Day 8: Mist, city life, fish

Mist, city life, fish

It's Saturday again. Exactly one week ago our adventure in Iceland began. We're both a bit surprised that we're only halfway now. Judging by the number of things we've seen so far, or the pictures on our camera's, it could already have been a whole trip. At the same time, we feel a bit sad too. The fact that we're over the halfway mark means that the end will now rapidly start to come closer and closer.

We have another breakfast with pancakes and waffles at the hotel. After checking out and loading the car we leave Mývatn and its annoying midgets behind us. Because today's planning is a bit more flexible, we decide to take a walk on the Vindbelgjarfjall. A mountain to the west of the Mývatn lake that gives a great panoramic view on a clear day. As of this morning, the sunny days have left us and clouds with sometimes rain are forecasted for the next couple of days. Because the weather is so dynamic here, we decided to make the walk to the top. We might be in luck... or at least we've had a good exercise walking up! 

As we park the car on the nearby parking lot and quickly gear up for the walk, the top of the mountain is still out of the clouds. We immediately put our hoods on and zip our jackets to our noses because of swarms of midgets. Apart from the occasional waving to clear the insects in front of our faces, it's a nice and relaxing walk through really prominent autumn colours. When we start the climb on the mountain, most of the midgets seem too have stayed in the vegetation. As we slowly get higher and higher up the hillside, we can see numerous lakes behind us. The water is filled with waterbirds and migrating birds taking a rest on the water. 

The closer we get to the top, the colder it gets and more and more clouds have gathered. The top of the mountain is now in the clouds. 

When we arrive to the top, there not much to be seen. Sometimes we can see the car parked below, but the view doesn't allow much more than that. We wait for about 5 minutes in the hope that the clouds would disperse, but no luck. We head back down the same way we came and enjoy the view on the colourful vegetation below us and the lakes. When we're back on level ground, we cross other tourists that just started their hike. They ask us if we did see something at the top. Luckily, they share the same spirit and decide to continue their walk. By the time we arrive back at the car the top is shortly back out of the clouds. One needs to have a bit of luck in his/her life.

Akureyri

Once we've made it back in the car and killed or chased away as many midgets as we can, it's time to drive to Akureyri: the biggest city in the north of Iceland! Total number of inhabitants equals roughly that of Stabroek (Belgian commune). Funny how this can be the second biggest city. Nevertheless, it will feel weird to be in a city again!  

As we see the city for the first time in the distance, it doesn't seem that big (maybe because it just isn't). But as we approach the centre, things do feel a bit strange. Traffic lights, and more cars. Even an airport on a peninsula just outside the city. Fun fact about the traffic lights: the red light is not a red ball like in most other European countries. Here, it's a red heart. A smile is in the smallest of things. 

We park the car somewhere in the centre and plan for our midday city trip. There's a church that is situated slightly higher than the main streets. Lots of colourful houses, souvenir shops and cosy bars. We take a stroll down the shopping street and have a coffee and hot chocolate in one of the oldest bars in town. The city isn't that big and after about 1 hour we've seen most of the highlights. We visit the botanical garden near the university and are pleasantly surprised by the beauty of it. There's a huge variety of plants and the park by itself is very cosy. A modern tea- and coffee house and lots of lights in the trees make it a nice environment and must be extremely cosy in wintertime.

As we walk back to the centre where our car is parked, we have lunch at Subway. For once we don't have to eat in the trunk of our car and make our own sandwiches. After lunch we continue the short drive to Dalvik, a tiny town where we'll do a whale sighting tour the next morning. The city has literally nothing else to offer apart from the whale tours. There's one hotel, where we'll be staying. In summer I can image this can be a bit touristic because of the whale tours. In winter there are some ski stations nearby that might draw some people in too. However, in September... there's hardly any touristic activity. Because we arrived before check-in time, we decided to take a quick walk near the town harbour and beach. The weather has changed from cloudy but dry to a constant light drizzle. Not the most pleasant to make long walks in. As soon as we open the door of the car, a pertinent fish odour attacks our noses. Just like we're in the middle of a fish market! We realise it's a town that thrives on fishery, but it's strange how this can remain this prominent throughout the town. Maybe there was an event before we arrived...

After our short walk in the rain, we enter the hotel to check-in. The parking lot has just our car. As we approach the reception desk a woman arrives and introduces herself as the hotel owner. She has just arrived and left a paper on the reception desk with our name and room key in case she didn't make it back on time. This weekend, a major event takes place all over Iceland: farmers gather their sheep from the fields and take them back to their farm for the winter. It's a big family thing here and our host was helping out her brother. On the desk there's one more paper and key. Turns out there are only two guests in this whole hotel for the night. The room is basic but has everything that's needed. Because this hotel doesn't have a restaurant, we have to go out for dinner. From our travel agency we got a recommendation for a restaurant, so we decide to go there. After looking on Google Maps we're not sure if there are more than 3 restaurants in this town. We make our evening walk to the restaurant and notice that most people here own, next to a car, also a snow scooter or quad. Because of the rain, the smell of fish and the little daylight left, the town fails to enchant us for now. 

We arrive at the restaurant and take our places at a small table. It's not so big and in the back, we can see another couple that are probably tourists too. All the others are locals and everyone seems to know each other. A larger group in front of us seems to be celebrating something. After a nice meal we go back to the hotel where everything is completely deserted. The reception is closed and there's no trace of anyone. We go to bed and wonder if breakfast will be served, and if so, at what time? Troubles for tomorrow!

Excited about the whale watching tomorrow, and also wondering how many tourists will show up, we go to bed.