Iceland: part 3
DAY 7
Day 7 and a great one to say the least. Today we started off with a short drive to the port town of (that should give you a hint of what’s next), Dalvik. Here we boarded a smaller ferry boat called SamSkip and made our way to Iceland’s northernmost island, Grimsey. This island sets very close on a map but is actually around a 3 hour boat ride away. Thankfully even though it was bitterly cold we survived the boat up north and even got lucky enough to see a whale along the way!
After pulling into the port, we were greeted by the only town on the island. We immediately made our way to one of the 2 restaurants on the island and grabbed a bite to eat. There were a few aspects of this that were a bit hilarious. One being the fact that the whole menu was focused around fish or bird of the day and when you ask what it is, they have to legitimately check what they caught that morning. The second thing that was a bit off putting to some was the fact that the bird of the day happened to be puffins. Yes, meaning you can actually eat the cute little guys we had just traveled all that way to see. Now while I just enjoyed the fish, the same can’t be said for everyone in the group. But having tried a bite of puffin because, hey it is an experience right, I can admit it is delicious and I would have gladly eaten a whole plate.
Now regardless of how you feel about a certain member of my family trying these adorable birds, we did go on to explore the island and see some of the over one million of them that call this island home! They use the rocky cliffs along the ocean to build nests and burrow in. It was actually an incredible experience and well worth the venture to the island. Now aside from this the island does have one other attraction. The tip of Grimsey is actually in the arctic circle so you better believe half of us ran off our lunch and got to the gigantic ball that marks the point where you cross in.
Sadly we didn’t have long as the only boat that goes back that day was about to depart, so we ran the approximate 2 miles back to the dock and boarded with just a few minutes to spare, soaking wet and very tired. On our journey back we actually were blessed by seeing another 2 whales and 2 dolphins swimming around. It was a truthfully beautiful boat ride back in as most of the mountains were still capped in snow. After the full day affair of visiting the island we turned in early back at the airbnb so we could enjoy the hot tub one last time.
DAY 8
The next few days really were marked by one of the best things travel can offer you, unplanned adventure. Day 8 we did not have a ton planned aside from the adventure back down the eastern coast to our next airbnb about half way back to Reykjavik. Along the way we were greeted by some of the most impressive cliffs and mountains we had seen so far on this trip. Although we only stopped at one waterfall along the way. This waterfall was an afterthought we just saw on the maps and said, ehh why not? Well I am glad that we took that approach and said let's go for it because this last waterfall was actually kind of underwhelming. Not where you thought I was going with that was it? But I will say, turning around and looking opposite of this waterfall you were greeted with Kolugljúfur Canyon.
This canyon was just as impressive as any of the other sites we had seen this whole trip. Even though we didn’t spend a ton of time there because it was freezing we enjoyed every second we did get there. This grassy canyon just wound itself through the farmers fields and was tucked away as if it wasn’t even there. I truthfully wish we could have had a nicer day to explore around there a bit. Following that we made our way to what was probably my favorite stay of the whole trip, a hostel in the small village of Bordeyri. That is right you read that correctly, we stayed in a hostel. Sadly however this was a very nice stay and nothing like the hostels in Europe I had hoped to expose my family to. That being said we enjoyed a quiet night there and watched some seals swim in the bay before calling it a night.
DAY 9
Our last day, Day 9 was a quick one as my parents were flying out that night. We made our way back towards Reykjavik and found Bæjarins, a world renowned lamb dog stand. Listen, I usually hate all things similar to a hotdog and this was so unbelievably good I would gladly recommend it to anyone. Following that we walked around a bit more and magically found Valdīs, an ice cream shop, go figure. Here we tried the famous rye bread ice cream again and found it even better than the first one. After this we dropped Zach and Lauren at a laundromat and drove Mom and Dad to the airport and said our goodbyes. After this we ventured back to get Zach and Lauren before grabbing a quick slice of pizza and even better ice cream at Gaeta. Although it was a rather uneventful day it was very needed before our next stop on this journey. Until then, go and take a trip!
