Travel to Akureyri

We woke up to new snow on the mountains around us, 38 degrees, wind, and sun. Today we're traveling near the coast to get to northern Iceland. Our first stop was at Eiriksstadir museum. This is a replica of a Viking home near where Eric the Red, father of Leif Erikson, lived. We listened to a fascinating story teller who told us the story of the Settlement of Greenland and Vinland (Labrador) by the Vikings. All documented in the Journel of Settlement.He was great at telling jokes as he went along.

We stopped at a horse farm for lunch and a horse show. They raise Icelandic horses, a pure breed.The breed has a unique gait, called tilt, each hoof hits the ground separately, removing all bounce for the rider, which they demonstrated by going around the track with a glass of beer without spilling a drop. The horse can also do four other gaits: the trot, gallop, walk and flying pace. The latter has all hoofs off the ground on every second step. We had a chance to see the horses in their stables afterwards.

On the road again, we traversed several passes with snow just above us as went between fjords. We stopped briefly at a sod church built in 1834, one of the many farm churches in the country.

Vídimýrarkirju Sod Church

Our hotel in Akureyri is the Icelandair Akureyri Hotel, right in the center of town and very nice. Akureyri is the third largest city in Iceland with 30,000 inhabitants and home to our guide.