May 20, 2016: Snæfellsnes

We got a late start this morning after a quick breakfast in the apartment kitchen. We drove to Borgarnes and made a reservation for our adventure on Monday.

We headed to Snæfellsnes peninsula. This peninsula is dominated by Snæfellsjök (a glacier at the western edge of the peninsula). This mountain range is well known due to the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne as the entrance to a passage leading to the center of the earth. The weather was perfect and we had very clear views of the glacier.

Our destination was Stykkishólmur, the port town on the northern coast of the peninsula. 

 Here you can catch a ferry to the West Fjords (the upper claw off the northwest edge of Iceland). 

We tried to have lunch at a quaint restaurant on the port but the prices were too expensive for us and the waitress suggested this great restaurant up the hill in a yellow building called Skúrinn (The Shed). It had great fish, salads and burgers. The tag line for the restaurant was “This is a bad place to diet”. Everyone loved the food they had. 

The port in Stykkishólmur is protected by a large volcanic rock which has a lighthouse on top and easy stairs for great views out into Breiđafjöđur. This fjord is dotted with over 3000+ islands.

We drove to the Vannasafn (The Water Library). It is a long term art instillation by American artist Roni Horn. Housed in the former library, it contains 24 glass columns filled with glacier water from the 24 glaciers around Iceland. Each column looks slightly different because of the different sediments in each glacier. The floor of the library also was covered in a thick rubber mat. The museum curator was very helpful and led a nice discussion about possible ways to interpret the art, including its relationship to the environment and how we change our environment and our environment changes us.

Sediment from the glacier at the bottom of each column.

View through a column.

Next we visited the local swimming pool. In 1996 geothermal heat was discovered near Stykkishólmur and the water was found to have healing effect. It has a certification from Institut Fresenius and is excellent for aching backs, tired muscles and dry skin. The pool had three hot pots, a large outdoor lap pool, and an indoor pool and boasts the tallest water slide in Iceland. We all enjoyed our time soaking. There was even a sign comparing the levels of certain minerals found in this pool versus the Blue Lagoon near Reykjavik and Baden in Germany. Both Stykkishólmur  and the Blue Lagoon use reclaimed fluids from the geothermal power plant as part of their water sources. 

Before we left we stopped at Bonus, the low cost grocery store. Notice we get groceries almost every day. Feeding 8 people takes a lot of food.

It took us 1 ½ hours to drive up to Búđardalur, around Breiđafjöđur bay. The views were amazing. Luckily, there wasn’t much traffic but we were all concerned at how fast some of the locals drove on this narrow dirt road (and they didn’t seem to believe in sharing the road much).

In Búđardalur we stopped at a local handmade craft/wool shop before we started toward Eiríksstađis, the home of Erik the Red, discoverer of Greenland and birthplace of his son Leifur Eiríksson. 

Statue celebrating Leifur Eiríksson sailing to North America with replica longhouse in background.

A replica longhouse is on the site as well as the rock remains of the original longhouse. The replica turf lodge was built using traditional tools and materials with a central fireplace and a seating/sleeping ledge around the inside. 

Everyone laying in Eiríksstađis.

We drove the 35 minutes over Brattabrekka pass back to Bifröst and had tortellini soup for supper.  Some students ended the day with a relaxing soak in the sauna and hot tub.