Stavanger, Norway - 12/15/17

Stavanger COA

After another 92 miles of activities (you guys are killing it! specially our mage by the name of Walderich, who is leading the guild, motivating us all to move forward, with more than 190 miles logged since we sat foot in Norway).

Welcome to Stavanger

After another good week on the road, we reached our new destination, the city of Stavanger in it's own municipality (same-same). Togheter with the neighbouring town Sandsnes, Stavanger is the third largest urban zone in the country, and the 4th largest by population, with 132.729 inhabitants.

Sverd i fjell (English: Swords in Rock)

commemorates the historic Battle of Hafrsfjord

Interesting Facts: The city counts the completion of it's cathedral, Stavanger Cath. as it's founding year, 1125.

As we already know, Norway is experiencing an economic 'boom' since the late 20th century due to the offshore oil industry, this has affected most cities, as we have seen in Haugesund and earliers stops.

In Stavanger it has been a major force, contributing to the population growth and overall development of the city, including  the instalation of higher education institutions, military instalations and unemployment rates lower than the Norwegean and European average.

I.F: Stavanger has been ranked as the most expensive city.

Stavanger Harbour

For long periods of time it's most important industries have been shipping, shipbuilding and the fish canning industy, but in 1969, a new boom began as oil was discovered in the North Sea and Stavanger was chosen to be the onshore center for the oil industry on the sector.

Stavanger was an importan city even way before oil, being one of Norway's oldest cities, existing as a church and market town in it's early days.

Interesting Fact: The county of Rogaland (area of Stavanger) was occupied by the Germans during WW2, the city was conquered without resistence. Over 480.000 mines were planted with forced labor from natives in the period of the war, all of which the Wehrmacht was required to clear. 62 were killed and 94 were injured.

• One of the 'four greats' writers of Norway was born and died here, Alexander Kielland. The others are:

                                                    Henrik Ibsen

                                                    Bjornstjerne Bjornson

                                                  Jonas Lie

Lake Mosvatnet, with aerial view of the city and the 3km path around the lake.

The first place we visited was only within a 20 min walk from the 18th century wooden houses in the center, the local lake Mosvatnet, probably the most popular spot in the city.

I.F: In 1995 over 560.000 people regularly visited Mosvatnet 

Leading it's importance in the oil exploration in Norway, Stavanger has the only petroleum museum in Europe, in a rather interesting architectural design, resembling an offshore oil platform.

As the city is so deeply conected to petrol exploration, you can also see the changes the industry has made to it and the people.

It was a rather productive and remarkable visit, where we were able to both have fun and learn about the curious and profitable world of petrol.

Very few galleries were as informative, organized and honest as the Petroleum Museum, being critic and open about the current state of Norway and it's future concerning the wealth from the black gold. This visit makes itself valuable for everyone, being interesting from the layman to the students and specialists.

There also were many interactive exhibits and dinamic ativities; after learning how oil and gas are created, discovered and produced, and what they are and can be used for in the future, we participated in a quiz with 5 questions. Once we got all of them right, the staff took a picture of us and added it to the museum"

The exhibitions are varied and well produced, there also is a  3D movie "Petropolis" being displayed all day, as well as many challanging activities to partake.

Next Stop, Kristiansand, 199 miles away -Preety far, we'll have make some small stops along the way.

Haugesund, Norway - 12/06/17

Haugesund COA (Three seagulls) - Grated in 1930, represents the important of the sea

Our current stop, after another week of activities and 81 miles walk, is the main population center of Haugaland, Haugesund. Instead of just seeing the obvious but surprisingly few (Haugaland is still a relatively small city) tourist atractions, we will use our brief stay to take a better look at the quality of life and general aspects of the city, as a mirror of the country.

Interesting fact: The norwegean language has two writing standards: Bokmal (book tongue) & Nymorsk. (There also is a conservative ortographic standard called Riksmal)

The first thing we noticed was how the country's current economic activities are changing the dinamic of the cities.
The city grew prosperous with fishery, being situated in an important geographical sound, (a large deep inlet), karmsundet, with a generous population of herring fish. Today the herring is long gone, and the economy is turning to the petroleum industry.
The old fishermen who don't convert to oil mining are facing bankruptcy, also due to illegal sismic shocks used for petroleum hunting which harm the aquatic life. The salary in oil mining is 3x higher than that of a fisherman's.

To this day Karmund is one of Norway's busiest waterways, but not accounting for employment or local economy.

Our unmissable visit here was to Haraldshaufen, the burial site to the first king of Norway (Harald), who lived in Avaldsnes, close to the modern town of Haugesund.

The monument consists of a large mound surrounded by a granite memorial stones with 29 smaller stones, one from each of the historic counties of Norway. At the top of the mound stands a 17m high granite main obelisk, with four bronze panels around the base. Each panel depicts important scenes from the life of King Harald I. - It was erected in 1872 by Crown Prince Oscar, 1000 years after the battle won by Harald that united Norway(Battle of Hafrsfjord).

Norway has a nearly socialistic economy, based on the Nordic Model; a combination of free market capitalism and welfare state. - At the cost of very high taxes, many public benefits are accessible to the citizens, including:

•                                        Free universal health care
•                                   Unemployment insurance
•                           Free Education,              and so on.

Even though the employment rate is apparently low in the public eye, a large portion of the population still doesn't work. They live off a disability aid given by the government, which keeps the country from a crisis and maintain the quality of life for the citizens with the wealth from the black gold.

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Interesting Facts: Norway is currently handling gender equality and muslim immigration; due to recent controversy, even haircut prices are gender equal. -And this while deciding wheter they should remove meat from school cantines and comemorate chirstmas or not.

Norway has the most electric cars, being considered the 'Tesla capital' of the world, due to governmental incentives:

"Tesla doesn't pay a sales tax on the models it sells, electric car owners are exempt from automobile tolls, and they can charge their vehicles for free. The catch is that Norway funds these initiatives through its sovereign wealth fund, which is almost entirely comprised of profits from Norway's oil and fossil fuel exports." -

Norway has banned deforestation - We know it is ironic that the country's recent green twist is being financed by the oil industry, but Norway itself does not use fossil fuels for power, instead they use green alternatives, mostly hidropower.

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According to our research, over 9% of the population aged 18-66 recieve a disability pension (474.043 people), while 68% between 15-77 are employed, 30% being by the government, the highest in the OECD, masking the lack of jobs in the country and the existence of a two-faced society.

The blessing of oil in Norway, despite creating a welfare, equality and quality of life in the country, has created many challanges to capitalism (most evidentially in the fact that 30% of workers are employed by the government).

Due to the high scholarity level of most citizens, the majority of work is in advanced areas, with a highly disputed market, such as Technology and medicine, mostly cancer research, making it much harder to find work.
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Turning our heads back to Haugesund, we realize how interesting and complex this place really is. Amidst the jaw dropping sights; fjords, lakes, mountains and waterfalls. There is history happening in this place right now.

The brutal triathlon event IRONMAN will take place in Haugesund in july 1st 2018 as it has been happening since 2012

I realize we've been doing our own version of IRONMAN all this time, but the doubt remains; would we be ready for this challenge?



Next time we will try to tackle immigration in Norway, which seems to be getting out of hand.

Next stop: Stavanger, 92 miles.

Odda, Norway - 11/29/17

COA: canting of an arrowhead (Norwegean: pillod)

Still in Hordaland (Norway), our next stop is Odda, a relatively small city with over 7.025 inhabitants.
As we saw in the last stop, Odda is located in a valley, which is on an arm of Hardangerfjord, itself called Sorfjorden. Odda is known for it's amazing views and hiking spots, having two of the most stunning Norwegean places; Trolltunga (Troll's tongue) and Hardanger.
The area is the 42nd largest in Norway, and the 146th largest by population (Bergen was the second).

What is a normally ~4 hour car ride was for us more than a week of activities, including: walking, running, hiking and sometimes swimming. Having fun and challenging ourselves along the way.

After this rewarding process, we were delighted with the view of the city -

There is was, covered in snow - Odda

It might have been obvious, but what surprised us the most geographically-wise, was the large amount of waterfalls and lakes, due to the location of the settlements, in valleys.

Lined within a radius of only a few kilometres, the waterfalls are: Tjørnadalsfossen, Strandfossen, Vidfoss, Espelandsfossen and Låtefoss(biggest)

We will mostly just hang out here and visit all the sites we gladly have the chance to see, including Trolltunga and Hardanger, included on the top 10 places in Norway.

Tysso I plant. Part of Smelterverk

Due to the intense migrations to work with smelters and energy generation for the country, a new dialect was born here. There are many dialects in Norway, even between very close communities the dialect can be so varied that it's not mutually inteligible.

Take your time and have a look at what we've been waiting to see here for so long!

Bergen, Norway - 11/20/2017

Trying to find the seven hills - Bergen

Bergen - COA

After a well deserved 2 weeks rest, we continued our adventure from Iceland to Norway, also passing through the Faroe Islands. The entire journey was over 904 miles, both through sea and land. We thank our mages and rogues for arranging all our supplies for our stay here, including food and clothes (Luckily for us, Norway gives "right to access", right to camp for up to 2 nights on the same spot without inconvenience) since, as we have learned, life in Norway is very expensive for tourists.

A fact that we only learned on our way here (while also counting who makes the most puns with the country's name) is that Norway covers the entire coastline of Scandinavia, being the westernmost, northernmost and also easternmost of the three Scandinavian countries.

Norway covers the entire coastline of Scandinavia

Travelling by boat, practically anywhere we landed would still be 'Norway

The country's landscape is largely influenced by its shape, being very long and close to the ocean. There are more than 450.000 lakes throughout the country, giving amazing views and panoramas at any point. There are also countless islands (more than 20.000 identified) throughout, which shelters the coast from rough waters.

BERGEN

As many of us already knew, we have gotten ourselves in a world heritage city, a protected historical site with many interesting and innovative solutions, which we'll see for ourselves now.

The first stop we made was in Bergen, Norway's second largest city (after Oslo) with 250 thousand inhabitants.
The city is surrounded by seven mountains and fjords, which contributes to it's tittle of 'Europe's rainiest city', and the nickname "City of the seven Mountains"

From our research we could tell that our visits and experiences here will come mostly from the country's unique settings and solutions rather than visitor attractions, of which most are museums.

The records say the city was founded in 1070 by Olav Kyrre, and was the capital of Norway until 1299, when the title was passed to Oslo. It is a municipality in Hordaland County, today the 3rd largest by population.

The visits we are to make here include:

• Edvard Grieg Museum (Troldhaugen);
• Bryggen: small town from the Hanseatic League era.
• Hanseatic Museum and Bryggens Museum.

Edvard Grieg, a widely known composer and pianist, and the most celebrated person from Bergen, -with numerous statues depicting his image, and many cultural entities named after him- is for us the most interesting find of this visit. He was born (15 June 1843), and died here (4 September 1907) at age 64, his and his wife's body, Nina Grieg, were buried in their former home, now made into a museum in his name, Troldhaugen.
His music is widely used in popular culture and is easily recognizable, we found that these two were the most common among us:




Although there are many more to discover, just search for his music and enjoy!

Another interesting aspect of Norwegian music is the development of the Norway Metal genre, with bands such as Burzum; a one-man Heavy-metal band by Verg Vikernes, which gets it's name from TLOTR, meaning 'Darkness' in the black speech - Ash nazg durbatulûk ash nazg gimbatul ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul (One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them) And the band Emperor, coming from Bergen.

Norway is one of Europe's most sparsely populated countries, with a population of 5 mi in a land of 385.802 km² - 50% of it being of barren mountains - (equals to 16 inhabitants per km²). It is also a very prosperous country, with free education and most basic systems, in exchange for the high taxes..
Due to this nature, we will focus in the most important cities, skipping the small stops and hopefully get to see all the regions of this enormous country.

Another 2 things surprised us once we got here; almost everyone speaks English (90% of the population), making Norway one of the most English proficient nations where English is not an official language.
Also regarding languages, there are two languages spoken; Norwegian and Sami, the latter being related to Finnish. Most Norwegians also learn French, German and/or Spanish as well, and there are also many dialects spoken around the country.

We also noticed that instead of dubbing their content, they prefer to show programs such as foreign television in their original language with subtitles, which is probably why almost everyone is fluent in English.

The other surprising fact is that Norway (Or the Kingdom of Norway) is a unitary monarchy, being so for 1.445 years, with a list of over 60 kings. The current monarch is King Herald V, with only representative power as head of state (the Prime Minister is the head of government).

As mentioned before, Norway is a very prosperous city, with extensive reserves of important resources such as petroleum, oil and natural gas, being the world's largest producer on a per capita basis outside the Middle-east. It also has the fourth highest per capita income, the world's largest sovereign wealth fund (USD 1 Trillion), world's highest Human Development Index and most importantly, the first rank on the World Happiness Report. We will look later for some practical examples of why that is.

So is life: Only after we put Norway on our map did we suddenly start seeing it everywhere, now there is a lot to see here. There is a lot of controversy about the true state of the country, with problems including immigration crisis, unemployment, socioeconomic problems and lack of privacy(some say endorsement of sick/envious behavior). Though we can't say for all of that on our own, we expect to learn much more about it, and see the country from all sides.

Edvard Grieg Museum 

Museum Shuttle bus; takes to all main museums in one fare- Bus-lightrails transport in Bergen. 

Bryggen, a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings in Bergen

Survey: The Future of The Road Goes Ever On

Faroe Islands (Halfway to Norway) - 10/18/17

Villingardalsfjall

 Halfway across Norway and Iceland we made a obligatory stop at an archipelago called Faroe Islands, which is an autonomous country within the kingdom of Denmark.
 First we made ourselves busy with the logistics, making predictions about the place based on our previous experiences. We figured out that the Island has around 1,400 square km (541 mi sq) and a population of 50.030 scattered around 18 islands.
The language spoken is Faroese, which is a North Germanic language with similarities with Icelandic.

Interesting Facts:

• There are no Mc Donalds in Faroe Islands.

• Streymin Bridge, connecting Stremoy island to Eyturoy is the only bridge over the Atlantic in the world.

• You are never more than 3 miles from the ocean in the country.

• The name means Island of Sheep, and there are about 70.000 of them, a big portion roaming freely in the country. sometimes causing accidents.

• The smallest island, Litla Dimum, is uninhabited.

The capital and largest city is Torshavn in the southern coast of Streymoy, it is the only town we'll have the chance to visit.

 As a sign of it's connection with ancient viking settlers, the city is named after the Norse god of thunder, Thor.

The fishing industry (followed by tourism) is the primary economic activity in Faroe Islands, accounting for over 80% of the total export value, which has led to multiple unemployment crisis in the past. However nowadays the unemployment rate in the country is extremely low, due to conscious measures.

Making our way through the Isles, Islets and skerries, climbing mountains and counting sheep, we saw incredible sights which cannot be expressed in words; the best we can do is hope this gallery can make it justice.

If the gallery is not enough, you can warg into this person and see it from his eyes
.

We arrived during the Heystfagnaður festival, with workshops, lectures, competitions and music, celebrating the Faroese shepherding culture, village life and related events. It is taking place on October 12. 

Bonus:

• Grindadrap : A controversial Faroese pilot whale hunt where whales are lured and brutally slaughtered by the community on the beaches of Faroe Islands. (Click the link for a documentary)
• Band: Tyr : Faroese folk metal band.

This was a small stop, but significant nonetheless. Most important is to learn something new at each stop, not to worry about all the little things...

On our way to the world's happiest country.

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This is our entire journey until now!

Since arriving in Europe, we have walked a total of 15790.74 miles together, and visited 49 places! All that in 8 months and 10 days.

New Feature: See How many miles you have walked with the guild!

Reykjavik, Iceland - 09/20/17

Finally, we reached what for most of us is the apex of the entire journey, the most urban you can get in Iceland, the northernmost capital of the world, Reykjavik.

As expected, the range of sights and activities here is enourmous; museums, galleries, landscapes, historical places and many memorable sights.
The city, which now has over 123.3 thousand inhabitants, is believed to be the first permenent settlement in Iceland, being established in AD874.

Reykjavik was founded in 1786, officially as a trading town, growing steadily over the decades, later becoming the national center of commerce, population and governmental activities in the country.

Interesting Facts:

• Reyjavik (and Iceland overall) is among the cleanest, greenest and safest cities in the world.

• The settlement of Reykjavik, believed to be the first in Iceland, is described in the Book of Settlement, Landnamabok. The name means Bay of Smoke, or Smokey Bay, and is said to be inspired by the steam from hot springs in the area.

• Reykjavik Golf Club has the largst and oldest golf course in Iceland, the Korpa, opened in 1963. The club, also the oldest in the country was opened in 1934.

Austurvollur park

We always like to spend some time at regional parks, specially at places such as Reykjavik, a beautiful capital full of energy and interesting visuals. Just upon arriving at the city center we went to Austurvollur park.

After a long 142 miles journey, we couldn't enjoy this stop more,  a very quiet and pretty place next to the Icelandic House of Parliament, where we couldn think and discuss our next stops.

Höfði house

• Intersting Fact: In the middle of the park is the statue of Jon Sigurdsson, leader of Iceland's independence movement. Iceland's Independence Day is in June 17

We passed by Hofdi on our way to Hallgrimskirkja, the place where Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in an important step to end the cold war.

Can you remember the last time we visited a church? -There are many imponent cathedrals and churches in England and the surrounding areas, so a church/cathedral visit was very common there. But in Iceland there are not nearly as many interesting churches to visit. Of these exceptions is Hallgrimskirkja, a Lutheran parish church, named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrimur Petursson (1614-1674), author of the Passion Hymns, a collection of 50 religious poetic texts.

At 74.5 meters (244 ft), it is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in Iceland.

The church is in the center of the city, being visible throughout the whole of Reykjavik, and is one of it's best known landmarks.

Hallgrimskirkja took 41 years to be completed, from 1945 to 1986, the design of the church was done by Architect Gudjon Samuelsson in 1937, who said to have inspired it in the trap rocks, mountains and glaciers of Iceland. -Which is a felling we totally get-

View from the top of Hallgrimskirkja

Interesting Facts:

• The church is also used as an observation tower. There is a lift to a viewing deck with open views from the city and the surrounding mountains.

• In front of the church is a stutue of the explorer Leif Eriksson, who we learned about in Eiriksstadir. The statue predates the construction of the church and was done by Alexander Stirling Calder and sent as a gift by the United States commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Iceland's parliament, in 1930.

The tower was completed long before the church, in 1974.

Kringlan shopping mall

After visiting the church we went to the main street in Reykjavik, Laugarvegur, and got ourselves in a shopping mall called Kringlan, the second largest in Iceland. Though we didn't spend much time there, our time in the shopping helped us understand more about the life in the city; not a lot of local stores but many international, global brands.

• Interesting fact: The name is derived from the Kringla Marsh (Kringlumyri) meaning 'circle' or 'pretzel', although the mall has nothing to do with any of those things.

The shoping also has a supermarket, a library, a theater and a cinema.
It is of course a big shopping, but small compared to the ones we saw in Ireland for example.

Perlan

The next stop is a very important multi-purpose complex, a remarkable landmark with 360° views of the city, enabled by it's glass dome design. It's name is Perlan, "The Perl".
Not only is it an exellent viewing deck, but also a huge hot water storage facillity which supplys the city with regional geothermal water, through six large tanks pilled on top of each other creating decks. Each tank has a capacity of 4 million liters (1 million gallons). The space between the decks (over 10.000m³) is used for many different events such as concerts, as well as housing several museums and exhibitions.

The current arrangement of the museum includes;

Viking Saga Museum: Maritime Museum
&;Glacier Exhibition; Icelandic Natural Wonders: 

Many top notch attractions are on the way; on May 1 2018 Perlan Museum will open a new cutting edge planetarium with the best quality available in the world today - Sadly we came to early! but now at least we now about it in advance. We will surelly hear about it again, maybe even visit it when it's finished.

Interesting Facts:

• The viewing deck das panoramic telescopes at each six corners of the deck, it is from here that MT. Snaefellsjokll can be seen with frequency in Reykjavik, (which we learned about while in Olafsvik)

• There is a rotating restaurant on the top of the dome, it takes 2 hours for a full rotation. A cafeteria is located under the restaurant.

We were very excited to see a man-made version of two small geysers, one of which we assumed was Strokkur, imitating the sprouting action we saw in Haukadalur on our way to Eirikstadir.

The building was designed by Igimundur Sveinsson and is situated on a hill, Öskjullid. The project was completed in 1991, largely at the behest of mayor David Oddson.

Aerbajasafn

Lake Tjornin

• From the observation deck we checked some future stops off our list, including the lake Tjörnin in the city center, next to the city hall and Reykjavik Airport, and Arbaejasafn; an open air museum. We also located our next stop, the National Museum of Iceland, right next to Tjornin.

National Museum of Iceland

As an ending to our journey in Iceland, we visited the National Museum of Iceland.
We came here expecting to leave fully enlightened about the making of Iceland and it's history. We were not mistaken, but also not entirely right. Although the premise is good, the practice seems to disappoint.
The many exhibitions and displays richely illustrate the story of Iceland's past, from the Viking settlements to currently culture. With over 2000 items in it's main exhibition, there was no little doubt that we couldn't erase regarding the history of Iceland. Some of those doubts were answered by interactive displays, including touch screens and phone calls with historic figures.

The Valþjófsstaður door in
the National Museum of Iceland

Amongst the museum's many treasures, the Valthjofsstadur door stands out, featuring unique elaborate engravings depicting scenes from the 12th century knight's tale 'Le Chavalier au Lion' , where a knight slays a dragon, thus freeing a lion that becomes his companion.

Our jorney through time started in the permenanent exhibition; Making of a Nation: Heritage and History in Iceland, with the ships in wich medieval settles crossed the oceans to get to the island, and progressed with the help of over 1.000 photographs and 2.000 artifacts from various periods, ending in a modern airport.
 Along with the permanent exhibition, there are currently 4 more:
Points of view: A collaboration of 6 different cultural institutions
Bundled up in blue: Investigation of a viking grave
Iceland in the world, the world in Iceland: Centered in transnationalism
Thoughts of Home -Inga Lisa Middletion: Photographs by Inga Lisa.

The Musuem also has a restaurant and a gift shop.

Our Next Stop is to be decided! -

Olafsvik, Snaefellsbaer, Iceland - 09/01/17

Olafsvik

Guide To Iceland

This time we are exploring West Iceland, before we leave for another country, which we'll soon decide as a group.

Our exploration took us to Olafsvik, the westernmost sizable settlement in Europe.
Olafsvik is a small town with a notable trading history, specially with Denmark. The town is on the western end of Snaefellsnes Peninsula, in Snaefellsbaer, which has been named 'Iceland in Miniature', because many national sites can be found there, including: Snaefellsjokul volcano, with 1.446m/4.744ft and a glacier on top, which can be seen from as far as 120 km (74 mi) away in Reykjavik. The mountain is also known as the setting for the novel "Journey to the center of the Earth" by Jules Verne.

Interesting Fact:

• Nearby, in Hellissandur, one of the two other towns in the region, is the tallest structure in Western Europe, the Gufuskalar radio mast, 412m (1.351ft) high.

• The population was 1.010 in 2010

Our only cultural visit in the area was Pakkhus Museum, the regional museum of Snaefellsbaer, located on the second and third floors of an old building from 1844 which then served as a trading store.

Honestly, we have no concrete memories from the displays in the museum, only memories of an old cozy house, with frozen memories from the past, as if held the past in a bubble, and a deep respect for the locals which were making handcraft items.

• Now during summer it is open from 12:00 to 17:00 pm, but during the Winter it's only open on request. 

• A general store and a shop selling handicrafts are on the ground floor.

Next we continued walking, planning to visit the regional Park, the notorious Snaefellsjökull National Park. 

The park is replete of landscapes, including volcanoes, caves and waterfalls, which such diversity that we made it a personal decision to visit everything by choice: Some decided to stop at Anadarstapi, a small village close-by, (which was in our route at some point) and take a small, but rather dangerous, 2.5 km (1.55 mi) hike to Hellnar on the cliffside, others headed to the glacier on the top of the mountain, while others went to see the lave on the volcano site.

When we regrouped, we were finally ready to visit our next and probably last destination in Iceland, the capital Reykjavik, 142 miles away.

Reykjavík, the capital and largest city of Iceland. The world's northernmost capital.

Eiriksstadir, Búðardalur, Iceland - 08/21/17

We are already in our 12th stop in Iceland yet we keep discovering interesting things about it.
It seems our surprises are far from over, and we underestimated what the country had to offer.

At the hands of destiny, our will has taken us to Eiriksstadir, a city of great historical value, named after a generation of explorers; Erik Thorvaldsson (Erik the Red), and his son Laif Eriksson.

By popular culture (but disputed by the Icelandic Sagas), Erik the Red was the first to discover the land in Vinland (Wineland) which today includes Greenland, in 982, during a 3 year exile from his homestead Eiriksstadir for avenging the death of his slaves.

 Upon returning from his exile, Erik spread stories of a "Greenland", (a name more appealing than 'Iceland')luring potential settlers to the area. His salesmanship proved successful and in 985 he headed back to Greenland with a huge number of colonists, out of 25 ships 14 survived the trip.
 Later, his son Leif Eriksson dicovered Vinland and part of North America before Colombus, after being blown off course on his way to Greenland in 999.

Interesting fact:

• This saga is recognized in North America and the day 9 of October was made Leif Eriksson's day.

• In the center of the village is a recreation of Erik's house, which serves as a heritage museum.

Strokkur Geyser(video) - (aerial)

On our way here we went by Haukadalur, following along Haukadalsvegur route, capturing many memorable sights.

Haukadalur is a prominent geothermal site, and place to ancient geyser 'Geysir' and Strokkur Geyser, which erupts reliably every 10-15 minutes. As well as other smaller geysers, mineral springs and mud pots.
Geysir hasn't been erupting recently, but it's eruption in 2000, of over 400ft/122m holds the record for the highest geyser blast in known history.

The westernmost settlement in Europe, and setting for the novel "Journey to the center of the Earth" by Jules Verne.

Isafjordur, Isafjardabaer, Iceland - 08/11/2017

Isafjardabaer COA

After our small stop at Hvammstangi, we reached another pinnacle in our adventure in Iceland, Isafjördur, the largest town in Vestfirdir(Westfjords) with over 2.600 inhabitants and the capital of Isafjardabaer.

The town gets it's name from the fjörd Ísafjarðardjúp, which translates to "Ice fjord deep", but is located in Skutulsfjordur, a fjord which meets the waters of Isafjardardjup.
The Westfjords is the coolest area in Iceland, the highest temperature of the, actual, summer season is 9.9 °C, considering that the climate has warmed significantly in the last 100 years. In addition to the cold, the town experiences high winds and high precipitation.
Isafjordur has an airport with regular flights to Reykjavik, as well as ferries to nearby settlements (and also offers cruise ships), specially to Hornstrandir Peninsula, which has an uninhabited wilderness area, currently a nature reserve.





Important personalities:

• Reykjavik! - Band
• Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson - President of Iceland
• Agnes M. Sigurdardottir - Bishop of Iceland
• Mugison - Musician

Events taking place in the city:

• Sky Week, Aldrei for ég suder (I Never Went South), Fossavtn, Ski Marathon, Vid Djupid music festival, European Swampsoccer championship, Act Alone; a theatre festival dedicated to the art of acting alone.

Despite it's small population and historical isolation from the rest of the country, the town has an urban atmosphere; having a school of music, a hospital, a university center and many cultural centers. The town has also become known as a center for alternative music, hosting several music festivals, such as:

Aldrei for ég suder: A yearly festival begun in 2002 as an initiative from Örn Elias Gudmundsson (Mugison) and his father to support the growing music community in Isafjordur.

The name means "I never went south", and is taken from a Bubbi Morthens song. It may refer to a movement to establish cultural events outside the capital, Reykjavik, and draw attention back to the roots and away from the center.

The festival's subtitle is "Rokkhátíð alþýðunnar" - "Rock festival for the people"

Vid Djupid: Offers master classes and concerts with nationwide and worldwide known artists.


Our only cultural visit in the town was Westfjords Heritage Museum. It is based on maritime heritage, giving insight of the local fisheries and fishing industry, as well as the life of the fishermen and the coastal culture.

Interesting Facts:

• The museum was opened on the 5th of June, a day dedicated to seamen; Sjómannadagurinn(Seamen's day) in 1988. The house keeping the museum was built in 1784.

• The museum also has a policy concerning preservation of boats, making sure to maintain the knowledge of ship repair and maintenance alive within the community.

Among the fishing objects of all sorts, we found a collection of 190 accordions, a collection of valuable old boats, and most interestingly, a collection of different things recovered by divers around the fjörds.
We were lucky to arrive here at this time, as there is a play by a local group about the daily life in Iceland in the beginning of the 19th century. In the play we saw them sing and dance and prepare fish, putting what seemed like codfish (called 'bacalau') to dry.

Land of viking explorers, Eriksstadir