The ghost festival, the playground, whales and a Stykki-dinner...

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Last night was kind of interesting in a bizarre way.  After putting the baby in to sleep, I ran over to Jess who was behind her bed hiding so he wouldn't see her, and she could use her iPad.  

Only she was on all fours.  I ran over and had no place to go, other than into a compromising position behind her.  Now the both of us are there on all fours, trying not to laugh.  I assure you, there were no shennanigans going on but if anyone walked in or if he could see us from his crib, he and they might be very confused.

What can I say?  I like it cold.  High 40s in the AM is the perfect weather, especially when it gets up to about 70 and you are going for a hike.  Well, it wasn't getting to 70 and we weren't hiking but I love a cold morning.  We headed to breakfast and had our plan ready.  Grundarfjörður is the next town over.  Jess spoke with the woman in the tourist center and she told us that there was a festival happening there.  So we decided to head to the town then back to Olafsvik for some whale watching.

The town, which was to the east, was further than we anticipated, or better yet, were told.  The scenery was awesome, the usual for around here.  When we got to Grundarfjörður the town was broken up into different colors:  red, blue, yellow and green.  The houses in each were decorated with random decorations that matched their color and there were flags on the street lights denoting the different sections.  If this were Brooklyn, there would be gun shots.

There was no one on the street.  There is a "festival" and there is no one there.  It was kind of like a Twilight Zone episode.  We parked at the docks and then headed in to the town.  We went to the tourist center and spoke with the girl to get some more information about the festival and see what was happening for the day.

Apparently, the festival is to welcome home people who moved elsewhere.  The girl said the festival didn't "celebrate anything."  So, I am guessing it is a homecoming?  About 1000 people live in the town, she said 4-5k people come to the town for the weekend.

So, where the fuck are they?  There is no one on the street.  No one anywhere but in this place, it's the girls working the tourist place and the two DJs outside.  Since the festival had no events until the football match at 8 and the ball at 11, (both PM) we decided to walk around down by the water.  

Welcome Home!!!  There's no one here!!!

We stopped to play in the park - I know, you're surprised.

He's been oddly shy of slides lately and we are not sure why.  He used to always go down on his own but now he seems to always need someone to go with him. 

Of course, he pooped, so we changed him on the Icelandic changing table provided in the playground. 

He liked the tunnels - he just wished he had some other kids to play with but, like I said, the town was eerily empty for one about to have a festival for five-thousand people.

He started to line-up the rocks on the boat - which by the way, is a staple of every playground in Iceland.

Above, is the "Kirkjufell" or Church Rock.  It was pretty large and awesome looking, I wish we could have hiked it but we did not have time with all the fascinating activities happening during the festival.

After completely exhausting ourselves with the festival activities, we stopped to do a cache near the side of the road with good views of the Kirkjufell.

We made it back to Olasvik and the baby was asleep.  We had some time, so we left him in the car, I meditated and apparently, Jess left.  When I woke up, I mean finished meditating, she was no where to be found.  The baby woke up as well and I ran upstairs to the hotel room to find her.  She wasn't there. Then I went across the street to the technology oasis, she wasn't there.  This normally wouldn't be a problem except that it is about 1:30 and we need to be at the boat for the whale tour at 1:45.  Oh yeah, I need to change some clothes and whatnot too.  Finally, she comes sauntering out of the Farmers' Market, which in small towns in Iceland is where people make shit and sell it.  Not like the ones at home, but sorta similar.  

We got on the boat and Jess and the baby bundled up and got ready for the tour.  Most everyone (about 20 or so people) were on the front of the boat.  We ate our PB&Js as the boat set sail.  

The captain announced that they would be using a very complex system for identifying where to look.  The front of the boat would be 12 o'clock and then the other spots would follow as normal on a clock.  Very clever indeed.  He also announced that on yesterday's tour, they saw 4 out of the 5 species that are normally in this area.  In other words this was a disclaimer in case we saw shit.

We did see this jellyfish - and there were a ton swimming about in the area.

After about an hours worth of sailing we caught our first glimpse of the ever disappearing "Sea whale."  We don't know what species it was but Jess determined that the captain said it was a sea whale.  Really, Jess?  I know they said we might see Minke (which I ate the last time I was here), Orca and Sperm but not the Sea whale.  Whatever the hell it was, we saw it off in the distance.  Pretty cool.

Fuck Shark Week.

The wind was whipping pretty good and the baby was not hearing any noise about taking a nap in the backpack though I wish he had.  He also refused to put his hands inside to keep them warm and he wanted to take his hat off.  He was starting to get a bit cranky but otherwise he was very, very good. 

Next up, we got to see Orca, killer whales.  This is when it got real for me.  It was pretty sweet.  We mainly saw one swimming around but he/she was good about resurfacing and taking dives so that all of the tourists could get some good shots of him.

Jess decided that she and the baby had had enough for a while and would head inside to the cabin below to warm up and hang out a bit. Apparently, for a few minutes, His Highness resigned from the crown and took the helm, guiding us towards the whales.

The big excitement came when far off in the distance, we saw a big spout blow.  The captain announced in at 1 o'clock - to look, that wasn't the time for those of you who may be confused and we headed over to the area.

It really doesn't look like much, but it was huge and it was a sperm whale.

Sperm.

Unfortunately, he didn't do any jumps but when he dove for the last time, you could see his tail as the last thing going down, just as you would see in a movie or an artists depiction.  It was pretty cool.  Of course, this is the same whale of Moby Dick fame.

Dick.

On the way back in to shore, we caught a glimpse of a family or school (pod?) of Orca.  There were at least four of them swimming around and often, two would surface and dive together.  It was pretty cool to see.

I had to take the obligatory shot of the glacier from the boat.

All in all, very successful and I was able to work sperm and dick into the blog without being disgusting.  Not something you thought would happen since I started the post off with the two of us on all fours.

We headed up to Stykkishólmur for dinner.  I also looked up the caches that were there to ensure that I had them in the GPS and there was one that I definitely wanted to do and that did not disappoint.  Stykkishólmur was another quaint little town, larger than the others and one clearly looking to take advantage of the tourism situation.  The town was clearly heavily into the fishing industry at some point (still probably is to some degree).  We had a reservation at Narfeyrarstofa, which was recommended to us by the woman at the tourism center in Olafsvik.

It was a bit of an upscale place, and the baby had fallen asleep on the ride over.  He woke up, rather unhappily when we parked and we had to take a few minutes to calm him down before walking in. 

He was not happy.

They took us to the second floor, it was a house, as were a number of other restaurants in the area.  It was very cool and probably turn of the century.  Last one, not this one.

We sat and ordered some food.  His highness was very happy with the bread and fries that came out first - and the ketchup that came with them so that he could dip.

He loves to dip.  He'll dip anything in ketchup and eat it.  He'd dip ketchup in ketchup if you'd let him.  As we are getting ready to order, I pull his plate away from him before he knocks the ketchup all over the place.  Like a true champ, I manage to grab it just hard enough so the pyrex slides off the plate and land right on my crotch.

I look like an eleven year old girl who didn't know what to expect.

The fish soup was highly recommended, so I got that for a starter and then I got a lamb dish.  I think the venison was the night before.  Who knows.  Either way I am traveling with two vegans (one a sort of vegan), so Bambi and Lambchop it is.  There must be balance in the universe.  When I ordered, I told the waiter that I would like to get the fish soup so I could pour it in my crotch for the next course.

Don't they have any coniglio in this country?

I am sure there were a bunch of other things that happened at dinner but I am old now and it is over a week ago and I don't remember.  He was getting antsy so they were finished and they left while I waited for the bill with my ketchup stains.

We headed to the little area at the top of the town where the cache was.  It was a brief walk a bunch of steps to some of the best views we got to see.  The views of Stykkishólmur from here were top notch.  There were one of the tiny safety orange lighthouses and they were doing a bunch of work on the summit - clearly sprucing it up for the tourists who, if they're lucky enough, find out about this spot and take a walk over after an excellent dinner.  We grabbed a few shots from the top and then dropped off just below to find the geocache, which we did after his highness was done picking some weeds and turning over as many rocks as he could, helping to search for the cache.  The views were awesome in all directions - clear open skies, ocean, town, and green.  If it was there, you could see it, nothing to block your view for tens if not possibly hundreds of miles.  Do you think they need any principals in Iceland?

We headed back down and to the car, for the ride home.  We stopped to grab a cache or two.  The scenery again was otherworldly, adding that final exclamation point to our last full day on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.

The crazy Asian lady and the exotic Long Island baby...

Saturday, August 3, 2013

So, I admit, I would like to kick myself for not keeping up with this.  I'm already worried about writing the next post because I am not going to remember everything.  If I don't, I have Jess' wonderful memory which means I may as well make shit up and I probably will.  Get ready for that post.

We planned the day as a counterclockwise tour of the Snaefellsnes, hitting about 3/4 of the place.  When I say 3/4, that's really just what we are able to access from the roads that go around the peninsula. 

We got up and headed over to the hotel, our technological oasis and generally crappy breakfast.  It's not totally crappy but, it's not great.  There are no cooked eggs, omelets or pancakes, but there are some sardine looking fish, deli meats and hardboiled eggs.  Fucking Europe.

I spend a good portion of the time checking work emails and making sure no one has cut into a gas or oil line, causing a major environmental hazard - which, no one would probably give damn because it's in the ghetto.  Then I remember, they're suspended from working, so unless there is a major issue at summer school, there really should be no problems.

I believe we took a little bit of time getting ourselves together, but we did and we headed to the first stop Ondverdarnes, right on the water.  It's a lava field.  The ride takes us to other worldly places reserved for the likes of film locations for The Hobbit and science fiction films.  

From the parking lot. you can see this tiny lighthouse.  There are quite a few small ones like this around and they are all painted safety orange, I would imagine for obvious reasons and not an over purchase of safety orange paint.

The trails to the lava filed start out green and grassy with little pools all around.  The sky was overcast and the pools were actually far more reflective than in these pictures.  The trails were really only marked by the grass that had been trodden by those who went before us.  There were rocks strewn about the landscape, clearly having been blasted to their current locations millennia ago.  The ground was soft and I took my time walking to ensure that I did not find any spots that were either too soft or gave way so that I would find myself in the pools.

As I walked through the fields pondering the secrets that this ancient land held, I stumbled upon Falki, an ancient well that has been in use for over a thousand years.  

Ok, I didn't stumble upon it, I saw the sign that said Falki and went over to see what the hell it was.

It looked like it could still be in use and the entrance did in fact look like something from the Lord of the Rings.  The well, according to legend, was fed by three sources:  fresh water, holy water and ale.  This is my kind of well and if possible, I would like to find the source of the ale.  The site is considered archaeologically and culturally import to the people of Iceland.  

There was also the ruins of a building there - probably not as old as Falki, but still pretty cool to see.

The lava field was quite the sight and what you would expect it to be - black.  The lava flowed to the sea, where it cooled.  It must have been an awesome sight, and one that can still be see whenever volcanoes erupt around the world.

The Chief continued on his rock hunting expeditions.  He had two large ones with him, one nice and smooth that you see above and another piece of lava, which may or may not have made it home with us.  We also found these skeletal remains which just really put the exclamation point on being in a lava field.  I'd like to tell you it was something really cool but it was probably a big fish that a bird was eating within the past two weeks.

 We had to head back to the car because someone had to pee - it wasn't me, and the baby wears diapers.

I tried to use my chameleon powers but forgot that I had back paints on.

When someone was finished, we got back in the car to head to our first planned hike for the day.  Djupalonssandur to Dritvik. It was a 1km in length.   Dritvik is only accessible by foot or boat.  It was a seasonal fishing village for over 600 people at one time.  On the way, there is an awesome pebble beach where the fishermen used to engage in picking up large boulders so that they could decide what your role would be when out fishing.  

When we got out the car, we realized that we had left the weather cover for his backpack at the hotel.  It was really windy and I wasn't about to skip the hike, so we improvised, using the pack towel that we had with us, wrapping it around his legs for an extra layer.

The hike along the coast beautiful and the landscape was immaculate.  It started off on a trail that was quite rocky and a bit annoying to walk on but the views were well worth it.  We were again transported to a movie set, easily think shades of Mordor.  It was barren yet stunningly beautiful.  The ocean on your left and the other planet on your right.

The trail evens out and you can make the walk fairly quickly.  The Chief has fallen asleep in the backpack and Jess tells me that she thinks he likes to fall asleep when she is walking on uneven terrain as opposed to the road.  Dritvik slowly sneaks up on you (though it may be the opposite) during the hike.

I thought that a good part of the village would have still been there, but it was not.  There were some stone wall foundations below the safety orange shed you see above.

There was also an amazing little cove where the water was green because of the algae that was growing there.

We hung around for a bit while the Chief slept, snapped some shots and then headed back out the way we came for the 1k return.  The sun started to poke through on the return walk to the car.

When we got to the car park, I started to look for the geocache that was in the area.  Some of the workers were painting benches near the cache site.  I pretended that I was looking for something, I wasn't exactly trying to hide myself.  After a few seconds of looking, the girl who was there asks, "Can I help you."  And I replied, "No thanks, just looking around."  I was pretty sure she would leave me alone at this point.  She then says, "Do you want a hint?"  I was like, "Huh?" and then Jess says, "Oh, you know where it is?"  Then we started talking and said she had just found out the day before that it was  there.  So we BS'd with her for a few and she is planning on heading to New Zealand within the year.  Of course, we found the cache and headed on our way.  

Next stop was Mallarif another beach and lighthouse and good views of the glacier.  There were two huge rocks there and we didn't drive up to get close and take a look.  This spot yielded two of my favorite shots from the trip.

Hellnes, the next stop is a little town that had a very cool  cove where there were tons of birds nesting.  It migh  be the town nearest the glacier since it seemed to be pretty large in the background behind the houses and buildings that were there.  We were supposed to do a hike to another town from here but didn't.  We headed down to the area where the birds were.  Lots of boulders and rocks for the baby to collect and throw.  The area had very cool looking rock formations, probably formed because of lava and the glacier pulling back on it.  The striations in a few areas were pretty deep and made very cool patterns.

We hung out and climbed around the rocks and watched the birds fly around and shit.  Literally, I think.

Our next stop was Arnastapi – where the hike would have let us out.  It was a quaint little town.  We drove through rather quickly and just made one stop near a geocache.  Grabbed a few shots and then headed to the next stop...

Budir.  We looked at the church.  It was very tiny.  We missed the seal that was suppsed to be at the beach and then beat it out of there.  The town was like three houses and the church.

We had to take the gravel road back again.  Only this time we were blessed with a fairly soupy fog.  Luckily, there was no truck right up out ass and Jess could take it a little slower.  Once we got out of the death trap, we headed to the Hotel Hellissandur for diner.  It was about two towns away from Olafsvik.

Once in a while, you catch a really odd story on your trips.  This one wasn't so odd as it was slightly bizarre.

We're eating our dinner, or at least the appetizer and a tour group comes in and starts doing their thing.  It was a big mix of people and there were a bunch of sixty-something women sitting near us.  The Chirf, of course, starts to flirt and this one Asian lady is absolutely in love with him.  She's really animated too.  If you worked in my district, you would know the ATR Asian substitute (can't think of her name), she's not THAT animated but she certainly has her own special way about her.  She was like a tiny hurricane amongst the cool calm and collected Canadians and Germans that were also in her tour group - they must have loved her.  No harm - she was having a good time as she should, she's on vacation.  They flirt for a good number of minutes and he is really good when engaging with people.  We laugh and smile and she finally comes over to start talking to us.  She asks if she can take his picture because we are so exotic looking.  We say sure and laugh.

Through the conversation, we find out that she is from NYC and lives in the Village.  Then we let her know that the exotic looking baby she just took a picture from is from Long Island.