The Food of Iceland

We had a number of memorable dishes.  Most of them were fancy renditions of fish, but they were so beautiful, I decided to share some with you.

Salmon and Lamb at Hekla

Lamb Steaks from Vogar Farm, Myvatn

Char at Klauster

Whale, Hoffstedir Guesthouse

Fresh char with all local produce, Hoffstedir Guesthouse

Gourmet Salmon in Reykjavik

Creme Brulee, the best ever

Icelandic Fish and Chips - the lightest breading ever!

Old Houses

The houses in Iceland are sturdy - very sturdy.  They are mostly built low to the ground, frequently of concrete, so they can endure the harsh elements.

On occasion we were able to see some old dwellings - some still being used, some not.  We thought they were quite quaint.

This is actually at a visiting center, but it appears to be old.

Munchkins

I wish Don would have taken a picture.  We were at the fanciest restaurant on Wednesday night, our last night in Reykjavik.  We had gotten used to all sorts of looks, as the Icelandic people are pretty non-judgmental and free and easy about dress, hair styles, and the like.

Suddenly, emerging from the bar downstairs, I saw a six-inch long, two-inch wide wisp of heavily-moussed hair ascending the stairs, standing straight up on the head of a short, round man.  He was wearing a red suit, and had I not known better, I would have thought of him straight out of the Wizard of Oz.  

He was at least in his fifties - as Don said, old enough to know better - and he went out to smoke right outside the window where we were eating.  I so badly wanted Don to take a picture of him from behind, but he wouldn't do it.  Too bad.  It was a sight worth seeing!

Pounding Waves

As we followed the coast into Reykjavik, we noticed the waves pounding the shore and the spray rising high into the air.  They made for such a gorgeous sight, I tried to get some decent pictures.  Here are a few:

Shepherding

They say there are more sheep in Iceland then people.  We did see a lot of sheep, but it seemed there were a lot of horses, too.  Either way, they are frequently grazed similarly.

When the weather is good and the grass greens up, the sheep are let out on the hillside to graze.  We saw them already grazing in the lava of Myvatn, but most of the others we saw were contained.  Around Myvatn, they spend the entire summer in the hills.  When it is time to round them up, at least one person from every farm is required to go on the round-up.  Riding the beautiful Icelandic horses and taking their sheep dogs with them, they ride around the area bringing the sheep in.

Hard to tell this is a separating area, but we love the rock walls

The farmers herd the sheep into one large ring, and then the separation begins.  In the early days, they would walk the sheep around and as one would come to the pen for the ranch to which it belonged, they would send the sheep into that pen.  The sheep pens at Myvatn were still the old ones used in the 1800's.  We loved the walls made of lava.

Toti told us horses are shepherded much the same way, though they are now microchipped for easier identification.  No branding anymore, which is much more humane.  We also saw newer separation pens made of metal bars, but we prefer the look of the old ones.

The First Day of Summer

Little did we know when we booked our trip that April 23 is the first day of summer in Iceland. Schools are closed, many shops are closed, most businesses are closed, and they hold a large race in celebration.  The partying actually began yesterday.  We noticed large groups of young people dressed up in crazy ways - tigers, choir singers, hikers, and many others.  They told us they are graduating high school seniors, so yesterday was their last day of school, with exams beginning next week.

We noticed the revelry all afternoon, suspecting that many of the people on the street were beginning the vacation early.  All night the street outside our hotel was quite noisy with yelling, screaming, and loud music playing.  But by this morning, it was quiet and calm.  We thoroughly enjoyed the walk we took, as there were no cars and few people on the street.  We could enjoy the city in a way that is probably not often done.

By the time we had to leave, the race had started and we were able to enjoy watching the runners take off and finish.

We were told that if the weather is bad on Beginning of Summer, the summer would be very nice.  Well . . . Not to be this time.  The weather was spectacularly gorgeous.  We hope that is not a bad omen for the country.

When we took off, our flight attendant informed us that since it is Summer Day we are being served ice cream on the plane.  Yahoo!

The Icelandic Sense of Humor

I noticed on the plane over that the IcelandAir pocket information had a humorous tone to it.  For example, the menu had such statements as:

If you are bored, try eating your yogurt with a fork.  That will take up some of your time.

Fruit was something we could only get in stores around Christmas.  Now we serve it on airplanes - very cosmopolitan.

Long bread is much more fun than shortbread.  You can use it in many fun ways.  Balance it on your nose or on your head.  Or poke your neighbor with it.  Or just eat it.

"Munnpurrka" is the proper Icelandic word for napkin but it takes a napkin to say it -so the most common term is "servietes."

Hand-cooked and salted gourmet chips. Served in a box you can reuse for wrapping a Christmas present.

The Icelandic doughnut. Need we say more.  It has probably been chewed on at every family gathering since the settlement.

I wish I had written down the no smoking sign verbiage at the IcelandAir hotels.  They warn against smoking, making sure to inform that the 35,000 Krone fine is not worth the opportunity to break the law.

Another story they tell is about the good-looking women on the island.  As they tell it:

We are told that the Icelandic women are the best looking women in the world.  Back in the Viking days, they went to the British Isles and stole all of the beautiful women there and brought them back to Iceland.  This explains both our good-looking women and those in the U.K.  

We also found when talking with Toti at the guesthouse, that the Icelanders are story tellers . . . And it is hard to tell when they are being truthful or not.  I struggled with that.