Adventures in Hofsós

The Icelandic Emigration Center at Hofsós

Fishing

Time in Hofsós is flying by much too quickly for my liking. I've fallen happily back into a pattern of work at the Icelandic Emigration Center, and small evening adventures. I have the advantage this year of staying with Valgeir and Gunna at their farm, so I have been included in lots of interesting things due to the proximity. I have immediate access to a litter of kittens, two friendly dogs, and a horse, just outside the door, which is something of a dream come true. In addition to these delights, several of Valgeir and Gunna's grandchildren are around this summer and have been providing me with regular company.

Dogs and kids.

A dog and a horse. What could be better?

View from the museum's front porch, where I soak in the sun when it is quiet.

I finally have a horse in my backyard.

Kittens and kids.

I have been lucky to accompany Valgeir or Gunna out to Kolkuós, one of their other properties, several times already to check on the horses, or to do something with the fancy guesthouse that is located there. I spent an entire day observing a photo shoot there, which was very interesting, and a great excuse to hang around outside in the lovely nature for hours on end. The photographers, who represented several different European countries, were touring around the country taking pictures of Icelandic horses and the lovely landscapes, and getting advanced tutorials in photography as they traveled.

New foals at Kolkuós

Photographers at work in Kolkuós

Horse models on the beach

Models for the photo shoot

The subjects of the photographs, and their host, Valgeir, at Kolkuós

Road Tripping (in North Iceland)

I had the marvelous opportunity over the last three days to go on a little road trip with my friend Erin, who is living and studying in Reykjavik. We took off from Reykjavik Saturday morning and headed north. Our destination was Grund, a farm just south of Akureyri owned by Erin's relatives, Guðjón and Guðrún. They have a diary farm there, in valley so incredibly, marvelously, insanely beautiful it almost doesn't seem real... but more about that later.

On the way to Grund we made several stops, the first of which was to explore some craters near the University at Bifrost. There was a nice wooden pathway set up to guide visitors up the hill and around the top of one of the craters. We had an excellent view of the layered sides of the mountains around us, and a great array of colors spread across the landscape below. It may have been a bit crowded with brightly jacketed tourists (I'm a neutral color jacketed visitor, thank you very much), but if there was a better starter stop for this road trip, I cannot picture it. 

We continued along on the way north to Hvítserkur, an interesting rock formation off the coast of the Vatnsnes peninsula that both Erin and I have had on our Icelandic bucket lists. Erin drove us down winding, dirt roads, well off the beaten path, which is my preferred way of adventuring. Hvítserkur is no great secret to Icelandic visitors, but because it isn't on the main road the number of people checking it out seems to stay relatively small, and the site manages to keep some of its mystery (compared to some other more easily accessible sites). I've been hearing for awhile now that Hvítserkur "isn't as big as you think it's going to be" so I had lowered my expectations. No complaints here. I think it was a perfectly nice rock standing in the middle of nowhere; well deserving of attention and a couple of photos. 

Google Maps recommended taking the long way around the peninsula, perhaps in an attempt to bring us to better roads? The roads were no better than the ones we came in on, but did lead us to another spontaneous stop where we got to take a little hike and see some seals. It was on a farm called Illugastaðir, which may sound familiar to anyone who has read Hannah Kent's excellent novel, Burial Rites. This book is based on a true story of events that happened on this farm and surrounding areas. http://hannahkentauthor.com/burial-rites

There was an excellent little hut set up for seal viewing, complete with guestbook and binoculars. We watched the seals for a long while as they lounged on the rocks and splashed in the icy cold waters, marveling at their size and level of cuteness. A short time later I received a gift from above in the form of a Kria emphatically pooping on my jacket, which cut my marveling short. Time to get back in the car.

There are seals over there on those rocks, but you will just have to trust me since I did not have my fancy camera with to get a good zoom. 

Nice views on the way towards Hvammstangi. Whether or not you are for the lupins (which are super invasive) you have to admit they are lovely at this time of year.

Stephan G. Stephansson monument

We arrived in Grund around dinnertime. Guðjón was out finishing the evening milking of the cows and Guðrún was at the house to greet us. Mouthwatering smells emanated from the kitchen, and we sat and chatted with our hostess over an appetizer of coffee and cookies. In my experience, Icelandic hospitality is second to none, and this was no exception. Coffee and cookies beats crudités and canapés any day of the week in my book. After a tasty dinner, Guðjón showed us around the farm yard, which includes a quirkily beautiful little church, and many, many cows. As it turns out, I love cows. I learn so much about myself on these trips.

Grund church

Making new friends, wherever I go.

Erin and Guðjón with the cows at Grund

On day two of this wild, Icelandic adventure, Erin and I went to Húsavik to do some whale watching. On the way there we stopped at Jólahúsið (The Christmas House), which was very close to where we were staying at Grund. I can't say that I was blown away by the spirit of the season that was supposed to be clinging to this place. It smelled pretty nice, and it was cute, in an overpriced Christmas ornament extravaganza sort of way, I guess.

Christmas House

The weather in Húsavik was drizzly, windy, and cold, which is not ideal conditions for being on a boat in the middle of the ocean for three hours. We boarded the wooden vessel, called Náttfari (night traveler) and clumsily zipped ourselves into waterproof suits AND raincoats. The process of getting into this rain gear could politely be described as a comical misadventure. I couldn't move any of my appendages once I was decked out in the gear, but I was fairly warm and dry. My optimism and excitement about seeing whales, however, flagged almost immediately after we left the harbor and I felt the true power of the wind and waves out on the open ocean. I'd been out whale watching in Iceland in the exact same place once before, a few years ago, but apparently the conditions were much gentler that day. I almost immediately began to feel seasick, and I spent the first two hours of the trip trying to convince myself I wasn't feeling as terrible as I was. I lost the battle as we moved into the third hour at sea and spent the last 45 minutes of the trip below deck getting reacquainted with the plökkfiskur I'd had for lunch a few hours before. I did see a couple of humpback whales before succumbing to the queasiness, so it wasn't a complete loss.

I managed to rally on the drive home after a quick power nap. We had dinner again with Guðjón and Guðrún at Grund, and then Guðjón gave Erin and I a wider tour of the farm, driving up the mountain for some magnificent evening views. So stunning.

Road trip pals!

On Monday, the last day of the road trip, we said a leisurely goodbye to our amazing hosts at Grund and began the drive northwest towards Hofsós. Erin was kindly going to drop me off there on her way back to Reykjavik, which worked out fine if we took the scenic route through Dalvík, Ólafsfjörður, and Siglufjörður. For the next 9 days or so I plan to stay in Hofsós with Valgeir and Gunna, volunteering at the Icelandic Emigration Center/Vesturfarasetrið where I worked last summer, and hanging around in the beautiful Skagafjörður region.

Our drive toward Hofsós took us through many mountain tunnels, several of them one-lane tunnels. It is important not to think about how much rock is over your head, waiting to crush you into tiny bits when you are going through these tunnels.

Dalvík and Ólafsfjörður we just passed right through, but we made a long stop in Siglufjörður to have lunch, visit the Herring Museum, and go for a hike in a legitimate Icelandic forest. You might be asking, why would anyone want to go to a museum about herring? Well, let me tell you, it is actually a fascinating history museum. http://www.sild.is/en The herring boom in Iceland ran mainly between 1903 and 1968, and was big business, especially in Siglufjörður.

Sjávaréttasúpa (seafood soup) in Siglufjörður

Erin says, "Life is short. Always get the cake."

One of 3 buildings that makes up the Herring Museum

Siglufjörður

Smoke break for the herring processors

Honest to goodness Icelandic forest

Waterfall selfie

Our travels had nearly come to an end. We made one scenic overview stop between Siglufjörður and Hofsós, and then Erin dropped me off at the Emigration Center. It felt as if I had never left. Hofsós feels more than a little bit like home, and I am so happy to be back here now. Stay tuned for Hofsós adventures in my next post.

Hofsós, in all its sunny glory

Viðey

                                                          

                                                                        Goodbye, Minnesota

I'm done with Day 2 of my visit already, and feel like I'm off to a good start. Yesterday I managed to push through an entire day without any significant naps in an effort to get myself right into a semi-normal sleep schedule here. I slept on the plane more than I ever have before (thank you, Melatonin and sleepy time playlist) and was actually feeling pretty fresh (in a gross 6 hours on an airplane in the middle of the night sort of way) when I rolled into Reykjavik around 8:30AM on Wednesday. Erin Jones immediately met me and made me a delicious breakfast, and then we walked to the pool in Vesturbær and had a good soak in the hot tubs. Washed the airplane germs right off. Following a late fish and chips lunch I wandered around for most of the afternoon in an attempt to stay awake before meeting Erin and her boyfriend for a late dinner. Snaps (the restaurant) may charge a ridiculous amount for a chicken caesar salad, but I can almost bet you it's the best dang chicken caesar salad you'll ever eat.

Wandering the slightly bizarre Einar Jónsson sculpture garden. 

I was feeling a little aimless as this trip began. Last summer I had such a solid reason to be here, with the internship and a schedule and everything. This time I didn't really line much up with people ahead of time, though there are lots of people I want to see while I'm here. I just wasn't sure how I was going to spend 3 days during the week while most of my friends here were at work, and there wasn't too much I had in mind to see/do. My enthusiasm was not turned up as high as it has been on other trips when I've felt like I had more of a purpose. 

A full night of sleep brightened my perspective significantly, and I set out today with a single-minded, blinders on goal of going to Viðey, an island in/near the Reykjavik harbor. I was there briefly before in 2012, when I accompanied the Snorri Plus group to listen to Svavar Knútur give a little private concert for everyone. On that visit I hadn't been able to explore much, just for lack of time, and have wanted to head back and check it out ever since. This was my chance.

I did NOT know this...but even once I learned it, I don't know how big Monaco is, so I couldn't be like, "Oh, well, rah rah, it took me roughly two hours to explore Monaco, so I guess I'll plan for that on this island, which is approximately the same size." This trip reinforced something I already suspected about myself... I have absolutely no sense of scale, or of how long it will actually take to explore something. An hour in Mallory adventure estimates means closer to two and a half.

Approaching the island

Unfortunately, though I was pretty sure I was going to go on my little Viðey adventure when I got dressed this morning, I didn't do a great job (or even a mediocre job) dressing for the weather. In my defense, the forecast was wildly misleading... but I should know better by now. I boarded the ferry just as a mean, steady drizzle began, and it didn't let up for a good long while. I'd been on the island all of 5 minutes when I began to bemoan the fact that I had optimistically left my mittens safely tucked away in my room. I made up a little song to sing to myself that I think helped keep the cold away. It went a little something like this, and is admittedly inspired by a Pete the Cat book that one of my students was OBSESSED with this year:

Shoulda brought my mittens, my mittens, my mittens

Shoulda brought my mittens, my dang bleeping mittens::

 Hindsight is 20/20.

You did this to yourself, you fool. It's what you wanted. 

I checked out the southeast (??? directions are not really my thing) part of the island first, which includes the ruins of what used to be a little town. The drizzle was persistent, but my top notch rain jacket repelled the worst of it. That jacket was the beginning and end of my preparedness for this little excursion. 

This used to be a house. Now it is not.

I found myself profoundly jealous of the waterproof birds that cawed and chirped angrily at me as I walked up and down the soggy paths. 

Snack time. 

During a little break to dry off and warm up in the small cafe on the island, the weather took a turn for the better. The drizzle let up and the mist lifted. I could actually see the mainland clearly again, which is comically close to the island. I had the second, larger part of the island left to explore, and I was going to get my 1500 ISK worth and investigate every inch, regardless of conditions.

Imagine Peace tower- Yoko Ono dedicated this to John Lennon. It sends a giant beam of light into the sky at certain times of the year.

Though the rain had cleared, the damage had been done, and the grassy paths were more than a little damp. Within minutes my feet were soaked. At that point it was an "in for a penny, in for a pound" situation and I just decided to go for it. I trekked that water-logged chunk of land from stem to stern, and had a fantastic time.

The sun even came out for a few minutes.

Life lesson: setting soaking wet tennis shoes in the cold breeze for a few minutes does not dry them enough to make a difference. It just makes them wet AND cold when you inevitably have to put them back on. Don't judge me until you're in a position where you're chilly and sore, and completely desperate to remember what dry, un-chafed feet feel like.

Leaving Viðey

This evening I was invited to a lovely dinner at the home of some friends, Halldor and Anna Björg. Halldor was the President of the Snorri Foundation during my program year. Erin (Snorri 2013), and Julie (Snorri 2012), along with Julie's boyfriend, attended the dinner as well. We had a great time visiting.

Tomorrow is another open day. I know I'll find plenty to keep me busy, one way or another, and then Saturday morning Erin Jones and are take off on a weekend road trip to the north, which will be very exciting.