Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.02.2019, Side 51

Island Life
Hot news from the cold Icelandic countryside
Words: Andie Fontaine
A rare bird made a surprise
appearance in East
Iceland: the Eurasian
bittern, one of which
was spotted near
Egilsstaðir. These
birds, which
belong to the
heron family,
are normally
only seen
in southern
Europe. How
this visitor
made its way
to Iceland is
still a mystery.
Four people fell through the
ice at Meðalfellsvatn
lake, just south of
Hvalfjörður, last
month. They
were Iceland-
ers who were
shooting for
the news
programme
Hringbraut. All
of them
managed
to rescue
themselves,
and sustained no injuries
apart from being very,
very cold. Whether
footage of the
accident will be
broadcast remains to
be seen.
The Icelandic Road Administration recently took the decision to lower the speed
limit for single-lane bridges to 50kph, in hopes of making them safer to traverse.
As the lion’s share of these bridges can be found in southern Iceland, the move is
expected to have the greatest impact there. Hopefully, for the better.
51The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 02— 2019
South: Must See Spot
Jökulsárlón
Jökulsárlón is impossible to do jus-
tice in text. It’s the famous glacier
lagoon where Vatnajökull calves
blue icebergs into the water. You can
take a boat trip on the lagoon, sailing
between the icebergs as they lazily
make their way toward the sea, or
take a tour to the ice caves of nearby
glaciers. Or just park and watch the
dramatic blue icebergs float on by.
West: Must See Spot
Snæfellsjökull
On a clear day you can spot the ma-
jestic Snæfellsjökull glacier spar-
kling in the distance from your bal-
cony in Reykjavík. If it’s not a clear
day, you can drive three hours to see
it up close and in person. While it’s
considered an active volcano, it’s
not slated to erupt anytime soon,
so relax.

East: Best Road Trip
Kárahnjúkar
The area of Kárahnjúkar, just north
of the Vatnajökull glacier and na-
tional park, is famous for being the
site of a controversial dam—but our
panel said that if you ignore that,
there are many beautiful canyons
to be explored, such as the dramatic
Hafrahvammagljúfur and Dim-
mugljúfur. “See if you can find the
secret pool,” said one panellist, mys-
teriously.
Best Of Iceland
A selection of winners from our Best Of Iceland travel magazine
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