After we had our fill of rotten shark meat and black death (Blennivín) it was time to say goodbye to the Snæfellsness Peninsula and make our way north and east to Akureyri. As we left the Peninsula, our first stop was to the Leifur Eiríksson (Leif to us English speakers) home near Búðardalur.
We visited the presumed site of Eiríksstaðir, the name of his farm in the Haukadalur valley. A replica of his house was built in 2000 as part of the Leifur Eiríksson Heritage Project in conjunction with the 1,000 year of the discovery of North America.
We had a Viking re-enactor named Siggi who gave us a little history about Leif and the area we were visiting. Leif was born around 970 in Iceland. His dad was Eric the Red, the man who discovered Greenland. While living in Greenland with his papa, Leif went west and landed on what is now Newfoundland in eastern Canada.
While the farm house was pretty accurate, Siggi explained that the gas drop fire we had on the floor was a more modern addition.
After becoming experts on all things Viking, we continued north and east, our comfortable tour bus. We made a point of asking our driver Lindi to turn up the heat because we were cold. This proved to be a mistake, as he proceeded to blast us with heat until the end of our trip 10 days later!!
Every time we would stop for a "comfort break" we'd go into the coffee shop or gas station. In the bustling town of Staðarskáli, we took a moment to try on some native clothing and accessories.
One of the highlights for us that day was a visit to a horse farm. Iceland is very proud of their horses. The breed is completely pure. Many people refer to them as ponies (I am guilty of this) due to their smaller stature, but we were told this was not correct.
We were greeted at the farm by the family dog. We enjoyed lunch with the family and then one of the daughters played us some traditional Icelandic music on her violin.
The breed is pure and no horses may be imported into the country. Once an Icelandic horse leaves the country, it is not allowed to return. As a result, they do not participate in many international competitions.
Due to the rocky and rugged terrain of the country, the horse is very sure footed and is a master of five different gaits.
The breed is very popular worldwide. A little internet research showed me that while there are about 80,000 horses in Iceland, there are 100,000 Icelandic horses abroad. Our tour guide, Steini, told us that the cost of owning a horse in Iceland is very small. For the daily price of a pack of cigarettes more or less, one can own and care for a horse.
As we continued east towards Akureyri, we started to pass thru some higher elevations and ground covered in snow. The night before they had the first snowfall of the season.
We arrived into Akureyri that evening and into our small tourist hotel. The next day was kind of a bust because it was extremely windy with heavy rain. Our planned outing for the day was to the town of Húsavík, west of Akureyri, to go on a whale watching boat excursion. Due to the choppy water and cold driving rain, we were not able to do the tour. We did get to visit the Whale Museum where we learned about some of the whale species that are found in the area.
In order to fill the time, Steini had us stop at a Vintage Car Museum for an hour. It was actually kind of interesting, with all the old cars they had on display and in very good condition.
And like all the other places we stopped, there was a domesticated animal for us to play with.
On our way back to Akureyri, we stopped at Goðafoss. It's another spectacular example of a waterfall in Iceland. It's located in the Mývatn district and sits along the Skjálfandafljót River.
Goðafoss means "Waterfall of the Gods". The story behind it's name comes from when a "Lawspeaker" made Christianity the official religion of Iceland in 999, and he threw his old Norse god statues into the waterfall.
As we returned to Akureyri, the skies sort of cleared up! As a bit of background about the city, it's referred to as the northern capital because it sits just 40 miles below the Arctic Circle. It's the second largest city in Iceland with a population of about 17,000 people. It's protected harbor never freezes so it's also an important shipping area.
The official symbol of Akureyri is the heart, so every red traffic light is shaped like on.
One of the highlights of our stay in Akureyri, indeed of the entire trip, was our home hosted dinner. OAT creates their tours in a way that allows you to experience part of the life of the country that you might not otherwise get to see. Our group was split in to 2 and Stu, Marty, Susan and I were part of the group that would be having dinner with Arna and her family.
They were such wonderful hosts. Arna's daughter Hera was quite taken with Susan.
Arna was a school teacher. She presently teaches 7th grade. We learned that in Iceland, the students have the same teacher from the time they enter school until they move on to high school, so every year she advances with her students. Her husband Finn is a professional photographer. He studied at the University of Michigan and lived in Ann Arbor for 5 years back in the late 80's. All three of them of course spoke perfect English and we had a wonderful time talking with them.
For dinner, Arna made a casserole type dish consisting of haddock, potatoes, onions and layered with hard boiled eggs. It was wonderful! Dessert consisted of a type of spice cake that was a special recipe of her mother's. I had three pieces! (And I wonder why I came home 5 pounds heavier than when I left!).
At the end of the evening, Arna gave us jam she made from currants in her garden and Finn gave us each a matted copy of a landscape photograph he had taken. We had brought them host/hostess gifts consisting of a trivet with Texas wildflowers, some Texas themed coasters, and some Texas Champagne (aka Hot Sauce).
As we were leaving their home, we had a wonderful view of the Northern Lights! While it could not be captured on film with my sad little camera, I can only describe it as green and purple ribbons of light dancing thru the sky. It was so beautiful and perfect way to end a great evening!
We started our second morning in Akureyri by heading back to Goðafoss. All the snow from the day before had melted. Notice the difference before....
and less than 24 hours later....
We had a little more time to explore the falls this time and catch some different views of the area.
This is one of my favorites that Susan took because you can see the sun just starting to hit the top of the waterfalls.
We next made our way to Skútustaðir to see the natural pseudo-craters. The name comes from the farm that was owned by the Viking Víga Skúta, who was the owner of the deadly battle axe Fluga! The pseudo-craters that populate the area are formed by steam explosions when burning lava encounters lakes or wetlands.
Now the area is primarily a place for sheep to graze.
Note the geo-thermally heated steam pockets on the other side of the lake.
As I mentioned in earlier posts, Iceland is full of geo-thermally heated water. The Laugaland fields near Akureyri is the first and oldest geothermal source to be commercially developed. The steam just pours out of the ground! I seem to be a little nervous standing so close to it!
We also visited some very messy and smelly sulfur like mud pits.
After lunch at a dairy, we made our way to Dummuborgir. The english translation means "dark cities". It's a barren area with rocky lava formations and volcanic caves. In Icelandic folklore, it is believed this is the portal to hell. Probably best not to get lost here!
Nowadays, children leave their shoes on the window for the 13 days before Christmas and every night, one of the Yule Lads comes and leaves treats and presents. Sounds better than being turned into soup or dragged away by an over aggressive cat because your clothes aren't new.
