Last Day in Iceland

We have been very fortunate that the weather in Iceland has been so nice - up until today! It was cloudy and cool yesterday and spit rain but today it added wind to the mix plus more rain. It doesn't rain hard but it enough to make it miserable.

John and Susanna joined us this morning while Katy and Lanny slept in. We headed to the National Museum of Iceland and now know more of its history than about our own history! It is a beautful museum and very well done.

We had a brisk walk in rain to the harbor area for lunch and a long walk back to the hotel. Later the six of us met in our room to finish off a bottle of wine and then to dine together one last time in Iceland.

Viking Sagas

We started out the morning by trying to find museums that would give us an idea of the way Vikings lived. Of course you start at the beginning. The Settlement Exhibition is an exhibition of a 10th century Viking hall discovered in 2001 and is dated to the year 874 plus or minus 2 years. Very interesting.

After lunch we were going to visit another museum but the girls got sidetracked with shopping and the guys took off to help dLanny find a post office with his lost package.

After supper we attended a play at the Harpa Concert Hall called "The Icelandic Sagas-Greatest Hits". This was a spoof of Iceland's history over 400 years told in 75 minutes. It was nicely done and very funny!!

Back to Reykjavik

I thought we had seen the last of the waterfalls but there was one more. First we stopped at Grábrókargígum or in English Three Craters. Standing next to each other are three volcanic craters - small, medium, and large - which are long extint with the last eruption over 3000 years ago, but make for great viewing of the surrounding country side as well as looking into their centers.

Our next stop is at the largest boiling hot spring in the world. At 212° it heats the water for two near by towns and generates electricity for them. They have the spring blocked but we could see the steam running off a part of its stream to the river.

Last stop the Children's Waterfall called Barnafoss. The story behind the names is that a family went to Christmas mass but left two children at home. When the parents returned the children were gone, their footprints having led to the waterfall. It is a sad story but a beautiful waterfall. All along the river water flows out of the riverbank, seemingly from bedrock but actually from very porus lava fields that are between the here and the glacier.
Upon our arrival in Reykjavic, David talked our guide into stopping at a local golf club so he could get a logo shirt. It is near the end of golf season so the pickings were slim.
We had a fun end of tour dinner with our newfound friends. It was an early evening since half of the group had 6 am flights the next morning.

Akureyri

As we travel through the Northwest Region we can still find waterfalls. This one is the opposite of yesterday's waterfall The Beast. Gothafoss or The Beauty is more petite and clearer with a pretty aqua blue color.

The capital of the Northwest is Akureyri and is located near the end of a long fiorde. In 1786 there were only 12 people living here and now it is the second largest city in Iceland. This area is known for agricultue and wool. Swimming pools are found in almost every village and this is no exception for this city. They are heated and open year round. The Lutheran church is the main religion in Iceland. The church in Akureyri has two towers that are meant to resemble the bow of a Viking ship and there is a model of a ship hanging inside.

We stopped early for the night at a delightful place in the middle of nowhere outside of Hofsós but with a great view of the fiorde to the north and farmland all around. Just up the hill from Hofsstatir Guesthouse is a quaint, small church and cemetery. We enjoyed the sun and wine with our new friends on our patio before a nice meal.

Odin's Horse's Footprint

A glacial river flooded the Asbyrgi valley during the last iceage and formed a horshoe shaped depression and canyon. Legend has it that the Norse God Odin was riding his 8-legged horse over this land when one of the horse's hooves touched the ground. Either way this Asbyrgi Canyon was a beautiful area to visit.

This center of the canyon is home to one of Iceland's forests with birch, pine, mountain ash and willow and a quiet, clear pond that reflects the canyon walls. Because in America we have so many forests and trees, we tend to take our woods for granted. In Iceland they have only 1.5% of their land in trees. Therefore forests are a big deal.

The canyon itself, Vesturdalur, is unique in all the world. Its walls are made from a collection of Basalt columns lying in every direction. This has created canyon walls that have straight 90° angles and some of the walls are a mosaic of stone in hexagon, pentagon and septagon shapes.

We had the afternoon free until 5 pm when half of our group went whale watching in the Skyalfandi Bay. We searched for and found humpback whales. One made a big splash but the others were just lazing around, surfacing periodically to show us their flutes (tails). Amazing creatures!

The Beast Waterfalllll

It was a long day of riding in a bus but the few stops we made were so beautiful, it made up for the long ride.

Dettifoss Waterfalls lived up to their nickname of "The Beast". The 90 meter drop and the amount of glacial water that goes over it creates the most powerful waterfall in all of Iceland and all of Europe! We were able to witness two seperate falls from the viewing area with one a horseshoe shape like Niagra Falls and the other drops into a deep, narrow crevase. Such power!

Our drive took us across part of the interior of Iceland where volcanoes have laid the land to waste. Looking like a moonscape, we were not surprised to learn that numerous astronauts have used this area to prepare for lunar landings.

We stopped at a nice grocery store and created a nice lunch which we ate on the go. Then a stop at the Smelly Fields, a geothermal area where femaroles and mud pots and boiling water dotted the grounds and surrounding hillsides. But just around the corner was a piece of heaven. Myvatn Nature Baths is a huge hot spring bathing facility. We had to get naked and wash all of our delicate parts before doning our swimsuits. The hot water was very relaxing!

One more stop at Dimmuborgir where lava encounterd cold water and created fantastic formations. Using our imaginations we could find faces, castles and trolls all around us.
An eleven hour drive and we are in Hùsavìc for two nights.

Vatnajokull - Iceland's Largest Glacier

The entire "Sedalia" crew.

Unfortunately we got little sleep last night because we were up looking at the Northern Lights streaking across the night sky. They say its unusual for them to be seen this late in the summer.

Our drive through the south of Iceland took us near the largest glacier in Iceland,
one that covers 8% of the land even though it is shrinking. Vatnajokull has many 'tongues' where visitors can explore the glacier in safety and still be awed by its magnificence. This glacier is also famous for being featuried in a couple of James Bond movies like 'Die Another Day', 'Live and Let Die' and 'Interstellar' staring Matt Damon.

Our first stop took half of our group on a hike up the mountainside to view the Svartifoss or Black Waterfall in a basalt valley. The other half walked to another part of the glacier for a close-up view.

A long drive later we stopped at the Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon where we rode in a 'Duck' (a truck that also serves as a boat) into a lagoon full of icebergs. The lagoon empties into the ocean where some of the icebergs end up on the black sand beach. This bunch is crazy enough to pick a chunk of ice, chop it into pieces and serve 1000 year-old ice with 5 year-old Jamison whiskey. A toast to Iceland with fire and ice!

The sad news is that the 80 year-old lagoon is getting bigger meaning that the glacier is melting and getting smaller. It has been shrinking for the past 10 years.

We had a long three hour drive with the glacier, mountains and fiords on the west side of the bus and the plains and ocean on the right. Always a beautiful scene which ever way you looked.

We are spending the night in Breiddalsvik, a quaint little village with a new brew pub that we 'had' to visit.

Southern Region of Iceland

Happy Anniversary to us - 45 years!!

I'm really struggling with pronouncing the location names let alone spell them. A couple of words I've picked up are: foss is waterfall, vic is bay, eyja(aya) is island and jokull (yoo coolt) is glacier.

Today was waterfall and volcano day. We started by walking behind the Selfoss aka Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. It drops 65 meters and has a large space behind it where many people walk. The other wasterfall is the Skogafoss. Its not quite as tall but we climbed up 429 steps for a view from the top.

Between the two falls is the site and glacier of the 2010 volcanic explosion of the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano that spewed so much ash that airports in Europe had to shut down for fear of damage to jet engines. We watched a film anout the family who lives at the base of the glacier and the trials they endured from all the ash and the melting glacier.

After lunch we learned some of Icelands history from the past 200 years at the Skogar Folk Museum. This Southern Region has no coastline or inlets for over 200 miles that will accomodate ships other than small fishing vessels. There are no trees, there were no roads and the people had to made do with what they had - dried fish shoes, wooden food bowls and spoons made from horns to name a few. Homes were made from stones and sod built into a hillside for protection. One house was made from driftwood. The homes were all very small and would house 10-12 people so that the bodies would keep the home warm as they didn't have firewood.

Our favorite stop was on the Black Sand Beach - Reynisfjaron. We saw a hill covered with Puffins who have not migrated out to sea yet, some unique rock formations created by the sea and ice, and a black sand and rock beach. The rock formations in the sea are said to be trolls caught outdoors at sunrise.

The road to our hotel was through 100 km of lava fields covered with moss. This was the result of the 3rd largest lava flow in the world and happened from June 1783 to Feb. 1784. Simona, our guide pointed out many volcanoes and glaciers in the distance which we will get to see up close tomorrow.

Golden Circle

Day 1 of our tour followed all the tour buses around The Golden Circle which is the most historical part of Iceland and the most popular. The area we visited is where the American continent and the European continent meet, the tectonic plates collide down the middle of Iceland and are seperated by 7 kilometers of "no man's land". Iceland has 131 active volcanoes, most along this dividing line. Lake Thinglavir is in the middle of this divide. The Viking clans would meet in this valley every summer to settle laws and law breakers, marry, dance and celebrate life. Christianity was initiated at one of these meetings around 1000 AD when the clan leader had to choose whom the people would worship - the Viking gods like Oden or the Christian God. He chose Christianity.

The Thinglavir River feeds this lake and the Gullfoss double waterfall makes for spectacular viewing. A ways down the road we stopped to view geysers or as Icelanders say "gay zee ers".

 

We then stopped at the Green House farm where tomatoes are grown year round using geothermal energy. The hot water is used to heat the green houses, and to generate electricity to run the temperature controls and the lighting. The family that owns the farm also raise Icelandic horses which are pure bred from the time of the Vikings in the 11th century.

Along our route is the first church building and first school of Iceland. The Church of Skalholl was first built in 1056 while the current building was built in 1963 and is the 10th building to sit on this site.

If you are not bored with what has been written so far, you might if you read further! The following is some interesting information I picked up today: Foss means water fall; Reykjavik has 200,000 people and all of Iceland has 344,000; there are 100,000 horses; the Vikings came from Norway but brought Irish slaves and men from Denmark; no big trees and only 1.5% of the land has trees; 20% of the Games of Thrones was filmed in Iceland; in 1262 Iceland became part of Norway, in 1800's became part of Denmark and in 1944 gained its independence.

 

 

Touring Reykjavik with Food

Before joining the food tour, John and I did a little touring on our own. We visited Hallgrimskirka - an iconic church of the city - where we had a fabulous view of the town center and harbor areas from its tower. It took 40 years to build and was completed in 1984. We then strolled through a residential area to Tjornin, or as it is more commonly known, The Pond. This park area skirts the governing area of the city with the parliament building and city hall on one end of the Pond. A small round building to one side is a music pavillion where band concerts used to be held on its roof.

Viking Ship Sculpture

We met the food tour guide, Alexandra, at the Hara Concert Hall, a very modern glass structure with many faceted windows from top to bottom. On the way to our first stop we passed Arnarholl Hill where many events happen like Independence Day celebrations or to watch their favorite soccer games. At the Icelandic Bar and Restaurant we dined on meat soup made with lamb, vegetables and seasonings like fennel and rosemary. Stop 2 was the cheese shop, Ostabudin (means cheese) where we tasted gouda, Icelandic Brie and Blue cheese as well as cured sheep filet, cured horse filet and smoked wild goose breast. Stop 3 was at Cafe Loki for Rye bread ice cream covered with whiped cream and caramel sauce. Stop 4 was beside The Pond where we tried Skyr, the Icelandic yogurt much like Greek yogurt but much better. It is very high in protein and calcium with no fat and low calories.

We learned a little history while looking at the Parliament building. Iceland was settled by the Vikings in 900 and ruled by Denmark until 1944. Denmark was occupied with WWII so Iceland took advantage of their absense and just declared its independence on June 17. Stop 5 was at the Kopar Restaurant who served a most delightful Rock Crab soup with sourdough bread slathered with violet liquorish salt butter. Yummy! Stop 6 was a hotdog stand and stop 7 was Apotek, a former pharmacy, now a gourmet restaurant which served us sorbet and chocolat mousse. WOW!
We didn't think we could eat again, but as super time rolled around we were hungry. 21,000 steps on the FitBit today.
Due to technical problems and old age all the pictures are grouped at the end since we can't figure out how to run the app.