Iceland review - 2016, Page 82

80 ICELAND REVIEW
WEST IS BEST
Few (only 1,013) people live in the westernmost municipality
of Europe, Vesturbyggð. But alone they are not. A few thou-
sand sheep, some cows and, during the summer, millions of sea
birds call Vesturbyggð home.
There are two fishing towns in Vesturbyggð. The bigger is
Patreksfjörður, with more than half of the municipality’s popula-
tion, or 683 to be exact, and the smaller is Bíldudalur (population
207), on the edge of the big and beautiful fjord, Arnarfjörður.
It is the natural surroundings that draw both the migrant
birds and the tourists to the area. Here you have Europe’s
largest bird cliff, Látrabjarg; nesting site for millions of birds,
including puffins, guillemots and razorbills. The golden sands of
Rauðasandur beach and Patreksfjörður and Arnarfjörður fjords,
where the mountains rise high and sharp from the sea, also beg
to be experienced.
The people who live here claim that Vesturbyggð is the only
place in all of Iceland where the phenomenon known as ‘no wind
at all’ can happen. That fairy tale could just be true. *
BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.