Blogs from Akureyri, North, Iceland, Europe - page 7

We left our lovely hotel in Myvatn and continued on to Akureyrí. The Norse Viking Helgi magri (the slim) Eyvindarson originally settled the area in the 9th century. The first mention of Akureyrí dates back to 1562 when a woman was sentenced there for adultery! Permanent settlement at Akureyrí started in 1778 and the town was granted its municipal charter by the king of Denmark (and at the time Iceland as well) eight years later in 1786 along with five other towns in Iceland. The king hoped to improve the living conditions of Icelanders by this action because at the time, urban areas were virtually non-existent in Iceland. As far as the king was concerned Akureyrí was unsuccessful, as it did not grow from its population of 12. In 1836 Akureyri lost its municipal status but ... read more

Sunday August 10 So it rained Saturday night. The tent did what it does. Not that I'm not impressed by the micro-climate created in such a small area, but waking up with my hair soaked and the risk of getting all my stuff wet isn't fun. I packed up the tent and headed to the gas station to catch the bus to Akureyri around noon. I met a German school teacher who was also going to take the bus. He had been biking around Iceland, but tweaked his knee and was now playing catch up via the bus to meet his buddy who was still biking. The bus trip took 2 hours and once again passed through crazy awesome mountain sites. We rolled into Akureyri at about 2:30 and I made my way to another campground. ... read more