David’s house


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Europe » Iceland » North » Akureyri
July 5th 2022
Published: July 5th 2022
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David’s house


We have woken up to strong sunshine and millpond calm weather. Of course it is…the ferry does not run on Tuesdays! We are staying one more day and hope the weather holds. The forecast for tomorrow is good, but that can change in the space of five minutes here!

So what to do today? I’ve scanned the map and Dalvik us a tiny village so really not a lot? As always in Iceland, there is a nice big swimming pool with hot tubs and water slides so that will definitely be on the agenda. Perhaps we’ll do a side trip back to Akureyri too. I was going to have a go at driving today but yesterdays near miss has made me very nervous. :-(

With time on our hands we can cook up some bacon and egg. The kitchen is pretty crammed but we manage to secure a couple of seats at a table. One family have bought their own camping table and chairs in.

Now it’s down to the ferry office. Today it is open but no one is coming t9 the counter. Finally a guy in a truck rocks up and helps me to get the tickets. It appears I could have done it all online as the6 will accept a mobile ticket…that that good old trip Trip Advisor said the6 had to be printed. So you don’t have a printer in the back of that van, the guy jokes with me. :-)

We decide we will drive back to Akureyri today. It’s Iceland’s second city, but at less than 19k residents it has more of a large town feel about it.

We start off at Lystigardurinn, the Botanical Gardens. This provides a very pleasant and colourful stroll in todays sunshine. We don’t even need our fleeces! The garden has all the species of plant that grow in Iceland plus some foreign high altitude imports.

From here it’s a short drive to the Toy Museum. Here we see many artefacts that we remember from our childhood…for me paper dolls with cut out fashion clothing, affixed with paper fold over tabs. We used to get them on the back of comics sometimes, or at Christmas. I doubt they would excite todays phone loving youngsters but it used to amuse me. For Ian, lead soldiers. Ian wondered if they were originals but the lady tells him they were reproduced by a couple of guys in town…though the moulds may be originals.

Our museum entry ticket covers five museums. We only really wanted to see this one but since we have the tickets we may as well…!

The next place is called Nonnahus, it’s the house of a famous Icelandic author, Rev John Sveinsson, nicknamed Nonni. His books were translated into English so perhaps we remember him says the young girl behind the counter. I think we must look older than she thinks as the books date back to the 1940s. The house is rather small and cramped with very simple furnishings. A steep wooden staircase leads to loft rooms that we cannot stand up in.

Now to the ‘big museum’. Actually it’s not all that big but it’s been very nicely done. They are currently displaying a series of old Icelandic maps in the temporary exhibition room. Next door are displays of musical instruments - which people can play if they want to. A guy is having a go in the drums as we enter.

Downstairs an exhibition of aspects of life in Akureyri in earlier times. This is a permanent fixture and rooms have been part constructed to gibe a flavour of homes and businesses. There is even a part reconstruction of a turf house.

The first three museums were all in the same road but the next one is up a very steep hill so we drive to it. Here we have driven through the most traffic that we have seen anywhere this trip…it’s actually quite crowded. We are not visiting the fifth as it’s 30km out of town in the wrong direction! It’s another reconstruction of turf houses - similar to those we saw yesterday.

We arrive at Davidhaus which looks like a fairly modern building in a residential street. It’s the house of a famous poet, David Stefansson. He designed and built it himself and lived there until he died in 1964.

We are warmly greeted by a young man who is eager to give us a personal guided tour. All the living quarters are on the first floor.

As we enter the first room, the young man makes a point of closing all the doors to the house except for the room we are in. He then guides us through opening each door with a flourish to show us each exciting instalment. It’s all very very good!

We learn lots of things that we would never have discovered on our own. Like the calendar date pad which has been untouched since the day he died and that the road used to be called something else but he didn’t like the name so he simply changed it.

Everything in the house except for one room that is now an office has been left exactly the way it was. The house is a juxtaposition of ancient and modern, many features reminding us of Bauhaus design, set amongst traditional Icelandic pieces. We also learn something about the man himself. Apparently he was a womaniser who remained single and a solitary figure despite having many friends. All were welcome at his house when his door was open but if it was closed it meant he was writing or womanising…so all must keep away!

The lower/semi basement floor of the house, which used to be occupied by the maid, is now an apartment where visiting artists may stay providing they are making a contribution to the art or scholastic world.

Looking at the visitors book it looks like no one else has been here for the last five days. That’s a pity as we found this the most interesting of all the places and, since we had never heard of the guy, would probably not have bothered ourselves had we not had time on our hands and a joint ticket we’d already paid for!

We decide to leave the van where it is and walk to the towns landmark church. It’s at the top of a steep hill and on our way we discover ‘the fairy garden’. It’s a private residence but a sign outside invites us in to look around and take photos. It’s a quirky place - a pretty garden filled with brightly painted figures, mainly from fairy tales.

We arrive at the church - you really can’t miss it. Built in 1940, it is very modern in design - unlike the quaint village churches we have seen elsewhere. The central stained glass window came from Coventry Cathedral.

We make a loop back, descending the steep steps to a trendy area of street cafes and extremely expensive gift shops. The cruise ship is in town so they are doing alright.

Now back to Dalvik. I’d planned on a swim but I’m seriously tired. We have an early tea and prepare for our boat trip tomorrow. The wind has whipped up again although the sun is still strong and the snow capped mountains are sparkling.


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