Iceland Day 7 - Driving to Akureyri

We made it to Akureyri, after 7.5+ hours of driving.  Boy was I exhausted.  Proud of myself though, since it may have been my longest drive since the attempt from Memphis to Chicago.  I was decently safe with a few dodgy passes.  The drive was almost without incident, but we almost ran out of gas.  We were a an eighth tank and I thought we were going to hit the ring road exiting the Westfjords, so we passed Hólmavík and did not get gas.  After the turn and realizing it was not the ring road, I started getting worried and 20+ km later flagged down a motorcyclist who told me the next gas station in my direction was 100km away and the gas meter said 75km to go.  Promptly turned around, and the journey there and back and the time taken to get gas probably took about an hour.  Sad but better than running out of gas.  Ironically, I think we drove about 150-200km on the next eighth of a tank, or maybe it was my brain playing tricks on me, but I guess I’ll never know if we would have made it on that last eighth.

Here is a picture of the apartment that we rented.  It is really nice having some space compared to all our teeny hotel rooms.  The PIN for the mi-fi internet device did not work, and I called the person in charge who said she would be there in an hour, but it was more like 2 hours, and after figuring out the PIN, it showed we had to pay.  Not pleased.  They are supposed to fix it tomorrow but we’ll see.  Hence the tardy post.  The bed was poor with no support.  This was the first time we had to share a bed and we both sank to the middle.  Boo.

I walked around town and took some pictures of restaurant menus.  I will put them in a separate post.  Sushi interested me but the prices were outrageous and I bet it would have been fairly substandard for the price anyway.  I’m thinking Indian or Fish and Chips.  TripAdvisor says there are 34 restaurants here in Akureyri.  What a big town!!

Can someone tell me what is up with these hunchbacked "folks" in these Icelandic towns?

I stole Wi-Fi from a nearby hotel, and FaceTimed Lingon.  It had been a while since we chatted so it was nice.  Walked up the staircase to the church, snapped a quick picture of it and then of the “view” from up there, and then retired.

Mileage: 600km

Iceland Day 6 - Westfjords, Tjöruhúsið Restaurant in Ísafjörður

I had originally pre-wrote the name and linked the website of the restaurant, and even wrote what I would say if the food was good or bad.  But the fish was so fresh and I took so many pictures that I just had to give it its own blog post!  Some of the pictures turned out blur, maybe I was too excited or something, but I don't think they hamper the post in any way.

So here goes.

Dinner at Tjöruhúsið in Ísafjörður, our first dinner out of Reykjavik.  Supposed to be the best restaurant here and someone's review said it was the best meal in Iceland.  Fish buffet for 5000ISK, so an expensive one.

The restaurant was fully book by the time we got there around 4pm to try to make a reservation but they told us we could sit outside but it might be cold.  They had 2 seatings at 7pm and 9pm and I think each seating sat about 50.  Here is a picture of Hog waiting to get into the soup line right as we approached 7pm.

Then a picture of the interior, I counted around 48 inside, so plus or minus, and we were 6 outside.

Took one of the kitchen.  That is a small kitchen to feed 2 seatings of 50+ people!

We started off with fish soup.  The soup was served in a giant vat.  There was some white fish which, while not super tasty, was very fresh.  I loved the orange fish, which tasted like salmon.  There was also some imitation crab meat-looking things in the first bowl.  I had 2 bowls of soup and just had to show the difference in soup.  I mean they were both delicious, but the second pot yielded much more fish to soup!

The main meal came out.  Here is a picture of the sides.  Most were OK, I liked the barley-ish one.  The name "Icelandic fish stew" scared me but I decided to take the plunge and try it and it was actually quite delicious!

Potato salad, barley, rice (yucks), what seemed like Chinese stir fry veges, salad, mashed potatoes, Icelandic fish stew

Then the mother big pans of fish came out.  I think I got some names, but for the most part they were all just called yummy fish to me.  I rarely am too discerning, but I'd say this is the first time I've had fish where I could taste the freshness.  I spoke to the folks running the place, and the fish are caught fresh everyday from various fishermen from the Ísafjörður area.  Yeah, really fresh.

Trout in blueberry almond sauce, cod cheeks in lemon butter, bacalao in sherry raisin sauce, slowly cooked cod in butter, and the last 2 I have zero idea.

Here were my samplings.  The first plate I took some sides, the second plate I got smart and just took the fish!

Here are 2 pictures of the buffet line.  I just could not stop taking photos!!!

Did not leave hungry!  Best Icelandic meal so far.  Maybe there's hope!  If you are ever in the Westfjords, please do come here, even if it may be a detour, and make a reservation in advance for dinner.  They serve an a la carte lunch too, I hear.

Iceland Day 6 - Westfjords (Bildudalur Sea Monster Museum, Dynjandi Waterfalls, Ísafjörður and Súðavík)

Breakfast at Fosshotel Westfjords was pretty standard - scrambled and hard boiled eggs, fresh fruit, cereal, etc., except they had a waffle maker and some nicer looking pastries!  I passed on the pastries and made myself a waffle.  It was the first time I ever used a waffle maker, and I put in a ton of batter, and as I closed the device, the batter oozed over it, and I felt hostile stares and I even heard one lady go "oh my".  Well, whatever, my waffle turned out great and yummy.

Continuing our journey through the Westfjords.  Seemed like a pretty barren land at first, just a bunch of rocks and weeds.  Our first stop, unplanned at that, was at Bildidalur, at the Sea Monster Museum.  I randomly turned into that town, saw that sign, and felt pulled towards it!  A moustached man came out to greet us, and after paying him 1000ISK each, he took us into the museum and started the tour.  Apparently some people here really believe in monsters.  I guess I don't disbelieve.  Apparently according to my travel companion Icelanders believe in elfs and stuff too.  Pretty cool stuff!  He said the last sighting of one particular type of monster was 4 weeks ago, but the family that saw it did not take a picture.  I was not sure whether he was for real or not.  Anyhow, he was nice, and he read to me some text in Icelandic while I tried to figure out the language, but I think it was lost upon me.  Lol.

The next stop was the Dynjandi waterfalls.  Took a nice short walk up to the falls, but otherwise nothing too crazy.

Onto Ísafjörður where our next hotel was, Mánagisting Guesthouse.  Basic looking room, and we apparently have a kitchen and bathroom to ourselves but it's not connected to the room itself.  Seems clean, so that's nice!

We took a short drive to Súðavík which someone said was nice, but it wasn't that nice.  Lol.  So no pictures there.  The drive there was alright pretty.  Overall just a disappointment.

I am ready to leave the Westfjords!  I've had fun but it was not as pretty as I imagined and I want to do some longer walks/hikes.  Hopefully the next stop will give us that!  :-)

Mileage: 235km

Iceland Puffin Pictures

I was sad that my pictures did not turn out nice in the previous post, so here are 2 photos of puffins that I liked.

Iceland Day 5 - Cafe Ben Stiller and the Westfjords (Raudhasandur, Látrabjarg and Breiðavík)

We started the morning visiting this bakery called Geirabakarí in Borganes.  Apparently Ben Stiller went there because that's the photo on the Facebook page and it was also in TripAdvisor.  We ordered a few items, súkkulaði snúður (which is a cinnamon roll with chocolate on top) and ástarpungur/love balls (which according to a recipe I found is an Icelandic raisin fritter) because TripAdvisor reviews recommended these, and then some kind of granola/oatmeal roll with jam because the lady at the bakery recommended it.  The latter was the best, the cinnamon chocolate roll was dry and the love ball (funny name!) had a weird taste which a recipe tells me is cardamom.  Overall Icelandic pastries are not to my liking either, but it was a fun experience going to somewhere that Ben Stiller has been to!

On this Ben Stiller note, I have been obsessed with the Secret Life of Walter Mitty and the Iceland filming locations.  I could not fit some of them into our itinerary, mainly in the Snæfellsnes peninsula, but will save that for the next time!

We had been noticing bales of hay rolled up in white plastic.  I thought that was pretty, and also pretty random.  But here's a picture I took.  One of the farm houses had giant hearts on the bales of hay but we could not find parking so sadly no picture.  :-(

Our first "real" stop was Raudhasandur.  I stole this description from a driving tour.  "Stroll on the beautiful deserted beach at Raudasandur, where you may find seals hauled out on the golden sand."  No seals, but it was pretty.  There was a lovely little church that I thought looked beautiful against the cliffs.  I walked out to the edge of the water and touched the water and shoes got all muddy, but it was fun.  Lots of ba ba mostly-white sheep.

Next stop was Látrabjarg, which is the western most part of Iceland.  It is a cliff area with many birds.  I wanted to see puffins, and I did, which made me happy.  I realise this photo stitching is not very good.  Sad face.  There were a few lazy seals in the distance, and some other white birds.  A sign board said early summer has the most birds.  People used to rappel down those cliffs to get the birds' eggs for food.  That is kind of crazy.

We had one more stop which was Breiðavík.  According to another online source, "this sweeping stretch of golden sand and turquoise water is Iceland’s most beautiful beach".  We drove down to the area, disagreed, and left.  No picture.

On to the hotel.  We stayed at Fosshotel Westfjords in Patreksfjordur.  Really nice hotel but small rooms.  About US$230 with breakfast.  The town itself was really tiny with not much to see/do/eat, but we are comfortable here.

Mileage:  443.9km

Iceland Day 4 - (CenterHotel Plaza Breakfast and) Golden Circle

I wanted to write really quickly about the breakfast at CenterHotel Plaza.  This breakfast was included in the rate, which in late July/early August was about US$165, decent for being in such a central location.  Now the breakfast was not stunning, but I just wanted to let people know what they have, and I think it is really not bad.  Granola, cereal, oatmeal, assorted fresh fruit, scrambled eggs (these were cooked WAY too well and though I did not eat them I can only imagine they were horrible), bacon, sausage, hard boiled eggs, many different kinds of bread, jams, and my favourite (and most unhealthy) oat squares which was some bar with oats and either chocolate or raisins/dried fruit.  The spread was really decent and I think it deserves a thumbs up.  Too bad no pictures, but it was not gourmet or anything, and nothing much could be left to the imagination.

This was our last morning at CenterHotel Plaza.  Gosh I will miss not having to think about breakfast.  The road trip begun and I was excited.

We picked up the rental car from Budget, and after GPS and insurance it cost an arm and a leg.  Luckily we have plenty of cup noodles so we will be saving money on food and I probably will not eat out much.  Funny sign at the rental car company.

We saw a number of cars stopped by the side of the road, and this was the first site we saw.  Beautiful and got me excited about what was to come!

Our first stop was Þingvellir.  I learned that Þ is like "th", some small knowledge about the Icelandic language which up to now scares the crap out of me.  These long and weird names and vowel and consonant arrangement...  Anyway without digressing so much.  Þingvellir is the site of the world's first parliament, and started in 930AD.  Do you know in those days a judgment against someone could be passed, but it was up to the individual who pressed charges (pardon my knowledge of judicial terms, most of my knowledge comes from Law and Order SVU) to enforce the law.  So, imagine I sued someone who owed me money and I won but he/she refused to pay, I would have to hire a hit man to do a number on said person, or I could seize his/her car for payment.  That's how I imagine life at that time to be like.  Hehe.  Beautiful site, even with the drizzle that pounded down on us.

Next stop we went to some site of 2 geysers, Strokkur which was active and Geysir which was defunct.  There were a number of other pretty coloured pools too but I'm not sure if they were actually formerly geysers.  I waited in the rain with the bitter cold blowing on my frosty fingers, and managed to get this cool shot.  I've wanted to go to yellowstone to see Old Faithful for a while now, but this will do for now.

Last stop was Gullfoss, a waterfall which is apparently stronger than the Niagara Falls according to a sign there (I don't really believe it, but I've never been to Niagara).  It was really quite powerful, and between the rain and the splash from the falls itself, it was a bit of a damp experience.

We were supposed to have a couple more stops along the way, driving along the Kaldidalur pass which was not allowed by the rental car company, Deildartunguhver which is supposedly Europe's most powerful hot spring, Viðgelmir, one of the largest lava caves in the world and Hraunfossar, a seemingly less spectacular falls from the pictures.  Sadly time was not our friend, and we decided to return to the hotel instead.  Being the kind of person who likes to do everything, I was really bummed, but I also had a poor night's sleep and rest was much needed.

We are staying at the Icelandair Hotel Hamar, which is quite pleasant (expensive at 28,900ISK which is around US$260) and new seeming.  Breakfast is not included, and is 2100ISK/person.  It has a golf course.  Here is a picture of our room.

This was dinner for the night.  Tastes like home sweet home and cost is a fraction of anything we could have gotten here in Iceland.  Complete with a hard boiled egg stolen from breakfast this morning.  :-)

Distance driven: 302.9km

Good night and good luck!

Iceland Day 3 - Reykjavik

There's not much to do in Reykjavik itself.  Today was spent wandering somewhat aimlessly, visiting maybe 5-8 grocery stores, doing absolutely nothing.  The fabulous news is I have not suffered too poorly from jetlag.  I took a nap each of the first 2 days here, slept about 8 or 9 hours through last night, and I feel fantastico!

It is really nice to have so much daylight.  It really keeps my spirits up.  Reminds me of my time in Alaska.  It is not as cold as I imagined, and I hope it continues this way because I did not bring that many clothes.

Saw a cool hill.  Did some research and found out it was Þúfa, a small man made hill, 26 meters in diameter and 8 meters high, with stone steps to reach the top. On the top is a small fishing shed where the plan is to hang shark and different types of fish for drying.  Stole this info from this website.

We were not too adventurous in terms of food after yesterday.  I feel a bit sad that I am at this point unable to continue on my "local" food hunt like I normally do when in foreign land, but yesterday was such a scary experience.  Today we visited Fiskmarkaðurinn/Fish Market and Ramen Momo, both substantially better experiences than yesterday's lunch.

Also my phone charger cord broke and I had to go to MacLand, the local computer store that cost a fortune, which set me back about $30.  :-(  On a happy note I have a very unique pretty blue cord that I am sure no one in the USA has.

Tomorrow we begin our driving journey and I'm very excited for that!

Þúfa.

Icelandic horse doo doo.  Yum?

Lunch at Fiskmarkaðurinn.  We had sushi but did not try the cooked fish.  Salmon was pretty good, tuna was just so so.

Ramen Momo.  Udon with shrimp tempura and ramen with chicken.  Comfort food, hit the spot, but coming from a big city I cannot rave toooooo much.