodes we come to know the intense, tormented police chief and his small staff, and also what seems like almost every other resident of town.

The cold and wild winter of Iceland is essentially another character, as a powerful storm cuts off the town from Reykjavik.

The TV series stars Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, a hulking teddy bear of a man who has become Iceland’s unofficial and unlikely hunk. Olafur Darri was born in Connecticut in the United States, but moved to his family’s home country of Iceland and has become the nation’s best-known actor in films and on stage.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

2 August 2019:
Akureyri, Iceland:
Small Town Big Island

By Corey Sandler

Akureyri would be a small town of little note almost anywhere else, but here in Iceland its population of about 18,860 makes it the fourth settlement in the country, and numbers two and three are part of the capital district of Reykjavik.

They’ve got a golf course, a bowling alley, a ski hill, a shopping mall with 35 stores, and a police force of about five officers. Oh, and Vífilfell, the largest brewery in Iceland, with about a 30 percent market share nationally, mostly for its Viking beer. Skál fyrir pér! Cheers.

Its ice-free harbor has supported its economy back to ancient times for fishing and trade.

Akureyri’s architecture shows strong influence from Denmark. Seasonal residents were here in the 9th century, but permanent settlement by 12 rugged people started in 1778. In modern times, fishing and tourism support the town.

The morning was foggy and dark; we went for a visit to Godafoss, a substantial waterfall fed by snow melt from the huge glacier on the east side of Island.

Godafoss today
Painting with light, on a dark morning at Godafoss

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)