30-08-16

I got up in the morning and did a bit of exercise downstairs (I decided to stop jogging because my Achilles tendon was really playing up. I also stopped wearing my boots and started wearing my walking sandals everywhere, replete with socks...). We set off without breakfast on a fairly misty and chilly morning and headed back through the mountains to the Eastern fjords - Seydisfjordur. The drive felt quite treacherous due to narrow roads, comparatively heavy traffic, poor visibility and heavy rain. It was a sham not to be able to see much of the landscape, but it held a menace and mystery all the same.

We arrived, parked up and got some pastries (the boys had taken a liking to cinemon rolls) in a small supermarket and sat down on a small table and chairs (in the supermarket), to eat them. Ellis also spent 10000kr on some sweets in the shape of a pizza! We strolled down the main street with it's multicoloured path and funny little artisan shops selling a mix of home crafted wares, nice, but expensive ornaments and high-class tat. Luca was initially quite taken with the shops, but seemed to grow weary of them when realised that they weren't particularly urban, and Ellis was weary of the place as soon as we stopped eating the pastries. Some of the shops were just in people's houses, mostly run by young people who had the air of having visited there several years ago and deciding never to leave. The buildings were all in a Dutch style, having been shipped over there by the settlers many years ago.

We stopped for a coffee and cake in a great little traditional cafe (I had a cake with apricot and pistachio - lovely). Then we set off back from whence we came and continued to the next house in Akureyri.

Along the way we stopped at Goðafoss falls, which were more in the Niagra style, but still compact enough to have some beauty and impact. Ellis took some slow shutter speed shots to capture the movement. On the way back to the car we stopped so that the boys could add to the collection of stone pillars that people had created with the crumbling, but very grippy rock.

We drove through Myvatn ( i was hoping the boys would sleep through this bit as we'd be returning in a day or 2), and carried on to Akureyri and straight to the house. It was a great little place, the location wasn't quite as nice as hoped (quite a few house littered the side of the hill), but the design of the outside and inside was very Scandinavian, cool, spacious, comfy (although the tele was in a very strange position on the wall and only had about 3 channels, all in Icelandic). It also had wifi access, and a Mac..... I'd still not managed to find a VinBudin when one was open, so I was relieved that there was some beer in the fridge. They also had some nice tea and great coffee.

The air was still quite damp and cool outside as we set off to Akureyri to check it out, go to the supermarket and get some tea. In search of decent sized supermarket that was still open at 7pm we went past the Masonic Lodge which sparked an interesting conversation about the Freemasons. The supermarket we settled on was fairly uninspiring, but had the basics. We got more cinamon rolls and I got a some rye bread and a couple of cheeses for breakfast.

We quickly settled on a grill for tea, which did a fantastic range of gourmet burgers - I had a surf'n'turf one which was ace. 

At the petrol station I finally saw some baseball caps with Iceland on the front - they were a bit chavvy, but they were all we'd seen. When Ellis saw them a few days later, he concluded they weren't for him. I couldn't convince him to get one of the traditional woollen, over the ears hats either.

We spent the evening chilling out at the house. I read my book on the history of British mountaineering and the boys took turns on the Mac.