Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.07.2019, Page 49

A well-earned water break
FISH & MORE
SkólavörDustígur 23 • 101 reykjavík
Steamed Fresh Fish, Traditional Icelandic Fish ‘Stew’, Fish & Vegan Soups,
Smoked Salmon & Vegan Toppings on Sourdough Bread, Beer, Wine, Coffee & more
15% DISCOUNT
SALKA VALKA
15% discount of total bill, every day
IF you bring this ticket
8.990 kr.
Taste the
best of Iceland
ICELANDIC GOURMET FEAST
Starts with a shot of the infamous Icelandic
spirit Brennívín
Followed by 7 delicious tapas
• Smoked puffin with blueberry “brennivín” sauce
• Icelandic Arctic Charr with peppers-salsa
• Lobster tails baked in garlic
• Pan-fried line caught blue ling with lobster sauce
• Icelandic lamb with beer-butterscotch sauce
• Minke Whale with cranberry & malt sauce
And for dessert
• White chocolate "Skyr" mousse with passion coulis
late night dining
Our kitchen is open
until 23:30 on weekdays
and 01:00 on weekends TAPASBARINN | Vesturgata 3B | Tel: 551 2344 | tapas.is
no further. The fight you have
with yourself bet ween those
two points is where you actually
climb the mountain.
We continued down, again
navigating those ominous cracks
in the glacier. I was the second-
to-last link in the rope chain and
was stepping out across a snow-
bridge when suddenly the world
became closed and muffled. The
ropes snapped taut—I’d fallen
beneath the snow, far enough for
my head to be a couple of feet be-
low the surface. I dug my cram-
pons into the ice and threw my
arm over the lip of the crevasse,
pulling myself up. Slowly, with
all the ungainly beauty of a calf
being born, I hauled myself up
and f lopped back out into the
bright day. “I didn’t get a photo
of you,” lamented my photogra-
pher companion, “because I had
to hold the rope.” A truly caring
man.
The rewards
The adrenaline of the fall gave
me a boost for the final descent.
Nevertheless, I was delighted
when we reached ground level
and I was able to put my wobbly
little calf-legs on solid rock. Fo-
cussing hard on the lamb burger
I intended to eat for dinner, we
picked our way back down to the
car park, a full 12 hours after
we’d set off.
Climbing Hvannadalshnúkur
is one of the hardest things I
have ever done, and I was sur-
prised to find that the difficulty
was as much psychological as it
was physical. But the sense of
achievement is indescribable. I
have rarely felt so proud of my-
self. You better believe I deserved
that lamb burger.
The view from the top: worth the hike