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.

Friday, September 13

We got news of the big rains and flooding in Colorado.  Hope all our family and friends are staying safe!

We drove from Akureyri to Rekjavik today.  The mountain tops were dusted with snow last night so it was especially pretty.

We stopped at the Settlement Center museum in Bogarnes.  Excellent museum in a wonderfully restored warehouse by the harbor--shows the history of Icelandic settlement.  Audio only--no reading.  They had numerous languages offered but the guy in front of us was disappointed they didn't have Czech.

Reljavik only has 300,000 people, but we had a heck of a time finding our apartment rental.  Lucky I was along as G and J, of course, would not have asked for directions and would still be wandering around.  Actually, it was my fault we got lost as I didn't print a big enough map section.

The hassle was worth it.  The apartment is gorgeous!  I'll include a picture tomorrow but today I want you to check out number 12 on this menu.  (We've been wondering why there are so many, many horses in the fields.)

Thursday, September 12

It was raining when we got up this morning, so we decided to leave town and go to Husavik.  The weather was supposed to be better there.

Husavik, population 2240, is Iceland's whale-watching capital.  It's a cute little fishing village at the north end of a fjord close to the Arctic Circle.  11 species of whales come to feed here in the summer.  Well, we didn't get to see any of them. The tours were canceled because the sea was too rough.

The other big attraction in Husavik is the puffins. Approximately 300,000 of them come to an island in the fjord each summer.  That's as many puffins as there are people in Iceland.  Well, we didn't get to see any puffins as all 300,000 had left for warmer climes.

So we went out to eat.  Found a great seafood restaurant by the harbor called Naustith.  They served the fish on skewers with veggies.  Also had blueberry pie for dessert.

We thoroughly enjoyed the whaling museum.  I'm attaching a crummy picture of a sperm whale because it's all I have.  These guys only have teeth on the bottom so their diet is limited to soft squid they can gum to death.

Wednesday, September 11

Today was traveling day.  It's 500 km from Hofn to Akureyri so we got an early start.  The east coast of Iceland is fjord country so it was slow going-- snaking up and down the shores of the fjords.  We stopped a bit in Breiddalsvik for some kleina and other snacks and then headed inland for Egilsstadir where we stopped for lunch at a cute cafe where the walls were lined with bookshelves.  They tell us the Icelanders read more books per person than anywhere else on the world.  I could live here.

Then we turned west, through some desolate mountainous areas with no vegetation, people, or even sheep.  Well, maybe a few sheep.  As we neared Akureyri though, the countryside changed and we saw farms again, and even trees!

We stopped for a swim in the Myvatn Nature Baths (Jarbodin).  It's northern Iceland's answer to the Blue Lagoon--a gorgeous place to soak in the powder blue, mineral rich waters, but with less hype.  Actually, hype is not Iceland's strong suit.  It's so refreshing not to have ads or signs everywhere.  It's such a clean, neat country.

Akureyri is a cute town.  It's the second largest town in Iceland but only has 17,000 people.  The downtown area has a walking street where we had supper--pizza for G and me and salad bar for J.  We passed over the whale steaks.  Sorry, Paul, we haven't been able to find lefse, lutefisk or rotten shark yet.

Here's a picture from along our route today.

Tuesday, September 10

The day started out great--blue sky, great breakfast from the Hvammur Guesthouse.  But then.....

we went snowmobiling on Skalafellsjokull  (glacier) which is a small tongue off the giant Vatnajokull.  I did not sign up for this.  I don't like things that go fast, or that are loud.  Add to that a bumpy ride and smell of exhaust and you have snowmobiling.  Chris and Rachel, you would have loved it!  They told me yesterday I would be able to ride in the jeep instead, but they broke that promise.  Instead I rode behind G.  He will always wear the black and blue marks I made on his waist as I held him in my death grip around the curves.   Almost fell off at one point!

Besides, this glacier is the size of Delaware (remember?).  Why would we have to go in curves, anyway?  It's white in every direction for dozens of kilometers.  Why not go in a straight line, slowly?  So we went for a couple km one way (in curves), then stopped and took pictures (all white).  Then we curved around in another direction for a couple km, then stopped and took more pictures (all white).

G and J had the time of their lives--said it was the best day of the trip.  Humph

On the way home we stopped for gas and had one of the lamb hot dogs all the travel books wrote about.  it's very expensive to eat out in Iceland.  But their lamb hot dogs only cost about $2.50 and are sold at most gas stations.  I don't much like lamb so was skeptical but they really aren't bad.

After I had calmed down a bit about the snowmobiling we went on a short hike a bit east of Hofn, at Stokksnes.  We happened across a really strange ruin, surrounded by a spiked fence and consisting completely of sod-roofed buildings.  It was in a secluded, spooky area between a mountain and the sea.  We'll have to ask someone about it tomorrow.

Here's a picture of J on his snowmobile.

Monday, September 9

We left the cloudy southern coast and headed off again on hwy 1 for the sunny east coast.  The landscape changed dramatically as we headed north.  We left the lush green mountains and drove through a flat, empty region called a sandar.  It's where the glacial rivers deposited sand and gravel during glacial bursts after a volcano erupted underneath a glacier.  The fire and ice combination makes a real mess.  This particular sandur (Skeidararsandur, if you must know) covers 1000 sq km.

Then the mountains appeared again, topped by the huge Vatnajokull Glacier.  And I mean HUGE!  It is larger than the state of Delaware--seriously!  At Jokulsarlon we stopped to take pictures of the icebergs.  We followed along the edge of the glacier all the way to Hofn.  People smile broadly when we try to pronounce Hofn.  Wikipedia said it should be Herpen.  But Lonely Planet said to pronounce it Hup while trying to inhale--almost like a hiccup.  Both versions bring much merriment.  I won't even try to tell you how to pronounce Jokull.

Our apartment in Hofn is roomy and overlooks the sea.  We wandered around town, went to a maritime museum and had a supper to die for at the Pakkhus Restaurant.  J and I had langoustines in garlic butter.  G ordered lamb--and this time he got it.  Along with fancy round and square stuff he couldn't name.  Fancy and tasty.

We've been without TV, radio or newspapers for a week.  WIFI has been sparse, also.  I've had to quickly post during lunch at the odd cafe that had it.  Our apartment here has everything--although the TV is mostly in Icelandic so we don't watch it anyway.

Here is a picture of the icebergs at Jokulsarlon

Sunday, September 8

It was cloudy again today, but not cold.  The temp stays around 50.

We had an early lunch at the cafe in Vik.  Just soup and bread and heavenly rhubarb cake for dessert.  It had a cream filling and was topped with meringue and swirls of raspberry sauce.  Oh, my !

Then we hiked up Reynisfjall Mountain -- 340 m.  The view from the top was spectacular.  The US Navy built a long range navigation facility there in WWII.

J walked along the unusual black beach while G and I recovered from the hike.  Then we went to Reynisfjara to see the basalt columns and the sea cave.  Remarkable formations!

G fixed us a delicious supper of salmon from the grocery store.  We all agreed it was the best salmon we'd ever had--and much cheaper than the restaurants here. Our vegetarian diet is on hold.  We have to cut the vegetables and fruit some slack.  We're on an island in the Arctic,   remember?

Here's a picture of the basalt formations.

Saturday, September 7

 We packed up and headed south to highway #1-- the Ring Road that circles around Iceland.  We stopped off in Selfoss to run some errands--pharmacy, Post Office, liquor store and lunch.  They didn't have any kleina so we had to have scones for dessert.

The countryside along Highway 1 from Selfoss to Vic is beautiful. It runs past Eyjafjallajokull which is a volcano covered by a glacier. Eyja... was the volcano that erupted when we were in Scotland two years ago.  It is part of a beautiful mountain range that's covered in bright green moss and lots of fat sheep that appear to be lost.

Correction, it was Grimsvotn that erupted in 2011.  I'm getting my volcanoes mixed up.

In September horses and sheep are brought down from the mountains where they have grazed wild over the summer.  Their word for roundup is "rettir."  We had to stop for sheep in the road today but don't know if it was a full fledged rettir.

We went to a folk museum in Skogar and saw the waterfall there and then went on to our cabin near Vik.  The cabin is located on a big farm-- lots of livestock -- sheep, cows, and horses.  

We drove in to Vik for supper at the Suthur-Vik restaurant.  I had char, J had a steak sandwich and G ordered lamb.  But he got a chicken tortilla.  Must have been a language problem.

Back to the cabin for some red wine and bed.

Here's a picture of the folk Museum

Friday, September 6

It was completely gray and overcast today--but no rain.  I think this is a more typical Iceland day than yesterday's bright blue weather.

We spent most of the day at Thingvellir, a National Park which was the place where the Vikings established the world's first democratic parliament in AD 930.  The first settlers had run-ins with royalty back in Norway and Sweden so they decided they could happily live without kings in the new country so they created assemblies, passed laws and met once a year in this valley to vote on things.   In 930 AD!! Who knew!

They sent one man to Norway to study the laws, and his brother traveled around the country looking for a spot for them to meet.  He settled on Blaskogur ( now Thingvellir, which means parliament fields) and what a great choice.  It is located inside an immense fissure-ridden rift valley with beautiful waterfalls and a big lake.  Once a year people would travel there from every corner of Iceland and have their "Thing" or assembly, plus lots of partying.  The "law speaker" would stand on a rock and recite all the laws--which took days.  This democracy lasted about 300 years until the nasty Norwegians took over.

Sorry to go on and on about this, but I found it fascinating--and very moving.

J and I hiked around the area for a couple hours-especially to see the place where the Atlantic and European continental plates are moving apart.

Late in the Afternoon we drove to Geysir National Park to see the (guess what) geysers.  They were underwhelming compared to our Yellowstone.

Again no Northern lights--this time it was too cloudy.

Here is a picture of the cute little plants growing in the lava rock

Thursday, September 5

We had a good flight to Keflavik.  The plane was full of loud Americans (like us) and quiet, blond Icelanders.  Breakfast at the airport was our first encounter with Icelandic prices.  There are about 100 kroner to a dollar so that makes it psychologically even worse.  I resisted eating there after I saw that a plain croissant cost 300 kroner. But G said, "We may as well get used to it."  I saw they served fatimand looking exactly the way my Swedish Grandma Helsina used to make them--except the Icelanders call them "kleina."

We avoided the Blue Lagoon and Reykjavik and drove east on Highway 1.  The countryside by Reykjavik is especially stark--covered with lava rock.  Farther east there is moss growing on the rocks to form a bumpy green landscape.  The few trees along the way are short and spindly for the most part.

About an hour down the road we stopped at Hveragerdi, a cute town of a couple hundred people.  The town is sitting on top of a highly active geothermal field which provides heat for hundreds of greenhouses.  There are mud pots and steaming pools right in the middle of town--just behind the little cafe.  Unfortunately it was full of a bus load of noisy Americans so we found another one where I could have another kleina.  Hveragerdi has lovely paths along the river so we took a short hike--came on a pretty waterfall--and trees!  It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky--50 degrees.

Then it was on to our cabin near Borg, a town of a couple dozen people.  The countryside is dotted with what they call "summerhouses"-- not a tree beside any of them.  Ours was just built this summer and turned out to be charming.  Our hostess, Svana Indridason (tall and blond, of course), met us there with the key.  The interior is very Scandinavian-- light wood contrasted with black tile floors.  Lots of windows, clean lines, modern art.  Very striking.

J and I took a walk down the country road in the evening--trying to stay awake long enough to see the Northern lights tonight.  There are cute Icelandic horses in every field!  They are short legged, furry, sturdy-looking creatures.  I especially like the brown ones with the blond manes.

No northern lights, sadly.

Here is a picture of our summerhouse near Borg.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Weather in Reykjavik, Iceland today:  50 degrees and sunny.
Weather in Denver:  90 degrees and humid.
Easy choice.

I'm packing for our trip to Iceland.  My suitcase is full of hiking gear:  boots, hiking stick, 7 pair of smart wool socks (love 'em!), long underwear (we are going to Iceland after all), compass, binoculars, towel and swimsuit in case we find a geothermal hot-pot to take a dip.

Anyway, with all the hiking gear, there isn't much room for clothes, so I packed two pair of pants, two shirts and a couple turtle necks.  There, done!  I figure if you are going for 16 days to a country with no laundromats you either pack 8 pairs of pants, or two pair of drip dry pants.  I choose the latter.

Things I've been wondering about:
Will we see the Northern lights?
Will there be vegetables for us to eat?
Will G be able to pronounce Eyjafjallajokull?
Do they throw axes?