Wow! We've had a few snow flurries this week, but today's onslaught of the fluffy white stuff was dazzling. We navigated via GPS which took us up on a high plateau of roadway. Driving at one point I stared at the swirling snow drifting low to the ground, in front of the car. It looked like styrofoam-gone-wild, giving me an Alfred Hitchcock level of vertigo. My brain momentarily swam in a blizzard of dizziness.
Ice...
Ice...
And more ice.
I think that today is the day Iceland decided to demand our respect for the power of ice & snow. Um... yes, and all I have to say about that is thank heavens I thought to don my long johns this morning.
check out the temperature
Minus 8 degrees centigrade is equal to 17.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or as they say in Iceland, ' a mite nippy out' (give or take an umlat). Honestly, for all that cold, it didn't seem too frigid to me, aka 'she who sets her thermostat at 55'.
Coming downhill off the mountain, we stopped at a scenic vista parking lot. Below us spread the ironic view of natural Icelandic hot springs steam, drifting along the snow filled, icy plain,
Steam rising from geothermal springs
close-up of thermal springs
Mývatn geothermal springs are famous for their hot bathes, beloved by tourists. The warm waters are around 96 degrees Fahrenheit to 104 degrees (yikes!). We opted to skip the hot springs and even if we wanted to use them, we hadn't made the v. necessary reservations - maybe next time.
Continuing on our way to our evening stop in Akureyri we stopped to look at a short wall composed of volcanic rock. No signage here so no way of knowing 'the tale of the serpentine rock wall.'
Eyjafjörður Fjord visible in the background
Just behind the lava rock wall is the source of the rocks, the Hverfjal Volcano.
Hverfjal Volcano - awesome!
In the afternoon we visited Goðafoss falls. Icelandic legend tells at in the year 1000, give or take a eon, a heathen badass tribal chieftain hurled statues of Icelandic gods into the frosty waters. The toss symbolized Christianity replacing the old gods. Goðafoss means 'Waterfall of the gods'.
Goðafoss, a beautiful horseshoe shaped falls
The falls are located on the mighty Skjalfandafljot River.
A little foot bridge crossing the Skjalfandafljot River.
We left the beautiful falls and headed to our hotel for the night, located in Akureyi. Along the way to Akureyi, we drove around the curve of a low hill where an estuary and mudflats came into view. Our Target town was also in view. An estuary? HURRAH! You better believe I quickly parked on the miracle - a road shoulder - and began to photograph the little birds that scarpered along the mudflats.
Black-tailed Godwit
Common Ringed Plover
Black-headed Gulls
Prowling Eurasian Oystercatchers
Later we entered the town of Akureyi, located in north central Iceland. At the Akurevi Hotel, we were offered rooms on either the third or the forth floors. As there was no elevator, I whined a bit, then we climbed up the long staircases to see the rooms.
Well, bless my lazy arse, it was the 4th floor room we went for, climb up & all (I know!). It was large with a vaulted ceiling & a cool, circular window with curtains.
the 2nd window had a lovely view of the Egilsstaðir fjord
This is the most unique and interesting room for this trip, we've has thus far. And although there was only single bedded rooms available (didn't book ahead) at least the bed was large enough to allow us each enough space to preserve our dignity (feel free to giggle a little).
After we'd hauled our bags up to this aerial room, we took a drive around the town for the hell of it. We were pleased to find some more Icelandic Elf houses, all located in residence yards.
Cute Turf House, 'home sweet home' for an elf or two
Upscale and colorful Elf dwelling
It is a fact that 70% of Icelanders believe in elves. Road building in Iceland is sometimes held up by 'elves' in residence in rocks along the projected roadways, surely there must be elves. That alone may stand as proof of elves existence, otherwise why would the Icelandic central government hold up their projects to appease the mighty mites? While you puzzle that out, I will say that the houses we've seen thus far are adorable, and if I were an elf, I'd set up housekeeping in one.
Akureyrarkirkja - Lutheran Church
Akureyi is the second largest Icelandic city after Reykjavik. It's most striking feature was located near where we had dinner. It's Akureyrarkirkja - a large Lutheran Church, .
Akureyri downtown scenery - ooooh I so love stone paving
The harbor is at the side of the town
The sign on the right reads 'Public Library' in English. What the...?
A little window shopping
We did some souvenir shopping. I had to turn my back on loads of cool stuff.
You know I got my Cloisonné pins because it's the law. Sort of.
After strolling about downtown, we were hungry. We scrutinized menus outside of several of the restaurants. Again, the target was interesting food that is typically Icelandic. With a little luck, maybe there'd be a restaurant serving a lovely cold Hákarl (rotted shark) salad, some succulent Hangikjöt (smoked lamb) or perhaps a nice bowl of fresh Ábrystir (sheep's colostrum pudding) - or not.
We saw these menus. Tempting... but I'm not eating anything related to Mr. Ed.
Surprisingly, I turned my nose up at the Grilled Whale. Told it was Minke Whale (not endangered). No crossing the line to the 'dark side for me today.
I tried the Guillemot, which is a wild sea bird. Consider that these birds dive and fly over as well as under water. That means they have oxygenated muscle that yields quite dark meat, in the manner of beef. Here is my dinner. Ila had the same.
Icelandic Guillemot
That, you must admit is one yummy
looking meal. It lived up to its looks.
This is what the guillemot looked like as I attacked it. It might gross some out, but to me that is the look of 'YUM'!
I thought it tasted like beef. Ila - obviously having a more delicate palate than my raccoon-like sensibilities, said the bird's meat tasted of anchovies.
It was later in the evening that I checked on my European birds iPhone app, that I realized that Guillemot is what we in the States call the Common Murre. That info totally horrified me as I adore Common Murres. Had I known that I'd have had the lamb shanks instead. Oh well. Earth Mother forgive my carnivorous heart!
A quick video showing snow on the highway and the Goðafoss waterfalls in action. For the full effect I strongly recommend using full screen here (click on the bottom rightmost square).
