Onward to North Iceland

This morning we left Reykjavík on a flight to the second-largest city in Iceland, Akureyri. We will do our own explorations from here for a few days.

Akureyri is a university town, with its own charm: heart-shaped red lights, a rainbow street and a church with basalt-column motifs like in Reykjavik.

Akureyri is a good launching point for sights along what has been named the “Diamond Circle.” Just trying to compete with the Golden Circle, we suppose.

After walking around town a bit—and getting a hot dog from the chain of stands that Bill Clinton said was the best hot dog he had ever had (the bun was great, the hot dog pretty normal), we drove off for Goðafoss. It was a rare sunny day, so we spent some time exploring this beautiful arc-shaped waterfall.

Next, we drove on to Lake Mývatn, a volcanic lake that is actually named for the pests around it—“midge lake.” We had our head nets, so they didn’t bother us (and they don’t bite). There are a number of “rootless cones” around this area—craters that formed when fast-flowing lava covered over a wetland. The water trapped beneath the lava boils and expands until it eventually bursts through the lava as steam, leaving a crater. It looks a bit like a golf course with green sand traps.

Before dinner we tried some birdwatching at the lake, but didn’t see a lot of variety. Lots of ducklings, though.Read more