Michael Powell's Blog, page 103

A Walk from Varmaland to Bifröst

While in Iceland, we’ve learned that bad weather isn’t sufficient reason for modifying plans. If you want to wait for a sunny day to do anything, you might be waiting a very long time. So, despite the terrifying storm front rapidly approaching from the south, we zipped up our rain jackets and set out from Varmaland for the nearby town of Bifröst.

As we found out upon arriving, Varmaland isn’t so much a “town” as a spattering of houses around a geothermal greenhouse. We weren’t exactly sure abo...

Ásmundursafn – The Ásmundur Sveinsson Sculpture Museum

The Ásmundursafn is dedicated to the work of Iceland’s most accomplished sculpture artist, Ásmundur Sveinsson. The museum is worth visiting as much for the architecture of the building, as for the statues both indoors and outside in the garden.

Ásmundur was born in 1893, and traveled extensively as a young man, including stints in Stockholm and Paris. When he returned to Iceland, he immediately took a place among his country’s most influential artists. His works tend toward the abstract, thoug...

The Icelandic Goat

Head aloft, it casts a wizened gaze across the smokey valley. Noble creature! With its shaggy coat, crooked horns, tortured cry and filthy rear-end, has creation ever seen an animal as majestic as the goat? Imagine our euphoria on discovering that Iceland has its very own indigenous breed! A new type of goat to idolize? We were beside ourselves.

Near Reykholt is the Háafell farm, home to the Geitfjársetur Íslands (the Goat Center of Iceland). This is one of the few places on the island which b...

Over Vatnajökull and the Westman Islands

It was a beautiful morning when we arrived at the Reyjavík city airport for our third flight into the skies above Iceland. Our trips over the Golden Circle and the Westfjords were outstanding, but today we’d be soaring over Iceland’s four biggest glaciers, the Þórsmörk valley and the Westman Islands… and it was the best flight of all.

Near the Langisjór Lake, Southwest of Vatnajökull

Soon after settling into our four-seat Cessna, we were above a sleepy Reykjavík still shaking off its morning mi...

The Snorri Sturluson Museum in Reykholt

One of Iceland’s most famous historic figures is Snorri Sturluson: a 13th-century author and politician who lived on a farm in Reykholt. Today, the town is home to a museum commemorating his tumultuous life and considerable achievements.

Snorri was born in 1179. He was a clever youth, and always on the lookout for ways to better his situation. After establishing a relationship with the royal family of Norway, he married a very wealthy woman (whom he would regularly betray), and snatched up pro...

The Víkin Maritime Museum

Located appropriately enough on Reykjavík’s harbor, the Víkin Maritime Museum provides a comprehensive overview of the history of Iceland’s fishing industry. It’s a massive place which could easily eat up hours of your time… especially as it’s more interesting than a fishing museum really has any right to be.

Fishing has always played an integral role in the economy of Iceland. It powered the country’s growth throughout the 20th century, and still accounts for 40% of exports and a huge chunk o...

Deildartunguhver and Hraunfoss

On either side of Reykholt are two remarkable water-related sights. Measured by the volume of water produced, Deildartunguhver is the largest hot spring in Europe. And Hraunfoss, or the “Lava Field Waterfall”, is precisely as strange as its name implies.

At Deildartunguhver, a massive amount of water super-heated at 97°C (207°F) is continuously pumped out of a terrifying crack that opened in the earth. The spring is powerful enough supply the hot water needs of both Borgarnes (34 kilometers aw...

The Reykjavík City Zoo

Apart from the strange, dry-fish-eating creatures known as Icelanders, there aren’t many animals native to Iceland. But finding them can be hard. So if you want to see reindeer, seals and foxes, but don’t have time to scour the countryside, head to the tiny Reykjavík City Zoo.

The zoo is part of the immense Laugardalur park just outside the city center. It took forever to locate, and we were already exhausted by the time we entered. So, I was happy to discover that the zoo wasn’t all that big....

The Westman Islands: Practicalities

You’re never going to catch us praising Iceland for its cheap and efficient public transportation. Without your own car, getting around the island is prohibitively costly and inconvenient. But as far as day trips from Reykjavík go, an excursion to the Westman Islands is about as simple as it gets.

How We Got There

The public Stræto bus #52 leaves from Mjódd and runs directly to the mainland ferry terminal at Landeyjarhöfn twice a day. In the summer, ferries run five times daily (and only four o...

A Boat Trip Around Heimaey

We had already walked around Heimaey, but we also wanted to check out the island from the water. So, we bought tickets for a 90-minute boat ride offered by Viking Tours. Caves, cliffs, seals, puffins and some of the other uninhabited islands which make up the Westman archipelago were all part of the program.

The tour looped around Heimaey in a clockwise direction, with our long-haired, Viking-like captain pointing out the various natural features in both Icelandic and English. We saw plenty of...