Okay, now I'm caught up, so I'm writing almost real-time.
We had a slightly late start today. I think we're moving slowly from the jet lag and the short night of sleep we had on the red-eye. It's hard to go to sleep before midnight because it's so bright out. It's 11:30pm as I write this and I can see outside as if it's 5pm back home. Or at least 7pm in the summer. (I know I've commented about this before but, heck, we're close 24 hour days here!)
We left our hotel and went up over a mountain pass. There was snow on the side of the road but apart from the steep grade and gravel road there wasn't much concern. I can imagine that this would be practically impassable in the winter.
We meandered our way along with wonderful views of the mountains before ending up at
Egilsstaoir, one of the larger villages in Eastern Iceland. There was an airport and a nearby seaport! This was mainly a resupply stop. We went to 66 North, the outdoor clothing store place here. (66 North is the latitude of the Arctic Circle which is just above Iceland.) The stuff there was ridiculously expensive. Socks were $24! Everything was 2-3x what you'd find in REI at home. They looked nice but I couldn't justify spending that much.
Our goal (okay my goal) was to find reindeer in Egilsstaoir and we (I) succeeded. Oh, did I mention, I meant reindeer to eat? I didn't splurge on the reindeer steak but I had a reindeer burger and it was as good as I remembered. (Mmm, Rudolph!). I'm continuing to succeed in my quest to "go local"!
After a stop for gas, we pushed on, making one stop for a hike at a nameless foss (if you remember your earlier lesson, that's waterfall). Continuing on, we made it to a geothermal power station that supplies 92% of the household electricity in Iceland. Water is pumped down into geothermal vents in the earth. Steam comes up that powers turbines that generate electricity. We went on a small tour of the power station -- it's definitely not what one would stop at normally on vacation.
Beyond the power station there was lava fields and a crater called Viti (Hell!). We did a bit of hiking around here. The lava fields reminded me of the area near Lassen in California. There was bubbling ground and hot steam vents here and at Hverir. It was pretty cool (well, pretty hot, but you know what I mean...)
On our way to the hotel, we had dinner at a restaurant along Lake Myvatn (interestingly, Myvatn means midges. I can see some on the window outside. Not looking forward to that tomorrow!). The restaurant provided food from its farm. I had their special plate with smoked raw lamb, dill-cured Arctic char, smoke Arctic Char, Myvant mozarella, and local salad. It was pretty good. A nice chance to try some local stuff. Lilian didn't touch a thing on my plate. Oh, there was also geysir bread. They make the bread by cooking it underground in the geysir.
Now, we're wrapping up for the night trying to figure out where to go next. I'm going to sign off right now to take a picture of the sun. Yes, the sun. I'll add a picture of that. It's 11:44pm!!!
We had a slightly late start today. I think we're moving slowly from the jet lag and the short night of sleep we had on the red-eye. It's hard to go to sleep before midnight because it's so bright out. It's 11:30pm as I write this and I can see outside as if it's 5pm back home. Or at least 7pm in the summer. (I know I've commented about this before but, heck, we're close 24 hour days here!)
We left our hotel and went up over a mountain pass. There was snow on the side of the road but apart from the steep grade and gravel road there wasn't much concern. I can imagine that this would be practically impassable in the winter.
We meandered our way along with wonderful views of the mountains before ending up at
Egilsstaoir, one of the larger villages in Eastern Iceland. There was an airport and a nearby seaport! This was mainly a resupply stop. We went to 66 North, the outdoor clothing store place here. (66 North is the latitude of the Arctic Circle which is just above Iceland.) The stuff there was ridiculously expensive. Socks were $24! Everything was 2-3x what you'd find in REI at home. They looked nice but I couldn't justify spending that much.
Our goal (okay my goal) was to find reindeer in Egilsstaoir and we (I) succeeded. Oh, did I mention, I meant reindeer to eat? I didn't splurge on the reindeer steak but I had a reindeer burger and it was as good as I remembered. (Mmm, Rudolph!). I'm continuing to succeed in my quest to "go local"!
After a stop for gas, we pushed on, making one stop for a hike at a nameless foss (if you remember your earlier lesson, that's waterfall). Continuing on, we made it to a geothermal power station that supplies 92% of the household electricity in Iceland. Water is pumped down into geothermal vents in the earth. Steam comes up that powers turbines that generate electricity. We went on a small tour of the power station -- it's definitely not what one would stop at normally on vacation.
Beyond the power station there was lava fields and a crater called Viti (Hell!). We did a bit of hiking around here. The lava fields reminded me of the area near Lassen in California. There was bubbling ground and hot steam vents here and at Hverir. It was pretty cool (well, pretty hot, but you know what I mean...)
On our way to the hotel, we had dinner at a restaurant along Lake Myvatn (interestingly, Myvatn means midges. I can see some on the window outside. Not looking forward to that tomorrow!). The restaurant provided food from its farm. I had their special plate with smoked raw lamb, dill-cured Arctic char, smoke Arctic Char, Myvant mozarella, and local salad. It was pretty good. A nice chance to try some local stuff. Lilian didn't touch a thing on my plate. Oh, there was also geysir bread. They make the bread by cooking it underground in the geysir.
Now, we're wrapping up for the night trying to figure out where to go next. I'm going to sign off right now to take a picture of the sun. Yes, the sun. I'll add a picture of that. It's 11:44pm!!!
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