Wednesday 6 July 2005
Rotterdam
- Schiphol - Keflavik - Reykjavik
We
take the 10:42 train from Rotterdam Central to Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. At
the airport there is a long check-in line for Icelandair flight FI503. It takes
the best part of 50 minutes before we can get rid of our bags and clear the
safety checks. We have a roll and a drink (€20 in all!) and buy some duty free
goods (we can, as we are leaving the EU). Our flight Icelandair
flight FI503
 leaves
on time. The seating is very tight and leg room is limited to the bare minimum.
After 2 hours and 40 minutes we land at Keflavik
International Airport. Having left the aircraft we enter the arrivals hall
at the same time our bags are rolling in on the conveyor belt. We carry on have
our bags X-rayed and collect our rental car at Hertz
booth inside the terminal. It is a Toyota Corolla. We drive from the airport to
the Blue Lagoon. This is
an artificial open air bath, that makes use of a natural hot water well. Before
dip in we have to take the mandatory shower. You have to shower naked and shower
gel is provided with your ticket. A sign explains, with help of a graphic, which
body parts have to be treated with soap: head, arm pits, feet and genital area.
The water in the baths is around 30°C/93°F and feels very nice. In the middle
of it the warm water well sprays in to the air. There is also a steam bath and a
sauna with a view on the out door
baths. Health and beauty treatment is available on the poolside and inside on
floating mattresses. The weather is fine: the sun is out and the temperature is
around 15°C/60°F. After an hour and a half we leave again for Reykjavik
the capital, which is about 50km East of the airport. Our apartment called "Room
with a view" is smack in the centre on Laugavegur. At night we
have dinner in restaurant Apotek down the street. The food is fine, but the
prices are shocking: two main courses and desserts and a glass of house wine
cost €130 ($160). We explore the tiny gay scene of Reykjavik (and Iceland) by
having a beer at Café Cozy, a cozy little gay bar.
Around
11pm we get back to our apartment and sleep the sleep of the innocent (and
tired).
Thursday
7 July 2005
Reykjavik
- Stykkishólmur: 247 km (153 mi)
We
have breakfast two doors up the road at Oliver's a trendy bar-restaurant-grill.
After that we head for Stykkisholmur. It is raining from time to time. We leave
the city and follow the West coast. We use the long toll tunnel under the Hval fjörður
(Whale fjord), the largest fjord in South West Iceland. This 6km long tunnel
from 1998 saves us 50km detour around this fjord. Via Borganes we continue to
Stykkishólmur where we arrive around 11.15am. The manager of the youth
hostel is not there, but we tell her about our arrival by phone. We can leave
our bags in the hallway (the door is always open). We walk around town, have a
drink and have lunch at the local petrol station. After that we buy some food at
the supermarket and buy tickets for a boat tour which we will do tomorrow. In
the afternoon we drive along the magnificently beautiful coastline of Snæfellsnes
peninsula towards Grundafjorður, where we have coffee. The café owner refuses
to be paid. We walk around the fishing port and drive back to Stykkis. There we
climb the hill on the Súgandisey peninsula in front of the port on top of which
there is a light house. The view from the hill on the coast, the islands and the
village is great. Down again we have a beer outside a café near the port
At
night we have dinner at Narfeyrarstofa. We restrain ourselves and limit us to a
soup and a burger. After that it is back to the hostel.
Weather:
rain showers, cloudy. 13°C/55°F.
Friday
8 July 2005
We
are woken up at 6 am by a fire alarm. I call the manager, who sleepily tells me
that it is probably a false alarm and that she will be
 there
in a minute. A bit later the alarm is switched off and we can all can get to
sleep again. We get up early anyway. We make ourselves a sandwich, have
breakfast and walk to the port in order to board the ferry which will take us to
the island of Flatey. The trip takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. The ship, run by Seatours
leaves the port at 9. The heavy sea makes quite a few on board rather sea sick.
I am not feeling too good either. The ship that also carries cars will continue
across the Breidafjorður. A
handful gets off the ship at Flatey. We walk to the village (10 minutes). Time
seems to be standing still in this place. The village consists of two dozen cottages, painted
in bright colours. Past the village we reach a bird colony, a paradise for
bird watchers. We see loads of puffins. Artic terns are also out in great numbers.
They perform dive attacks aimed at our heads, but without actually hitting us.
The bird reserve itself is out of bounds until 15 July. We walk back towards the
village and enter the only restaurant like facility. We have to wake the place
up out of hibernation. The choice is limited to 3 dishes. After lunch we walk to
the church, which is decorated on the inside with beautiful frescoes by the
Catalan painter Baltasar, who made
them as payment for his lodging during the 1960s. Behind the altar we see a
Christ wearing a Icelandic wool sweater! The building behind the church is the
oldest and smallest public library in Iceland
and dates back to 1862. On the south shore of the island we see a couple of
shipwrecks which have been washed ashore.
At
1.30 the boat returns to Stykkisholmur. The sea is quite rough again and lots of
us feel miserable, while others carry on as if nothing is bothering them!
In
Stykkisholmur have a rest to get the sea out of our system. Later that night we
eat a pizza at Fimm Fiskar (five
fishes). Looking out from the restaurant we notice that the local youths have
nothing better to do that driving endless and aimless circles through the
village. Later that night a French tour group invades the youth hostel and all
peace and quiet are gone. We walk
to the futuristic looking village church perched on a hill, dating back to 1975.
Weather:
shower, heavily overcast. Max 14°C/57°F.
Saturday
9 July 2005
Stykkishólmur
- Sauðárkrókur: 283km (175mi)
We
rise early and have breakfast in our room, as the French guests have taken possession
of the dining room. When set out to drive up to
 Sauðárkrókur.
We take the unsealed road no. 57 eastward along the peninsular coast. It does
have its occasional bumps and potholes, but the road good enough for us to drive
at a reasonable pace. The coastal scenery is breathtaking. Here and there sheep
and horses cross the road freely and we have to navigate around them. We have a
coffee in a nondescript village called Búðardalur. After a few hours we join
the ring road no. 1 again. We can speed up now driving through beautiful valleys
and along the wild north coast. Numerous islets lie off shore and the valleys
are cut out by shallow, but fast streaming rivers, which we have to cross from
time to time by single lane bridges. Shortly before Sauðárkrókur we pass
Glaumbær. Here we visit an 18th century farmhouse. It is an open air
museum now, but it reminds us of the times that the Icelandic countryside was very poor
back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Next to it is a church. On
its cemetery is a statue commemorating Gúðríður Þorbjarnardottir and her
son Snorri Þorfinnsson. Snorri was the first person born in America from
European parents (in 1003). Snorri came back to Iceland and lived his life on
this farm at Glaumbær.
We
carry on to Sauðárkrókur where we have a room in the Foss
Aning hotel. It is a summer hotel housed in a boarding school. The
very simple room with en suite facilities costs 11.000kr (€140). We have a
sandwich at the town bakery. In the afternoon we take the bumpy road (nr 748) to
Grettislaug. This is a warm water pool about 20km north of the village on the
Skagafjorður coast. According to Grettir’s
saga, the villain Grettir had taken refuge on the island of Drangey in the
fjord. When his fire went out he saw two glowing embers on the mainland. He swam
through the icy cold water (9°C/48°F) 7,5km (4,5 mi) to mainland to get them.
When he got there he lied down, exhausted and stark naked on the beach, when two
women passed by. When they saw him one made a remark about his shrunken member.
He replied: "the wrench
complains that my penis is too small and the boastful slut may be right. But
what is small can grow and I am still a young man, so just you wait till I get
into action lass”. After which he jumped into the pool, which was comfortably
warm. We do the same after undressing in a hard wind and step into the warm pool.
From the pool we have a wonderful view of the mountains around us. It is pouring
down with rain, but we do not mind as we are wet already. After twenty minutes
or so the water becomes to hot for us. We dry off, put on our clothes again and drive
back to the village.
From
the hotel I send an e-mail home and read about the atrocious bombings in London,
of which we had already picked up bits and pieces from the Icelandic newspapers.
What a madness!
At
night we eat at Olafshus restaurant in the blue painted house on Adalsgata in
the centre.
Weather:
showers, sunny spells. Max. 15°C/60°F
Sunday
10 July 2005
Sauðárkrókur
- Húsavík: 205 km (127mi)
After
breakfast (very busy as a large group of Italian pensioners take breakfast at the
same time) we start our journey to Húsavík. We
 take
ring road no 1 to Akureyri. This is the big town of the North, and with around
20,000 inhabitants also Iceland’s second city. We have coffee with cake at Bláa
Kannan in the centre. After the excellent brew we climb the stairs to
Akureyrarkirkja, de big church of the town. A modern structure by the same
architect as the Hallgrims church in Reykjavik, Guðjón Samúelsson. Inside the
church we see nice stain glass windows with both biblical and Icelandic
historical themes. The central windows come from Coventry Cathedral and were –
with much foresight – removed there before the war. The cathedral was
destroyed by bomb attacks during the war. In Akureyri’s port lies a large
cruise ship, stopping over on a cruise
around the country. We buy some souvenirs an continue towards Húsavík. The sun
is shining and the temperature rises to 21 degrees!!! Just before we turn off the
ring road we have a look at Guðafoss (waterfall of the Gods). Nice wide but
not very high falls. Húsavík is not far anymore. In Husavik we have a room at Guesthouse
Arbol. We have lunch near the Harbour where we will take part in a whale
watching tour by Northern
Sailing at five a clock. The tour is conducted in converted fishing boats.
We sail in circles around the bay for about 3 hours and apart from a couple of
dolphins we have the fortune to see a number of Minke Whales hopping up and down
the surface. Not as spectacular as the sperm whales we saw in New Zealand. But
just as we start returning to the Harbour the whales put on a show by breaching out
of the water and jumping into the air.
At
night we eat at Sarka restaurant. Not bad at all. Erik takes salmon, I take a
pizza (which seems to be Iceland's national dish)..
Weer:
sunny. Max 21°C/70°F
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