What's Brewing?

You may not have known, but Iceland is among the biggest consumers of coffee in the world, with 9 kg (20 lbs) per person annually on average. Only their Nordic counterparts in Finland and Norway drink more coffee. Coffee consumption in Iceland dates back to at least 1703, when Arni Magnusson complained in a letter about missing coffee in his delivery from Copenhagen.

As many of you already know, I have a Starbucks "You are Here" collection. I've had it since the first mug my daughter Carii bought for me at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. It's grown over the years with additions from New York, Chicago, Colorado and of course, Wyoming. I love to wake up at home, ready to enjoy that first morning cup of Java, and decide which location "to visit" from the collection that also includes some international locations of Amsterdam and Barcelona.

I've been adding to my stash while on the world cruise, as you can see here ... I even obtained a special edition Olympic one from Paris!

Along the way I've purchased a few for the crew members who also collect, when they had to work onboard and couldn't leave the ship to buy one. But the collection might stall out here. The only remaining spot for a purchase during this trip is at St. John's, Newfoundland, as neither Iceland, Greenland, nor Bermuda have Starbucks locations.

In spite of cold, windy day, we ventured into Reykjavik to take a stroll around town. The architecture was very unique, and the clothing store provided a great example of how one carries their worldly goods in Iceland.

Coffee and touring wasn't the only thing brewing in Iceland. As if we hadn't experienced enough from Mother Nature recently, Iceland decided to treat its visitors to an earthquake and eruption last evening!
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/iceland-volcano-erupts-spewing-lava-fountains-2024-08-22/
We never felt a thing. Perhaps we were catching up on the sleep we missed during the hurricane winds from the previous night. Many of the passengers rented cars to drive to the site, but we chose not to risk the possibly of missing the ship's early departure today.

We were treated instead to another crew drill while onboard. Today's drill was "Charlie" which is a drill to alert the crew to severe weather conditions or security concerns. It was a little like watching a scavenger hunt as crew upended chairs and searched the area for possible explosives. It was only a drill. Nice to know how they're keeping us safe under all conditions: hurrican force winds, rough seas, earthquakes, and even potential bomb threats. Two things I love most about Royal Cruises- Customer Service and Safety. Well, that and Starbucks vanilla latte