Blogs from Snæfellsnes, Northwest, Iceland, Europe - page 2

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Europe » Iceland » Northwest » Snæfellsnes February 26th 2016

We left Hvammstangi in the morning, stopping first at the Wool Factory, one of the highlights of the area. Then we continued on to the completely empty roads to the Snaefellsnes peninsula. Seriously, we only saw one truck until we got to the turnoff to the peninsula and even then, probably a total of less than ten cars for the next hour. Some beautiful sights though. You could see the snow covered peaks in the distance, the beautiful fjords along the way, and the winding road for miles. I had been reading up on the area and I really wanted to see a place called Beserkjahraun, where two hired hands had cleared a path through a massive lava field so one could marry the farmer's daughter. Unfortunately, it was on a small gravel path through about ... read more
view of the Snaefellsnes peninsula
our new favorite couple
heading out to the sea

Europe » Iceland » Northwest » Snæfellsnes September 20th 2015

Thursday, 17 September 2015 Reykjavik, Iceland We arrived in Reykjavik (Ray-key-a-vik) about 7 a.m. We rented our car from a local company and found ourselves having to call them to find the lot. We walked across the parking lot and down the road in the brisk foggy weather to rent our car. In trying to figure out where the rental place was located, Curtis had problems getting his cell to work, but Jennifer had no troubles at all. The international airport is actually in Keflavik which is located 45 minutes west of the capital city. Curtis drove our rented Kia to the city and hit morning rush-hour as we approached city limits. Usually the first thing we do is find our hotel and drop off our luggage, however, for this trip we tried something new. We ... read more
Waiting for Strokkur Geyser to errupt
Gullfoss Waterfall
Hallgrímskirkja and Leif Erikson

Europe » Iceland » Northwest » Snæfellsnes August 16th 2015

Saturday We saw so much on Saturday, driving all the way from Keflavik (the airport) to our guest-house Langaholt on the golden sand beaches of the Snaefellsnes peninsula. We made a few stops worth mentioning – Geirabakeri (next to the Hauckaup & Bonus) in Borgarnes – and Eldborg, a beautiful crater. In my mind “eld” means “elf”, so it’s an elf crater; but it really means “lava ring” in Icelandic. The crater was created when the volcano blew its top off. It’s gorgeous – appearing alternatingly black, green, or brown depending on the light. We didn’t have the chance to hike up to it – as it would have taken two hours round-trip. The brief stop however was our first geological wonder in Iceland. Next, we drove all the way to Langaholt to check in. We ... read more

Europe » Iceland » Northwest » Snæfellsnes July 10th 2015

Mardi, mercredi et jeudi peuvent se résumer en trois mots : route, route et route. Ce fut parmi nos plus grosses journées au niveau du kilométrage. Nous avions à traverser les fjords de l’ouest et fjord signifie qu’on double la distance : d’un côté de l’eau puis de l’autre. Ça devient aussi un peu redondant. Par contre, on a pas à se plaindre côté météo depuis trois jours alors que le soleil nous suit. Mardi matin, on a quitté Drangnes vers Isafjordur, la métropole des Westfjords avec ses 2540 habitants. Ça veut donc dire un supermarché, une pharmacie, un hôpital et plus d’un restaurant. En chemin, peu d’arrêts; c’est surtout une journée « paysage ». On arrête cependant au musée islandais de la sorcellerie à Holmavik. Ils ont eu une phase « on brûle les sorcières ... read more
Autre bain de pieds
Petite église #672
À s'y méprendre

Europe » Iceland » Northwest » Snæfellsnes May 2nd 2015

Kiersimme Snaefelnesin myötäpäivään. Ensimmäinen pysähdys oli kuvausta varten näköalapaikalla, jossa ei tuullut ja tarkeni. Sitten käytiin katsomassa rantaa ja kiviä. Jorma käveli parin kilometrin matkan majakalle, minä menin sinne autolla. Paikalle oli vanhempi pariskunta. Mies oli kuulemma kotoisin sieltä, mutta nykyään majakalla oli vain kesäasuntoja. Kohta paikalle tuli enemmänkin autoja. Rannalla oli irtonaisia sinisiä kiviä. Seuraavalla paikalla oli kuuluisat kivet ja haaksirikkoutunut laiva. Kivillä testattiin aikoinaan miesten voimia: kuka jaksoi nostaa kuinka painavia kiviä. Itse en kokeillut nostaa niitä, kun en halunnut riskeerata selkääni. Muutaman kilometrin päästä poikkesimme taas tieltä. Kiipesimme kraaterille. Pohjoisrannikon pikkupaikoissa olikin vaikea löytää ruokapaikkaa. Olafsvik oli noin 1000 asukkaan taajama. Huoltoasema oli mennyt kiinni. Viereisellä huoltoas... read more
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Europe » Iceland » Northwest » Snæfellsnes May 1st 2015

Kiertelimme vielä Reykjavikin keskustassa. Pääkadulla oli ensin moottoripyöräilijöiden kokoontuminen ja myöhemmin kulkue. Kävimme vanhassakaupungissa, satamassa ja Harpassa (myös sisällä) ja vielä ennen lähtöä kahvilla Babalussa. Ajoimme kohti pohjoista. Emme menneet tunnelista, vaan kiersimme vuonon. Välillä oli mutkaa ja mäkeä. 800 kilometrin jälkeen tuli viimein tankattua auto Akranesissa, ja sieltä löytyi ravintola, jossa söimme. Akranesista näkyi Reykjavikiin. Ajoimme illaksi Borganesin ohi Snaifellsenesin niemimaalle, ja majoituimme netistä katsomaamme perheen pitämään hotelliin, jossa olimme ainoat asukkaat. Loppumatkasta aloin olla jo väsynyt. Huoneessa oli lattialämmitys ja lämpötila 25 astetta. Nukuttiin huonosti kun oli turhan kuuma.... read more
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Europe » Iceland » Northwest » Snæfellsnes April 1st 2015

Another day dawns with brilliant sunshine and I begin to doubt the 'take waterproofs and a bikini just in case' advice I'd been given regarding daily clothes preparation. It seems Iceland is ONLY sunny for me. The pick up from my hostel works this time and I'm at the BSI terminal in plenty time. I have a quick sneaky peek of the two tour guides on offer with the two waiting coaches and head for the coach with the white bearded guy who is joking with people as they get on. It turns out his name is Hers-something which happily shortens either to Hussie (he points out this isn't too good if you're from the UK) so the alternative is Hersie. As we set off we find out that Hersie is a BIG talker. Lots of ... read more
Tunnel under Hvalfjordur
Sunlit mountains across the fjord
Mountain views on the way to Snaefellsnes

Europe » Iceland » Northwest » Snæfellsnes July 28th 2014

It’s not every day you climb (well, drive) over a mountain three times in the same day, but we managed it today and we are back at the same place this evening! But we will come onto that later, as yesterday was our wedding anniversary we had a meal in the hotel restaurant which was lovely but they were very busy and the service was slipping. This morning we awoke to mist and rain, and there were no waterfalls to be seen from the bedroom, in fact we could not see more than about 50 metres in any direction. Despite the conditions not improving much we set off on to explore the local area. Our plan was to drive over Sneafell to the other side of the peninsular and then come back via the coast road. ... read more
Arctic Tern
Mountain Falls
Evening Mist

Europe » Iceland » Northwest » Snæfellsnes July 27th 2014

The end of our first full day in Iceland, after being treated to a two and a half hour sunset as we followed it west from London yesterday evening. Finding our hotel last night was an adventure as we drove through what looked like a landscape out of some post apocalyptical Hollywood movie with lights in the sky and smoke being picked up in the headlights as we navigated through this semi-darkness which passes for night here at this time of year. But in the morning the lights in the sky are from the geothermal plant, and the smoke is simply steam from the same source. First stop this morning was the Blue Lagoon, which is a naturally heated mineral bath not far from the main airport. This led to another first, my first facial: you ... read more
typical hill view
seascape
memorial at Borgarnes

Europe » Iceland » Northwest » Snæfellsnes June 25th 2014

Since the weather was not great for doing the backpacking trail, we decided instead to take this 2-day drive. This peninsula is suppose to be a mini-Iceland, all sorts of landscapes in this tiny area. We had booked the car from hostel, they claim to give good rate. We picked it up in the morning, then we had to get the bus tickets for hike. From there we had hard time getting back on the highway as we were not really prepared with maps or anything. Once on the highway, it was smooth ride. There is not much traffic there. The highway near Reykjavik is full of roundabouts. Once out of the "city" area it soon got really green and beautiful. Of course all the rain was making the green even deeper. For outward journey, we ... read more
Hvalfjaroarvegur road
natural mineral water
Elf house




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