Friday, September 20

Last day.  Sigh.  Time for a list of favorites.

Best sight:  Thingvellir

Best meal:  langoustines at Hofn

Best dessert:  rhubarb cake in 

     Stykkisholmur

Best hike:  old lava field at Buthir

Tied for best hike:  Thingvellir with J

Best town:  Stykkisholmur

Best museum:  871 in Reykjavik

Best activity (for G and J):  glacier tour

Scariest time: riding with our crazed

     Viking to the glacier

Best apartment:  Reykjavik

Best driver:  BOTH G and J.  Thanks, 

        you guys!

Here's a picture of some Iceland sheep.  The big one just said to his buddies, "oh good, here comes a car--let's cross the road."

Here's a shot of Greenland as we pass over on our way home.

Thursday, September 19

It was cloudy when we got up.  About 40 degrees.  Just right for a walk around town.

Stykkish is oddly shaped and seems to stick out into the sea in ten different directions.  We explored a new neighborhood today where many houses have a beautiful view of the fjord and the mountains beyond.  Most are small and we saw only two with a garage.  But they are well kept and usually have white lace curtains showing in the kitchen windows.  I don't remember seeing any trees, but they are nicely landscaped with some plants I recognize like lupines, roses and maybe potentillas.  We've gotten used to the treeless landscape and once when we were driving past a grove that had been planted alongside the road I complained about the dang trees blocking my view of the mountains.

We went down to the harbor where there were probably 50 or 60 fishing boats of all sizes.  There wasn't much activity right then--just the ferry getting ready to go across the fjord.  G found a beautiful yacht called the Valtyr.  It's shaped like a Viking longship but G says it's more like a modern work of art with kinship to the ancient Viking ships.  The builder of the boat had his website posted on the ship.  When we got back to the hotel we looked up the website-- www.langskip.com.  Turns out the ship was made right here in Stykkish.  P, J, and S, if you look up that site it will show you in detail how the ship was built.

We went again to the Nesbraud for lunch.  This was our third day to enjoy their soup and bread.  We usually get two kleinur to go but today we got astra pungur which means " love balls."  It's a fried ball of dough with raisins.  Pretty good.

Supper was at the Skavarpakkhusith which turned out to be as good or better than the Narfeyrarstofa.  (They must sit around all through their long gray winter thinking up these names just to amuse foreigners). I had very tasty fish soup and G had mussels.

Here's a picture of the Valtyr in Stykkish's harbor.

Wednesday, September 18

We drove around Snaefellsness Peninsula today.  It's 100 km long with Snykkish at the NE end, a glacier at the west end and a long range of volcanic peaks in between.

We stopped along the southern shore at the abandoned fishing village of Buthir where there was a trail through an old lava field leading to a crater, Buthaklettur.  

It was one of the best hikes I've ever been on.  The lava field was almost completely covered with delicate plants and mosses of gorgeous colors.  There were humps and bumps and caves in all sorts of grotesque shapes and sizes.  It was like being on another planet.  When we sat down to take a break (it was hard walking), the moss was so thick and soft it felt like a feather pillow.  We wished J had been here to take this hike with us.

We drove through Snaefellsjokull National Park--that's where the glacier is.  The fellow at the Volcano Museum yesterday said they expect this glacier to be gone in 4 years.

Then on to the north side which has one lush fjord after another.  We stopped at Olafsvik for lunch at a little cafe.  We both had the catch of the day but can't tell you what it was.  She repeated the Icelandic name many times but the closest I could get to it was "blfszpt."

Super great day--perfect weather--do we have to leave on Friday?

Here are a couple photos from our lava field hike

Tuesday, September 17

After a good buffet breakfast including pickled herring (yum) we climbed a small hill by the harbor for a view of the fjord and town.

 We looked west toward Greenland ( it's only about 500 miles from here) to see if any polar bears were floating over on ice flows.  I guess that happens sometimes.  But when they get here the farmers shoot them.  G says with all the sheep here this would be paradise for a polar bear except for the getting shot part.

Most of the museums and other attractions have already closed for the year, but we were lucky to find the Volcano Museum open.  It's a unique combination of artifacts, lava of all kinds, and volcanic art.  An Icelandic volcanologist put the collection together (Haraldur Sigaldsson).  He has art from all over the world including Italy, Indonesia, US,--wherever there have been big volcanoes.  There was even an original Andy Warhol.  It was Warhol's only landscape.  Surprising collection in this town of 1,000 people.  We and another American couple were given an excellent tour of the place by the very knowledgeable guide.

On to the important stuff.  Great supper at Narfeyrarstofa restaurant, especially dessert.  It was called rhubarb cake but that doesn't begin to describe it.  We were told the chef is an award-winning chef from Denmark, famous for his superlative desserts.  What is he doing in this little town?  Someone said his desserts are for fainting.  I agree!

Here are some farmers herding sheep.

Monday, September 16

We drove from Reykjavik to Stykkisholmur on the Snaefellsnes peninsula ( say that 3 times fast) in the morning.  We decided to call it "Stykkish."  It was a couple hours drive north along the coast--snow topped mountains beside us all the way up and down each fjord.

Stykkish is a cute fishing village of about 1,000 people.  This is the first time in Iceland where we haven't had our lodging booked ahead.  First stop was a big hotel on top of the hill overlooking the sea and the town.  We were met at the desk by Brunhild, a formidable looking Viking lady who scared us both, so we left.  Besides it was pricey.  After checking a few more hotels, however,

we decided it was our best bet.  But it was scary to go back and face Brunhild again.  We survived the check-in but every time we go past the desk I think I hear horses neighing like they did for Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein.

We wandered around town a bit and then had a good supper in the hotel.  My mussels were caught a few yards away in the fjord.  Galen had lamb ( again) and says it's extra tasty here in iceland.  They tell us it's because the sheep spend the summer running wild in the mountains and eat herbs and grasses they don't get in their home pasture.

We didn't linger long over supper as a bus load of American tourists came in and were super loud.

Here's a picture of our Reykjavik landlady getting married on her horse.

Sunday, September 15

Didn't do much today as we had to take J to the airport.

J and I got up early and took a walk on the lovely trail he found last night.  It went past a horse racetrack for a short ways.  We are wondering if that's why our landlady chose this location to live.  She is obviously a horse lover.  There are dozens of trophies in the apartment for some sort of horse-related activity.  I can't understand what they say, but they have horse pictures on them.  She will be coming home tomorrow from her summerhome so I'll ask her then.

Before we dropped J off at the airport we stopped at the Vikingaheimar museum.  It had a replica of a Viking ship you can board.  Lots of Viking and Norse god info.  Also a claim Christopher Columbus went to Iceland in 1477 to find out about Leif's trip to Vinland.  I had never heard of that before but they swear it's true.

Here are J and G on the Viking ship.

Saturday, September 14

We toured Old Reykjavik today.  It is situated between the sea and a pretty little lake, Tjornin.  The buildings are modest but colorful, in a Scandinavian way.  It was a nice day so we walked around the lake, looking at the sculptures and plants (trees!).

The 871 +/-2 museum ( that's the real name --refers to the year of the first settlers) was excellent. Lots of high tech using holograms and other fancy stuff.

The Hallgrimskirja (church) was built in 1974.  It's striking, immense, can be seen 20 km away.  The inside is puritanically plain but I really liked it.  The 5275-pipe organ is immense and sorta scary looking.

We had a great lunch at Bergsson Mathus.  Seemed to be popular with the locals.  

After getting lost a few times we finally made it home.  J went for a walk as there are miles of trails in the neighborhood.  (we are on the outskirts of the city)

Our landlord's son and wife came over in the evening.  We told them about our trip

on the Ring Road.  They were polite not to laugh at the way we pronounced the towns.  They told us about the geothermal power they all enjoy here.  Their homes all have hot water heat from the geothermal plant.

Here is a picture of the chandelier in our apartment.