Day Five: Borgarnes

We decided to rent our little Toyota Yaris for a second day, so we took a road trip to a little town called Borgarnes. Borgarnes is about 60 km north of Reykjavik. The drive involved travelling through a tunnel that passed below a major fjord. The town itself is tiny by all but Icelandic standards. Its one claim to fame is a Viking Egil's Saga and early settlement museum, which we visited. The museum also contains a restaurant whose owner was gracious enough to stay open an extra hour just so we could have the special mashed fish entree. Yum. Here are some pictures of the day.


viking statue


the bridge to Borgarnes


Jared trying not to slip on the icy rocks

Borgarnes and our little silver Yaris

Borgarnes

view from the edge of town

The special entree: Plokkfiskur (mashed fish with red peppercorns and rye bread). Although it looks kind of gross, it was surprisingly good.

Day Four: Geysir and Gullfoss

These are pictures from the geysir after which all geysirs are named. Unfortunately, "Geysir" doesn't erupt much anymore, but there is a smaller geysir named "Strokkur" that erupts every five minutes or so. We were able to see it erupt about three times before making our way to Gullfoss.

These are pictures from Gullfoss, one of Iceland's most famous waterfalls. It was VERY cold that day. Because it was so cold, there weren't many people around, so we were able to experience a huge tourist attraction without dealing with throngs of tourists. If you can stand the cold, it is well worth it to visit Iceland in the winter.

Day Three: Icelandic Horses

We decided to ride some Icelandic horses the third day we were in Iceland. Icelanders are very protective of this species; they have not been bred with any other horses for almost one thousand years. Therefore, they are small, unusually strong, funny looking, furry, and incredibly even-tempered. One of the most interesting things about the horses is the fact that they have a fifth gait: the tolt. Our guide described it as "horse power-walking." We were able to experience the tolt while riding alongside some lava fields. It was a fantastic experience.

Days One and Two in Iceland

Shots from our first two days in Reykjavik:





The following pictures chronicle our experience eating fermented shark and drinking brennivín. The shark smelled like ammonia and didn´t taste much better. Although I´m not a huge fan of hard liquor, Jared loved the traditional Icelandic schnapps, brennivín (aka the black death), and ordered two more shots with his dinner.






This was our dinner last night at Islanski Barinn. Jared ordered the mixed grill, and I ordered the chef´s special. Among other things, we feasted on puffin, herring, goose, arctic char, monkfish, and roasted root vegetables. It was divine.

Franklin

We took a circuitous route from Pittsburgh to Franklin, stopping by Niagara Falls and ending up in Syracuse for the night. Slight rain and overcast skies = perfect upstate New York winter weather. This is more of a test post, just to make sure that we know how to use the blog and can update it when we're in Iceland.

Please do enjoy the following pictures (taken by me and Jared) with our lovely new Canon Rebel XSi. Although Jared was not particularly pleased by the initial purchase, he is now thoroughly obsessed with the camera.