Þríhnúkagígur - Inside a Volcano

 Þríhnúkagígur was the last stop of our trip, but truly fascinating. Nearly 4,500 years ago there was an eruption, but for some as yet undetermined reason the magma dome beneath the surface cone drained off, leaving the hallowed-out shell of the cone and an empty chasm. 

The proprietors installed a window washing elevator so scientists, and now the curious, could descend 120m beneath the surface through the narrow opening and into a beautiful view of the inside of the Earth. Not quite the center of the Earth, but still impressive.

Going down…

As usual photos simply cannot do justice to the scale and beauty of this amazing, very unique place. 

The 8km round trip walk through the resultant lava field with its lava caves was equally beautiful. 

Reykjavik to the west

Some caves were large enough for habitation and stayed warm for decades after the eruption. 

Crevices are deep and treacherous

Lava “ropes” from rippled flows

Much of Iceland’s “green” is moss covered lava. 

And then it was back to Reykjavik to pack and prep for the long flight home…

Eiríksstaðir - Viking Longhouse

Eiríksstaðir is a great recreation of a 10th century longhouse on the site of an actual ruins. 

The construction is really sound, except for the carbon monoxide issues they seemed to have with poor ventilation, which is why folks slept in the loft. 

Very instructive docents covering the hardships of life during those times, but also interesting insight into Viking trade routes all the way to the Silk Road. Plus, the society was very egalitarian, with folks encouraged to help the community by doing what they did best - like female warriors or male weavers. No gender roles, just survival. And women owned land as long as they could make it productive. This lasted until the adoption of Christianity later narrowed the gender roles.

Very interesting hour visit. 

They claim that only 27 swords have been recovered over the years. Since there were no wars or conflicts on Iceland itself, the steel was better used for tools. Warriors were usually supplied weapons by whom ever was leading the expedition. 

The kitchen was kept under control of the woman if the house. She held on to any cash as well. 

Rock ‘n Troll

Our travels across the north and west landed us at Fossatún on the Troll Falls of the Grímsá River, named for the troll rock on the north bank and the troll legends of the area. The falls and nearby hotel are protected by the troll garden. 

Big trolls require big chairs

This is the guy who prevents guys like me from fishing for salmon when they begin their run. Unless I have proper permission. 

They’ve done a great job of integrating lore and interests by adding the Rock ‘n Troll Cafe, with an all vinyl music selection, plus vinyl floors and chairs.

Local brewery just up the road

What we’d call winter weather, low-40s, 30mph winds and rain set in overnight. Think they just call it summer in Iceland. 

Thar She Blows!!!

Whale watching in the North Atlantic requires good sea legs and a strong stomach, even if you’re only going out on a schooner!

Didn’t really “sail” out of Húsavík given the moderate winds and tight schedule, but the Opal was a nice two-masted vessel (with very quiet diesel engines) built in 1951 and she performed beautifully. 

Four our three-hour tour… a three-hour tour!

Beautiful clear day, awesome viewing conditions!

Fearless crew…

It wasn’t that the weather started getting rough, so much as the rollers were just still coming in from the prior day’s weather… the tiny ship did get tossed a little bit. 

And so did some lunches! Watched one lady hold out pretty well until she heard someone wretching on the starboard side, then she was done! About 5’ from Marina! Fortunately we had managed the wind well in our positioning amidships.

And then, just as it was time to come about and return to port…

About half-grown humpback whale!

Really cool! Saw puffins too, but it’s a miracle my phone wasn’t lost taking the videos and photos I managed. Did have my sea legs by the time we made port and none of our crew blew. 

We were actually supposed to have gone out for Marina’s birthday, but canceled due to the weather (thank goodness). Everything happens for a reason!

Guess paying attention to the weather forecast was a “fluke” this time! 

Sorry, couldn’t resist…

Akureyri

Akureyri is Iceland’s second-largest city, a port on the Eyjafjörður fjord on the north-central coast. A bustling center of commerce and tourism, it’s clean, pretty, modern and surrounded by beauty. Friendly people, great food, lots to do, oh, and also the home of Viking Brewery 😁

The Lutheran church overlooks the harbor

The two-story gold can used to have a Viking label, but was being repainted (wasted that walk)…

For being  <100 miles from the Arctic Circle their botanical gardens were amazing!

Great representative photo of what the gardens are like five months out of the year and what’s required to get them into summer shape

They’ve gathered Arctic plants from across the planet, some extremely rare!

McCormack Farm-All cub

And the food?

Barely room for Belgian waffle under all that bacon!

Simply the BEST salmon I’ve ever eaten…moist, almost buttery, perfectly grilled

Thinking Akureyri might be my favorite town so far…

Cuddle Kitties

Ain’t many petting zoos anywhere near where we’ve traveled with the girls over the years that hasn’t received a visit, so of course the next stop was Petting Zoo Daladýrð. 

Can’t say it was your basic barnyard bunch…

These guys were just besties and no amount of scratching or petting was gonna disturb them! Maybe prepping for the long winter ahead?

Not sure how they got an Arctic fox pup, but sure was a a cute little critter. Poor lil guy was right next to a pen of chickens however, but not his fault for being the Fox in the henhouse!

Rifts & Goðafoss

We rolled out of the Hotel Laxa in Myvatn with fond memories and well-rested, continuing west across northern Iceland. 

First stop were two rift cave areas, Stóragjá and Grjóyagjá where we scrambled around a bit, but the wet ground from the prior rain prevented being too adventurous. The bath used to be very popular with the locals but a recent earthquake raised the water temperature too high to safely swim.

Next on the Ring Road was Goðafoss, which means the “waterfall of the gods.” It was named from the legend that after Iceland’s Althing (parliament) adopted Christianity as the official religion in the 10th century, thereby abandoning the old gods - Odin, Freya, Thor, Loki, Ironman, Hulk (sorry, just kidding)- the law speaker, a pagan priest, returned to his home near the falls and cast his idols of the old gods over them. At 40’ high, must have been hard on the idols. 

Definitely a rift in their social condition. But, he did make it easy on the folks - if you wanted to continue worshiping the old gods, just had to do it quietly…

The power of this foss (falls) rivals any we’d seen thus far, and we were getting pretty tired of falls by now…