June 23, 2019 - Blönduós to Holmavik, Iceland

We had a leisurely drive today from Blönduós to Holmavik. Again, the scenery reminded us of Colorado.

We did stop to see some of the Icelandic horses. The big black one liked being petted and was super-soft!

On our journey to the West fjords region we spotted several different types of birds today – swans, eider ducks, arctic terns, and even a couple loons! There are still lots of sheep everywhere so I have to keep my eyes open as I drive and not spend too much time gawking at the scenery!

You should try following these road signs if you want a real adventure! Between Wendy and the Lonely Planet book and Tobey with Googlemaps, we are doing pretty good at getting around!

Another thing that keeps me on my toes, so to speak, is the roads often change from paved to gravel without warning! We followed along the fjords on these tiny, winding roads with steep climbs and no guardrails and a speed limit of 90km/hour. (about 55mph) We were on the outside with no guardrails, so needless to say, I wasn’t going that fast! This sign indicates a one lane bridge coming up.

Just near this church after crossing a one-lane bridge, we spotted a black arctic fox in the field. There was a spot wide enough to pull over and we watched it with the binoculars as it was hunting and chasing something along the shoreline. It was too far away for a picture, so we just have a “Kodak moment in our minds.”

It was lunchtime when we arrived in Holmavik, so we stopped to eat at the Restaurant Galdur. We had the fish soup and the Sorcerer's meat soup (with lamb). Tobey and I shared and both decided we liked the meat soup better than the fish soup today.

The Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft is located in the same building, so we toured it, as well. It was interesting and provided a lot of history about Iceland’s 17th century “witch craze” period. The museum is on two floors and depicts the history of sorcery, which was seemingly powerful in this area of Iceland called Strandir. In 1652 the first man was burned as a sorcerer, up in North-Iceland. His name was Jón Rögnvaldsson and he was charged with raising a ghost (zombie) to cause harm to his enemy.

There were horrible looking creatures at the museum which caught my attention. They are called "tilberi" and are milk-sucking demons! Women were supposed to create tilberi to amass butter. They would send the tilberi, which had mouths on both ends, to suckle on the cows of other farmers until it was filled with milk. It would then return to their "mother" and vomit into the churn for making butter - and their vomit was almost pure butter, albeit a little lumpy!! Pretty disgusting!

After visiting the museum, we continued on to  Drangsnes which is a small community at the head of the Steingrimsfjordur Bay. (population 67!) The island of Grímsey is located just offshore.

According to legend, Grímsey was formed when three night trolls tried to separate the West fjords from the rest of Iceland by digging a channel from Húnaflói Bay all the way to Breiðafjörður. As the sun rose, the trolls in the west ran east but were turned to stone in Kollafjörður, whereas the troll in the north jumped over Streingrímsfjörður, landing on a rocky peninsula where she had left her ox. In anger she threw down her shovel, breaking off part of the cliff and creating Grímsey. Locals maintain she, too, was turned to stone, and indeed, a tall rock stack known as Kerling (The Old Woman) stands down by the sea between the swimming pool and Malarhorn cottage, looking out at her island and ox.

We didn’t think the rock stack looked much like an Old Woman, or a troll, but it is their legend, so an Old Woman it is!

Our last stop for the day before heading back to Holmavik was the “hot pots” in Drangsnes. There are three hot tubs along the shore which are free to use. They have a shower/changing room available to use and only request a donation to help maintain the area. It was beautiful to look out at the sea and relax. It was windy, but that has been the case everywhere!

We are staying at “Gunnarsholmi” in Holmavik. It is known as the “church house” and was built in 1913. Tobey cooked our dinner in the combination stove/oven/dishwasher!

It’s a nice place and I am sure we will have a good night.