The Pernal, Icelandic Natural History Museum

But first breakfast, just around the corner from our flat…amazing pastries, friendly folks at Bráud! Cool vibe as well. 

Then off to the Pernal Museum which is constructed on six geothermal silos and made of tubular steel, so they use the water to heat and cool the entire structure (sorry, geeky construction notes).

The inside part is equally interesting with creative, interactive displays on everything from volcanos to fish, really too much info to share…highly recommended if visiting Reykjavik, especially if you’re going to do some touring around the country!

Ice Cave, 10°F! Cooler than Cold!

Marina was a fairly aggressive char!

Perhaps a char for our next fishing trip

Then it was out of the capitol and into the countryside to begin our wanders around the island. 

Return to Reykjavik

Feeling pretty whupped by a week of wind and fishing, we said farewell to Nonni and our friends at the Grimsborgir and headed for the airport. Tom caught his flight home while I picked up Daphne and Marina to begin the family portion of the Icelandic adventure. 

Grabbed our rental and drove into the city to our apartment. 

Iceland already agrees with Marina

First undertaking was a food tour, generally how we start off in new cities, trying a variety of local fare, picking up some legend and lore, and also recommendations for other spots. Even though was only here about 42 hours at the start of the trip, seems like I managed to hit a number of the recommended spots…

This was actually my pre-tour snack, raudspretta, fried plaice, on sweet rye bread (will be looking for that bread at every stop now!)

Char ceviche (not the Icelandic name) and slow-cooked pulled lamb 👍👍

Baejarins Betzu Pylsur hotdog stand (lamb dogs) has been a local tradition since 1939. Even Marta & Beth had them when they were here!

Pan-fried char in butter with garlic and onion, plus local potatoes and tomatoes. It’s like salmon, only better!!!

And then there’s Hákarl, a traditional dish of Greenland shark that is fermented for 4-5 months and then served in tiny pieces, usually only for special occasions. It’s kept in a tightly sealed glass container…

Then tried the recommended spot, Social Sushi, after the food tour (Iceland makes you hungry!) for really fresh and tasty local sashimi, outstanding o toro, and even locally made wasabi!

At which point the new arrivals cratered after a long day of travel. But they stayed awake long enough to begin acclamation anyways…

The Eldfell Eruption, 1973

If I may quote an article from The Atlantic…

on January 23, 1973, a previously-unknown fissure in the Earth beneath the small Icelandic island of Heimaey opened up less than a mile from the town of Vestmannaeyjar, which had a population of about 5,000 at the time. Within a day’s time, almost the entire island was safely evacuated, and geologists began to monitor the eruption. The newly-formed Eldfell volcano erupted for about six months, covering much of Vestmannaeyjar in ash, destroying several hundred homes, and sending lava flows toward the harbor—at one point raising the water temperature to 111° F (44° C). An enormous and largely-successful effort was made to slow and control the lava flow by pumping seawater and spraying the leading edge of the flows. 

This only came to my attention while visiting with two lovely ladies after lighting the fire (again) at the Grimsborgir lounge. They came over to the bar to thank me because they had been a little chilly, then shared their story, and that of the numerous other patrons gathering in the lounge.

From The “everything happens for a reason” file, it turns out there was a severe storm on 22JAN1973 that drove all the fishing vessels into the harbor, frustrating their captains. However, the next day when the fissure opened and the eruption began, the Entire population of the island was able to flee to the harbor and get to Iceland on the fishing vessels!

We happened to be at the Grimsborgir while the “captains” and their spouses celebrated their annual reunion. Unfortunately, only 11 captains attended this year, but hats off to them and those who have moved on, for their life saving efforts.

My lady friend (whose name unfortunately escapes me), is now a tour guide on the Island. Her home was excavated and included as part of the exhibit…she said when they removed the layers of ash, the inside was relatively unaffected, like grocery lists still sitting on the kitchen table. But she, her Captain husband (May he Rest In Peace) and their child made it to safety.

As it turns out, the owner of the Grimsborgir was a classmate with our new friend (3rd grade I think) and they agreed to have their photo taken.

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/01/the-eldfell-eruption-of-1973/514394/

Oh, we fished that day as well, at a small lake where we saw a couple of big browns early, but ended up battling the wind until we simply called calf-rope about 15:00 and sat around the truck out of the wind, telling fish stories and thawing out with some medicinal products. 

First time to ever attempt seven straight days of fishing…it’s a challenge. 

There are micro muscles in the hips, back and shoulders that just get tired from shivering, casting into the wind while standing on a mossy rock in swift-flowing knee deep water, or mending fly line. Our enthusiasm never waned, but eventually there’s a limit…think mine might be 6.75 days now!

Family Friday

After spending nearly a week with Nonni and exchanging stories about families and kids we were happy to have his family join us for dinner. Jón(Nonni), Auður and Hannes are as cute a family as you could meet, and although little Hannes (8 months) was a bit nervous at first, especially about the weird guy with long hair, he warmed up to us very quickly and was the center of attention from then on. Even helped me tend to the fire in the lounge.

Since Hannes’ bedtime was a little earlier than ours, we decided to keep the lounge fire going, and have a few cocktails, and it was there that we met Elizabeth and her husband (whose name I really couldn’t quite catch) of 50 years celebrating their anniversary! She was singing along with every piano song and dancing the night away. Stole a dance with her and learned she was the President of Reykjavik’s Accordion Club. She got a kick out of learning we call them squeeze boxes…

We did fish that day as well, but the evening produced the long lasting memories…

Just after this photo, the guy to the right caught and landed a massive (30”?) char. We fished the spot for three hours prior…😂

Lake fishing in the cold wind and overcast is as much a mental as physical effort…

Kúka Vegur fishing

Our morning beat was at the confluence of two rivers on a private farm. Very similar to any meandering meadow river fishing in the States, except for char. Were able to catch five smaller fish, but the larger fish visible on some of the sweeps wouldn’t take anything we offered.

Asked Nonni if there was anything more frustrating  than seeing fish and not figuring out how to catch them?

He offered the obvious answer… “Not seeing fish or figuring out how to catch them.”

At least it started off as a sunny day…first day without a rain coat on the trip!

Our next beat was on a very pretty smaller lake, Úlfljótsvatn, where the wind direction and speed really limited our options, but we gave it a shot anyways…

Nonni’s little diesel SUV got to some tough places today and is a real goer!

The wind just takes a toll, especially fly fishing, so we were happy to retreat to the Grímsborgir lounge and restaurant for recovery. 

Already mentioned how good the macaroons were…apparently word got back to the kitchen via our Croatian friends, so there were extras included with our dessert!

The Hotel Grímsborgir

Beaten down by the weather we headed west towards the midlands lake region. We tried a couple of spots but wind and lakes make for tough angling for our proficiency level. 

Didn’t take much arm-twisting to head for our new accommodations, but we truly had no idea it would be a five-star hotel!

Actually felt a little bad going into the lobby in our waders, but in true Icelandic tradition, they were completely nonplussed…

So we checked in to our very comfortable room and headed for dinner where we met our bartender from Germany, servers from Croatia and Moldova, and of course, the Icelandic owner…

Outstanding cocktails and tremendous dinner offerings! 

Tending to fire definitely in my skill set…

Dorian became one of our closest buddies!

Icelandic lamb with red wine reduction was delicious!

Generally not that much of a dessert guy, but having been to a lot of the famous TV macaroon shops with the family, none compares to the mini-macaroons we were served!!!

Sent compliments to the kitchen and retired after a long day of fishing, travel, weather beating, and a huge supper!

The Micro Canyon

The interaction of geology and hydrology and hydro-electric generation may be no more evident than in Fish Partner’s Micro Canyon beat. The dam on the Tungnaá generates cheap electricity and cleared up the effluent in the glacial river, but it also confined it to a much smaller geologic canyon, creating a spectacular, yet incredibly challenging space to fish for big brown trout, especially in the wind and rain.

Micro canyon etched within a historic canyon

The game is sneaking along the jagged lava edge, looking down into the turbulent, rushing turquoise water, spying for brown shadows cruising into the current. 

We found several big fish and the stalk began…

It may all seem a little silly, maybe even crazy…lying on jagged lava, 10’ above the water, casting upstream with a strong wind into a narrow (20’-25’) canyon, but that’s just because I was unwilling to risk spooking the big fish by taking a picture. Call it trophy hunting - stalking, sneaking, hoping, presenting.

Tom actually hooked into one of the big browns, but she ran downstream faster than he and Nonni could manage on the rough terrain and eventually broke off…

Would have been an epic battle had he been able to keep her on the line and Nonni somehow figured out how to net her!

Why we call it Fishing and not Catching.

The sun actually came out for a few minutes on our way back to the truck …

Tight canyon, strong wind, fast water-what a worthy challenge…and then, Whaddaya do if you hook up?!