Íslandsferð Sex Part 1

After this past summer's mind-blowing trip I was compelled to return as soon as possible. Considering it had been two years since I was in Iceland over the New Year holiday, and that had been such a memorable experience, the time felt right to do it again. Unfortunately, the person I usually stay with, Þórunn, was entertaining another guest during that time, so my friend Páll valiantly rescued me from a week-and-a-half of "hostelity". As if that wasn't enough, he also arranged for us to take a little trip out to Snæfellsnes for a couple days to do some sightseeing. Need I tell you how happy I was about that? I think not. All pictures by me unless otherwise noted. Thumbnails with white borders around them are links to pages with multiple pictures.

Tuesday, 27 December

Sitting in "my" room (meaning the guest room) in Páll & Hildur's apartment in Reykjavík. They were kind enough to let me stay with them again, this time for nine days instead of just one. I am indeed very fortunate and grateful. Got off the plane this morning at around 6:00 (as is always the case with flights coming in from the US) to find one of my checked bags had turned up missing. It was the bag containing all of my underwear, socks, rainjacket, hat, gloves, and half my shirts. I worriedly placed a claim to the person there to deal with such matters. He took down Páll's name, address & number and assured me that chances are it would turn up by tomorrow morning at the latest. I filled out the paperwork and tried to keep a positive attitude about the situation. I had to admit, this being my first lost article of luggage after 30-or-so flights, I was overdue for this, and of the two that could've been misplaced, better this one than the other, which contained a shitload of stuff that I was bringing over for various people here.

I left the baggage claim light-handed and met my old friend Þórunn in the reception area. It was great to see her again. It had been 5 months since I last saw her, but it felt like 5 days. We waited there for her friend, Melanie, who was really visiting her, unlike me who was just hitching a ride with them back to the city. Through a fortuitous coincidence, our flights were scheduled to arrive within 5 minutes of each other! The weather outside was a tad harsh. Wind like I've never felt before and driving sheets of rain that just tore through me. It was only a short walk to her car, but I was really wishing I had that misplaced raincoat!! It wasn't much better in Reykjavík, but after a quick stop by a local bakery for some victuals, and a longer-than-normal jog to her apartment due to the recent construction in the area, we plopped our dripping-wet luggage down and set about making a pot of freshly-brewed coffee and a hefty portion of a bottle of Bailey's disappear. It was just what the doctor ordered and soon we were feeling human. Well, I was, anyway. Melanie explained how she had been travelling for basically two days straight, coming from San Francisco via a 12-hour layover in New York. Add to that the 8 hours of jet lag and the 7am darkness of Iceland in December and I'm surprised she could even remember her name. Rough, man.

Anyway, after we exchanged gifts and talked for a few hours I felt the time had come for me to get out of their hair, so I gave Páll a ring. I thought it was safe to call him at 10:30/11:00 but with the way the sun rises around here this time of year I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that people rise accordingly late. He very graciously came right over and scooped me up. After driving around a bit we went back here for some more much-appreciated coffee. We hung about for a bit then took a walk over to his grandparents' place to pick up a map (which we should be putting to good use tomorrow!), then continued on to the old section of the city, by the harbor, to this cool coffee house called Kaffivagninn. Apparently the place is frequented by many of the old sea salts that come in off the harbor, and it has that type of authentic, weathered atmosphere. Not some trendy, upscale coffee house. I was bummed I didn't bring my camera with me as it was a visually striking area. After downing two cups each of the less-than-sublime, but free, refills, we headed back to his place in the increasingly raw afternoon. Luckily, though, it wasn't raining anymore.

When we got back Hildur was finally awake. She told us that two people had just been found dead only a few houses down the street. They think it was a drug overdose or something. Soon after, Siggi showed up to visit and we all sat down for a light snack. We had a good, long confab before Siggi had to go off for a quick rest. He had worked all day, and is supposed to be working again tonight. He's only back and working in Iceland for a month, going back to his current home in Holland on the 29th. At some point during all this the Icelandair folks call and say they have my bag and they're going to bring it by within a couple hours. What a relief!! I don't know what the hell happened to it, but I suspect that it was left outside on the cart because everything that wasn't sheltered by my raincoat was soaking wet. Luckily, they have a dryer here, which is where everything is now.

Ah, 'tis good to be here. Walking around with Páll this afternoon I felt that familiar feeling wash over me that I've grown accustomed to here. That strange love for a place that I feel nowhere else. Tomorrow, the plan is to take a drive out to Snæfellsnes, the peninsula jutting out to the east, and spend a night in a summer house at Ökelda. If the weather permits, hopefully we can do some great sightseeing. The forcast is calling for rain/snow, but I'm still keeping a PMA. It worked out with the luggage! Plus, we have no choice as the place is booked only for tomorrow night. Anyway, I'm sure it'll be fun. Their friend Villi (who plays in the band Hryðjuverk) is supposedly driving us. Hopefully Birkir can come along. Well, Páll's cooking up some veggie burgers for us and I think my shit must be dry by now, so I'm gonna sign off.

Thursday, 29 December

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!! I love this fucking place so much I can't stand it!! Right now I'm sitting in the back seat on our way back to Reykjavík from Snæfellsnes. The trip was fucking amazing, of course. As I was telling Páll, no matter how much I see of this place, it's sheer unique beauty never ceases to blow me away. Tuesday night Siggi came back to hang out for a bit before going to work. Birkir and his friend also came by for a quick visit. We left this morning at around 10:00 and stopped in Borgarnes for something to eat and meet up with Villi, Birkir, and Inga, who were coming with us, but in a separate car. From there we went straight to Arnarstapi, a small villiage on the southern coast of the peninsula. It was really nice but we didn't get to see the famous stone arch that the place is known for. We didn't know exactly where it was and there wasn't a soul around to ask. Strange that we didn't see it, though, as it's a really small place. It was really windy and rather cold. Villi's car actually got stuck trying to leave the place and we had to push him out.

Sights along the way to Arnarstapi, mostly along the southern coast of Snæfellsnes (for the most part mountains, moutnains, and more mountains).
Arnarstapi	Unable to capture much with a single shot, I did my best to piece two photos together to create this panorama	Hoping to get something to eat we visit this inviting, turf-roofed restaurant only to find it closed

From there we were gonna go back to Ökelda, but we needed to get some food first. Since there's virtually nothing on the southern coast but the odd farm or church, we had to cross over to the north to Ólafsvík via the Fróðárheiði pass which goes up through the mountainous interior. We arrived in Ólafsvík in short order and bought a bunch of shit at the shop there. Before leaving, we stopped for a quick cup of coffee at the gas station. The place fucking reeked! Oh my god, it was disgusting. They informed me that the smell was coming off the group of people sitting nearby who work at the local fish freezing plant. Actually, we ended up going back to Ólafsvík a few times and right at the point where you pass the sign that says "Welcome to Ólafsvík" you are hit with the smell of fish. I found it curious that the smell seemed to somehow contain itself so strictly within the town limits like that. While at the gas station I picked up a copy of the latest paper with the cover story about the two people found dead near Páll's. Apparently, it was from heroin, not a very common drug here at all.

Anyway, we then attempted to go back the way we came, but the weather had deteriorated and a violent wind and snowstorm developed just as we were ascending into the mountains. Villi was in front and soon got stuck on the grade. It's funny 'cuz I was just thinking beforehand that these primitive gravel roads must be ideal for providing good traction in such situations unlike a smooth, paved road. However, it was so cold that I found all the nooks and crannies get plastered and glazed over and it gets as slippery as any other road. I got out of the car to attempt to push the car and found I could barely WALK up the small incline. Attempts to push the car were laughable. It was like standing in a skating rink and pushing against the wall. We quickly realized there was no way in hell we would be able to continue. Thankfully we were only a very little ways up the pass, but our situation still seemed very bad. The road is so narrow, with no guardrails or anything, and an attempt at a three-point turn was precarious as any slip off the road would send the car plunging down into the surrounding maw. And the weather was getting still worse! It was crazy, man. I've never experienced such intense wind and snow. I was pretty worried. I really didn't know what we should do. It was SO slippery that I was actually worried that our car, just sitting there, would spontaneously lose it's grip on the road and just slide right down the hill and off the road.

Like some angel of divine origin, this big truck comes down the hill to our aid. At first he attempted to get Villi unstuck by tethering their front ends and backing up, but that was fruitless. Somehow Villi's car ended being turned around and he creeped his way back down. This guy had more confidence than us in attempting a three-point turn in this situation so he jumped in and pulled it off seemingly effortlessly. We thanked him and carefully picked our way back down and met Villi at the bottom of the hill. Man, that weather was nuts!! Just driving back down the hill was harrowing as visibility was completely obscured at times. I was very relieved when we finally made it to the bottom. We were forced to go all the way around the peninsula to get back to Ökelda. We passed a car upside-down on the side of the road near Hellissandur. We read in the paper today that there was another serious car accident that occurred in the area at that time. I think by the time we got around to the southern side the conditions were much better. It was still windy and cold as fuck but the blinding snow had subsided.

The ride to Ólafsvík	Going to get some food in Ólafsvík	The town's graveyard & surroundings
At the gas station	The newspaper	Stuck on Fróðárheiði!

We eventually got back and settled into the house and Páll cooked dinner. Birkir, who had been drinking since Borgarnes, was already rather pissed up, but he kept right on drinking with the rest of us throughout the night. We hung out and talked, drank, and watched TV until I-don't-know-what-time. We all got a bit drunk I think (except Villi, who I don't think drank at all), but Birkir got fucking WRECKED! Most of us were awoken around 4 in the morning by the incredibly loud, cacophonous sounds of him being violently ill downstairs. Man, I've never heard someone be that sick! Poor guy. After some breakfast and coffee, Páll mopped the whole place up and we split. Villi, Birkir, and Inga went back home because Birkir's playing a show tonight with his band, I Adapt, at Kaffi Hljómalind.

Eating dinner at Ökelda

Watching TV upstairs

Outside for a smoke

Ökelda & surroundings

We were going to do some more sightseeing. The plan was to drive around the peninsula to see the glacier, Snæfellsjökull, but due to an accidental wrong turn, we ended up on the road over Fróðárheiði again! A three-point turn was still too scary even though the weather was fine, so we just continued on our current path. For some completely perplexing reason, at this point my camera just stopped working! It made no sense whatsoever. I was bummed because I was missing some great photo opportunities. We stopped about halfway up and got out and looked around. It was surreally beautiful. The sun was burning low and orangey-yellow on the horizon, the wind was blowing wispy, gossamer streams of snow down the road, it was unearthly silent, and the surrounding mountains were, as usual, just magnanimous. It was so fucking gorgeous I wanted to weep. Luckily Páll had his camera and took a few pictures so the moment wasn't lost due to my loser of a camera. Incidentally, the stupid thing just started working as mysteriously as it stopped like 15 minutes later. It was still fucked up, though, for a little while longer because the automatic settings (for aperture & shutter speed or whatever) weren't kicking in, so a lot of those shots are probably junk. I was pretty thirsty at this point and the frigid little streams of water all over the place were beckoning me. I just wanted to run out there and drink my fill. All in good time.

We were all pretty hungry but we didin't want to eat in Ólafsvík because we were just too put off by the smell, so we continued on to Rif, only to find nothing even close to a restaurant, then on to Hellissandur, which had a place, but unfortunately it wasn't open. So, instead we just looked at Snæfellsjökull for a while then turned around. I was kicking myself on the ride back for not taking pictures of the cool stuff in Hellissandur. A squandered opportunity! We backtracked and continued on east. We stopped near Búlandshöfði and Páll filled up a bottle from a small stream with delicious, ice-cold water. Aahhhh, it was just what I wanted. 'Twas like nectar!! After lingering there enjoying the scenery for a bit, we continued on to the lovely little town of Grundarfjörður at the base of the striking mountain Kirkjufell, which Páll says his brother and father intend to climb sometime soon. Wish I could join them. Anyway, we scooted in to this cozy little restaurant and ate a nice, big lunch. Great food, of course. Drove around admiring Grundarfjörður for awhile then pressed on through more mind-blowingly gorgeous scenery. Kolgrafafjörður was beyond belief, and the Berserkjahraun lava field was everything I could've hoped for in the missed Dimmuborgir last summer. Simply awesome!

Fróðárheiði	Snæfellsjökull	The ride east along the north coast	Taking a break near Búlandshöfði
Kirkjufell seen from the west and the south		Grundarfjörður
Eating in Grundarfjörður	Avalanche bait	Kolgrafafjörður	Berserkjahraun

By the time we got to Stykkishólmur, the daylight was almost gone. We just hung out a bit, looked around, got some coffee at the local bakery and then split. It seemed like a very nice town. Would've loved to explore it more had time permitted. We went back via Kerlingarskarð, another interior mountainous pass like the one over Fróðárheiði, but further to the east. In no time we were retracing our route back to Borgarnes and then on to Reykjavík and here we are. Pretty fucking exhausted.

The harbor at Stykkishólmur
(another pieced-together panorama)

Having coffee in Stykkishólmur. Hildur looks like she's seen a ghost!

Kerlingarskarð

Ah, man, I'm so grateful they took me out there. It was everything I could've hoped for, and more. I only wish I had more time and money to spend in these places. It breaks my heart to just drive through some of these places without really exploring them and seeing everything there is to see. It's just too damn much, man. Who knows. Someday maybe I'll win the lottery or something and I can live my dreams. Well, I think the I Adapt show is going on right now. Gotta find out if we're going or what.