Iceland continued

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On August 22 we drove around a peninsula in the north today visiting a VERY old church, seeing the Iceland Emigration museum, and then seeing the Aukeryeri Cathedral. The old church, Holar, was originally a Catholic Bishopric from 1061. In the mid-1500's the last Catholic was replaced by the Lutheran/Episcopal Bishop. In other words, this location has been the heart of the Icelandic Cee since 1061.... The church was rehabilitated in the 1990's but was kept as true to the original as possible with the several bishops' tombs in the floor of the alter area.

There is a museum in a northern Iceland town that details the l800's emigration of several thousand Icelanders to the US and Canada. In fact one of the stories was about a woman that ended up in Point Roberts and Bellingham... how much of a coincidence was that?

Then we continued on around the peninsula, through 4 tunnels... a total of more than 15 km (approx. 9 miles). Two of the tunnels were one lane with pullouts every so often to permit passing and two of them were brand new 2 lane with several of the amenities that we would be used to… fire extinguishers and emergency phones. But none of these tunnels were made into the special US requirements of smooth sides, special sidings and radio communications. Just simple tunnels to get people from one side of a mountain to another... What a concept – I bet these cost less than 10%!w(MISSING)hat would have been the price tag in the US.

When we arrived in Aukeryeri, a town of 18,000 (2^nd largest in the country), we found the cathedral. It is awe inspiring. There is a stained glass window that used to be in a church in Coventry England until it was put in safekeeping during WWII. When the Coventry Church was destroyed by German bombing, the window found it's way to this Icelandic cathedral and is displayed in the center behind the altar.

As we left the cathedral we found a street display of fabric designs... Check out the picture.

Tonight we are staying at another farm house with a restaurant. It is quite near a major lake, Myvatn. After a great farm dinner of vegetable soup, lamb chops, boiled potatoes and mixed vegetables, we drove about 23kms to a natural hot springs. This is much like the Blue Lagoon. But it is much more out-in-nature and much less expensive and another wonderful soaking experience.

As we left the Myvatn area the next morning the weather was less than stellar with lots of rain and fog. We had a long drive to the west Iceland city of Hofn. Hofn is noted for it's langostino lobster and of course we found a restaurant that specialized in this delicacy. The Pakkhuis Restaurant was definitely a find. We had lobster soup, and the shared the Duo of grilled garlic langostino and lobster spring rolls with sweet pepper sauce.

The next day we were off to the south of Iceland with the glaciers and icebergs... I have trouble remembering how small this island country is. It has so many different topographies and vistas... from the volcanoes and their barren lava fields to the sea and the cliffs with the sea birds to the glaciers and associated calving icebergs. Check out the picture taken from just next to the main highway.

It is just a hop the next day into Reykjavik and the Hafnarfjordur Guesthouse. We had a great time that night at an ABBA review by an Icelandic group. What a show in such a beautiful venue. The capital city has just completed the Harpa performance hall and it is incredible... the front side of the building has hundreds of windows that give the effect of the blue icebergs. If you ever make it to Iceland and spend over, be sure to check out the Harpa web site to see if there is anything available to attend.

We spent a great evening first at the Sea Barron restaurant for its famous lobster soup and then a walk through the downtown area before we made our way to the 11:00pm show.

Sunday afternoon we took in part of the Reykjavik jazz festival in an old venue in downtown. The musicians were truly great.

Iceland is still one of the best places in the world for a trip. The people seem to truly appreciate the time to talk to visitors whether at a restaurant or a travel center stop. They find it easy to stop for a few minutes and just share some time.

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Photos

roadside sheep taking a rest
sheep along the main highway... gravel road...