Part 2 of Untamed Iceland: from South to North

On the way to Akureyri we enjoyed the Kolugljufur Canyon with beautiful waterfalls cutting through the dramatic gorge and basalt cliffs

In Saudarkrojur we learned of the tremendous work of Iceland's Search and Rescue teams, completely staffed by 1000's of volunteers who spend countless hours to help strangers caught in precarious situations.

These are powerfully designed vehicles, not toy cars!

Villi, a self proclaimed "foodie," prepared us a delicious lunch there, before we continued on our way, learning more Icelandic history: the rivalry between powerful chieftain families ultimately contributing to the end of the Icelandic Commonwealth which eventually brought Iceland under the Norwegian Crown . In the last decades of the 10th century, the first Christian missionaries came to Iceland (sent by King Olaf of Norway). They arrived as the session of Parliament was about to begin. In Parliament there were two factions, heathen and Christian. A compromise law was reached in about 1000 AD: all were to become Christian, to pay a tithe, but it was permissible to worship the Norse gods discreetly, to eat horse meat, to make sacrifices, and to abandon children who couldn't be taken care of. In Iceland a system of privately run churches developed. Individual Chieftains and farmers built churches and donated property (sometimes the estates they lived on)to them. People learned to read Latin, but the Icelandic church was more worldly than OOurther European churches, and wrote sagas that appear to be a combination of Christian and pagan (even allowing blood vengeance). At this time all Icelanders lived on farms. No towns developed until the Middle Ages. Fishing, grain and cattle and sheep were raised. Slaves were captured by Vikings during raids of British Isles. Women played no part in government, though some had powerful influence. Women got the vote in 1913. Today's Prime Minister is Kristrun Tomasdottir

 

Today's President is Halla Tomasdottir. In the 14th and 15th centuries other Nordic languages became distinct, but Icelanders stopped calling their language Norse, and started to call it Icelandic.Their linguistic isolation served to help Icelanders retain a great degee of autonomy, though still under the Norwegian crown. In 1376-80, King Olaf inherited the crowns of Denmark and Norway. Thus Iceland became subject to the Danish throne, relationship not broken until Icelandic Independence in 1944.

Our Hotel KEA seen through the red heart, symbol of Akureyri. The red traffic lights are also heart-shaped! A very charming small city of 20,000 located on the largest fjord, Eyjafjordur, Akureyri is capital of the north.

We walked through the lovely Botanical Gardens. Akureyri's temperate climate allows many plants to flourish. There are 6,600 foreign species and 400 native. The park was opened in 1912, the gardens in 1957.

There are many beautiful homes, a large private school, churches, the traditional ones being white with red roofs and trim.

The Akureyri Lutheran Church was designed by Gudjon Samuelsson.

   100 steps lead up to it. Religion and state are still not separate today

The old town along the Fjord is charming, with old homes. and gardens and steep hills!

                           and clever knit trash container trolls!

We enjoyed the museum with old maps and artifacts showing cultural history and daily life.

We ate lots of delicious cod, haddock, salmon and more

The small church (brought here from elsewhere) was lovely

We especially loved the childhood home of well-loved Jon Sveinsson, called "Nonni" (a character in his book) writer of children's stories, who in 1870 moved to France and converted to Catholicism, becoming a Jesuit priest.

                                  Here are his rules for good health

In the Akureyri Museum I was impressed with the intricate needlepoint works shown in his Domestiscape exhibition of Baldvin Ringsted (born in 1974, and raised here, but now living in Scotland): memorable things . He also uses other media (painting, sculpture, print, videos).  

and with the Orlygur Jristfinnsson" exhibition, the tribute to the flightless and extinct (since 1844, killed by tradespeople and collectors) "Holy Bird, the Great Auk." Icelanders feel remorse.

Skutustadir, Lake Myvatn

Covered with fly nets, we ventured into the steaming, bubbling, smelly (sulfur) Lake Myvatn. We were introduced to the peudocraters, which look like volcanic craters, which were created when hot lava flowed over wetlands, causing powerful steam explosions beneath the surface

Dimmuborgir, "the Dark Castles" is a strange place where lava and folklore meet. It's easy to understand why Icelanders believe trolls and hidden people, and the Thirteen Yule Lads  (or the Yule Cat) might appear unexpectedly behind a rock.

After this strange place we met Nonni who baked delicious traditional sweet rye bread baked slowly underground, using geothermal heat.

We ate a yummy lunch of soup and bread, then proceeded to Namafjall and the Namaskard geothermal Area, with its bubbling mud pots, steam vents, colorful mineral deposits and yellow smelly sulfur.

After scraping the mud off our feet we continued on to Godafoss, the "Waterfall of the Gods," tucked into the open northern scenery around Lake Myvatn. Unfortunately one person tripped and broke her wrist.

We finished the day with a wonderful home-hosted dinner, always a highlight on OAT trips. 8 of us enjoyed the delicious dinner prepared by Villi and Polly (an elementary school teacher) Williamson and their daughter (a champion skier on her way to medical school to become a plastic surgeon) of cod, haddock, potatoes, salad, bread, and a yummy dessert of Skyr (like yogurt) , caramel and crumbled "lava" wafers. 

Their house is in a new development where they have lived for 3 years

Behind is the whimsical painting of their family of 6.

Jana, Miriam, Polly, Kay, Villi, Mary, Joyce and Ann.

The following morning we drove through farmland for Dalvik where we boarded our whale-watching boat into the waters of Eyjafjordur.

It was a windy, freezing 2.5 hours at sea, but we finally found 4 humpback whales named Oddny, Garissimo, Kirk and Magic!

a happy conclusion, and a welcome home cooked lunch in Dalvik.

I bought a photo book of Iceland and the Thirteen Yule Lads at the bookstore across the street, ate pizza with Jana, and went to bed ready to fly to Reykjavik early on September 8.