Categotry Archives: Travel
Island Day 7
Though we were out and about for most of the day, we had far less on the itinerary than Day 6. Most of the day went to whale watching. Some people went to a small botanical garden. I glanced at it as we drove past and decided I’d rather kick my feet up. We had a few hours to ourselves, then met up for the lecture at the University of Akureyri. I tried my best to get pictures of the […]
University of Akureyri
After a day whale watching we went to the University of Akureyri to attend a lecture on fishing. The university had over 2,000 students, but most of them attend classes through the internet. They come to class to attend exams. They live all over the country. For classes that require labs, they will come to the school and attend all of a semester’s worth in a few days. This way they can work in their home town as well as […]
Whale Watching
Our boat was the one in the middle of the three with the red hulls. We were on the cold water for at least an hour before seeing any whales. We saw the same three whales do pretty much the same thing over and over. One breached once. The photo I have is the back of some guy’s jacket. Then we did some fishing. They tossed fish entrails over the side, which attracted birds. Took most of the day.
Iceland Day 6
Day 6 was a very long day. We were on the go from the crack of dawn until bed time. I won’t say night, since there was very little night to be had without the aide of blackout curtains.
Laufus Turf House pt 2
Having gone out the back, gabled part of the turf house, I came upon the church. The church was built in 1853.
Laufus Turf House pt 1
Not surprisingly, we arrived in the rain. The Laufus turf house was originally made for the wealthy. Unlike Eric the Red’s place – or most others in Iceland – this was a sprawling, interconnected set of chambers capable of housing up to 30 people in relative comfort. We were greeted by a guide in authentic garb. It’s one of the rules of the place that all the employees dress as they would have a hundred years ago.
Dimmuborgir
We stopped at Dimmuborgir – an area with some interesting volcanic rock – where we did some hiking.
Lake Myvatn Area
The area is known for it’s diverse bird populations – ducks to ptarmigans (of which I didn’t notice any). The pseudocrater field is formed by steam explosions from lava flowing over wet earth at Skutustadir. Ok, that’s enough of that. I was going to go all educational with this one and talk about the nasty chemicals these fumaroles put out and the geological details and all. Instead I’ll just say a few things. First, it makes me think of Yellowstone. […]
A Random 13
1. 2. I was going to do 13 illustrations. Put it off too long, and now I’m too tired. 3. I gave my hubby a bunch of Dove chocolate hearts which I laid out on his desk in the shape of a huge heart. He loved it. 4. I should have taken a picture. 5. By the time I realized it would make a good post, he’d already hidden them from me. 6. I’m back in the Diabetes and Heart […]
Godafoss Waterfall
Godafoss aka Waterfall of the Gods got it’s name when one of the Iceland’s parliament members threw his Norse god statues into the waterfall to show his devotion when Christianity was adopted as the official religion in 1000. It is glacier run off that falls 40 feet to pool.
Stykkisholmur to Akureyri
This day we spent as much time traveling from one hotel to another as taking in the local attractions. So, only three stops.
Icelandic Horses
We spent much of the middle of the day at a ranch. I’m not sure if they make more money from selling their horses to points all around the world, or taking in tourists. They certainly had a practiced set up. First we ate lunch, which consisted of the usual fair – salad bar, great bread, soup, and sliced meat. We were told the meat was horse, but it tasted just like beef. Yes, I am the kind of person […]
Waterfall and Rainbow
We made another stop not long after we left the Erik the Red Museum. At first it wasn’t much to look at. This wasn’t in the printed itinerary, but was well worth the stop. As to what it’s called? This was the last sign (Below) I saw before we reached it. Your guess is as good as mine.
Erik the Red Museum
We started the day with a visit to the Erik the Red Museum, which consisted of three small buildings – a shop, a pitstop with attached informational kiosk, and a reproduction of the turf house where Erik the Red, also known as Erik Thorvaldsson, once lived. Or rather, this was one of many places where Erik Thorvaldsson lived. His claim to fame is in colonizing Greenland. That and having fathered Leif Erikson. I’ll get back to all that in a […]
Snaefellsness Peninsula
Time for a quick review of “Day 4” of my Iceland trip. We drove from our hotel in Stykkisholmur to the end of the peninsula then back to the hotel. I’m not sure where on the map the beach is. I got the guide to show me twice but I hadn’t packed a highlighter (that is most certainly going on the packing list in the future) and had to borrow. Unluckily neither a bar nor a bus is a good […]
