We arrived on Sunday. I had booked tours for each of the two days we were to be in the capital of Reykjavik.
We were off the ship and through formalities just as Hamet arrived. I had been assured by Hreyfill, the Reykjavík taxi company, that our drivers would be good English speaking guides. Hamet proved to be exactly that.
He explained what the tour would involve and what we would see during the 3 hour tour. During the morning it became clear that Hamet had had a varied career. His parents wanted him to carry on in education at 16 but he went to go sea, initially on fishing vessels and then on repair ships maintaining fishing vessels in ports around the Atlantic.
I was amazed when he told me that one of the English ports they regularly visited was Grimsby. I was able to tell him that was where I was born (I keep it a secret but actually it was Cleethorpes – the butt of jokes I had to put up with as a kid)
We guessed that Hamet was in his mid to late 60’s. His wife had sadly died as had one of his 3 children. Despite that he loved life and was startlingly knowledgeable about the museums, theatres and other buildings and properties we visited.