a travel log : Iceland : post 4/5

 

This post covers: Varmahlid, Glaumbaer, Akureyri, Myvatn, Eglissdatir, Djupivogur

This week I'll be sharing images and words from our latest Icelandic adventure.

After camping in Varmahlid, we shopped a bit at the local "Handverk" shop.  This was where I began to really love these shops and decided we couldn't miss another one.  We then ate breakfast which you see above: yogurt, sandwiches, juice, milk, grapes. 

We weren't planning on stopping for a while but when we saw these turf houses off the side of the road, we had to.  These are the Glaumbaer turf houses and museum.  It was very cool.  I was looking around inside the houses and in the museum for a while and the boys played outside on the pretty green grass (O Baby was still getting used to grass, we don't see much of it in NYC.)  The museum was cool.  It had so many needle work things like blankets, cushions, pillows, tapestries, clothing and toys.  And the construction of the turf houses was remarkable.  One of my favorite spots!

After driving about an hour, we reached "the capital of the North" Akureyri.  It is a big city (by no means NYC big but much bigger in comparison to anything near it) and had lots of cool shopping and restaurants.  When we got there we saw a huge cruise ship docked there.  Before we set up our tent and called a day, we ate burgers at the local N1 gas station ( they are all around iceland and some have food options like burgers, pizza, soup, salads, sandwiches) since everything was closed when we got there.  

 

We didn't really want to spend too much time in Akureyri.  We figured we could easily fly there when we visit again so, we decided to go on to the smaller areas in North Iceland we might not get a chance to visit again.   We found a cool gift shop in Hof Cultural Center.  There was a really nice buffet breakfast that we enjoyed.  We loved the highchairs in Iceland and also most places had a little area for children to play.  This made things nice.  There was actually a free live radio show concert there, too so, there were tons of people singing to songs on the radio.  Before we left we did try the so-called "best ice cream in Iceland" at Brynja.  While it was good, we have had better. 

 It had snowed in the North so, it was pretty cold.  On our way to Myvatn we stopped at Godafoss.  It was really cool and we especially liked the story.  Zack was crazy and climbed to dangerous and precarious spots to get the "perfect" shots.  I was glad the baby and I enjoyed the view from the car when it started sleeting.  Still I managed to wind up outside with him getting my own picture taken. 

 

 

Myvatn was cool.  We got there a bit early in the season (we were there at the end of May) so it wasn't very green, not to mention it has snowed and did snow while we were there.  But we still found this massive lava field to be very cool.  There were crevasses and lava formations and plants that we hadn't seen before.  One thing that is so awesome about Iceland is that the terrain is so drastically different in any part of the country.  I was ready to stay indoors this night so we searched for a place.  Zack insisted that we check on these one places and I am so glad he did.  We got this huge summer cottage at Hlid that could sleep 10 people or so.  It had 2 rooms and a big loft.  And it had a hot tub.  We got a ridiculously good price for one night (off season is when to go, rates are awesome).

We heard about Myvatn Natural Bath and decided to make a visit.  It was pretty awesome.  It started snowing when we got there and the water was so blue.  There were very few people there so it felt like a little pool of our own.  Here's a tip if you are visiting an outdoor geothermal pool in Iceland:  Bring or rent a swim cap for your child.  Even though your body is quite warm, your head gets rather cold.  I was really happy we had a hat for the baby even though we lost it in the water as we were leaving

We then headed back home, fixed dinner in our little summer cottage kitchen, put the baby to bed and relaxed in the out door hot tub as it snowed on us again.  It was really a very cool part of the trip!  I would highly recommend staying at Hlid in Myvatn.   

Before leaving the next day, we hit up the local handverk shop.  I could have bought 10 sweaters here.  These prices were fantastic and the selection was very good.  We came away with several things.   

 

As mentioned above, it had snowed the day before so it was pretty white at certain points of the drive.  And can you believe it? We saw reindeer!  There were 40 or so just grazing off to the side of the road.  

It was a pretty cool site.  We didn't have a stopping point for this day.  So, we figured we'd drive 2.5 hours to Eglissdatir and see if we wanted to stop.  We just ate there and then kept driving.  The fjords and cities in the East like Sedysfjordur are supposed to be really beautiful but we didn't want to spend time there.  We knew from driving in the West Fjords that it would take a long time.  Besides, we can always fly to Eglisstdatir.  Also, we wanted to spend some good time in the South, so we went on. 

This was the snowy, waterfall and cliff filled drive from Eglissdatir to Djupivofur where we camped. 

 

We drove for a long time (we stopped a lot to take pictures) and it was "dark" when we decided to call it a day.  Just before we stopped for the night, we saw some wild goats.  They were pretty cool.  (Want an idea of what it looks like at 2AM at the end of May in Iceland?  See the above picture that looks blue.  That is as dark as it gets.)

We finally made it to a cute little fjord town Djupivogur, where we camped overlooking the city.  It was really cool since it wasn't dark and we could see the boats going out for their early catch.  There was a nice handverk shop.  (I haven't mentioned but most of the items in the local handverk shops are a collection of local artists and knitters.  All the more reason to visit and shop.)  I came away with some nice dishes hand blown by the owner.  I could have bought so much more, but its so hard to decide what will really last, you know?

It was a lovely drive.  I could tell we were getting closer to the South, where we were really excited to see since when we were there last, it was covered in volcano ash cloud.  The end of the trip is coming up next.

*  If you have questions or would like suggestions for planning your trip to Iceland, I'd be happy to share what I know.  Also, if you have something to share about traveling in Iceland, please share it in the comments or email me.  I'd love to hear.  You will find more posts about Iceland HERE.  Thanks for reading!