Why do they call it Iceland? They should call it Nice Land

What an incredible day. A new visual wonder around every turn.

We started with a morning tour of a smoked rainbow trout farm lead by our B&B hostess Kristin. She, her father and her four sisters own and run the factory. When she found out Brad smokes our fish at home, we had a good-natured contest. We think they both taste fantastic. Her B&B, the Bjarmaland Guesthouse, which deserves more credit than the Lonely Planet guide book gives it, is at: http://bjarmaland.bloggar.is/blogg/.

It was a day of driving and waterfall-watching after that. We have rarely seen such gorgeous scenery. Every new fjord we encountered and every mountain in between that we crossed -- each had its own serene beauty.

Check it out:

Check out the long and winding (gravel) road behind us.

This is the Dynjandi Waterfall. Can you tell we liked it?

This pass helps put the "ice" in Iceland.

This is the town of Isafjordur, home to 3,000 of the Westfjord's 8,000 inhabitants.

We're glad we talked the waiter out of bringing us two entrees tonight at the Tar House restaurant. One was plenty for the two of us. What you don't see is the humongous tureen of fish soup.

Despite being here a week and day so far, our grasp of the Icelandic road signs is still poor. But we think this one says "Leaving San Francisco."

We're now in Isafjordur, near the northwestern tip of Iceland. We checked in with our sea kayak guide this afternoon. Instead of a four-day kayak/camping trip, it looks like the weather is going to force us to shorten it to two days. Which means we'll be off the grid for the next couple of days and not posting to this blog.

The good news: they allow cameras on the kayaks, meaning we should have some terrific photos to share once we get back to civilization.

Bird cliffs and hot pots

OK, so we didn't ski and swim today. But we ventured to the westernmost tip of Iceland, Latrabjarg, on cliffs up to 1,300 feet high.

The guide books say it's actually the westernmost tip of Europe. We're fairly certain that Europe is a pretty far piece from here, but we'll let the geologists have the final say on this one.

We are simply awestruck by the beauty, the remoteness and the majesty of the landscape. Karen said it best when she said standing here makes you feel so small. That's partly because the cliffs and fjords are so towering, but also because there are only 8,000 people in the entire Westfjords region.

Our next stop was Talknafiordur, a town of 200 that has the most spectacular hot pot views we've encountered in our lives.

Scroll down for brief comments on the day's highlights.

This is actually yesterday while getting off the ferry. Other than they parked the cars mere inches apart, we're still unsure how they fit so many vehicles on board.

This is on the way to the Latrabjarg region. Notice the lack of guard rails. Yes, we were going slow, because it didn't seem like that stake on the side was going to keep us from rolling
hundreds of feet into the water. 

 We can't say enough about the Hotel Latrabjarg (www.latrabjarg.com). Our hosts, Carl and Sere, and their son Kristopher made us feel like royalty. In the morning, Carl spent time with us over breakfast telling us about the region and just plain getting to know us. These kinds of conversations are what make traveling so rewarding. Our thanks go to Peter and Inga, a couple we met way back at the Blue Lagoon, for recommending this special spot.

This is at the trailhead to the cliffs that are mobbed by mating and nesting birds. We don't understand Icelandic, but we think the sign says "beware of drunks."

Have we mentioned how remote we are? We looked on Google Earth, and it appears that we're on about the same latitude as the northern tip of Alaska.

The bird cliffs again. And this wasn't even the tallest cliff.

Can you tell we liked the cliffs?

The wind was whipping up big time. Thank goodness for fleece and Gore Tex.

But the sun was out in all its glory.

It's a long way to the rocks below. In the U.S. there would be footpaths and suicide barriers. In Iceland, you lie down next to the cliff's edge and peek down.

f

Sure beats working.

The most picturesque hot pot we've ever experienced. It's down a gravel road and not signposted.

The view from our tub.

Yee haw! What a great day of skiing and swimming the fjords!

You wouldn't believe the excitement of our first day in the Westfjords.

This is Brad skiing on a glacier:

And here we are at the end of the ski trip doing what the locals call the Polar Bear:

Alright, alright. We can't deceive you.

That's NOT what we did today. But it's what our sea kayaking guide, Runar, did this weekend. Looks pretty "cool," eh?

We'll get to today's real events in our next post. Just know that if the weather cooperates, we'll be going off the grid between Wednesday evening to Saturday. That's when we're hoping we'll get out for our sea kayak/camping adventure. The kayaks, unfortunately, do not have wifi access.

But now that we know that there IS swimming in the fjords, we may just have to try it.

Finding great things in unexpected places

When we were thrown the curveball of the missed ferry ride yesterday, at first we were crestfallen because we'd lose a day on our itinerary.

But then we found our home for the evening, Hofdagata Gistling (www.hofdagata.is) a lovely B&B with a hostess, Ella, who quickly made us feel at home.

And we were joined by new friends Hermund and Hallbjorg from the Faroe Islands.

One of our activities, as described in yesterday's posting, was going to the community hot pots, which were free for the day.

While our fingers were turning pruney, a swarm of 15 year olds descended. They were classmates on a three-day trip celebrating their graduation to high school in Reykjavik.

They were fun to watch, boys and girls having a good time laughing and playing in the warm water and going up and down the waterslide.

After dinner, we were strolling the town taking photos in the late light, when a small group of the kids chatted us up about what we thought of their country. They were very proud. When they found out we're from near Los Angeles, their first questions were, "What movie stars do you know?" "Do you know you look like Bruce Willis?" "Are you on Facebook?"

Here's a photo of who we hope become our Facebook followers:

We've told you about the all-night sunlight. Here are our after-dinner photos, taken about 11 last night.

As we write this, we're just a few minutes from landing in the Westfjords, which many of the locals describe as the most beautiful part of Iceland. Here are a couple of photos of the ferry ride:

 

Food lovers, take note: It's all about the Icelandic hot dog!

This episode deserves to be posted all by itself.

No one ever told us Iceland is a food lover's paradise. But Brad is now threatening to transfer his job to Stykkisholmur and move here just so he can be near the local wiener wagon.

It's specialty: deep-fried hot dogs on a bed of crunched-up Doritos with creamy garlic sauce and melted cheese. Garnished with seasoned salt.

A pregnant woman from Houston who experienced the gastronomic delight yesterday told Brad he wouldn't be able to stop at one. She was right.

 

As anyone should be able to guess, Karen was disgusted by the entire ordeal.

On a plus note, readers should know that this does not mean our diets have turned unhealthy. Here's the evidence from lunch near the harbor before catching our ferry:

Yes, our lunch was really French fries and hot chocolate. Plus, a triple-layer chocolate cake that we took to-go on the ferry.

We now have a few hours on an e-ticket ferry ride to Flatey Island and on to the Westfjords. The Arctic wind is howling and the waves are crashing hard. In other words, a perfect way to ride out our sugar high.

Doh! We broke our No. 1 travel rule

If there's one thing we've learned from our travels, it's that you can never believe what anyone says about ferry schedules. We usually trust only the people who work in the ferry office to provide accurate departure times.

So when we walked into the ferry office today and were told that we'd missed the only boat to the Westfjords by five hours, we could only blame ourselves for not confirming what we'd heard from fellow travelers and travel information centers.

First, the top photos from the day ... followed by our itinerary for tomorrow, provided we actually get on the ferry.

That's the view from our bed at the Hotel Hellner, through our window. At midnight.

We were delighted this morning when the clouds lifted from the Snaefellsjokull glacier just behind our hotel. Yesterday, it stayed mostly hidden.

With the sun shining bright, we made a beeline to the trail to from Djupalon to Drtivik, which is partly on a volcanic rock beach and partly on a lava field.

  

On the trail are the remnants of an ancient labyrinth. Karen nailed it on her first try.

From the mountains to the sea: You can't see the beach to the left, but it's there.

Another view of the glacier. It's said to be the inspiration for Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Just another humdrum drive past yet another dormant volcano. This is starting to get old.

Just kidding.

In the port town where we're staying, Stykkisholmur, there's the Library of Water, where there are glass tubes from floor to ceiling of water from 24 glaciers from all over Iceland. It may not sound very exciting, but it was actually a very peaceful and calming place. Not to mention unique.The photo is of the harbor through one of the water tubes.  

We have most of the day to kill before tomorrow's 3 p.m. ferry to the Westfjords. We'll likely spend it hiking. Or doing a walking tour of the town. Or sitting in the hot pots. Oh wait, we did the hot pots this afternoon ... here's a shot: 

If you're wondering, we asked at the woman at the front desk if we were too old to go down the slide. She said not by a long shot. So we did.

Hikers' paradise

Today was another good day.

After breakfast, we hiked from our little town, Helner, to the next little town, Arnarstapi, and back again. And after a hot chocolate and waffle at the tiniest beachside cafe we've seen, we tackled two waterfalls in the Snaefellsjokul National Park. (Don't worry, we can't pronounce it either.)

Again, words fail us in this otherworldly landscape. Instead of attempting to explain the diversity and beauty, we offer the below photographic evidence. To see larger photos, just double click.

 

 

  We couldn't resist posting this one ... he seemed to think there were snacks in Brad's pocket. 

Funny, he was right.

And finally, here's a portrait of a blogger toiling under trying circumstances. Note the drab outdoor surroundings and the midnight light. And the two empty beer glasses. 

 

As for tomorrow, all we know is that it's a two-hour drive from here to Stykkisholmur, where we're catching the ferry to Flatey Island and Brjanslaekur. Whatever we do before the ferry is anyone's guess ... but we know it'll be awesome.