Well, we reached the midway point of our travels today. It's too bad. We've loved the trip so much, and have really enjoyed touring around the country. Today we awoke to this scene outside our little cabin window. You are looking at Eyjafjordur, which is the name of the body of water, not the horse. It was a slow day today. We took some time and slept in, shopped around for souvenirs, and did very little. Much to Teri's delight we even worked in a nap. We haven't moved from yesterday and are still at the farmhouse. However, tomorrow we head out toward Lake Myvatn on what promises to be a jam packed last half of the trip. So today's respite was probably a good call.
While wandering around Akureyri and its surrounding towns, we stumbled into an Icelandic Christmas store. We are unsure of the exact details but Christmas here involves a very large ugly woman who lives in a mountain cave. She has a dopey husband, 13 "yule lads" which seem to be like the hidden people, as well as a black cat. The story used to be that this big, nasty woman would collect the bad children of the towns and taken them back to her cave and bake them. However, this tale became too scary for Icelandic kids and as a country, Iceland changed the story. Now, for the 13 nights before Christmas children set out their best shoe in the window sill and each night a different lad comes down from the mountains and leaves a present. Also, a pig is involved somewhere. We're not sure where, but there were a lot of pigs, including one pulling a sleigh. So maybe it is like Rudolph.
One thing we haven't touched on is the food here. I have yet to find puffin (which may be out of season) or fermented shark. There has been plenty of (passed on) opportunities to buy what seems to be fish jerky. I WILL try the shark before I leave, and am constantly looking for puffin and reindeer. Teri and I have been getting by on street food and stuff we make in the kitchens at the places we stay. It isn't glamorous, but it has been fairly good. Also, it's not like if you spend more you get really good food. There isn't really a true Iceland dish, though skyr, an Icelandic yogurt with a thicker consistency and slightly more bitter taste, is about as close as you get that isn't something you'd see Andrew Zimmern eat on the Travel Channel. I enjoy skyr and have been eating it every breakfast. Teri loves the pastries.
What I am getting at is that you save a lot of money by eating the lamb hot dogs, or donner kababs people sell in little markets or street kiosks. You also don't miss out on what true Icelanders eat by doing this because they are mostly eating here as well. At an average restaurant, meals will be between $20 and $40/person and usually not great. Whereas at my favorite sandwhich shop, Batur Hlloli, I got a footlong "boat" (sub) and a soda for about $11. Expensive, but not bad. And Teri got a soda and pizza for just about 6 bucks from a bakery.
A final note on the food. There have been no sightings of Starbucks, McDonald's or Burger Kings, but the country seems to love Subway and Quiznos. We've also seen a Pizza Hut and KFC, and if you want to shell out $22, you can get a medium one topping Domino's Pizza. We passed.
Tomorrow we're up early to see more volcanic hot spots!
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