Yesterday was spent driving from Borgarnes on the west coast to Akureyri in the north. It was a long day of driving - 5 hours total - made longer by a loop in one of the fjords to see seals basking. These seals are just as hardy as the Icelandic people since the beaches felt like the ones in MA and ME in late March = cold, raw and windy.
The city of Akureyri is the 2nd largest in Iceland and I was able to walk from one side to the other within about an hour´s time this morning. I also took in a swim at the local swimming pool - said to be one of the best in Iceland - complete with 2 heated lap swimming pools, multiple hot 'pods' and a steam room. Very quaint and charming city -- it reminds me of some of the smaller Alaskan cities I´ve been to.
Next stop is Myvatn and Godafoss --God´s Waterfall -- named since it was where the Icelandic people took on Christianity and tossed all of their Norse gods´ statues into the waterfall. One of the hikes will bring me to the lip of some pseudo-volcanoes and a semi-dormant one. Sounds like a fantastic place to learn more about the island´s geology!
Away I go...
we saw you making a picture of yourself in front of a big picture representing seals... (we fand it funny)... and later running back from the seal observation point near Hvammstangi (on that damned gravel road!). We asked ourselves what kind of trip are you doing?... now we understand. (after a look at the Borganes B&B guestbook ;-)
ReplyDeleteIceland is amazing! Have fun.
Thanks for taking the time to find out about my trip...stop to say hi to me if you see me doing some more funny things around Iceland. I am now in the south and heading towards the west near Vik today (Thurs, 30 Jun 11). Enjoy Iceland as well!
ReplyDeleteChris S
What an adventure! Great pictures--it is an amazing landscape==(enjoyed the writing, too)
ReplyDeletetake care,
M. Mientka
well, Borgarnes was our last stop so we won´t see you again. We flew back home on last sunday (after struggling against icelandair who cancelled your flight because of a strike... and booked lastminute with another airline). Being back to civilisation and at work is quite hard ;-) Your pictures & blog are great. Bring me back 1-2 weeks ago!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!