Reykjavík Grapevine - 17.06.2011, Page 60

ICELANDIS
OUTSIDE
Suðurnes
This is the first region of the country most people see when they ar-
rive in Iceland. The landscape is comprised of relatively young lava,
giving the area a distinct lunar surface look. About 50 kilometres
from Reykjavík, it's easily accessible by car.
Some interesting sights: Krýsuvík, The Blue Lagoon, Garður...
West Iceland and Snæfellsnes
Often overlooked, due to it not being on Route 1, this peninsula is
renowned not just for the natural beauty of its shorelines, but also
for the famed glacier-capped mountain Snæfellsjökull, reputed to
be one of the planet's major “power centres”. Even if you don't be-
lieve in that sort of thing, Snæfellsnes is still a gorgeous region of
the country and, at about 150 km from the capital, can be explored
by car in a single day trip (but you'll want to spend more time than
that). Make sure you have at least a quarter tank of gas before
heading out, which should run you about 3.000 ISK for a small car.
Some interesting sights: Arnarstapi, Snæfellsjökull, Ölkelda...
Westfjords
Wild, mountainous and stunning, the Westfjords are
probably best known, geographically speaking, for the
very tall and steep mountains that form numerous nar-
row and, in some cases, sparsely populated fjords and
shorelines. You can of course drive there, and even if
some of the roads in the region are unpaved, small cars
can navigate them fine (there are also plenty of paved
roads. The region’s largest municipality, Ísafjörður, is
just over 400 km from Reykjavík (thanks to a fancy new
road that was opened a couple years ago), and driving
there takes 5–6 hours, so you might want to fly instead.
If you do drive, don't forget to fill up the tank (about
10.000 ISK for a small car)—you don't want to wind up
out of gas on a mountain road.
Some interesting sights: Bolafjall, Reykjanes, The Mon-
ster Museum in Bíldudalur...
Northern Iceland
A region known primarily for its largest town,
Akureyri, there's quite a lot to see in this part of
the country (including famous sites like Mývatn,
Dimmuborgir and the ‘whale-watching town’ of
Húsavík). It's actually a very rich area—from the
plains in the west, to mountains in the centre,
to Arctic desert in the east, and of course some
beautiful coastline all along the top. Akureyri it-
self is about 300 km from Reykjavík, and is also
accessible by plane. There are gas stations along
the way on Route 1, but you should fill up before
heading out anyway.
Some interesting sights: Ásbyrgi, Dimmuborgir,
Kjarnaskógur
The southern coast of Snæfellsnes
is all-too-often ignored, in favour
of the more popular Stykkishólmur
or even Ólafsvík, both on the north
shore. But Snæfellsnes' south coast
is absolutely breathtaking, and it
seems more and more people are
discovering just that.
Take, for example, Hótel Hellnar. Lo-
cated in the tiny but awesomely named
village of the same name on the south-
west coast of Snæfellsnes, it offers
what’s possibly the most ideal view in
the region—something the hotel takes
full advantage of. Maríus Sverrisson,
who runs the place and was our gra-
cious host, explained that the hotel had
been newly renovated, and it does in-
deed have that new hotel feel to it. Part
of those renovations included making
the sea-facing windows so huge you
can practically feel the ocean breeze.
“There's a special energy to this
place”, Maríus told me. “You maybe
don't notice it when you're here, but
when you go back to the capital, you
feel this stress starting to sink in.
Here, you can really relax”. Some at-
tribute this energy to Snæfellsjökull,
which sits on top of a mountain and is
considered, in New Age circles, to be
one of the Earth's major power centres.
Whether you believe this to be the case
or not, there's no question that walking
near the shore, just down the hill from
the hotel, definitely soothed our road-
jangled nerves.
New Age folks aren't apparently the
only ones with a spiritual claim to the
area, however. Maríus pointed out that
about a hundred metres away, a shrine
to the Virgin Mary was set up—odd
for a decidedly Lutheran country. We
decided to check it out. What we found
was a small white statue of the Virgin
Mary, standing on a small platform
placed into the side of a hill, overlook-
ing a small, stagnant, stone-ringed
pool of water. An inscription at the foot
of the statue informs the visitor that
the Virgin Mary appeared on this spot
in the year 1230, Bishop Guðmundur
Arason asked her to bless the water
at this spot, and the statue was put in
place in 1989. We were told that some
Christian pilgrims had been at the site
just hours before, but they seemed to
have cleared out.
After a truly inspired dinner fea-
turing fresh cod, seafood soup, and a
cheesecake made from skyr (tastes the
same, but it's lighter, and easier on the
stomach), we took a walk down a path
to the shore. The beach here consists
mostly of large, round stones which
were easy to walk on. There, we found
an ideal spot—a natural cave carved
into the cliffside by sea and wind. It
made for a really nice spot to sit, drink
and stare at the sea, even providing us
shelter when it began to rain. It's the
kind of spot you'd miss if you weren't
looking for it, and exactly the spot we
wanted to find.
At The Foot Of The Power Centre
Snæfellsnes is pretty cool
As if learning all about local sea
monsters in Bíldudalur wasn't
spooky enough, we were advised
to drive west from there, along the
south shore of Arnarfjörður, un-
til we reached the very tip of the
peninsula, where we would find a
place called Selárdalur. There, we
were told, was a church, a house,
and several sculptures—including
seals, Leifur Eiríksson, and the lions
of Alhambra—made by a self-taught
artist named Samúel Jónsson. Nat-
urally, we were on it.
The drive was fairly straightforward.
It's just a two-lane road, no fancy twists
and turns or mountains to climb. We
thought it was going to be a simple
drive. But then we saw her.
Up ahead, walking down the side of
the road, was an old woman in green
rubber boots, an opened backpack
on her back, and nest of frazzled hair
around her head. After a brief debate
in the car, we elected to pull over and
offer her a ride. By chance, she was go-
ing to the same place we were. Now,
I'm not one to judge on appearances,
but this woman—who refused to tell
us her name, or be photographed or
recorded—gave us a distinctly witch-y
vibe. Not in a cooking-children-in-an-
oven way, but more of a wandering
shamanic sorceress way. She claimed to
have grown up in “the next farm down”
from Samúel Jónsson's place, and told
us she'd be happy to tell us a few things
about this artist.
Samúel Jónsson was self-taught;
what they would call a “visionary artist”
today. The bulk of his work didn't start
until after he retired, when he started
using his pension money to buy plaster
and build these sculptures in this iso-
lated corner of the country. The wind
was pretty fierce on this day, although
the sky was clear, giving the location an
even more forlorn feel. But the almost
childlike playfulness and naivety that
went into these sculptures seemed to
dispel the gloom of this farm (which,
like many places in Iceland, was once a
site of witch burnings), their cheerful-
ness in stark contrast to their surround-
ings.
The site is in the midst of restora-
tions and, when complete, will offer an
apartment and workspace for artists, as
well as a small shop, designed by the ar-
chitect Sigurður Pálmi Ásbergsson. For
now, it seems the ideal spot for a picnic,
inspiration, or possibly a spiritual inner
journey that will turn your soul inside
out. Either way, definitely worth check-
ing out.
Selárdalur: The Cute Kind Of Scary
Distance from Reykjavík: ca. 700 km
Just as the Scottish have folklore about
the nightmarish Loch Ness monster
who dwells in the depths of the great
Loch Ness, so the Icelanders have their
own haunting sea creature. “Lagarfljót-
sormurinn” is a lake monster according
to east Icelandic folklore, who stirs in
the depths of the Lagarfljót lake, near
the eastern hub of Egilsstaðir. A tourist
boat by the same name cruises the lake
and features special tours and on-board
banquets. Nearby is Hallormsstaðar-
skógur, which is the largest forest in the
nation.
Lagarfljót
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