Isafjordur and Akureyi, Iceland

Dave and I signed up for all of the "active" excursions we could. The first one was kayaking in Isafjordur, Iceland. It wasn't until we realized how cold Iceland was that I began to wonder what we were getting ourselves into. Driving over to our spot was beautiful. We drove through the mountain in a  20 mile long tunnel (that's how they get to different places in the winter). And luck was on our side because when we got to the other side of the mountain, the sun was shining and it was a balmy 50 degrees outside. Our kayaking guides were a family, and thankfully they had the gear to go along. I was in two leggings and yoga pants, plus a long sleeve shirt and two sweaters. They gave us waterproof pants and I wore my rain jacket. Talk about a sight for sore eyes! We also had the bibs that helped keep the water out. Dave was in the rear, but our steering mechanisms weren't working correctly, so we had to use the good ol' fashioned paddle to turn. Worked for us! We were the first ones  to the other side. 

The fjord we kayaked in.

The view.

We went around this!

After kayaking, we had a little time left and while the others went to look through some tiny museum (that didn't end up being there anyways), we found a small pub, and thus began the finding and tasting beer in each place. This was a viking beer, and though I didn't like it...Dave did.

The pub.

In Akureyi, the guys and Debbie played golf at the most northern golf course in the world. The course was still a little frozen over, but they said give it a month and it will be good (for two). Dave wants to go back on day to play in the Arctic Open, which is a tournament they play in June at midnight because it's light all night long.

Linda, Dianna and I went on a tour and saw an old parsonage. When it was built (long time ago), they used sod on the roofs as an insulator. It was crazy. When you go inside, the walls were just cut off sod, and you could see the roots in the roof. There were tunnels throughout the 6 small houses that connected them so that during the winter you never had to go outside. Even the animals lived inside and you could get to them. The doorways were super short, and there weren't a lot of air vents. I imagine that it got pretty ripe during the cold months.

The sod houses.

The stove...this is the room Dianna wanted to sleep in!

The backsides, but the insides looked just like this too.

Side view.

Those two houses are connected through the tunnels.

Old farm equipment.

We also got to see another waterfall (they are EVERYWHERE). This one was called Godafoss. It was beautiful, but not quite the same as the one on the first day!

View from the top.

The mist.

Pretty amazing.

View through the rocks.

Dave and Debbie finished the day with yet another Icelandic pub and Dave started his collection of beer mugs from our trip. Iceland didn't have nearly the landscape we imagined, it was actually quite sparse. But, if you ever get a chance to try "icelandic lamb" go for it. It was very, very good...and coming from me, that's huge. In fact, I googled it when we got back, and Whole Foods carries it, but only seasonally (October to December about). So come fall, I'm sure we will be buying some. Yup. It was that good!