Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.01.2006, Page 42
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As you head south on Route 1 from Reykjavík, the first thing
you see as you cross into Hafnarfjörður city limits are giant
piles of lava flanking the highway, pushing up out of the lawns
of apartment buildings, which make holes in a football field.
But in many ways, the outskirts of Hafnarfjörður give no
indication that you’re at the edge of the greater capital area.
You see the same shopping centres, apartment buildings, and
fast food restaurants that you would see in east Reykjavík, albeit
amongst piles of lava. It’s not until you head towards the centre
of Hafnarfjörður that you get the feeling that you’re in a very
different place, running on another measurement of time.
Built around a harbour and extending uphill from there,
Hafnarfjörður’s beginnings date back as far as 1400. In photos
from as recently as the early 20th century, it was still only
comprised of a few houses built close to the harbour. Today,
while the centre of the town’s activity is still around the
harbour, it has grown into a town of about 22,000 people, with
houses and lawns cut into the lava that extends east and south
to the Reykjanes peninsula. From any of the higher points in
town, the sight of Hafnarfjörður suddenly ending at the edge of
a vast lava wasteland brings to mind a frontier town. In many
ways, Hafnarfjörður is exactly that - even though it’s the second
largest town in Iceland, it’s far enough away from Reykjavík to
have retained its easygoing village attitude. This mentality has
made the people of Hafnarfjörður the notorious butt of jokes
as being slow and slightly backwards, but the town’s aesthetic
beauty and relaxed feel make it one of the more worthwhile
destinations near Reykjavík.
I started my day at the bakery, then walked to Strandgata,
Hafnarfjörður’s main street. As most of the town’s mercantile
needs are served by either Fjörður or the shopping centres in
the outskirts of town, Strandgata is ironically one of the quieter
streets in the city. There’s a Penninn bookstore, a jeweller, some
boutiques, the town library, and a Súfistinn coffee shop, located
in a small house with two levels. Little else but Súfistinn was
open this early on a Saturday, so I headed up Reykjavíkurvegur
at the end of the street to take a walk in Bonsai Park.
The Cliff in the Centre of Town
This is probably one of Hafnarfjörður’s best-kept secrets; even
though the bus into town drives past it, it’s not immediately
recognisable. But just a few seconds’ walk up from the
restaurant and bar A. Hansen (located where Reykjavíkurvegur
and Strandgata meet), there’s a tree-covered park carved into
the lava. Even in the leafless winter, the birches still make a
solid canopy over this the Japanese-style garden, at the centre of
which is a natural fountain. After a short stroll there, I decided
to get reacquainted with one of my favourite activities when I
lived in this town for my first three years in Iceland - I walked
the streets.
It’s often pointed out in guidebooks that Hafnarfjörður in
many ways resembles a toy village. Small, two-story houses with
brightly-coloured roofs comprise most of the town immediately
outside of the harbour area, and walking through these
neighbourhoods, you get a pretty good idea of what the town
looked like nearly a hundred years ago. Perhaps my favourite
street in Hafnarfjörður, Hverfisgata, is a great example. Since
one end is directly across the street from the park’s entrance,
I started from there, taking my time as I walked the narrow,
winding streets that branch off of Hverfisgata.
At the other end of Hverfisgata is a large pond in the
middle of town. The pond is actually a swelling point in a creek
that starts in the mountains and runs to the harbour. As it’s
the only town of its size with a waterway running through it,
Hafnarfjörður’s centre is open and uncrowded. Remembering
one of my favourite views of the town, I walked up Lækjargata
(on the southern side of the pond) and then up Öldugata to
the hill Hamarin. Located next to the town college, Hamarin
is a hill-sized cliff in the centre of town that has remained
untouched, with the town growing around it instead of over
it. From its peak, you get a great view of the capital area and
Reykjanes, making it worth at least a cursory visit.
If You Have a Hidden People Map, Are They Still Hidden?
One of the other bits of folklore surrounding Hafnarfjörður
is its reputed elf population. Some locals have even gone so
far as to make maps of what kinds of elves live where in town.
You can pick up a Hidden Worlds Map (available in English,
German and Icelandic) at the Information Centre at the Town
Hall (Strandgata 6) and walk through elf turf.
The two longer routes that I chose to take confirmed that
they’re not called “hidden people” for nothing, but whether an
elf is spotted or not, the paths marked do introduce the visitor
to some of Hafnarfjörður’s more beautiful areas, many of them
passing through lava fields.
One of the most immediately recognisable landmarks in
downtown Hafnarfjörður is the “Viking” restaurant and hotel
Fjörukráin, the restaurant itself modelled after a medieval
Norwegian church. This is a popular destination for tourist
groups. While it does have a fine dining section, most visitors
opt for the Viking section of the restaurant, where everyone
from couples to groups in the hundreds are treated to musicians
dressed in horse skin tunics who sing Icelandic folk songs, and
they like to stay in character.
The “Viking dinner”, comprised of putrified shark and
harðfiskur for a starter, followed by a seafood soup, an entrée
of lamb, veggies and potatoes served with a beer and a shot of
Icelandic schnapps as well as skyr and ice cream for dessert,
is a fairly good value at 5,600 ISK. Weekend nights are an
especially good time to visit, as Viking (read: loud and bawdy)
behaviour is even more encouraged then, and you’re more
likely to witness an “honorary Viking” ceremony. Here, some
unfortunate soul is set up by the others in his tour group to
be publicly and lightheartedly mocked and chided by some
of the Viking musicians in a ceremony that ends with the
hapless victim bestowed with a certificate confirming his or
her new-found Viking identity. After the kitchen closes, this
spacious restaurant becomes a beer hall where live acts will often
grace the stage, providing a boisterous alternative to the more
intimate upstairs bar at A. Hansen bar and restaurant just five
minutes’ away.
Favours from Óðinn
Another place worth at least a cursory stroll is the Sculpture
Park Víðistaðatún, located in the northern part of town. In
the summer, this park is one of the places hosting the Viking
Festival. Year round, you can look at sculptures by artists from
Iceland, Mexico, Switzerland, France, Finland, Japan and
Germany.
If you’d like to hike a bit further afield, one route I
discovered by accident one night years ago is found by following
Flókagata north, and staying on the path as close to the harbour
as possible. Eventually, this path heads away from the town and
into an unpopulated wilderness of hills and lava fields. Follow
this path long enough, and you will end up in Garðabær. It’s
a great nature walk that you can spend hours enjoying and
provides some of the most undisturbed seaside areas in the
capital area.
Just outside of Hafnarfjörður are a number of protected
natural areas, close by but seemingly far from any civilisation.
By heading south on Suðurlandsvegur, you eventually reach a
The Village of Hafnarfjörður
The second largest town in Iceland retains its homey heritage
Hafnarfjörður
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