Iceland, part 1: Akureyri and the North
I went to Iceland a couple weeks ago over Thanksgiving break. I was there in the summer of 2013, but have wanted to go back to see what it’s like in the winter. Icelandair had a ridiculous off-season airfare deal, so I convinced some friends to venture into the frozen north with me.
We picked up our rental car from the airport in Keflavik and started our journey with a 6-hour-long drive up to Iceland’s second-largest town, Akureyri. After driving along seriously icy roads and through some areas with absolutely no visibility beyond the reflective stakes guiding us through the snow, I am now a firm believer in the magic of snow tires. Our tiny Toyota Yaris handled the roads like a champ.
Akureyri is a tiny, quaint town of only about 18,000 people. It felt homey and welcoming, and there were lots of museums that we didn’t ever get around to visiting. During the winter the sun is only up from about 10:15am – 4:30pm, so we did a lot of walking around town, eating, and lounging in the hostel sauna during dark hours. We took a long day trip around the Lake Mývatn area, with stops at the steam baths and Dimmuborgir. We visited Northern Iceland’s largest (maybe only?) craft brewery. We traipsed through many small coastal towns, rode stout Icelandic horses, and only managed to get one parking ticket. We also tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to see the northern lights.
We took the new train to DIA and it didn’t break down even once!
Taking off into a very pink sky.
Someday my passport will have stamps from places other than Iceland.
This road is Route 1, the “highway” that circumnavigates Iceland.
Alfred/Yolanda, our faithful steed.
World’s quaintest reading nook at our hostel, Akureyri Backpackers.
Dan, Ron, and Akureyrarkirkja (The Church of Akureyri).
Our hostel is the green building with the circular sign on the left.
Ron in the foreground, fjord in the background.
Parking is free in Akureyri, but in the city center you can only park for a few hours at a time during the day. This is regulated by the very high-tech “parking clock”. Pick one up at any bank or grocery store, write down what time you parked, and leave it on your dashboard.
Goðafoss
We managed to see increasingly larger and larger waterfalls as our trip went on. Even so, Goðafoss is much larger than it looks in this picture. It seems like we’re standing at the shore of a very tiny pond, but really we’re at the edge of a cliff and the waterfall is about 200 yards away.
Goðafoss
Too cute, you guys!
Lake Mývatn (or at least, what would be Lake Mývatn if everything wasn’t completely frozen and white).
The Mývatn steam baths. In my opinion, way better (and cheaper!) than the Blue Lagoon.
Turns out the visitor center at Dimmuborgir isn’t open during the winter.
Early morning Danface in the hostel common area/dining room. If you stay at a hostel in Iceland, add breakfast onto your reservation if it’s an option. It’s way cheaper than going out, plus you’ll wonder how you ever lived without a cucumber/tomato/swiss-cheese sandwich every morning.
Fruit here ain’t cheap. That’s about $6 for a tiny container of strawberries and $12 for blueberries.
Dalvík
Drinking beer straight from the tank at the Kaldi brewery.
Fancy dinner night in the hostel kitchen. Fruit may be expensive, but fish isn’t!
Four marshmallow humans ready to ride some horses.
We paid about $50 each for a one-hour horse ride. I assumed that would be an American hour, which meant one hour from the moment we arrived and maybe 40 minutes of actual riding. But we rode for over an hour, then came back to the farm for homemade cakes and coffee, walked our horses back to the barn, and then hung out with the farm’s sheep for about another hour.
This sheep knew its name, would come when called, and wagged its tail like a dog. The rest of them, however, were not very into us.
Grenivík
Grenivík, staring across the water toward Dalvik. (“Vík” means bay, which is why so many towns have similar names.)
Akureyri. We watched some kids wreck themselves while sledding.
Pylsur Plowdown 2k16!
The view from the top of the stairs, in front of Akureyrarkirkja.
And the (maybe prettier?) backside of Akureyrarkirkja. There was beautiful organ music coming from inside, but the doors were locked.
I will never turn down a chance to spend too much money in a used bookstore.
We splurged on a four-course prix-fixe dinner at Rub 23. Probably one of the best meals I’ve ever had.
Many restaurants have cute little coat rooms where you can leave your wet things before you head further inside. I like that Iceland is a country where you can trust someone not to steal your coat if you leave it unattended.
Whiling away the dark evening hours with beer and Tichu. (I probably should have Tichu-ed that round, but I bet I didn’t.)
