DAY 2: On the Road


We started the day picking up our car and then headed north. Our first stop was to visit the Hraunfossar and Barnafoss waterfalls. We then went to the Glaumbaer Village Museum.  The Museum features a traditional Icelandic turf farm from the 18th century.  The farm area has been inhabited since the 9th century and according to legend originally settled by a Nordic man born in Vinland. 
Our next stop was the Hraunfossar County Hotel where we are spending the evening.  We had a three course lamb dinner that featured a starter with a "small bite" taste of reindeer and horse.  The meal used locally prepared birch and rhubarb syrups.  It turns out we bought their syrups on our last trip to Iceland. We bought a few bottles of the syrups and their homemade rhubarb jam to bring back to Riyadh with us. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DAY 6: Trollaskagi (The Troll Peninsula)

Image
To begin with, we didn't see any trolls.  There are plenty of Troll stories and we will visit a sea stack tomorrow that inspired one.  Mostly we just enjoyed the ride today and experienced our first in a series of one-way car tunnels. One side of the tunnel has turn outs and if you are on that side you must give way to oncoming traffic. There were also some tunnels we drove through with two lanes.  It is hay harvesting season and the smell of fresh cut hay accompanied us throughout the day.  The cut hay is bound in plastic bundles. The plastic varies in color and the pink or blue means someone donated to a breast or general cancer research fund.  We saw mostly white but did see pink and blue. We also visited The Herring Era Museum in Siglufjordur.  The herring fishing industry was a large part of the country's export income until overfishing did it in. It's center was in this town. Many Icelandic families trace their root...
Read more

DAY 10: Beach Ship Pool Ferry

Image
This morning we went for a walk along a red sand beach. Most beaches here are black or white sand.  Along the way to the beach we sighted the "Ghost Ship."  It was the first steel fishing boat in Iceland.  This ship could sail or run with an engine. Other upgrades included a heavy duty hull to break through ice.  On the way to our ferry we soaked a bit in a local thermal pool. Then we took a late afternoon ferry to our next stop for the night.
Read more

DAY 8: Westfjords Continued

Image
We took a morning walk before breakfast and sighted another rock formation named after the troll woman Kerling.  Kerling was working with another troll to create islands from the Westfjord mainland near Drangsnes. She was turned to stone as the sun rose but still managed to create Grimsey Island which lies just off the coast. We also found some more elf houses in the neighborhood. Then we drove to Isafjordur where we are spending the night.  Attached are a few pictures that give a sense of the drive.  We arrived in Isafjordur in time for a late lunch at a restaurant known for offering only fish soup and catch-of-the-day fish. On tap was a locally brewed red ale made with sea weed that we enjoyed. After lunch we visited the Westfjord Heritage Museum and learned more about the realities of the fishing life for the men an...
Read more