Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.10.2003, Page 6

page 6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday, 3 October 2003
PHOTO BY DAVID GISLASON
the beautiful Glerárkirkja, an
event co-ordinated by Gunnar
Frímannson and many other
good people at Akureyri. After
a brief radio interview to
announce our presence, we
unloaded at the Lundar school,
which would be our home for
the night, and on to the church
to prepare for the evening.
The Minister of Education
and Culture, Tómas Ingi
Olrich, hosted the group to a
fine dinner, served at the
church. The Minister was out
of the country, and was repre-
sented by Permanent Secretary
Guðmundur Árnason, who
spoke on his behalf.
The evening concert was
well attended, and came off as
We were all becoming
accustomed to our sleeping
bags by now, and after a good
rest, we enjoyed a fine break-
fast at the Lundar school, cour-
tesy of the Akureyri cultural
committee.
The group had a relaxing
morning of sight-seeing (while
some of us shopped for our
evening meal). Páll Dagbjarts-
son re-joined our group here,
and served as our tour guide to
Mývatnssveit, the place where
he was bom and brought up.
There we would lodge for the
night (cook our own dinner) at
the community centre, Skjól-
brekka. Páll showed us some
of the many interesting high-
lights of this fascinating coun-
Having fun in the pool at Varmahlíð
On Monday, Sigríður Sig-
urðardóttir, curator of the
Glaumbær folk museum was
our host for a tour of Ska-
gafjörður. It was a day for
relaxing, delving into history,
and enjoying the many and
varied graces of the region: a
greenhouse operation heated
with geothermal energy; a dis-
play of horsemanship by a
breeder of champion horses;
and a visit to the museum at
Glaumbær where the group
was hosted to a very traditional
Icelandic lunch, with skyr as
the main course, were the fare
in the forenoon.
The aftemoon delight was
a cruise, courtesy of the
Municipality of Skagafjörður,
on the bay out to the famous
Drangey island, once home to
Grettir the strong. Looming out
from the fog, the island took on
a mysterious beauty, with
puffins lining its precipitous
cliffs which disappeared into
the gloom above, prompting
the imagination with heroic
tales of by-gone times.
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Þórðarhöfði appeared off the
starboard bow, the sun shone
once more, revealing the fan-
tastic, twisted shapes of
basaltic columns formed under
immense volcanic pressure,
and reminiscent of Kjarval’s
paintings. As though to make
us feel more at home, the skies
darkened, and lightning flashed
and thunder cracked as we
docked at Hofsós. This is virtu-
ally unheard of in northem Ice-
land. In spite of this, and a light
shower, the choir formed up on
the dock to serenade our ship’s
crew, who had gone out of their
way to make our voyage a
pleasant one.
On to Hólar, which in the
past was the seat of the north-
em bishopric, for dinner and a
visit to the Hólar church — a
fitting way to end a memorable
day. The choir could not leave
this historic church without
singing a couple of songs in
honour of Sigríður, our tour
guide for the day.
It was hard to leave this
place, which was beginning to
feel like home, but Tuesday
morning came. We packed
some sandwiches, and it was
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PHOTO BY DAVID GISLASON
time to stop at Hofsós to see
the exhibits there, and say our
good-byes, and we were on our
way once more.
From Skagafjörður it was
on to Akureyri via the scenic
north route, with a short side
trip to Siglufjörður, a herring
fishery boom town in mid 20th
century in a very scenic setting.
With a bit of back-tracking, it
was across a mountain pass
and into Ólafsfjörður where we
stopped for a small picnic on
the roadside. Access to
Eyjafjörður has been made eas-
ier via an 800 meters long tun-
nel through the mountain, then
it was up the coastline, past
Dalvík and into Akureyri, our
destination for the night.
Here the choir would
mount its first full concert in
Mounted escort into Hofsós
a great success. A good many
contacts were made here, with
family branches touching for
the first time, since the days of
the great emigrations. It was a
very moving experience.
tryside - the shadowy crags of
Dimmuborgir, the steaming
energy of the Krafla hills,
where steam is converted to
electricity, and the bubbling
mud pots and hissing steam
PHOTO BY ADRIAN WELHAM
The Stefán G. Stefánsson monument in Skagafjörður
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