Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.12.2016, Side 56

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 18 — 2016
56
The colour, I am certain, has nev-
er existed before, and will never
exist again. It has something to
do with blue, grey, purple, or-
ange, and yellow and yet is none
of them. It coats the sky to our
left as we drive up Route One, ap-
pearing through the mist of a far-
off thunderstorm, backlit by the
sun. It’s the whole sky, then it’s
gone—the colour of a moment.
Google Maps calculates the
route from Reykjavík to Rif at
about 2.5 hours. By the time we
approach the tiny town of Rif,
we’ve been on the road for nearly
five hours, moving at a deliberate-
ly easy pace between hot spring
soaks and wild mountain walks.
We float across the quiet northern
side of the Snæfellsnes peninsula,
through Grundarfjörður, Ólafs-
vík, and finally, to Rif.
In Rif, there are two roads that
join into one. On the harbour
side of the road is The Freezer, a
former fish factory turned hos-
tel, theatre and artist residency
space, where we’ll be staying for
the next two nights. It’s tucked
back from the road, but the red
exterior and the word “FREEZER”
painted across the wall make it
easy to find.

Chick(en)s for free
Dóra, one of the managers at
the Freezer, is equa l ly easy
to find. She sits in one of four
mixed-and-matched couch ar-
rangements in the giant lounge
and lobby. She greets us like old
friends: “with a smile,” as the
owner of the Freezer, Kári, had
mentioned in our earlier corre-
spondence. At the coffee table
with her are two other women
busily clicking at their comput-
ers. They’re working on a pro-
duction of ‘Journey To The Cen-
tre Of The Earth’, Jules Verne’s
1864 subterranean science fic-
tion novel that begins in the
Snæfellsjökull stratovolcano.
“I’ll show you around,” says
Dóra. “This is a chicken,” she
says, motioning to a caged plastic
animal that sits at the table. “We
borrowed it. I need to return it.”
She nudges a wad of newspaper
toward the front of the cage, “I’m
kind of scared of it.”
Next, she leads us through a
large door at the back. It opens
into a room twice as large as
the lobby space. The walls are
painted black, and we stand
facing a stage. To the right is a
smaller room of stacked school
chairs. The “small theatre” is a
room that once functioned as the
hostel-theatre’s namesake—the
freezer.
After the tour, we ask for a
food recommendation and Dóra
immediately calls the restaurant
(the restaurant) in Ólafsvík to see
if they are open tonight. “They
are!” she exclaims. “I’ve told them
you’re coming.” As we’ll continue
to discover, choice is overruled by
simplicity in these parts.
And so, it’s decided. We drive
to the restaurant, which is called
Hraun (“lava,” in English), and
eat pan-fried char and chocolate
cake. On the way back to Rif we
catch a glimpse of some northern
lights and decide to bypass the
town to seek more of the sky’s
mighty show. But, as usual with
the northern lights, as soon as we
go looking they’ve disappeared
behind the clouds. Instead, we
retreat to watch ‘Friday’ at the
Freezer.
Til Sölu
The next morning in Rif we head
down the street to get some cof-
fee and tea from the local grocery
store. Or, what was the grocery
store. It still shows up on Google
Maps, but all that’s left of it now
are some cardboard cutouts of
ice cream cones taped to the win-
dows.
After a walk through the cool,
salt-in-the-air streets we decide
to drive five minutes down the
peninsula to the local coffee
shop in Hellissander. Or, what
was the local coffee shop. It too
still shows up on GoogleMaps.
What was once Kaffi Síf looks
promising on the approach—a
cosy detached cottage with lace
in the windows, and a giant sign
that looks like it was made in
Microsoft Paint. But instead of
ice cream, we find taped to its
windows two sheets of computer
paper: one reads “Til Sölu,” and
the other one “For Sale :).”
There’s a store in town that
seems to double as the local
hangout for the shopkeeper and
friends. It carries everything
from Stonewall Kitchen jams to
winter gloves. There’s also an N1
gas station where you can pick up
a slice of “happy marriage” cake
and a hearty bowl of vegetable
soup, or a handmade lopapeysa
“by Dagný.” Again, simplicity
rules over choice.
R i f a nd Hel l i ssa ndu r a re
towns that have what you need,
and not a thing more. They are
ambient with their surround-
ings—from the thick Atlantic on
one side to the glacial and volca-
nic mountain range on the other.
They have hot soup, warm beds,
and petrol to get between the
two. They are places where most
is left untouched and questions
are left unanswered. Like: Why
is the road painted in giant sec-
tions of blue, orange, and green?
And what do we call that strange
colour of sky?
SHARE & MORE PICTURES:
gpv.is/dtt18
The Once Sky
Words PARKER YAMASAKI Photos TIMOTHÉE LAMBRECQ
A weekend in Rif and Hellissandur
As the winter de-
scends on Iceland,
the range of ac-
tivities on offer for
tourists changes
with the season.
Just as the Highlands come off the
menu as roads are closed to nor-
mal vehicles, other possibilities
open up. The Bláfjöll skiing area
near Reykjavík is due to reopen for
business soon, and it’s a matter of
time before cross-country skiing
becomes an option. It’s the season
for aurora-spotting, snowmobil-
ing, ice caving, and other frosty
activities. Bearing the season in
mind when planning your activi-
ties will definitely help you make
the most of your trip.
Road conditions have been wors-
ening all over the country recently,
particularly on minor routes and
on high ground. As such, there
has been a spate of accidents re-
ported across Iceland due to high
winds and slippery surfaces. As
such, we recommend that visitors
to the country take a couple of
simple steps. When hiring a car,
make sure that it’s of sufficient
size and power to handle where
you’re going, especially if you plan
to leave the Ring Road. Check ve-
dur.is for weather warnings before
setting out. Check road.is to make
sure your route is safe to travel,
especially if it’s windy or snowing.
Take warnings from locals seri-
ously, and don’t be afraid of chang-
ing your itinerary to stay safe.
Travel agency Travel Republic
(@TravelRepublic on Twitter)
made an interesting infographic
recently, with the countries of the
world resized according to where
residents of the UK like to go on
holiday. The scale of Iceland went
from being a little speck in the
North Atlantic to being an island
roughly the same size as Spain, and
bigger than France, Germany, or
any of the other Nordic countries.
Maybe when Katla erupts, the land-
mass will grow to something simi-
lar. We’ll need the extra space for all
these tourists.
TRAVEL
NEWS
IN BRIEF
DRIVE-THROUGH TOWN
Distance from
Reykjavík
195 km
Car provided by
gocarrental.is
Accommodation provided by
thefreezerhostel.com