June 6 - North of Reykjavik

After a week travelling in the small motor home along the south coast area of Iceland, it felt good to move to the larger space of an apartment style hotel in Reykjavik.  Finding the hotel was tricky. The main street was narrow but that was nothing compared to the streets and alleys on either side of it. There were also many one-way streets and others which were closed to traffic. Even with our GPS we had trouble finding the address. Finding a parking spot was an additional challenge.

We only had two full days in Reykjavik so we decided to use one of them to drive a little way up the west coast. From Reykjavik there are a number of fiords. Our destination was Akranes, a small town about an hour’s drive away. In the past, the drive used to be much longer but now there is a long tunnel under the water of the first fiord. When I say long, I do mean long. The tunnel is six kilometers in length and is the only toll road in Iceland. (Toll is approximately $10 US each way.)

We had come to Akranes to see if we could locate any descendants or records of the great grandfather of a friend back home. In the process of our search, we ventured out to the lighthouse, heard an impromptu organ recital in the Lutheran Church, indulged in coffee and pastries in the local bakery, and stomped around the wet grass of the local cemetery. Unfortunately we didn’t find a record of our friend’s great grandfather but we did have a lovely day exploring the town.

As a side note, we had a bite to eat at Subway. This was one of the two North American food chains we came across in Iceland. The other was Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Below are four pictures. The first is by the lighthouse. The lighthouse was on a windswept point and it was raining quite heavily when we were there.

Sue in front of a lighthouse

The second and third pictures are of typical older homes close to the town centre. Some of the older homes also had a corrugated iron covering over the original cement exterior wall.  You can see this on the outside wall of the first home.  I liked the bright colours of some of the homes. It reminded me of houses we had seen in Newfoundland.

Red house with corrugated iron covering

White and blue house

 

Lyle took the final picture looking over the headstones in the town cemetery.  

 

Cemetery