Hamborgarafabrikkan

Friday, June 19

   We still had yet to see the sun, and this morning was no different. Low clouds covered us in a slight fog along with a rain that steadily increased in intensity. It certainly wasn't ideal conditions for Emily's first turn to drive, but we made it safely through. Once the clouds lifted, it was once again hard to take our eyes off of the surrounding beauty. I have a habit of occasionally yelling out, "Hey guys, we're in Iceland!" just to keep the excitement fresh. However, it has now turned into a joke, because the first time I yelled it out, the first thing I also pointed out was a building....which was probably the most unattractive object to point out in that setting. 

   The first stop of the day was in a little town where we stopped to feed ourselves and our Jeep. While walking to the cafe, we noticed a line of fish skeletons drying out on a line along with a large whale bone and several wooden statues of seals. The cafe served us delicious quiche with the side of garlic sauce. When the waitress came to collect our plates, she noticed the nearly full saucers and since she had made the sauce, she jokingly said she was going to the kitchen to cry. We weren't sure whether to laugh at first, but then she turned back and said, "I am joking." :)

Little town:

Sven matching our Jeep:

Emily and Jamie outside the cafe:

   Ever since meeting the horses a few days before, we had started to collect sugar cubes at different cafes. As we were leaving the town, we passed some beautiful horses grazing along the side of the road, so we immediately pulled off and grabbed the sugar cubes. Surprisingly, the horses took the sugar, but not with as much enthusiasm as when we offered dandelions and other flowers. A few of the horses were very friendly, especially as we were feeding them, but the others could've cared less. 

   As I continued driving us around the peninsula, the scenery changed to green fields and a crystal blue ocean...but something just felt different. Then it hit me. The sun had actually come out, and this was the first time I was seeing it in Iceland! It dramatically enhanced the colors and created such vivid scenery. 

   At the tip of the peninsula, we pulled off and took a short hike to see a curved rock statue in the ocean. As with many other natural monuments, Iceland used this interesting rock form to create a connection to some mythical creature...mainly trolls, dwarfs, or elves. The rock statue in the water was supposedly a troll, but looked more like two arches...maybe a monster taking a drink of water, but we couldn't really see why they thought of a troll. 

On our way to see the troll:

   We also stopped at a beach to meet some seals, but they were on the other side of the channel and could only be seen from a distance. We did, however, come in contact with more "Angry Birds" and were almost attacked by several! They are extremely territorial and would bomb-dive toward us without actually getting us. Even so, we took that as our cue and went on our way. 

   Jamie took over the wheel, and we ended up in Arkureyri for dinner. When we asked a kid (older-high-school range), he recommended a restaurant that we had to ask him to repeat about 6 times! The english translation is Hamburger Factory, but in Icelandic, it is very long and complicated (Hamborgarafabrikkan) We ended up taking his suggestion and were really glad we did. The menu was sassy and entertaining to read, and the food was absolutely delicious. 

Sven reading the menu:

   From here, Stephen drove us the rest of the way to our night's stay at Lake Myvatn. Fortunately, the area we stayed in was small, because we only had a street name and a picture of the building to direct us. We found it fairly easily, with only a small amount of exploring. Once inside, we unpacked, chatted for awhile with a cup of tea (it was easy to forget the time when it never got dark), then went to bed.

PS. I have several photos of the sights I talk about on my nice camera. I'll post those when I get home. :)