Tuesday 19 July 2005

Skaftafell - Skogar: 201 km (125mi)

We have breakfast in the busy the hotel’s busy restaurant. Today we continue towards Kirkjubæraklaustur. There we fill up the tank and have a coffee. It is a tiny village, but it does have a post office and a swimming pool, of course. After Kirkjubæraklaustur we have to cross a barren plain, where sand storms are not uncommon. For about 60km there is no sign of human activity whatsoever. On the right hand we see the mountains in the distance and on the left only sand and dust. We carry on to Vík, also a small town. Soon after Vik we reach the southernmost point of Iceland: Dyrholaey. We turn off the main road and drive for 6km on unsealed roads to a fork. First we take the left road and end up at a lookout where lots of birds are nesting on the cliffs: fulmars, guillemots and kittiwakes. Then we drive back to the fork and take the other road. This one leads us steeply upwards to a higher lookout near a lighthouse. From there it is a short walk tot the southernmost tip itself: a rock pointing into the sea with a hole in it, large enough – or so they say – for a sailing boat to pass through.

From Dyrholaey it is a short drive on to Skogar. This turns out to be not more than a collection of a dozen houses among which a youth hostel, a camp site, an Edda hotel and a regional museum. The Youth Hostel is not open yet at this time in the day  and we have lunch at the museum café. After lunch we drive to a village 20km up the road, Seljavellir. There we find a tiny swimming pool, where we spend an hour or so. It is visited by locals only. There is a small but very hot hot tub. From the tub the views of the surrounding mountains are priceless.

We need to do some shopping for tomorrow’s breakfast. From what we hear from our fellow bathers at the pool, our nearest option turns out to be Hvolsvöllur some 50km up the road. Once there we decide to buy food for dinner as well and a beer in the Vinbud, the state liquor store. After our luxury dinner (Pytt I panna, a Swedish  specialty)  we walk to the waterfall in Skogar, Skogafoss. You can walk up real close, but then you get soaked. We also climb to the top. Not an adventurous climb, because a staircase has been set up, leading up to the top of the mountain. The view is worth seeing. The sun is still shining and it is a lovely summer evening. Weather has been great all day. We walk down again and chat a bit with other Icelandic tourists. When the sun disappears behind the mountain it becomes a bit too cool four us and we retire to our room

Weather: sunny 22°C / 71°F.

Wednesday 20 July 2005

Skogar - Gullfoss - Geysir - Laugarvatn: 179 km (111mi)

We have our own simple breakfast in the Youth Hostel and are off to Gullfoss. We first stop again in Hvolsvöllur to stock up on our food for tonight and tomorrow morning. We arrive at the waterfalls at around 11. It is fairly busy there – to Icelandic standards that is. We walk via boardwalks to a lookout. That lookout is very high over the falls and does not offer the best views. There is a staircase down to a lower lookout which does offer the picture perfect views of the falls. From there you can follow a path to the top of the waterfall. To get there you have to run through a fog whipped up by the falling water. The top of the fall is the best vantage point to look at the fast streaming mass of water. Gullfoss falls in two stages. First 10 metres and then another 20 metres. Gullfoss is Iceland’s most famous waterfall, featured on the covers of almost all the guide books (including the Rough Guide) and on many postcards. We have lunch in the café near the car park and buy some useless souvenirs in the shop.

After lunch we drive to Geysir. A short drive of no more than 10 minutes. Geysir lent its name to all spraying hot water pools in the world. Unfortunately Geysir has stopped playing after an earthquake and is limited to a pitiful bubbling. Unlike Strokur, next to it. That one plays every 5 minutes spitting out 30 meter high columns of  hot water. A beautiful sight. The visitors cheer out in oh’s and ah’s and some burst out in applause. Click here for a Windows Media video of Strokur. I climb Bjarnafell (727m) for the views of the surrounding fields and mountains.

We drive on to Laugarvatn, the location of the youth hostel for tonight. It is open and there for we take the opportunity to off load our baggage. We drive on Þingvellir. In this area Icelandic parliamentary sessions took place from 974 until 1798. In the 14th century the importance of parliament (Alþing) declined as it had no power to enforce its decisions. From 1622 Iceland fell under the Danish crown and the Alþing was reduced to a court of law. Þingvellir played and important role in the 19th century nationalistic movement campaigning for independence. It was here that independence was declared in 1944. It is also the location where the North American and European continental plates touch each other. The move away from each other by 3 mm every year and the valley floor yearly sinks a couple of mm. Except in 1789 when, as a result of an earth quake the floor fell about half a meter. The valley is lovely to sea with Öxara river meandering into the Þingvallavatn lake. Some of the fissures in the valley function as wishing wells and coins are thrown in to make the wishes come true. In visitor centre has a very good interactive presentation about the historical and physical significance of this place.

We drive back to the Youth Hostel. I send an e-mail home and we start cooking dinner. This time pasta Bolognese.

After dinner we have a coffee in the restaurant opposite and we watch the TV-news there. Apart from the usual international news there are also some Icelandic items about the potato harvest that has just started and a malfunctioning traffic light on a traffic junction in  Reykjavik. Later on we walk around the Laugarvatn lake. On its shore are some hot water springs.

Weather: slightly overcast with sunny spells. Max 19°C / 66°F.

Thursday 21 July 2005

Laugarvatn - Reykjavik: 71 km (44mi)

After our self made breakfast we drive to Reykjavik. We get there around 10am. The apartment at Room with a View  is not ready of course and we walk into town to have a coffee at Kaffitar, Iceland’s version of Starbucks or rather Reykjavik’s. We drink an excellent brew and eat an ever better cake. The girl helping us speaks fluent Dutch because she live there for 11 years. We carry on to the tourist information where buy a Reykjavik Tourist Card (free access to most museums, swimming pools and public transport) After that we drive to Öskjuhlið. A sort of water tower topped with a large glass dome with a restaurant in it. There is also a (free) viewing platform offer wide views of greater Reykjavik. Part of the ground floor is taken by the Saga museum. We drive back to the apartment, which still has not been vacated. The owner offers us a studio instead, two nights for the price of one. We take the offer. The studio does not have a view and is smaller, but on the other hand it is cheaper, available and has a sunny patio. We walk to the culture house, a few blocks away where look at exhibitions of old Icelandic manuscripts from the collection of Arni Magnusson. Among them law texts and the Edda. Next stop is the Hallgrimmskirkja. A modern church by architect Gudjon Samuelson. Construction started shortly after the war, but was not completed until a couple  of years ago, because all the work was done by a family business of just a father and son. The building divides the city between fans and foes. The church dominates the cityscape especially by the phallic shaped church tower. The tower has an elevator leading to a viewing platform with nice views of central Reykjavik. The church interior is very simple. The organ is the only ornament. In front of the chu rch is a statue of Leif Eriksson, the first European to have set foot on American soil around the year 1000 – it is a gift from the United States, on occasion of the 1000 year jubilee of the the Icelandic settlement in 1930.

From the church we drive to the Vesturbaejar swimming pool. We swim, sit in the various hot tubs and make use of the steam room.

At night we eat at bar 22. Simple but nice enough. Later we go Samtokin 78, the gay right movement’s head quarter. The bar is very quiet. There is also a lending library and video rental. After 11pm we move on to  Cozy café on Austurstraeti. Here it is very busy and loud. After a while we are joined by the director of the Reykjavik Gay Pride. He talks enthusiastically about the organisation of the event taking place early August. .

After midnight we go back to our studio.

Weather: sunny, 20°C / 68°F max.

Friday 22 July 2005

We have breakfast outside on our patio. It is lovely in the sun. The we start exploring the city. First coffee at Kaffitar. They have an internet hotspot and I send an e-mail with my pocket-pc. We walk on to the oldest building of Iceland dating back to 1752 and after that to the port. Here we see a couple of whaling boat who have lying idle for 14 years now. We turn back to the centre and walk past the modest parliament building. Remarkably modest for such a building. Next to it is the Lutheran cathedral, but we cannot visit because a couple of funeral services. Behind the church is the Tjornin, the central lake. In the lake are more than 40 bird species, who also foul the walkways around the lake. On the lake’s shore is the modern town hall from 1992. On its ground floor the town hall has a topographical map of Iceland, including 3 dimensional represatation of mountains and ice caps. It is fun to look at all the places we have been to on this trip. Via Södergata we walk to the National Museum, where we see a very interesting and modern exhibition of Icelandic history. Many interactive displays and video presentations. 

We take the bus back to the centre and eat smørrebrod in a Danish restaurant, Jomfruin, specializing in that. It is run by a Dane, the first male smørrebrod specialist in the world.

We drive out to Höfdi, the house on the waterfront where Reagan and Gorbachov almost succeed in ridding the world of all medium and short range nuclear weapons in 1986. Although the summit failed, it did put Iceland on the tourist map and “they haven't looked back since".

During the afternoon we enjoy a drink on one of the many outdoor café s on  Austurvollur square. The weather is so good that all the tables are taken and also the lawn is full of sun worshipping city folks.

At night we dine at the Lækjarbrekka restaurant. The food is lovely. I take the Fish feast, Erik the lamb feast. The service is first rate with prices to match, but well.. it is our last night in Iceland. They also have a Puffin feast on the menu. Puffin, or so we’re told has a strong liver like taste and we decide to give it a miss. 

We go to bed early, because we have an early day tomorrow

Saturday 23 July 2005

Reykjavik - Keflavik - Schiphol – Rotterdam