(6/11) We woke up early, ate breakfast, and packed to leave Solheimar. Today was a “fun day” as our group leader Caitlin told us. We drove for a short while before stopping at Geysir, one of the world’s first geysers. The word geyser is actually taken from Geysir. We didn’t actually get to see Geysir erupt, as it does so somewhat infrequently, the last time being in 2000. However, there was a smaller geyser in the area that erupted about every 5 minutes, so we got to see it a few times.
After getting back on the bus we drove further north to see Gulfoss, Iceland’s largest waterfall. It’s strange that I’ve seen Gulfoss in Iceland before visiting Niagara Falls in the U.S. Apparently the land had been owned by a farmer many years back, and the government wanted to buy the land to make a hydropower plant that would provide energy and boost the economy. He resisted, and upon dying passed the land on to his daughter. She too would not allow the falls to be dammed off to make a hydropower plant and only sold it to the government under the condition that they be preserved as a national park.
Leaving Gulfoss, we continued our drive north to Thingvellir (I cannot type the Icelandic letters that are absent from the English alphabet, so I am just typing the equivalent pronunciation). Thingvellir was the birthplace of Iceland’s parliament and now is a historical site that is also naturally beautiful, bordering a large lake. We ate lunch there and went on a small hike before heading to our final destination, Saeberg.
Saeberg is not really a town I believe, but just a place where there is a hostel that rests in one of Iceland’s fjords. The place was out in the middle of nowhere, and the view was breathtaking. Upon claiming rooms, we ate dinner and then played another couple of games of castle (the traditional Icelandic game I mentioned earlier). Apparently I have a knack for it.
Despite being almost midnight, the sun was still up and we decided to fit a bunch of people into the hostel’s geothermal hot tub. We sat there for a couple of hours talking, and would occasionally run down to the ocean, jump in, and then run back to the hot tub to get warm again. It’s hard to believe that we’ve only been traveling for four days.
We went to bed around 2 am, but I still woke up to run in the morning. I wanted to try and get back into a schedule. I ran up from the water to the country road and came across several small farms, mainly with sheep and horses.
Even though I woke up early, we weren’t planning to leave until around noon, so most everybody slept in. After leaving Saeberg we drove east towards Akureyri. On the way we stopped at Blonduvirkjun, a hydropower plant that is the third biggest in the country. We got to drive underground and see the giant turbines that use the water to generate electricity. After our tour we drove a few miles from the plant and got to see the dam that works with the power plant.
Continuing to Akureyri, the drive was very scenic, but I slept most of the way as we were all very tired. We arrived in Akureyri (Iceland’s second largest town) a little before 6 pm, and our homestay families drove up to the university shortly after we arrived. I’m staying with a family with four kids. Two are stepchildren (Kari-boy and Freyja-girl, 10 and 7) that are currently staying in Reykjavik with their dad. The other two are Orn and Ari (both boys, 3 and 2). The parents are Thorhallur and Perla. The mother works at a bank, and the father works a day job (I can’t remember where) and does stand-up comedy in the evenings from time to time. They also have 4 chickens and a cat named Polyanna. The house is over 120 years old and very quaint. I’m staying in the guest room in their basement. One of the girls from the SIT program is staying with a family across the street so I’m sure we’ll hang out often. Tomorrow we have the day off, and we start classes Monday at 9 am at the local university. Time to sleep! Goda Nott!
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