Day 35

July 14, 2018

8:40 PM Iceland Time

Today has been another amazing day! It had stopped raining when we woke up, so we were able to see the mountain at Lýsuhóll much better; it was an amazing landscape!! Pretty much every little farm i‘ve seen has a waterfall behind it. We ate breakfast, packed up and headed out.

First, we stopped at Arnarstapi and walked on a trail along the coast and ended at Hellnar. It was breathtaking! Waterfalls cascaded off of sheer cliffs into the ocean, birds were flying and singing everywhere, and the water was a crystal-clear blue. The rocks were all geometric shapes; I hadn’t seen anything like it before. I think they form that way due to molten lava cooling at a faster rate when it hits the ocean. I really can’t explain or even take pictures to captivate the gorgeous magical beauty here.

Some believe that the Snæfellsness peninsula has a mystic power that eminates from Snæfellsjökull; the small glacier here. Maybe it’s because of my familial connection to this place, but I have felt some sort of spiritual power here. I know that I am not the only one though. Some people sense very strong effects from the glacier and consider it to be one of the seven greatest power sources on Earth. Tales of the mystic power of the glacier originated in ancient times, as witnessed by the belief in the pagan god Bardur Snæfellsas who is thought to be the guardian spirit of the Snæfellsness peninsula.

„It is this amplification eminating from the glacier and around it, power that we can neither measure nor explain. We are only able to discern some of its effects on everything in its vicinity, wheather living or dead. From time immemorial the quality of life has been better by the glacier than in any other part of the country.“

                                                                        -Thordur Halldorsson

After our little hike, we stopped really quick to see the statue of Guðriður Þorbjarnardottir, and her son Snorri. Snorri is who the program is named after, who was the first Icelander to be born in North America, so we had to stop to see it! We didn’t stay long because we had a reserved tour to go see Vatnshellir cave. The cave was formed by lava; it was a lava tube that was discovered after an earthquake caused part of it to collapse. There were 3 different rooms, and it was about 60 meters underground. It was pretty cool; and our guide told us some legends and stories about trolls that supposedly used to live there.

When were done with the cave tour we stopped by this gorgeous lighthouse and had some lunch. The clouds dissipated a bit, and we got some blue skies! (It’s been cloudy and rainy for a lot of the time while being here.) We climbed to the top of the lighthouse and got a beautiful view. There was a big stone structure off in the distance that we learned were cores of ancient volcanoes!

After lunch we headed to Djupalonssandur beach. It was a black sand beach, but it wasn’t really sand it was a lot of small black rocks. There were a few big rocks to “test your strength” that many Icelanders would use back in the day. The smallest was 25 kg, and the largest was 152 kg; and if you can pick up the largest one you would be considered a very strong Viking. If you could only pick up the small one, you were considered a weakling. I could only pick up the smaller one and almost picked up the middle one. They were oddly shaped, so it was a bit harder than it looked. After we tried to pick them up, we walked to the shore. There were pieces of rusted wreckage from an old naval ship from the 40’s strewn all over the place. They left it there in memory of those who died and to remind tourists to be very wary of the current on the beach. It is very well known that the tides can be very sudden and can take you out to sea easily.

Then we headed to Kirkjufellsfoss which was magical! There were multiple waterfalls from the cliffs, and the vibrant green moss covered everything. One of the mountains there is one of the most photographed places in Iceland. I can’t reiterate enough how MAGICAL ICELAND IS!!! There is so much beauty everywhere I am in constant awe. I wish I could stay in each place I’ve seen forever!!! But we had to leave to head out, so we could make it to the hostel in Stykkisholmur. Stykkisholmur is where a lot of my family came from, and it is gorgeous! Our hostel overlooks the harbor- it’s very homey and nice.

Anyways we are going to go out and walk around town before we have to go to bed since we have to wake up early in the morning. I would upload some pictures, but the wifi is very very slow and it won’t upload my photos from my phone just yet. Stay tuned for more adventures!