11/9 Day 8
Although Iceland is a Christian nation, a large percentage of the population still believes in Trolls, Elves, gnomes, and other little people. It's easy to see where they get it from b/c there are lots of formations that look like trolls or elves and the land does seem magical.
Today we explored the Eastfjords. At Reydarfjordur we left Rte 1 and went over the high mountain pass down to Neskaupstadur and Nordfjordur. The road didn't completely go over the pass, but we went though what appeared to be a rather sketchy tunnel at the top. It was 1 lane and impossible to really know if another car was coming. Good thing there are hardly any cars on the road in Iceland anyways. We went back the way we had come and then headed over another pass to Seydisfjordur, which is where you can catch a ferry to Europe. It was a cute little town with a pretty blue church that had a rainbow path leading up to it. Follow the rainbow brick road! It was in this town that we ran into, for the first time, one of the ways people in iceland walk their dogs. The dog is outside the car running along it, while the person "walking" the dog drives in the car. It works b/c there is so little traffic in Iceland, there's little risk of the dog getting hit, and I guess it's nice for the person so they don't have to be out in the cold, rain, and snow.
From Seydisfjordur we headed back over the pass to Egilsstadir (home to a huge lake that apparently has a lochness type monster) then onto a dirt road to head to Borgarfjordur Eystri. We went over a big pass with beautiful mountain views to get to the town. The town had a cute and famous "hairy" house. There are quite a few houses in Iceland that have turf roofs. This town is one of the best places to see puffins in the summer, but this time of year the puffins are out to sea. But this town is also a popular place for the hidden people. We did a short walk up to a place called Alfaborg (Elf Rock) where the queen of Icelandic elves lives. We did not see her, but Elisha's gnome friend certainly enjoyed the trip.
It got dark while we were in Seydisfjordur, but we decided to drive on. The book said that the drive from there to our next destination was a taste of the Icelandic highlands, but didn't sound too exciting. Little snow melt lakes, but otherwise rolling hills and barren landscape. We drove for a good while until we reached Dettifoss, Europe's most powerful waterfall. While we were cooking, we were treated to some Auroras as we listened to the roar of the falls.
Today was the day of the US election. It was nice not being involved in what was happening and having to deal with all the social media hysteria and all of that. We had no internet so there would be know way of knowing anyway. We would check later the next time we had internet, though I actually didn't want to, but Elisha was very curious to see. I also found out (later when I got home) that Nate went to the courthouse and married Emme today! A big surprise for all of us at Summit b/c he had not mentioned anything
Although Iceland is a Christian nation, a large percentage of the population still believes in Trolls, Elves, gnomes, and other little people. It's easy to see where they get it from b/c there are lots of formations that look like trolls or elves and the land does seem magical.
Today we explored the Eastfjords. At Reydarfjordur we left Rte 1 and went over the high mountain pass down to Neskaupstadur and Nordfjordur. The road didn't completely go over the pass, but we went though what appeared to be a rather sketchy tunnel at the top. It was 1 lane and impossible to really know if another car was coming. Good thing there are hardly any cars on the road in Iceland anyways. We went back the way we had come and then headed over another pass to Seydisfjordur, which is where you can catch a ferry to Europe. It was a cute little town with a pretty blue church that had a rainbow path leading up to it. Follow the rainbow brick road! It was in this town that we ran into, for the first time, one of the ways people in iceland walk their dogs. The dog is outside the car running along it, while the person "walking" the dog drives in the car. It works b/c there is so little traffic in Iceland, there's little risk of the dog getting hit, and I guess it's nice for the person so they don't have to be out in the cold, rain, and snow.
From Seydisfjordur we headed back over the pass to Egilsstadir (home to a huge lake that apparently has a lochness type monster) then onto a dirt road to head to Borgarfjordur Eystri. We went over a big pass with beautiful mountain views to get to the town. The town had a cute and famous "hairy" house. There are quite a few houses in Iceland that have turf roofs. This town is one of the best places to see puffins in the summer, but this time of year the puffins are out to sea. But this town is also a popular place for the hidden people. We did a short walk up to a place called Alfaborg (Elf Rock) where the queen of Icelandic elves lives. We did not see her, but Elisha's gnome friend certainly enjoyed the trip.
It got dark while we were in Seydisfjordur, but we decided to drive on. The book said that the drive from there to our next destination was a taste of the Icelandic highlands, but didn't sound too exciting. Little snow melt lakes, but otherwise rolling hills and barren landscape. We drove for a good while until we reached Dettifoss, Europe's most powerful waterfall. While we were cooking, we were treated to some Auroras as we listened to the roar of the falls.
Today was the day of the US election. It was nice not being involved in what was happening and having to deal with all the social media hysteria and all of that. We had no internet so there would be know way of knowing anyway. We would check later the next time we had internet, though I actually didn't want to, but Elisha was very curious to see. I also found out (later when I got home) that Nate went to the courthouse and married Emme today! A big surprise for all of us at Summit b/c he had not mentioned anything
 |
| on elf rock |
 |
| hairy house |
 |
| N1, our favorite gas stations |
 |
| long, single lane tunnel |
No comments:
Post a Comment