Thursday, July 24, 2008

Part XII - Glaumbaer, Vantsnes, Stykkisholmur



The next morning was sunny and bright again, and we'd have another long drive ahead of us, as we were heading towards Reykjavik and staying in the Snæfellsnes peninsula. We didn't have enough time to explore this part of Iceland properly, or go to the West Fjords (an even more remote and isolated area than the rest of Iceland) but I'm sure we'll be back again soon.





GLAUMBAER

Our first stop was the nearby folk museum of Glaumbaer. There are several folk museums of this kind in Iceland, but the most popular ones seem to be this one and the one in Skogar. The main attraction are the turf houses, old farm buildings from the 19th century. We didn't go inside the museum itself, but explored the grounds and the church nearby.









Next we went in search of the Viðmýri church, which is one of the six so-called turf churches that are still standing in Iceland. It was a bit hard to find, but eventually we made it (and we met this cuddly kitty, who seemed to be a resident there)







The rest of the morning was spent driving around the Vatnsnes Peninsula. I really wanted to check some of the seal colonies that were supposedly located here. We passed by Osar and then Hindisvik, where indeed there were seals (although not visible at first, so we were quite frustrated. But see one of the photos below ... there, do you see them ?).

The F road that goes around the peninsula is slow going, and it takes considerably longer than we had planned. For lunch we stopped in Hvammstangi where there's a nice café that serves quick meals all day long.












The original plan had been to explore the Snæfellsnes peninsula a bit during the afternoon, but by the time we arrived in Stykkisholmur we were quite tired from driving and so decided to stay in town for the rest of the day.



We checked into Hotel Breidafjordur, a simple and basic hotel on the main road, and went out to explore the rest of the village. It was very quiet here, and the village is not that big so it probably took us a couple of hours to go around it.













For dinner we went to the amazing Narfeyrarstofa, which was located across the road from our hotel. We had the most wonderful meal there, including this divine dessert ...



After dinner we went for a short walk, all the way to the big church on the other side. We girls were tired by then so we went back to the hotel. But the guys still had the energy for an after dinner hike, so they decided to go and climb up some mountains nearby. Of course, the scenery was beautiful as always ...













Accommodation
Hotel Breidafjordur

Restaurant
Narfeyrarstofa
Athalgata 3, Stykkisholmur

Itinerary
Road 75 to Glaumbaer, and 752 to Vidmyri church
Ring road then 716 and 711 around Vatnsnes Peninsula
Ring road then 54, 56 and 58 to Stykkisholmur


More photos here

9 comments:

Di said...

Wow - your trip to Iceland looks so amazing! The only place I've been is the airport and the blue lagoon, your photos definitely make me want to see more. Thank you for sharing!

May said...

Amazing looking village. Inspiring.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos!

Pauline

Anonymous said...

Estou a adorar os teus posts sobre a Islândia. Deve ter sido uma viagem fenomenal.

Anonymous said...

Stunning photos. I never thought that Iceland would be so beautiful. You've changed my mind and made me want to visit.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all the beautiful pictures you share with us! I hope I get to visit Iceland someday. I never tire of that beautiful scenery.

LisaPV said...

Wow those are GORGEOUS pictures. What do you do to get them so vivid???

Anonymous said...

That beautiful trip. The photos are brilliant

A greeting.

Anonymous said...

Hi there- great images- can you tell me what cottage you were staying at- it looks like there was a hot pool! Thanks! Chris cngordon@yahoo.com