Island Princess Day 1

We're onboard!! Checking out the buffet for lunch. Typically on cruise ships, the saying goes that it's "Party in the front and food in the back". That's because the main theater is all the way forward and the buffet is all the way aft. Unlike every other Princess ship in their fleet and almost every other ship I've sailed, the buffet on the Island Princess is all the way forward. This will take 36 hours to orient myself. Tried a few things. The meatballs, vegetable paella and broccoli were very good. And of course I had to get a slice of the best pizza at sea!! Vegetarian is today's special. It changes each day in addition to always having Margarita and Pepperoni.  

After lunch, we had a relaxing afternoon in the cabin while waiting for our luggage. Angie had never seen the "Deadpool" Marvel movies so we watched both of them. Princess has a lot of free "on demand" titles. Once our luggage arrived we unpacked and got ready for dinner.  

First stop was at the Explorer's Lounge for Happy Hour. On Princess, higher tiers of their Captain's Circle loyalty program are able to attend a night HH which has small bites. We had some vegetables and cheese along with a negroni. We had a nice chat with Johnathan a bar waiter who was from Goa India. 

We then headed to the main dining room for our 7 PM reservation. Dinner was a piroshky (essentially a fried perogie), grilled vegetable antipasto, pan fried cod and asparagus risotto. All very tasty. I was especially impressed by the risotto. It had been freshly made and was so creamy and rich with asparagus flavor. No dessert tonight.  

We then headed back to the Explorer's Lounge to catch the end of a set from Xtasea which is one of the party bands onboard. They played some Motown and reggae crowd favorites. After the set the cruise director and staff had a gameshow called Strike Out. It was a twist on music trivia where everyone in the lounge could play from their seats. They would play songs and provided two possible years on the video screen. You had to guess which year the song was released. One year had an up arrow and the other had a down arrow and you stood up or remained seated depending on which year you thought was correct. If you guessed wrong, you "struck out" for that round. Eventually there would be one person left standing and they would be the winner of that round. They played several rounds. For one of them, I was one of three people left. 

 We had to go up on stage and play to the end of the round. The first song was "Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News. The years were 1985 and 1987. I knew the movie was released in 1985 so that was a big clue. My opponents also guessed 1985 so we went on to the next song which was Beyonce's "Single Ladies". The years were 2008 (down arrow) and 2011 (up arrow). My two opponents both stood up almost immediately. But I knew that song was played at my wedding in 2009 so I remained seated. Another great reason to be married!! It may help you in trivia some day. My prize was a coveted Princess coaster along with a bingo card for today's session.  

They also had another game show called Musical Bingo. You grabbed a bingo card that had song titles and artists in the boxes instead of numbers. They played short clips of songs and you would mark your card. We didn't win any of the four rounds but it was very fun. It was then time to head back to the cabin.  

Today is our first of two sea days before we arrive at Bornholm Denmark on Saturday. We'll explore more of the ship that we didn't get to yesterday. And since we won a bingo card, we'll probably go to one of those sessions.

Southampton, UK

We spent three nights in Southampton between cruises in a rental apartment. We picked the apartment for the washer, but we had trouble with the washer. Glenn ended up wringing out a lot of laundry by hand. But it was comfortable and in a great location. 

I was down for the count with allergies. Glenn went shopping and found his favorite new game show: Tipping point. It's a big version of those "coin pusher" games they have at some casinos and arcades. And of course trivia questions. Simple premise and simply fascinating to watch to see the "counters" tumble.

I did rally the second night for dinner at the Pig n Whistle. 

It was definitely a locals place - the kind where everyone stared as we walked in. The food was very good. 

Cubs versus Cards London

Yesterday we arrived in the port of Southampton and NCL had the nerve to force us off the ship! When life gives you lemons? You head to a baseball game.  

We took a taxi to our apartment, err flat, in Southampton, dropped off our luggage and then walked ten minutes to the Southampton Central train station. We were taking the trains up to London Stadium which is part of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to see the MLB London Series between the Cubs and Cardinals. We started with a train at Southampton that would take us to Reading. Then from there we took another train to Paddington Station. We learned when we got to Paddington that our intended route had to be altered. The Elizabeth line of the Underground (aka The Tube) was closed due to a train that was stuck on the tracks. Angie and I used our best "Amazing Race" skills to figure out the complex subway map and find an alternative. We saw that we could take the Circle Line from Paddington and then change to the Central Line which would get us to our intended destination, Stratford, which is the station closest to London Stadium. More connections than we would have liked, but it went smoothly. We walked about 15 minutes from the station and got to the stadium a few minutes before 1 PM. The first pitch was going to be at 3:10 PM.  

The stadium is massive. It can hold 80K when configured as a concert venue. 60K for football. For yesterday's game over 55K fans attended from all over the world. As we usually do for a new stadium, we took a walk around to see everything. It was impressive to see all the signage that had been put up for this two game series. And they had all kinds of special food venues including themed items from each team's city. 

Then we went inside and up the many stairs!! Stairs seem to be a common denominator here for public venues. In the United States, we're used to escalators being available in modern sports arenas. None to be found here. So some good exercise on those legs, especially the steep climb to our seats in the upper level of Section 222.  

It was impressive how much effort was put into getting this stadium ready for a baseball game. It's normally used for the local football team so it's primarily just a pitch full of grass. In addition to changing all that to build an infield and a pitchers mound, they had also built bullpens and dugouts. Quite impressive. They had also built a stage and had a band playing for about an hour.  

As it got closer to 3PM, they had a local choir sing both of the national anthems. It struck me that I had never heard the anthem quite this way. In my lifetime, and for over 70 years, the UK anthem included the words "God Save The Queen". Not anymore. The field looked incredible with all the flags.  

In between innings they would have some of those fan participation games such as the Helmet Game (which helmet has the ball), Guess The Song and a Memory "flash card" game. And the band played some songs. Never seen that at any MLB game I've attended. They also had the mascot race. It was between a Royal Guard, Winston Churchill, Henry the Eighth and Freddy Mercury. It wasn't even close. Freddy wasn't the champion. Hopefully you had you money placed on the Royal Guard.  

While the Cubs got out to an fast lead of 4-0 in the first inning, their offense really fizzled out the rest of the game. The Cardinals clawed back in and won 7-5. We headed out of the stadium and back to Stratford to begin the trek back to our flat. It was so many people! But the police and security do such a great job here. They set up human barriers with STOP and GO signs to control the flow of pedestrians and avoid overcrowding. 

There were three on our way back to the station and it worked really well so you never felt like you were going to be trampled.  

When we got to Stratford we found the Elizabeth line was back in operation so we took that to Paddington. And then we boarded a train on Track 11 that was going to Reading. Except It wasn't - at least not on schedule. It would be delayed at least 30 minutes as they waited for a driver. So we got off that train, Angie looked at the schedule of trains and found another train headed to Reading on Track 8. We rushed over there and got onboard with a few minutes to spare. At Reading the next train to Southampton Central was in about 45 minutes so we used that time to hydrate and have a snack (really "dinner") from the convenience store in the station. I was hoping they'd have a delicious egg sandwich like they did at the Lawson in Tokyo. It wasn't the case and they had some very old looking sandwiches. We went with chips, KIND bars and water instead. 

Ironically, the train that we were waiting for was the train we had originally boarded in Reading and had been delayed for a driver. So perhaps like a bad penny, it had caught up to us. It arrived at the station, we boarded and several stops later we were at Southampton Central. We walked back to our flat and opened the door at about 10 PM. A twelve hours adventure! Such a great day at the ballpark.   

Today Angie will be working. I'll be doing some laundry since we're lucky to have a washer here. No dryer but they have some drying racks. We'll do enough to get us through until Wednesday morning when we'll be back at the port of Southampton. More details on that part of the adventure coming up. I'll also head to the store today to get some essentials and lunch options. It's challenging to pack all the toiletries you need for an extended trip. I've found that you have to pack things where you likely won't find the brand you need outside of the United States - such as contact lens solution or vitamins. But I've had good luck finding deodorant and toothpaste.

Bruges, Belgium

By: Angie

I am officially in love with Bruges, Belgium. We took a shore excursion entitled Romantic Bruges. It's a 2 hour walking tour, 30 minute canal tour, and 45 minutes of free time. 

I loved walking through the old city. 

My favorite history was the Beguinage.  From the outside, it's a cluster of buildings. It was a female community of working women founded in 1245. In those days, you lived with your family, were married, or were a nun. These emanicapated women were not nuns, but agreed a pious and celibate (from men) life. They had to work usually as servants or seamstresses. 

We used our break to try the local beer. 

The weather was gorgeous. Just a great day. We got back. I worked and enjoyed the balcony one last time. We had dinner in the Haven and then had a couple last cocktails with the bar team.

Overall, it was a terrific cruise. 

Sea Day and Amsterdam

Thursday was a sea day and we definitely needed a day of rest!! Unfortunately everyone that is disembarking in Southampton needed to check in with UK immigration. We got up at 7:15 and headed up to the area where the customs officials were and took care of that process. Then immediately headed back to the cabin for four more hours of sleep!! Lunch was at The Local which is an included "pub style" restaurant. Had some delicious Thai chili chicken wings and fabulous Rueben. Both very tasty and just the comfort food that was needed. 

After lunch we headed back to the cabin. Angie had some work to finish up. I watched a couple of movies. Cocaine Bear was very entertaining. Knock At The Cabin is the latest M Night Shyamalan film. It was okay but he never seems to be able to recapture the magic he had with The Sixth Sense.  

Dinner was at Onda By Scarpetta. 

 Scarpetta is a famed Italian restaurant in NYC. I ate there several years ago and left very disappointed. The version on the NCL ships has been excellent the two other times I tried it and it was also good this time. I had a delicious shirt rib risotto as a starter and Pappardelle Bolognese for my main. The Bolognese was a bit better the last time I had it on the NCL Encore.  

Today we are in Amsterdam. When we were here last year, we hired a private guide and went to the Van Gogh museum. This trip we hired a guide to take us to the Rijksmuseum. 

This one is more of a national museum, focusing on all the influential Dutch painters. Some amazing pieces including several from a somewhat "unknown" artist Johannes Vermeer. His paintings are so realistic - almost photographic in style. And of course many by this artist called Rembrandt can Rijn. Maybe you've heard of him? The museum recently bought Rembrandt's "The Standard Bearer" for 175 million  Euros!!

 And they also have perhaps Rembrandt's most famous work, "The Night Watch". It's currently undergoing a public restoration so you aren't able to see the whole painting. 

Tonight's dinner will be in Le Bistro which is the French restaurant on board. Possibly escargot and Dover sole for dinner. 

After dinner, it was perfect timing to watcour ship transit a lock.

Tomorrow we'll be in Bruges Belgium and have an early ship excursion which includes a canal cruise. Another country to check off the list!! Then Sunday we'll disembark in Southampton.

Bergen, Norway

By Angie

We had a lovely day in Bergen. 2 has a nice breakfast in the Haven. We took the 1 mile walk to the City Center to pick up our fjord cruise. The boat was very comfortable. We had a relaxing 3 hour ride through the fjord to some large waterfalls. 

We did a little shopping and then walked back. 

We went to Food Republic for appetizers. All the food was really good. The pork belly bao buns and ceviche wonton tacos were my favorite. 

Then, it was time for the Price is Right show. This is such a fun show. Glenn got chosen to spin the wheel to vie for a spot in the showcase showdown.  The first woman spun. She got 90 cents. We resolved ourselves that he couldn't beat her. Then, he spun and got 95 cents! It was awesome. So he got to be in the showcase showdown. And he won! The other contestant went over. So he won a Tumi suitcase or the cash equipment. It was so exciting. 

Olden, Norway

Yesterday we were docked in Olden and had a wonderful excursion to the Briksdalen Glacier. We took a short bus ride and then arrived at the visitor center. We then took a fifteen minute ride in what they called a Troll Car. Really it is just a John Deere bio-diesel Gator. 

 Once we arrived at the top, there.was another 15 minute walk to get closer to the glacier. Seen lots of glaciers in Alaska over the years. Haven't seen one quite like this as it just seems to hang on the mountain. And we were so close as we stood on the glacial beach.  

We got back to the ship and got ready for dinner. The tiny village of Olden has a farewell show for the ship as we pushed away from the dock!! Amazing for such a small town of less then five hundred people. 

After dinner we saw an amazing concert on the main theater. It was a consortium of various music acts from around the ship. They had such a great set list fr Queen, to Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar and The Killers. They played Angie's favorite song Mr Brightside as their finale.  

Today we docked in Bergen and took a cruise through the Hardanger fjord. Bergen is one of the "B's" in MMM BOP!! So cool to see these tiny villages along the way. And some amazing cliffs and waterfalls. 

 After the cruise we walked around downtown Bergen a bit and I got a reinderr hot dog as a snack. Very crispy casing with a lot of snap!! Delicious with some spicy mustard and crispy onion strings.  

We're back on the ship now and have a 5 PM sailaway. We're going to have some starters at Food Republic which is an Asian fusion restaurant. I think the word "fusion" gets overused in the restaurant world. Suffice it to say they have a combination of different sushi rolls along with stir fry dishes and some hand held bai buns. All sound delicious. More details later.

After that we'll get going to the main theater to see The Price is Right. We also saw this show in January and it is just the the TV show so it should be fun to watch. Maybe one of us will even get to "Come On Down!!".

Tomorrow is a sea so we'll relax a bit as we prepare for our final two ports of Amsterdam and Bruges on Friday and Saturday respectively. The. Sunday we'll be in Southampton for debarkation.

Alesund, Norway

By Angie 

We had a gorgeous day in Alesund.

 We walked along the harbor and had a beer on a beautiful patio.

 The weather was so good that we swam in the afternoon before enjoying a great dinner in the Haven and another show by Micheal Sterling. 

We stayed up until midnight enjoying the beautiful sail away. 

Akureyri, Iceland

We did our own walking tour today in Akureyri. First stop was at Lystigardur, a botanical garden. Beautiful grounds, flowers and trees. 

 This was also the sight of some of the Icelandic National Day events including a parade. First we had a snack at one of the food trucks.

 We shared the Smasburger. It was thin patty on top of crushed Doritos and then smothered in nacho cheese. There were also some very old carnival games including one that was like children's roulette. Angie found a good spot to watch the parade and then we joined in as it headed into the botanical gardens. We watched the ceremony including a great choir. Then it was time to walk back to the ship. 

One of the best food items I had when I sailed on this ship in January was the focaccia pizza. Thick crust pizza, crispy on the bottom with lots of cheese and toppings. The pepperoni didn't disappoint. The only table I could find was by the burger bar. Usually this place is packed. But not a soul there except me and the chefs.

There will be more games of Quirkle this afternoon. 

And then dinner after that. Tomorrow is a sea day. 

Sea Day

By Angie 

Our stop in Islafjord was cancelled so we had a loving sailing day arriving in Akureyri at 4:00 pm.

We took my parents on a tour of the ship. Lunch was at the Indulge Food Hall. The chicken korma was just as delicious as last time. 

I worked in the afternoon as Glenn enjoyed the scenery and whale watching. 

We played Quirkle. We had an early dinner. I really enjoyed the lobster deviled eggs. 

We went to the evening show. Michael Sterling sang a collection of songs. It was really fun. He's a great singer. We ended with a nightcap in the Haven bae. 

My parents arrived

 By Angie 

On Wednesday, my parents arrived from the USA to join us for our cruise. They had easy flights and arrived at the hotel around 10:00 am. I finished up work and the four of us went to lunch at 11:30 am. We visited LOA - a restaurant at another Center hotel. They were terrific with food allergies. Three of us had the pan fried salmon and my Dad had the pasta. It was all delicious. They even had great gluten free bread. 

We went for a walk through downtown pointing out some of the restaurants and bars we visited earlier in the week. My mom did some souvenir shopping. I made them walk as far as the Rainbow road so they could get a peak at the church. 

Then, it was a mandatory rest period /work time for me. Everyone else took naps as I finished up some work. For dinner, we went back to Reykjavik Kitchen across the street from the hotel. I had the sweet potatoes. Glenn had the pasta again. My Dad had the Ling fish and my Mom had the cod. All were delicious. We had a night cap at the hotel and went to bed early. 

Thursday, it was time to board the Norwegian Prima. I worked in the morning and then we headed out to the ship. It was an easy embarkation. Our cabin is lovely, the crew is fun. We had a great lunch and dinner in the Haven restaurant. It's going to be a great 10 days exploring Iceland, Norway, Amsterdam, and Brugges. 

The Golden Circle

BY Glenn 

Picked up our rental car at 8 AM this morning. With the exception of water and electricity, everything else is very expensive in Iceland A 24 hour rental, including insurance was 31,265 ISK (~$225.99 USD). 

Don't worry. We didn't get one of the SadCars. We have a very nice Mitsubishi Eclipse hybrid which can run all on electricity, although we'll be mainly utilizing the fuel option since there aren't electrical charging stations where we'll be driving today.  

Iceland drives on the right so no adjustment needed from driving in the United States. Although I was prepared to summon the left-hand powers I used in Tasmania.  

Our first stop was Oxarafoss, a large, powerful, magnificent waterfall. 

 (Glenn's favorite part of this stip was the waterfall. I enjoyed walking through the rocks. - Angie)

After visiting the magnificent waterfall named Oxarafoss in the Thingvellir National Park, we made a 40 minute drive to Hvammsvik which is a hot springs. Whereas the Blue Lagoon was located next to a thermal energy plant, Hvammsvik is located next to a fjord named Hvalfjordur. Quite a difference in scenery. It was an amazing drive into the area and even more beautiful as we got out of the car and walked towards the springs. 

 The springs have been here in some form since 1187. There are eight geothermal pools ranging in temperature from 37° - 40°. We tried almost all of them but not the hottest one. There is even a pool bar. And two of the pools are at the edge of the fjord and "disappear" at high tide.

After relaxing for a couple of hours, we decided it would be a good spot for lunch. One thing we learned driving in this area is there is not a lot of infrastructure outside of the large cities. You better have a full tank of gas, bring bottled water and some snacks. You won't be finding any Buc-ees, Cracker Barrels or a 7-11.

Lunch was at Stormur which is derived from the Norse word stormr which means to swirl or move around. Seems appropriate for this place. We shared a delicious baked brie which had walnuts and blueberries along with fresh sourdough bread. And then both had an open-faced shrimp salad sandwich on that same bread.

 It was such a simple and delicious sandwich. Just so many salad shrimp topped with a spicy mayo and pea tendrils. And that squeeze of lemon added a nice balance of citrus. We ended up staying almost four hours at Hvammsvik. Such a great place. While I enjoyed the Blue Lagoon, this place was more to my liking. How can you not like relaxing in a thermal pool while gazing into a fjord?

We then started driving to our next destination. The town of Geysir. Any guesses about the main attraction? Neither Angie or I had ever seen a geyser so it was quite surprising as we walked up and saw all the people with their cameras pointed at a steaming area of the earth. This one is named Strokkur which loosely translates to "the churn". What would be happening? Then ten seconds later, it did happen!! Caught us both by surprise. Do geysers erupt? Do they spout? Do they "geys"? Whatever they do, this one does it about every six to ten minutes. It was pretty spectacular. 

 We walked around the area and there were small streams off water runoff from the geyser. Make sure you know the difference between C and F.   

About ten minutes away was our next destination called Guillfoss. Just as any name in Iceland with "fjordur" at the end is a fjord, anything with "foss" at the end is a waterfall. And this "foss" was magnificent. Really two or three waterfalls all at once. Massive amounts of water. I just stood and stared. I've been to Niagara Falls but have to say this was much more impressive. They don't have a "Maid of the Mist", but you really feel the power of this giant, even standing so far away.  

Our next destination was the Kerid Crater which was about 45 minutes from Guillfoss. This is a volcanic Crater formed about 6500 years ago. It's 270m long, 170m wide and 55m deep. In the winter months, the pool of water at the bottom will freeze. Many people were hiking to the ridge and walking around. 

After the crater, it was time to make the hour drive back to Reykjavik. We got to the rental at location, dropped off our car and the got a taxi back to the hotel. After dropping off our stuff in the room, it was time for dinner. Directly across the street was the Reykjavik Kitchen. Sounded perfect after a long day of driving. We shared the most delicious coffee cured salmon starter. Lightly cured salmon with just a hint of coffee, in a pool of a wonderfully citrusy mandarin sauce along with marscapone and honeydew melon. And what initially looked like crumble bacon, was actually toasted oats with chili flakes. What a clever way to add some crunch. 

The definite star of the night was the black pasta. This was a squid ink tagliolini. Tagliolini is a ribbon-like pasta, a bit thinner than fettuccine. Perfectly cooked pasta. And it was served with a delicious piece of pan fried cod along with shrimp and a few scallops. And the sauce. It's always all about the sauce. It had this velvety cream sauce that could (should) be a dish to itself, served with some crusty bread. It had a delicious "taste of the sea" brininess along with some citrusy notes. And hints of the spices from Old Bay Seasoning. The kind of sauce where you just have to keep going back for more. Without question, the best pasta dish I have ever had. 

After dinner we headed back to the room. What an amazing day of adventure! On Wednesday Angie's parents will be landing at KEF about 8:30 AM local time (three hours from when I am posting this). They should be at the hotel by 10 AM after clearing immigration. Tomorrow we'll start another part of the adventure.

Exploring Reykjavik

Today we ventured out and explored some of Reykjavik on foot. We left the hotel at 11:30 and started by walking about 25 minutes to the Perlan Museum. 

 This is a museum focused on the nature and natural wonder of Iceland. One of the more interesting exhibits was an ice cave that gave you an idea of what it is like if you were inside a glacier. 

 They also had interactive exhibits showing you where different natural features were located within Iceland. For anyone familiar with the Kinect games technology on Xbox, it worked like that. They also had an observation deck with 360 degree views of Reykjavik.  

After the museum we needed some lunch. I had found a fish and chips restaurant down in an area called Rainbow Road. Rekjavik Fish had a nicely flavored fish soup and fish and chips. The fish and chips had a thin crispy batter - similar to tempura. We got a dill sauce and regular tartar sauce on the side. The dill sauce was a fantastic pairing with the fried fish. Also tried a couple of local beers.  

Angie and I both love a quirky museum. We loved the Police Museum in Beijing. We were fascinated by the Propaganda museum in Being. Also the Bigfoot museum in Portsmouth NH. The Museum of Everyday Life in Glover Vermont should be the picture next to the dictionary definition of quirky.. When we saw that Reykjavik had a Phallological Museum we knew we had to go. 

 In case you were curious, it is a museum with the world's largest collections of penises. Mostly from animals but there are a few from humans that bequeathed them to the museum upon their death. And one person wanted to donate his while he was alive. That's dedication!! Most of the art, sculpture and pop culture items definitely have a comical nod to the museum's theme. But once you get into the main part of the museum, you can't be anything but impressed by the effort that it took the schoolteacher who collected these over the last 75+ years. Penises from creatures great and small. The most surprising one? Definitely the giraffe. And they have a cafe and gift shop that is well themed. We tried four of the beers and they were really excellent. All brewed in Iceland.  

After the museum, it was time to start heading back towards our hotel. But first we'd make a stop at Einstok for a Blood Orange G&T. And then we decided to have some dinner at Public House. I expected this to have comfort foods or at least pub foods. Surprisingly this was a tapas place with Japanese themed food. We were "all in". There were so many things to choose from that we decided to let the kitchen decide. They had an eight course Ozimaze where they would bring you their best dishes. The first two courses were delicious bacon wrapped dates in a spicy sauce with shaved cucumber and edamame in a spicy soy sauce. Both great dishes. The edamame was definitely my favorite. I'm used to edamame that is steamed and then salted. Having them pan fried in this delicious sauce was so inventive.  

The next course was fried chicken skin with a truffle mashed potato dip. The fried skin was served cold which worried me a little bit. But it was so well fried and flavorful. And when you added the truffle mashed potato it was a really delicious morsel of food.  

The next two courses were tuna tacos and a tuna roll. These were decent but we've had better - even not counting our recent trip to Japan. They needed some additional seasoning.  

The next two courses were vegetable pot stickers and Donuts with Beef Cheeks. The pot stickers were okay but needed a better sauce. The overly citrusy sauce didn't pair well. The donuts on the other hand are grouped in one of my top ten best bites of food ever!! The chef cleverly kept the concept of a fried, yeasty donut tossed in sugar. But instead of a sweet filling, these had the most delicious braised beef cheeks!! The combination of the sweet and salty along with the yeasty donut was remarkable. And they were on top of a passion fruit sauce that I think had hints of tamarind. Such a great dish.

The last savory course was a Bao Bun Slider. I've had a lot of sliders over the years. Never any better then these. The patty was perfectly cooked and then topped with pickles, ketchup and mustard. But they didn't stop there. Instead of just a normal bun, they kept on theme and used a Bao bun. If you've never had one, they are pillowy soft and have an amazing chew. Perfect for holding a slider. I don't know why more places elsewhere aren't doing this.  

Our meal also included dessert which was a trio of two cheesecakes (really more like puddings) along with a chocolate brownie with caramel. All three very good.  

After dessert it was time to head back to the hotel. We have a big day tomorrow. We're renting a car and will go tour the Golden Circle. And also visit a thermal bath so we'll get to compare to yesterday's experience at the Blue Lagoon.