Iceland Day 10 - July 4, 2011

Checked out of the Capital Inn early today and went back downtown one more time.  Found free on-street parking near the Cathedral that was an easy walk to the pedestrian streets.  Grabbed a quick breakfast at Sandholt…finally a good Icelandic bakery (really I think I liked it better because there seemed to be more French pastries!). 

Our goal today was to check out Hallgrimskirkja.  The outside is probably the best part due to its interesting design and the huge statue of Leif Erikson out front.  We were disappointed with the inside, though.  Since this is not a Catholic Church, the inside was very plain with very little decoration anywhere.  It almost didn’t even feel like we were in a Church.  We did enjoy the view from the top of the church, though.  An elevator takes you up several stories to a small staircase that leads to the observation deck.  The rain held off while we up there so we got a great panoramic view of Reykjavik.

Iceland Day 9 - July 3, 2011

It was raining when we left Hveragerdi for the hour drive to the airport.  Dropped Laur & Chris off at the airport, then finished the Icelandic Adventure alone hitting some of the places the Rivera’s visited before we arrived. 

Our first stop was Pingvellir, the site of the first Parliament in Iceland.  The visitor’s center had nice touch-screen videos that gave the history and geology of the site.  Chieftains from the different regions of Iceland use to meet here for an assembly every summer to discuss issues and make rules for the land.  The spot they met at is located in a valley that we walked down to.   We saw the lawspeaker’s spot marked by an Icelandic flag, the drowning pools (where some women were supposedly executed for crimes they had committed), the wishing pond, and a cute chapel.  Another highlight was finding an old measuring stick that early settlers used to measure cloth that they wished to trade (2x elbow to fingertips).  Having watched the videos of the area at the visitor’s center, Pingvellir was an interesting take.  Today the area is sometimes used for major festivals in Iceland.

Iceland Day 8 - July 2, 2011

Everyone was up and moving by around 8:30 today.  We had snacks for breakfast and packed up our gear.  In the 10 min. walk to the car, we were already pretty wet.  We originally thought about meeting Laur & Chris on the trail, but the rain was coming down more than yesterday so we decided to wait back at the car.  The hikers arrived soaking wet around 11:20 with reports of crazy wind at the top.  The hut was so full they had to sleep with the warden!  We hit the road right away and had to stop several times so Chris could move huge rocks out of our path along the way.  The drive towards Hveragerdi took longer than expected since we ended up on some dirt roads.  One annoying thing about the roads here is that they go from pavement to gravel without notice, making the drive longer.  Stopped in Selfoss for lunch, but once again found the same gross fast food that is all over this country.  I settled on pizza (edible, but not great), while Joe continued our tradition of having Subway in a foreign country.  

We had a little trouble finding Frumskogar Gistihus in Hveragerdi, but when we did it was pretty nice.  We had a small apartment with one bedroom and a living room/kitchenette, and plenty of space to lay out wet clothes to dry!  We thought we could get dinner anywhere on a Saturday night, but apparently places close at 9pm here.  We did manage to get served just before 9pm at Kjot & Kunst.  I finally got chicken and mashed potatoes from the buffet for a more reasonable price, and Joe got more fish and chips since he knows I won’t be cooking fish at home.  Not bad since the place was about to close.  Back at the guesthouse we recapped the trip while packing and celebrated the end of our joint vacation with Gull beer for the boys and ice cream bars for all, and a final “Valta, altna, fresh, fresh.

Iceland Day 7 - Photos - July 1, 2011

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Iceland Day 7 - July 1, 2011

Good thing yesterday was our day in Westman because today we awoke to rain.  We took the earliest ferry out (8:30am) which was much choppier than our first crossing.  By 9:30, we were on the road again heading for the Golden Circle destinations, the only places that most American tourists see in Iceland because they are near Reykjavik.  Quickly walked out in the windy rain to see Gullfoss (another waterfall).  Not really my favorite of the ones we’ve seen here.  Then, we stopped at Geysir to see where the word got its origin.  The original Geysir only erupts when there is an earthquake, but Strokkur was erupting about every five minutes.  We finally got our cameras ready in time by the third cycle of watching the water bubble and erupt!  Stopped for lunch at the overpriced visitors center.  Any guesses on what was on the menu?  Cream of….asparagus soup and of course, burgers.  The soup went down easily, but unfortunately it got the best of me a few hours later.  I’m pretty sure my digestive system is way out of whack with the limited menu here for people like me who don’t eat seafood, burgers and dogs, or lamb.  Veggies are almost nonexistent and chicken is almost always BBQ if it is even on the menu.  Needless to say, I will not miss the food here.

Iceland Day 6 - Photos - June 30, 2011

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Iceland Day 6 - June 30, 2011

We must have pretty good luck because the weather was beautiful again today in the Westman Islands.  Found a bakari with fresh bread.  I haven’t had much luck finding pastries I like, but Joe discovered fresh pizza at the bakari today and got enough to eat all day long. 

We had hoped to bike around the island, but Ruth said she didn’t have bikes and there were no tours being run today.  Therefore, we set off on foot to see the island.  Our first stop was to the lava fields that buried the eastern part of Heimaey in 1973 and expanded the coastline of the island.  The volcano Eldfell started erupting in January that year forcing the evacuation of the entire town in the middle of the night.  The volcano continued to send meters of ash on the houses of Heimaey until July 1973.  The area we were in today is called Pompeii of the north because there have been some attempts to label streets and excavate some houses buried below.  Plaques among the lava indicate that certain buildings once stood on this spot some buried 16-40 meters below where we were standing.  It was crazy to think that part of the town was so far below us.  Down near the shore we read about how there was often a water shortage on the islands until a pipeline from the mainland was constructed.

We followed the lava fields uphill, and continued climbing up through loose volcanic  rocks of varying color up the side of Eldfell (205m) for a view of the island.  At the top we could see a little steam rising from the ground, and the ground was lukewarm to the touch.  Ruth appeared at the top of the volcano with the German couple staying at the guesthouse.  We’re wondering if she couldn’t offer us any tours today because she was already giving a private German tour today…or she just didn’t want to give us a tour. Oh well, we managed without her.  She probably wouldn’t have approved of Chris’ slide down the side of the volcano to retrieve the Lonely Planet guide he dropped!