Puffins and Fresh Fish

I woke up yesterday wrapped in a cozy quilt, with the sound of rain pattering outside the slightly opened window above my bed. Only a gleam of gray daylight shown under the curtains that keep the room dark during the long summer nights here. Though my intention had been to get up around 9, the sound of the rain and the quiet of the house around me was all the convincing I needed to go back to sleep.

In the afternoon, after a lazy morning, Bogga and I went with her sister Thorhildur and her son Eiður Logi to the new French Museum and hotel. I went to the French museum in 2011 when I was here for Snorri, but at that time it was located in a different house in town. Now that they have the hotel renovated and running, they attached it to another renovated building and beefed up the museum contents. It was pretty cool. Pretty pricey and small, but nice. The wax figures gave me the creeps.

 

In the afternoon we stopped at a family/friend's house to say hello to her (I've met her a few times on the last couple of visits) and meet her 6 month old baby. I made fast friends with both the baby and the dog, and even talked to the grown-ups a little bit too. You know, so I didn't come across as rude.

Right after that it was off to Thorhildur's house for reindeer burgers! Her family had invited me to dinner, so I had a lovely evening with them. I had reindeer steaks last time I was here, and they were delicious. Reindeer burgers just taste like a really good, lean burger. Makes me hungry again just thinking about it.

Today the weather was a bit improved, but still foggy and rainy off and on, so we went to chase the sun.

 

 Elvar, Bogga and I drove to Borgafjörður Estri, a town north of here by about an hour and a half. Elvar used his police driving skills (he is a detective) and got us back and forth in record time. I just sat back and pretended I was in a car chase.

We didn't have long to spend in Borgafjöður Estri today, but had a good look at the puffins that nest near the harbor there. After my experience with the puffin hunters on Drangey during Snorri, I have a fondness for the little fellas. They helped bring me closer to my almost puffin hunter husband. I do admit that they are cuter alive than dead though. You'll have to look back at my Snorri entry about the puffin island if you don't know what I'm talking about.

We also climbed up the Elf Town hill near town. The Elf Queen's name in the old stories is Borghildur, so I had a personal tour by Bogga, the queen herself today.

The mountains around the town were gorgeous. This is a town I will be putting on my Return To list. I have unfinished business with some of the hiking trails there.

We had to be back by 3pm for Stefan Alex's soccer (football) game. They won! Woo!

I made a blueberry pie this afternoon and we had a nice dinner of "Chinese" food. The nearest Chinese restaurant is across the country in Reykjavik, but we had some good heat up in the oven egg rolls and rice, etc. My pie looks nice enough, but we haven't tasted it yet. Judgement day will be tomorrow.

I went on a solo hike this evening, not set on many particular destination. One of the waterfalls on the mountain north of town caught my eye and I thought, "Sure, I can do that." So I did. It was a really foggy, misty sort of night, and I had the best time up there on that mountain all alone. It was one of the nicest couple of hours I have had. My only company was a sheep at the top, near the waterfall that watched me climbing for ages. Most of them run away at the first hint of people getting close, but this one seemed braver and maybe a tad aggressive (this is all in my head). All I could think was how horrible it would be if they found my bloody corpse on the mountain, having been beaten to death by a sheep. Luckily he lost interest and I was safe to finish my climb.

 

I finished my hike, with super soggy hiking boots, but feeling pretty accomplished. Back at the house, Bogga and Elvar were finishing up a visit with some friends. As soon as the friends left we hopped in the car (10:30 at night, mind you) and drove down to the harbor. A huge amount of fish had come in this afternoon and evening on several different ships, which means the fish factory was working like crazy. Elvar showed me around the outside, and then to my surprise, got me inside where I talked to the man in the control room and got to see a lot of the rest of the operation. It's a complicated, expensive process.

  

Tomorrow we are going to visit a couple of other nearby towns that I haven't been to yet.

The One With The Horse

Let's not beat around the bush on this one. Highlight of the trip (or any trip). Horseback riding yesterday evening in Iceland, on a drop dead gorgeous evening. I cannot imagine a way I would rather spend my time. This is the 6th time I've been riding in Iceland. My dad and I went on two different rides in 2009, one in the north in the Skagafjörð area, and once in the south of Iceland in Skogar. During Snorri in 2011, I went riding once here in Fáskruðsfjörður and one time with the whole Snorri clan on a midnight sun ride in the West Fjords (holy good grief it was just the best thing ever). You might see a pattern in my level of excitement about horseback riding here. In 2012 I went on an 8 hour (like 6 in the saddle) adventure near Hveragerði. It took me days to be able to walk correctly again, but it definitely topped my Coolest Adventures Ever list.

Now this ride was here in Fáskruðsfjörður as well. Bogga set it up for me with a woman she knows in 

 town. A German exchange student named Maria that is staying with a family down the street came along on the ride as well. She has been here for 11 months and went from zero to fluent in Icelandic in that time. Color me wildly jealous.

                                                 

My mighty steed for this ride was named Geysir. He had to have his tongue tied down for the ride, which was one of he the strangest things I have ever seen. Apparently he manages to flip his tongue over the top of the bit when he is all geared up, which is no good. Because of this they literally have to use a rubber band to hold down his tongue to his lower jaw. He was not at all impressed with the process.

We cantered and tolted (autocorrect just tried to make that word into "tooted" and I giggled like a school girl) through the late evening sunshine just as the shadows were starting to fall around the mountains. It was breathtakingly gorgeous. I would have ridden until my legs fell off, so luckily, for the sake of my health, other people were in charge of the timeline. We rode for a little over an hour 
and I loved every minute. I have recently found someone in Minnesota that has Icelandic horses and so have been riding with him a few times in the last month or so. I can't wait to get back and go out again. In fact, I might book another ride for my final week in Reykjavik. I just can't get enough.

I'm writing out of order her, but earlier yesterday was also marvelous, I just had to get my horse excitement on the books first. Bogga and I went to Stoðvarfjörður, the town to the south of Fáskruðsfjörður. We went to the hand crafts market there where they sell lots of woolen goods. I am on the hunt for a lopapeysa (Icelandic wool sweater) of my very own, and maybe a good pair of mittens as well. I found some lopapeysas that I liked, but wasn't 100% sure yet so didn't end up buying anything. It is rather a large commitment. We walked around the town and had a nice kaffi tími at the local cafe. 

We drove back towards Fáskruðsfjörður, keeping a lookout for a nice place along the fjord to go out and explore. Having found just the right spot, we got out of the car and walked for a couple of hours up and down the shore. It was lovely to search for little creatures and wild flowers and shells and take in the nice sunny day.

It was so nice and sunny, in fact, that after we returned from our walk, Elvar and Bogga and I sat out on their deck eating melon and sipping lemon water like we were in the Mediterranean. It was a little surreal how nice it was. After dinner we went horseback riding (see above).

Today Bogga and I drove into the highlands to Laugarfell. Við gengum um hálendið i dag (we walked around the highlands today). We went to the Highlands Hostel first for lunch, which was also the starting point for the hike we would take. Her friends own the hostel. I think Bogga knows everyone in Iceland. Actually, I think everyone in Iceland knows everyone in Iceland. Anyway, I had never been into the proper highlands, so this was pretty exciting. Up, up we drove, just south of Lagarfljót. We drove closer and closer to the mountain Snæfell. Further past that is the edges of the largest glacier in Europe, Vatnajökull. We had mouthwatering broccoli soup and bread (súpa og brauð) with the mountains at our backs in the hostel and then set out for a hike. Beautiful waterfalls galore.

Feel free to admire my hot hiking outfit. The sheep totally dug it.

Hiking supplies

We had a nice Icelandic language lesson on the walk back to the hostel/car. I seriously wish I could 
move here for a year and just make a huge effort to learn as much as possible. I would try my best not to get too distracted by Icelandic horses, who don't seem to care what language you speak and really focus on my studies. Mhmm.

Tonight we went to Lisa and Stebbi's shop for dinner (fiskibollur and the rùgbrauð Bogga and I made 
last night). I stumbled through some conversations in Icelandic with Lisa and Stebbi, who are the nicest, hardest working people in the world. I think a large part of my motivation to learn the language is so I can talk more with them when I visit. My Icelandic language skills are ekki gott enough.

I think today is Thursday. I, the girl who cannot go 5 minutes without obsessively checking on my calendar most days, can completely forget about having to keep a certain schedule here. We can make it up as we go along. All I know is I have to catch a flight back to Reykjavik on Tuesday. Maybe I should set an alarm.

Velkomin Heim

I feel as if weeks must have passed back at home since I left Saturday night. So much happens in a day here. In comparison my days at home are very short and predictable. Yesterday, my first full day in Iceland was gorgeous. After a leisurely morning, sleeping in until almost 10 (remember I was up until 2am trying to get those stupid pictures loaded onto this very blog) I met my Snorri friend Stefan for lunch. He has lived here in Reykjavik for the last two years working on a Master´s degree at the university. Lucky guy. We ate at a place called Grænn Kostur, which is sort of tucked away off of Skólavörðustígur. I can attest to the quality of the spinach lasagna. Amazing. Stefan and I had a good chat and then he had to go to work for the afternoon. Important stuff to accomplish. I had no such goals.

The timing of our lunch actually worked out perfectly. Erin and Erin were finishing up the first morning of their program just as I finished lunch with Stefan, and they had their afternoon free. I met them in front of Harpa and we went inside to look around. Erin Jones hadn't been inside before so we had a nice long wander and sat inside in the view of the sunny windows for awhile, practicing Icelandic and talking.

We took an extremely long walk around in the sunshine after that. We were sort of looking for a particular store that the Erins had liked last year, but it either closed down or wasn´t where they thought it was. We never did find it. The Erins had a program reception to go to at 5pm, so I took off on my own for the City Hall so I could check out the giant topographical map of Iceland. It is really amazing to look at, and I think I have gone to stare at it all four times I've visited. One time it wasn't on display and I was seriously let down.

In the same room as the map is kept, there was a looped showing of an Icelandic movie called Heild just starting again. The film was all photos and video of Iceland strung together in a really neat narrative, minus the narration. No words at all, or at least not in the first half that I stayed to watch. Just sort of haunting, beautiful music to accompany the images.

The sun was still shining brightly around 6, about an hour after I'd drifted into the City Hall building, and I was feeling guilty about missing it. I wandered back outside to find that yes, it was sunny, but it was also raining a bit. Typical. I ignored it and took my copy of the Reykjavik Grapevine to a bench at Tjörnin to read for awhile. I started to feel a little crowded when some families with young kids came over right in front of me to feed the stupid ducks. The whole dang pond, and they practically sat on my lap. It was time to go home to Selma's for awhile and regroup.

Selma met me back at her apartment awhile later and made a really good homemade pizza for us for dinner. We hung around, both just doing our own thing and occasionally showing each other funny YouTube videos. I can´t speak for her, but I think we are excellent roommates.

Around 10:30 that night we took a drive to the Seltjarnarnes area outside of Reykjavik. The sunset was especially striking so we went to check it out. There is also a little hot spring along the shore there, at the end of the peninsula that is perfect for warming up cold feet on a chilly night like it was. I had to pack up some of my stuff since I was heading for Fáskrúðsfjörður the next morning at the crack of G.D. dawn. I´ll be back in a week so I can leave some stuff here I won´t need out east. I always do this to myself when planning out my travels. I book flights at horrible hours or plan to come back right before having to do something else, and end up being pretty disgruntled with my past self for being so dumb. This was a perfect example of that.

With the long, bright nights here in the summer, going to bed early isn't something people do often, so getting up early isn't usually a preferred activity. Selma was kind enough to drive me to the domestic airport at a quarter to 7am and hang out with me until I boarded the plane.

The domestic airport here is fantastic. You walk in the door 30 minutes before your flight (sometimes less), tell the people at the desk your name, and check your bag right there. They print off a boarding pass and that is it. You wait until they announce the flight and then walk out on the tarmac and hop on the plane. No security, no long lines, no nothing. It is a total delight. I've gotten used to the frighteningly small planes now too, so that isn't such a worry. This was a nice smooth flight too. Hardly any bumps at all, unless you count the old dude sitting next to me that kept bumping his elbow into me as he twitched in his sleep.

Bogga and her son Stefan Alex were at the airport to meet me. It was so nice to see them. "Velkomin heim," Bogga said, and I felt like I was exactly that. Home.

It was cloudy driving into Fáskrúðsfjörður, but it cleared as the day went on. I went with Bogga to Reyðarfjörður, the neighboring town to the north when she had a hair appointment this afternoon. I met with her sister, Brynhildur who works in the town and talked to her for a few minutes. She pointed me in the direction of a nice walking path at the edge of the town, so I hiked around for awhile while Bogga got her hair done. It was absolutely lovely.

The sun was shining so brightly when we got back to town that we sat out on the deck. I felt myself getting an Icelandic sunburn right around the same time I realized I couldn´t keep my eyes open, so a nap was in order. One of these days I´ll get myself completely on a normal sleep schedule again. Maybe once I get back to Minnesota. Or maybe in September when I start work again.

There was a mouthwatering dinner hot off the grill ready to eat shortly after I woke up, and a walk around town with Bogga and her husband Elvar after that. We started the walk around 9 and it was almost 11 when we got back. From the light you´d never guess the time. I love the nights here. There have been many changes to Fáskrúðsfjörður since I was here in 2012. They have rebuilt the old French hospital and redone the museum. There is a dam build over by the school, and new hiking paths up in the foothills. I adore this town.

Tomorrow I have been told there is a high change of horseback riding. I´m going to try not to let the excitement keep me up, but I´ll be tolting all over Iceland on the back of a beautiful Icelandic horse in my dreams tonight, guaranteed.

OK, I changed my mind about the blogging thing

I lied earlier. I said I wasn't going to blog this trip. I am. So, sorry Auntie Krissy. I didn't mean to mislead you. I guess I like having everything laid out in my memory and the events of the days recorded. It's a little more solid feeling than putting pictures on Facebook (which I will probably do as well). Bases covered.
So here it is. A summary of my first day of my 4th Iceland visit.

Leaving Minneapolis

Having a friend (Erin Jones) next to me on the airplane made the flight seem much faster and less stressful. I still didn't sleep for a single second, but it was a peaceful sleepless night flight. My biggest worry was the young teenage boy on my right sneaking a look at the contents of my iPad Nook app, which was sporting an inappropriate romance novel, and trying to remember if the movie Chocolat had any sex scenes I needed to fast forward through as it played on the screen in front of me.

Erin is heading to Iceland to complete an Icelandic Language program during the month of July. Jealous. As some of our transportation plans from the airport to our destinations in Reykjavik were...spontaneous, shall we say, it was good to have a travel buddy.

We took the Fly Bus into the bus station in Reykjavik, and a cab to our other friend, Erin Johnson's cousin Oli's apartment. My cousin Selma, whom I am staying with here in Reykjavik picked me up there. At this point I hadn't slept in almost 24 hours and was starting to feel a little off. Nap time. I slept like the dead on Selma's couch. 4 hours later I woke to the smell of hamburgers cooking and almost cried with joy.

The Erins (Johnson and Jones) were also napped and ready for action. Low key action. Selma and I met them at vesturbæjarlaug, one of Reykjavik's many awesome pools. Pools in Iceland are not anything like pools in Minnesota, at least not like any I have experienced. This isn't just the place that overwhelmed parents and nannies bring children to splash around in the kiddie pool while they check their phones and inflate the occasional water wing. Yes, I'm sure that happens here too, but pools in Iceland also a huge damn social deal. This is where people of all ages come to sit and chat with friends and neighbors in their heated outdoor hot tubs and pools. It's like a really soggy bar that doesn't serve alcohol. The air was deliciously chilly, especially compared to the heat that I know is lurking back in Minnesota, but the water is toasty warm. After a long airplane ride, and the feeling of being totally grimy and exhausted from an oddly timed nap, the waters at the pool were as close as I could imagine to a perfect way to spend the afternoon. Mind you, the bathing butt naked in front of strangers before and after taking your dip can take a toll on the feelings of rest and relaxation, but this wasn't my first rodeo. I've come to terms with that slightly (way) outside my normal comfort zone rule.

Cool mural

Selma kindly drove me and the Erins to Kringlan, one of the malls in Reykjavik to buy SIM cards for our phones. My iPhone 5c through Verizon is already unlocked and ready for international travel apparently, which is great. I just bought a new card and now for the duration of my trip I have an icelandic phone number and data plan. So legit. Pretty slick.
At the mall we also slipped into Bonus, the grocery store to stock up on goodies. Kòkòmjòlk, snuður, kleinur, skinka, brauð, etc. Should stave of the hunger pains for a day or two.

The word is free

Childrens´art display

I wanted to take a walk, so Selma and I headed out after a quick dinner and fairly aimlessly wandered up and down the streets of Reykjavik. I was last here in 2012, and I noticed many changes to the city. New businesses, lots of cool street art that wasn't around on prior trips, and construction like you
wouldn't believe. Reykjavik is running full speed into beefing up the tourist industry. New hotels are
springing up all over. Local 101 residents are fighting rising rent prices and a lack of homes and apartments to rent as more and more housing options are put out there for visitors, not permanent residents of the city. It's not always a pretty sight.

On our walk, being naturally observant students of life, Selma and I noticed a lot of black, scary smoke, coming from east of the main part of Reykjavik. A business fire, Selma heard from a friend via text. We walked back to her apartment and got in the car to go for a little closer look. The fire, in Skeifan, attracted a large audience. We were not the only ones that wanted to see what was happening. Given the not funny circumstance, it was a pretty amusing number of people that turned out to snoop. It looked like a parade. Cars packed along the streets, people sitting on blankets and standing at the sides of the roads, people on rooftops a safe distance away, everyone wanted to be able to say they were there. The fire appeared to have spread to several other nearby buildings. Big, scary mess.

Fire in Skeifan

One more adventure before settling in for the night. I think I had about 3 days worth of events crammed into today, as seems to be typical of my trips here. We stopped at Grasagarðurinn, a beautiful botanical garden just outside the city, not far from where the fire was burning. This is in a place called Laugardalur Valley. Next to the botanical garden is the site of an old natural hot spring where people would come to do their laundry back in the day. It was a dangerous task apparently. Over the years, several women and children fell into the hot springs and drowned or were burned to death. It is all dried up now, but you can see the layout.

Found my Icelandic house

We wandered around the gardens for awhile, and I started to feel the lack of sleep really catch up to me. Probably only one or two more winds left in me, I thought. I'm just managing to get this typed up, hopefully with some pictures attached before I lose my mind. Kindly disregard the typos. Goða nott.