Our time at Akureyri is coming to a close. Today was our second to last class day at the Renewable Energy School at the University of Iceland. We began learning about hydrogen fuel cells and we will finish early tomorrow. The subject matter was interesting, but I was so tired from the hike the night before that I kind of just dozed in the back.
After school I went to Bonus (the grocery store) and bought some chocolate. I should’ve gone home and napped, but my friend Rosie was going to Lake Myvatn and I invited myself to tag along. Several of the other students have gone with their host families on other days but since my family doesn’t have a car I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity. So, when I got home I changed and grabbed my rain jacket right before Rosie, her host mom and her host grandma picked me up. It was kind of rainy outside but we decided to brave the weather.
We drove out of town and I napped a little on our way to Myvatn. The lake is rather large and it contains several little islands. The area is covered with volcanic rock from past eruptions (and apparently there was a volcanic eruption near the lake only 30 years ago). There is also great bird diversity, but I only saw two birds.
Next we drove to a trail nearby and walked through a slightly wooded area. There aren’t many trees in Iceland, but several ash trees lined the trail we walked along (it was only about 1 kilometer). A short drive away was a geothermal area with holes in the ground where locals could bake bread. There is a certain kind of sulfur bread that is baked here that uses geothermal heat. It has a rather thick consistency and kind of tastes like molasses, not my thing. Across the street there was a walking path near some mud pots and sulfur deposits. The landscape was so different from the trail we had walked along only a few miles away.
After wiping the mud off our shoes and taking our raincoats off, the four of us got back into the car and had a car picnic. Rosie’s host mom had packed a lunch of boiled egg sandwiches, ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches as well as hot chocolate in a thermos. It was really pleasant, having our picnic in the car while we were bundled up and watched the rain falling outside.
To warm up, we drove to Jarthbothin (I just typed the pronunciation since I can't type the Icelandic letters), a geothermal bath to take a dip. The pool felt amazing, it kept us warm despite the slight drizzle, and helped ease my achy legs from the hike. By this time it was almost 8:00 pm, and we had plans to see a jazz band in town at 9:30 so we changed in the locker room, got back in the car and headed back to Akureyri. On the way home we passed Godafoss, a large waterfall outside of town, but we were running late and it was still raining so we didn’t stop.
Once back in town, I skyped with my parents since it was my dad’s birthday and then headed to a little venue around the corner from the main street to see the jazz band. Rosie’s host sister had a friend who knew the lead singer in the band and she recommended that we come. The group consisted of two guys on guitar, a guy played bass, and a girl who sang and played the violin. The music wasn’t so much jazz, but the band was very good. They played some music that sounded like bluegrass, did some jazz-like instrumentals, and performed a few covers (they did a great job on the song “Cry Me a River.” (Here's a really low quality pic. I didn't want to use the flash)
Afterwards we went next door to Carolina, a small bar, but I didn’t stay long since I was so tired from last night’s hike and my long day.
Last day of class tomorrow!
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