northern Iceland

7-23-10    Switzerland in Iceland

   Look at the map of Iceland and we are on the northern coast, a little to the right of center. The road from the hinterlands eastward into Akureyri, the second largest city in Iceland, is like driving thru the Swiss Alps.

Mountains near Akureyri, Iceland

   Towering mountains one after another and tremendously precipitous drops. There are snow caps above the treeline on most of them. Sheep graze on the steep lower slopes. And the Icelandic Transportation Dept has built roads down off the mountains at 18% grade, which is very steep. Zoom! When they want off of a mountain, they just hop off. A tour bus crashed the week before on these very roads.

   Akureyri, the city, is bustling with economic activity. I bought a new memory card for the camera. Here is a picture of me and one of Berry.

Robert playfully observing a Puffin

Berry smiling at Godafoss Falls

   The River Laxa runs thru Akureyri. There and east of there, it gave up loads of great shorebirds, including several new "life birds" for us. The Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) that we needed and several family units of Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus) which is called the Horned Grebe in the U.S.

   We ended up in the town of Húsavík, on the Arctic Ocean. To prove that it truly is inordinately cold, at the bar we ate at, the waitress handed out wool blankets to the people drinking on the patio. The hardy northerners wrapped the gray blankets around their shoulders and quaffed their beer. The temperature is not too bad, but the wind is the thing. It cuts you like a knife. We felt that same wind, out on the riverside, scoping stoneturners. Berry says it definitely gets colder around 3pm, though the light doesn't change. The sun is just weaker here.

   Thousandth coincidence of our voyage. We drove into Húsavík and this town is celebrating a festival, just like that other town. This festival is called Mærudagar, "Candy Days". Each neighborhood in town chooses a color and everyone displays something with that color. Coincidentally, we have stayed in the green zone at both festivals. Our pictures of the decorations in the pink and green zones follow.

Berry holding the Memphis based magazine, RSVP, in front of plastic-covered bales of hay decorated for the Maerudagar festival in Húsavík, Iceland

Pink Balloons

Green Tires

   One note about restaurants in Iceland. There is no tipping here. Gratuities are added to the check, by the restaurant, automatically, whether the waiter does a good job or not. That is why you have to go to the counter to order your food... where is the waiter... and then ask the poor guy to go get your food when you're really, really hungry. It's not that the service people did not see you sit there. They are friendly people, friendly enough. No. It's just that they don't get paid any extra money to do any extra effort. They get tips whether you get service or not.

-Robert

(photo credits : oherjolffson, rfowler)